Find toys from your childhood at these Long Island nostalgia shops

Ever since she was a little girl, Lily Bergh wanted to have a real doll to play with, dress up and shower with love.
Growing up underprivileged in Romania, Bergh, owner of Little Switzerland Toys & Dolls of Huntington, recalls playing with a doll her father made from a sock filled with sand and facial features drawn in by magic marker. Years later, her uncle gave her a doll he brought back from Italy. "I loved that doll so much. I sewed clothes for her. And, my sister went and cut her hair," recalls Bergh.
After that, Bergh vowed to one day open a store filled with dolls, eventually realizing her dream in 1981.

Little Switzerland Toys & Dolls owner Lily Bergh holds some of the vintage dolls she sells in Huntington on Feb. 13. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
At her emporium of new and vintage dolls, she developed a reputation for limited edition, one-of-a-kind dolls, which led to her selling several to Demi Moore, Anne Rice and Richard Simmons, all avid doll collectors.
Among Little Switzerland’s collection of collectible dolls are Barbie, Betsy Ann, Patti Playpal, Ginny and Revlon dolls, as well as the century-old Madame Alexander dolls, made in Harlem.
"Dolls are art," Bergh says, adding that to adapt to prevailing market trends, she now also sells lots of toys.
Games, toys & figurines
For vintage games and figures, Land of Oohs & Oz of Farmingdale has got you covered.
There are board games from the 1960s, like Felix the Cat, Risk (made with wooden pieces), Mystery Date and takeoffs of popular TV shows: "Dark Shadows" and "Petticoat Junction" and "The Dukes of Hazzard."
Land of Oohs & Oz also specializes in Star Wars toys from the '70s and '80s and Mego figures, six-inch dolls and action figures dressed in cloth clothing.

Some of the many vintage items found at Land of Oohs & Oz in Farmingdale. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
"Most people who are looking to buy a game from the '60s, they’re definitely really into the artwork on the box; the artwork on the board," says A.J. Schumacher, who handles internet sales for the Farmingdale store. "We sell tons of Star Wars figures, new and old. A lot of people just collect them to display and have them."
At Brothers Grim Games in Selden, you’ll find first- and second-edition Dungeons and Dragons, and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons board games, all from the '70s, as well as Warhammer 40,000 and other sci-fi/fantasy tabletop games.
Though mostly adults browse the shelves for vintage toys at LI Toys in Kings Park, kids are welcome, too. There, they’ll find old GI Joes, cap guns, popular toys from the '70s and '80s, such as Stick Shifters and Mego play sets, and pressed steel and tin space vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks from the '50s through '70s, notes owner Bill Stewart.
New kid on the block
Despite the pandemic, Richard McWilliams opened Blast from the Past in Bay Shore in December 2020. "It’s been off to a really great start," says McWilliams, who sells vintage video games, toys, comics, movies, and music. There are board games from the '50s, like Casper The Friendly Ghost and some from the '70s and '80s, like Voltron, Knight Rider, and Battlestar Galactica.
Blast From the Past specializes in Ninja Turtles, ThunderCats, He-Man, Masters of the Universe, Transformers, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, all toys from the '80s and '90s, and a large wrestling figure section. The older toys are popular with everyone, notes McWilliams.
"Everybody wants to get back the specific toys they had when they were kids," says McWilliams. "But, also, we have parents come in and bring their young children in. And then we get older collectors, too. It’s something that spans generations."
Jeff Weinstein, a devoted customer of Blast From the Past, shops there once a week. "I’m very big into collecting vintage toys," says Weinstein, 42, a software developer from Oceanside.
Vintage doll & toy shops
Little Switzerland Toys & Dolls; 267 Main St., Huntington; 631-549-8743; littleswitzerlandtoys.com. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Land of Oohs & Oz: 155 Main St. A, Farmingdale; 516-420-9214. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. — 5 p.m.
Blast From The Past: 125 W. Main St., Bay Shore; blastfromthepastgames.com; 631-328-1693. Open Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Brothers Grim Games and Collectibles: 1244 Middle Country Road, Selden; 631-698-2805. Open Monday through Saturday, noon to 8 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
LI Toy & Game: 12 Main St., Kings Park; 621-546-5334; litoygame.com. Open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.