Shop Hamliz has an amazing property: it turns adults into children. All, even very serious. No wonder: Hamlyse is the world's largest toy store.
This, incidentally, is not only the largest, but also the oldest toy store in the world: it was founded in 1760, first was in Holborn, but in 1881 moved to Regent Street and is still there.
The store is immense, it occupies 7 floors in a huge building the size of a whole block, and everything is toys.
Selection of toys
There are departments for all ages, including rattles and soft puppets for the youngest. There is a huge department with soft toys, in which you can find almost any living creature, and very well made. There are very different dolls. The pride of the store is two departments: with developing games and with moving toys.
Developing toys are different - from infant to creative (for teaching drawing or music, for example).
Many moving toys before buying can be tried - in this case on the counter in front of them is exposed one unpacked and charged with a battery of toys for testing.
Many games, a variety of - desktop, street, whatever, there are street toys. Also, official representations of world famous manufacturers ("Disney", "Lego", "Barbie-dollars" and so on) sell their goods under the contract, and you can find characters of almost any famous cartoon.
The store provides a lot of entertainment for children, often associated with the release of something new (for example, the new movie "Pirates of the Caribbean") or a holiday (for example, Christmas).
Collectible things
There are also departments for very large ones - with handmade Teddy bears sewn by hand, and replicas of antique porcelain dolls, and there is a section for fans: here you can buy Jack Sparrow's chest, Harry Potter's magic wand or Star Wars. All goods for fans are sold here under a contract with copyright holders, that is, each item is an exact copy of what was shown in the film.
"Hamlyse" is included in all European travel guides around London as a separate landmark, the goods from it Europeans often buy as a "souvenir from England", and in general it's worth it.
Practical information
The level of prices in "Hamlyz" varies greatly - from medium to indecently high. The most popular, mass toys are usually the average price.
Hamliz is located at London, W1B 5BT, Regent Street, 188-196, Hamleys, for the visit are 2 metro stations: Piccadilly Circus (it is closer) and Oxford-Serks.
The store is always crowded and very noisy, it is open from 10:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and from 12:00 to 18:00 on Sunday.