“A fine car model is like a song. It can take you back to a specific point in your life, like a race,” says Kurt Carlson, of Gig Harbor, Wash. “To me, models are more than an object. They are an ...

Designing toys takes sketching and planning and imagining, sure. But what’s even more impressive is the actual making—still a much more industrial and craftsmanlike process than you’d imagine. It ...