Toy Story

	Mercedes SLK ($650)

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait to unwrap your holiday presents?

Well, now that you're all grown up, you can still feel that joy by giving dazzling, one-of-a-kind gifts to the little ones in your life.

Where else to search for those gifts but FAO Schwarz, the venerable New York icon of toy stores, home to unique playthings and unparalleled hands-on experiences.

This 144-year-old landmark retailer carries familiar brands like Mattel (MAT Quote), Hot Wheels and Legos, but not the way you're used to seeing them.

Here, Barbie dolls wear Zac Posen and Juicy Couture, kid-customized Hot Wheels roll off an assembly line and Legos are snapped together to form life-sized superheroes that can be shipped right to your door.

"FAO may be an old store, but its inventory reflects today's parents and their desire for high-quality, durable toys with great designs," says Edward M. Schmults, CEO of FAO Schwarz. "Of course, they've also got to be fun."

Here's a look at some of this season's favorites.

Lions and Tiger and Bears

On the main floor of FAO's flagship store in Manhattan, you'll find its extraordinary collection of plush animals, from four tiny kittens nestled on a fuzzy pink sofa ($45) to the store's handcrafted Studio Plush creatures that are lifelike in both size and appearance (up to $12,000). The Studio Plush themes change throughout the year, and the current collection features bison, grizzlies and other animals which roam the Great Plains.

A Prehistoric and Arctic Studio Plush collection including polar bears, reindeer and woolly mammoths will also be available in time for the holidays.

If it's fine collectibles you're after, take a look at FAO's exclusive selection of Steiff, the German company that's been handcrafting bears and other figures in the same manner for a century.

With excelsior stuffing, jointed arms and legs, and airbrushed faces with hand-stitched noses, Steiff collectibles have a sturdy, old-fashioned look and feel. The company celebrates its long relationship with FAO Schwarz by offering the limited-edition Frederick the Bear ($250), a 12" recreation of the first Steiff teddy bear sold by the store a century ago.

(Sticky) Hands On

FAO "experiences" allow kids to enjoy the creative process and receive one-of-a-kind gifts.

There are options like the Madame Alexander Doll Factory, where for $45 a child can select a doll's skin, eye and hair color, hair style and outfits (available in stores and online).

At the higher end of the cost spectrum is the Imagine This design party, in which a child can invite friends to a private in-store gathering to create an original handbag or garment, assisted by a genuine fashion designer.

	North American Bison ($1,000)

The designs are then handmade by professionals, and the kids are invited to return for a runway fashion show and ice cream party for 50 guests.

An Imagine This Custom Design Party for 10 costs $25,000.

"The kids can bring guests, there's glamour, and they get a sense of how the fashion industry works," says Schmults.

You can also bring your child to the store for an individual Imagine This experience to create an outfit ($800) or a handbag ($400).

Kids can customize Hot Wheels monster trucks, Chevy Camaros and Volkswagon vans ($22 each, in store) by choosing color, engine type, wheels and details, then watch the car being assembled on video before it rolls off the assembly line. It even arrives in a protective case with a personalized certificate of ownership.

To view Anne McDarby's video take of today's Top 1% segment, click here.