[flexcoders] Looking for syntatic sugar for getting an Class reference based on String

[Todd]

I have a long list string to graphic class mappings that are contained within a 
gigantic switch statement:

case "icon_1":
  selectedIcon = icon_1;
  break;
case "icon_2":
  selectedIcon = icon_2;
  break;

I'm looking for a way to get an instance of an Class reference based on a 
string.  I'm not looking to create a NEW instance, however.

For example, I'm NOT looking to do this:
var icon_1:Class = getDefinitionByName("icon_1") as Class;
selectedIcon = new icon_1();

I've tried some simple things like, but without results:
selectedIcon = Class("icon_1");

Any suggestions for the syntactical shortcut that I'm looking for? 

Thanks