A Trip to FAO Schwarz Las Vegas

There are very few places left to see collector quality dolls in person. You can find dolls of any type on the Internet, but if you really want to see the dolls, inspect the quality for yourself and play with them a bit before purchase (which is always advisable when spending good money for a collector doll), then your options are often limited, especially if there isn't an independently-owned doll shop in your city or town.

That is where FAO Schwarz Las Vegas comes in! Even if you aren't a devoted gambler, chances are good that sometime, somehow (business trip, convention, family reunion...) you'll find yourself in Las Vegas. While there, if you are a doll collector a stop at FAO Schwarz Las Vegas is a must.

Although the store offers a limited selection of doll brands, FAO has very large departments for Madame Alexander, Tonner Dolls and Barbie Dolls. Also represented are the Fashion Royalty and Gene dolls by Jason Wu. There is also an adorable baby nursery where collectors and children can adopt an Adora baby doll or other baby doll of their choice. The baby are displayed in what looks like the baby room at a hospital maternity ward!

I was most impressed by the Madame Alexander Create-A-Doll Factory set-up and the Tonner Dolls boutique.

The Madame Alexander Create-A-Doll Factory enables a little girl or doll collector to design her own Madame Alexander doll. Hair, eyes and clothing can all be personalized on a Madame Alexander play doll. In addition to the Doll Factory, there is a huge selection of Madame Alexander dolls for sale on display, including Wendy, Cissy and Alex dolls.

The Tonner Dolls boutique included a large display of Tyler Wentworth dolls (including three display "rooms" with Tyler dolls and Tyler-sized doll furniture), plus Harry Potter and other character figures, and Ellowyne Wilde dolls. Again, a large variety of dolls is on display and that offers a rare opportunity to see so many dolls of one brand on display.

Overall, the store was a bit of a disappointment; I liked the more old-fashioned hodge-podge and discovery-around-every-corner of the old FAO Schwarz. The rest of the store often just presents huge displays of one thing--one huge display of stuffed dinosaurs here, one huge display of stuffed Goblins there. Nearly the entire first floor is made up of plush displays like this, which seems like a bit of a waste of retail space. Perhaps they are there so that when Mommy or Daddy wins at the casino, they can run down and buy Junior back home a stuffed toy? The upper floors, which include the dolls and also toys like Playmobil and LEGO are more enticing. The doll sections did not disappoint but it would be nice to see some additional brands of dolls included--the three-story store certainly has the space for it.