Job title: Toy Developer

Companies that hire them: Toymakers like F.A.O. Schwarz, Mattel, American Girl, Bratz, Toys "R" Us, Hasbro, Disney Consumer Products, Fisher-Price Brands, Pound Puppies Inc., Play Along

How to find out about openings: Check toy company websites for job openings. Also, try the Executive Search Group, which has listings on its site, or post a professional profile on the Toy Industry Association website for prospective employers to browse.
 
How much you might earn: The Bureau of Labor Statisics puts the annual average salary at $73,000 for 2005, but at large-scale companies, salaries can range from $150,000 to $200,000.

Useful skills: Buying experience and the ability to be a "gut merchant"—a person who understands how a product makes people feel.

Number of jobs in the U.S.: With everyone from mom-and-pop chains to major corporations' product-development departments employing them, the figure is in the thousands.

As senior vice president of product development for F.A.O. Schwarz, Sandoval is always on the hunt for the toys to fill F.A.O.'s flagship Fifth Avenue store. Her shopping season begins in February with the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, followed by stops in London and Paris. In spring and summer, she really starts feeling the crunch.

"Children understand quality," she says. Sandoval tests the products she's working on by employing her own focus group: her son and daughter, ages 8 and 4. "I often put something commonplace versus an F.A.O. product in front of them, and if they gravitate toward the differences then I know I’m on the right track." What if the kids don’t bite? "Something is not furthering the imagination." And it’s back to Santa's shop.

In creating her own designs, Sandoval pays attention to trends, no matter how picayune. When the American Kennel Club dubbed the golden retriever the most popular dog for families, Sandoval developed a stuffed-animal golden retriever for the F.A.O. Schwarz Plush brand.

Sandoval first started at F.A.O. Schwarz working on the floor as a salesperson in 1988, a time when New York's oldest toy store was located in what is now the men's department of Bergdorf Goodman. Her move to product development thwarted her ambitions to become a college professor of Spanish literature, but, she says, she decided to stay at F.A.O. because "people took to me and I took to them. It's very much a familial environment."

Along with visiting toy stores and vendors around the world, Sandoval also brings new products into her store through the four toy auditions F.A.O. Schwarz holds each year, with July's audition being the only one where would-be Gepettos can bring in their early-stage toy ideas. In the other three auditions held in March, May, and September, toymakers—whether hobbyists or professional—must present their homemade toys to Sandoval and her two leading buyers in an audition format. Sometimes participants get the wrong idea and approach the judge's table like she's Simon Cowell from American Idol. "I've had people sing to me!" Sandoval exclaims. But she adds that she cherishes the toy auditions as a great way for her and other passionate toymakers to come together. "To meet with people who just have a dream—it's so humbling for us to host it and make that dream come to life."
 

Typical Day
Email and call foreign manufacturers in the Philippines, Spain, and Korea via laptop and cell phone on the commuter train to check the status of toys in production and request to see samples of toys-in-the-making.
Arrive at the office, check sales in the stores and on the website, and determine which products are selling better than others.
Meet with senior management to discuss sales, human-resources topics, marketing initiatives, and operational issues.
Meet with in-house buyers to go over details on product orders to be placed or canceled.
Call domestic manufacturers to check on the progress of toys in production.
Go over sales and deliveries on the phone with agents and vendors one or two nights a week.