My mother collects Calico Critters and when we visited this summer my 2.5 y.o. spent HOURS playing with them. Absolutely loved them, including all the furniture, the kitchenware, everything. So far as I know nothing got eaten.

So yes, a toddler can definitely like them. DD has good fine motor skills which probably helped with the furniture - no trouble at all with the little drawers or anything (now me and my fat fingers, on the other hand...).