Toy exhibitions

Vintage dolls from the Toy Museum of New York

October may herald Halloween, but this month in Brooklyn, play is the thing. Two museums are enticing both the young and the old with exhibits spotlighting toys of yesteryear and from around the world.

Beginning on October 15, patrons at The Toy Museum of New York (157 Montague St between Clinton and Henry Sts, Brooklyn Heights; 718-243-0820, toymuseumny.org) can marvel at an extensive collection of vintage toy soldiers, G.I. Joes and dolls from as far back as the 1880s. More modern items, such as a teddy bear, and a Raggedy Ann and Andy that graced the windows of Fortunoff in the 1980s, may seem just as ancient to new-millennium kids.

Over at The Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Crown Heights, a new exhibit called “Top Secret: Mission Toy” offers a more international—and corporate—look at fun diversions. Future B-School grads can “work” at Toy Central, the headquarters of a fictitious company, where they’ll don lab coats and receive special clearance to see the workings of playthings from across the globe. Whether they’re studying X-rays of robots or trying their hand at a wooden marble maze from Switzerland, kids are bound to be absorbed with something they won’t find at their local Toys “R” Us.—Pamela Brill

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• Roundup of ongoing toy displays
• Museums & Sights articles
• Articles from this issue