F.A.O. Schwartz

Following my visit to the Frick Collection (I stayed until the kicked me out), I still had some time before seeing Spiderman (William had been busy all day and night with work meetings and dinners) and there is no real quick way to head to Times Square and the theater district from that area so I walked back along 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Center. On my way, I stopped at the redesigned F.A.O. Schwartz and was blown away by what I saw there- particularly the prices. I loved it so much that I brought William back here on Saturday so that he could enjoy as well.

The grand entryway from the 2nd level.

You could get this complete Noah's Ark set with all of the stuffed animals for only $2,400.

I LOVE this giant puzzle globe! They have smaller ones for sale that include a display stand for when you have finished assembling it. I wonder what it would be like to assemble . . .

But, the Barbie section of the store was completely over the top. This is the special runway (below) that they have. It is mechanized so that when each Barbie reaches the top of the runway, the others stop and that one twirls around to show off her outfit.

But, truly the showpiece of the Barbie collection was . . . . wait for it . . . a BARBIE FOOSBALL TABLE. I thought that this was actually kind of morbid, like someone's little brother wanted to torture the Barbies by ripping off their arms and sticking poles through them but apparently this is a collector's item. Any guesses on how much it might cost?

I took a photo of the price tag because I knew that no one would believe me when I told them that this foosball table could be yours for $25,000.

The other section of the store that I thought was fun was a place where you could design your own Muppet. They have several different body bases and you choose all of the other features and they assemble it for you while you wait. It was at a more reasonable price of $100. Needless to say, while we enjoyed ourselves immensely at this store, we walked out of there with only these photos and our memories as evidence :-)