Have you heard of FAO Schwarz? I only recently found out about it from my wife, and we decided to check it out last Saturday. Wow, very cool. For those of you that haven’t heard of it, it’s supposed to be famous NYC store. Now they’re especially famous for their very large stuffed animals. Women would love their stuffed animals – huge, life-sized stuffed giraff, big elephants, empire penguins, white tigers, you name it. Some are soft like you’d expect, others are stiff so that they’ll stand up and kids can climb on them (maybe even an adult on some of those big ones…). They also have a big walk-on keyboard (it was in the ’80’s movie Big, with Tom Hanks) that you can play on, a full icecream bar and candy shop, and of course, lots of toys.

When we were there on Saturday, they had some of their employees dancing and playing on the piano for a little show every 15 minutes. The icecream bar looks very cool and traditional – the counter is glass-covered marbles, providing endless colourful views as you lick your icecream cone.

As far as FAO Schwarz vs. Toys R Us, I wouldn’t say it’s better, just different. FAO Schwarz has very classic toys, is more upscale, and also has a lot of collector’s items. They do have Star Wars stuff, after all it’s classic, including the cool AT-AT we both stopped to admire. They have some arcade games, and game tables like airhockey. They have some electronic games, too, but not a whole lot. If you’re looking for classic things like Lincoln Logs (my wife was so happy to see those) or an Etch-a-Sketch, puzzles or collectable dolls, this is the place to get them. Also check out their amazing caleidoscope collection. But for more modern type things, I’d recommend Toys R Us.

Check it out! It’s on 5th & 58th.