First, I don’t work in the toy industry. Second, you’ll need a lot of luck. In the past, the large toy manufacturers wanted only people with engineering backgrounds. If you were artistically talented and knew all there was to know about toys, they wouldn’t talk to you. To a degree, I think that’s still true. Things have changed somewhat in recent years, though. Now the large companies are more willing to farm out jobs to independent sculpting studios (like the Four Horsemen), but those studios are few and far between. Even fewer are commercially successful. Update from 2020: I know of a handful of collectors and/or customizers who have broken into the industry. Some are on the “business” side of things. Some actually get into the design side. These lucky folks should be considered the rarest of all unicorns. I wish them all the best! But setting out to be a toy designer is a lot let setting goals to be a YouTube star. Probably best to have a Plan B.