Designing for so many years makes you interested in how the final product is finished. I taught digital print and prepress for 4 years and was always fascinated by how many types of printing processes there were. You learn about offset lithography, xerography, flexography, and gravure printing techniques for handling printed paper products. So whenever I made way to the toy section of the local big box store I would always wonder about how things were printed on toys. Well the answer is two ways: Tempo (pad) printing and Hand spray painting. Tempo printing handles printing things like small details. Things like eyes, logos, facial features - these things are all pressed onto the product using a pad and stamp technique. For large areas that need coloring you can use masked spray painting. Between the two techniques you can print and paint most types of toys.

Tempo Printing

Complete Toy Manufacturing

Here is one of the best videos I've ever seen on the subject. It covers the complete process of toy construction so you get additional information on injection molding and circuit testing. It is really fascinating.