Toys. They’re so much more than a piece of plastic. They help parents bond with their kids. They build childhood memories. They spark creativity.  

Many iconic characters, whether from Disney, the Simpsons, Super Mario_^TM or SEGA, have had their plastic counterpart made by the same team – the designers at Jakks Pacific, a major US toy manufacturer.  

Leading the Sculpting department is Eleazar Kim-Carmeli, director of 3D design and sculpting as well as of the creative resources team. Not a day goes by without him using Geomagic Freeform. It’s the most efficient way to design licensed toys that meet the high standards of quality that today’s customers have come to expect.  

“Nowadays people want a good product, not just pushing out plastic, whether it’s a 2-inch or a 10-inch figure. What that means for toy manufacturers is that you need the software that allows you to do that – not just easily, but effortlessly,” Kim-Carmeli says.  

So what goes into making a high-quality licensed toy? 

The first important element is likeness. A licensed toy must look like the character from the film, series or video game that it represents. The design will have to be approved by the brand that owns the franchise before it goes into production. 

At the same time, customers need to be intrigued by the design and enjoy playing with it. The best way to ensure this is by adding moving elements, like hands, legs, paws or tails. How these elements come together is key. 

“I enjoy working on these because of the challenge to make something that not only looks right to the license, but is also playable, interactive, and has great articulation. We make great toys that people can enjoy and that look right. That’s something that we’re very proud of,” he says.  

Among their most successful products are SEGA figures, which always sell out instantly. And it’s not just the kids that love them. The licensors do, too. “For me it was great to hear that SEGA, a company that I respect and that makes such great stuff, says we did a good job,” Kim-Carmeli adds.  

Challenges of toy design

Making great toys hinges on having both artistic freedom and engineering control. Plastic toys are essentially small sculptures with intricate details. They’re also mass-produced items that need to meet specific requirements defined by manufacturing methods. The first type of design work requires organic modelling and the second the precision of CAD operations. Toy designers need both.  

Geomagic Freeform gives them just that. Bringing together tools for digital sculpting with CAD, it enables designers to carry out a complete toy design workflow, from brief to prototype, in the same environment, and to ensure manufacturability. 

The first thing a designer considers when looking at a brief is how to scale. Simply increasing a two-inch figure to six feet or vice versa is not going to cut it. Details are going to be lost or overblown.  

In addition, if an element is too thin or too small, it won’t come out right in manufacturing. These errors can be corrected in a further iteration, but not without delaying the delivery. Because Geomagic Freeform gives real-world measurements and dimensions, it’s easy to get features exactly right.  

Geomagic Freeform allows Jakks to create articulated toys that work. They can set rotational pivots, check clearances for manufacturing, and create a toy that’s fun to play with.  

While these designs are complex, the software is easy to use. “When you’re using Geomagic Freeform, you don’t really think about the ins and outs of the program – you’re just working. That’s something that I’ve always loved about it,” Kim-Carmeli says.  

The learning curve is low. Designers master it in a few days. “I’ve been working in toy design long enough to have seen toys done by hand, with early-stage digital sculpting tools that were very difficult, and with Geomagic Freeform. Other tools that have an esoteric interface or a linear method of working. Freeform is a tool that your designers simply pick up and make things,” Kim-Carmeli says.  

The ease of use is particularly important today. The toy industry is moving surprisingly fast. Staff produce hundreds of designs a year. Creating high quality designs that work right is what makes the difference. “When people don’t use Geomagic Freeform, they have a lot of trial and error. Jakks creates designs that look right and are manufacturable immediately,” Kim-Carmeli concludes.  

With a comprehensive toolkit for design and manufacture, Jakks creative team will continue to shape memorable creatures and characters, bringing joy to households across the globe. If you’d like to learn about the tools they use in more detail, visit Geomagic Freeform for Industrial applications.