The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures occupies a historic mansion near the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus and houses what it claims is the world's largest collection of fine-scale miniatures alongside one of the largest collections of antique toys in the United States. The miniatures — working at scales as precise as 1/144th — include fully furnished dollhouse rooms, miniature artworks, and functioning mechanical objects, all made with craftsmanship that borders on the obsessive.
The antique toy collection spans cast iron banks, tin toys, pressed steel vehicles, and dolls from the 19th and early 20th centuries — a thorough social history of American childhood and manufacturing. The museum draws serious collectors from across the country. Even for visitors with no particular interest in either subject, the craft involved in the miniatures is genuinely impressive. Allow two hours minimum.