Toy companies looking to hire elves

Now’s your chance to work with Mr. Potato Head, Mario, other pop culture icons.

You know that slightly crazed feeling you had as a kid tearing open your holiday presents to discover the coveted Nintendo Game Boy or LEGO Death Star set was finally yours? Well, people who work for toy companies help supply that thrill to others not just during the holidays, but all year long.

If you fancy yourself an elf, you’re in luck: A few of the top toy companies in the world are currently hiring at multiple locations. Have a look to see if any of them inspire you to go in and play.

Bark & Co.

What they’re famous for: Toy companies don’t just make stuff for humans. As the name implies, Bark & Co. is all about dogs. The BarkBox, a collection of toys and treats for dogs, is refreshed monthly and sold as a subscription. The company’s focus is “creating a brand for a generation of people who love their dogs like children …. If that means giving belly scratches until we get carpal tunnel or listening to squeaky toys until our ears bleed, that’s cool.”

Fun fact: Bark & Co. is so into fun facts about dogs that it publishes them on a part of its website called BarkPost Stories.

Hasbro

What they’re famous for: Hasbro’s brand has many headliners, including Play-Doh, Mr. Potato Head, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony and the Transformers. It also has the rights to the Sesame Street characters, games like Battleship, Jenga, and Hungry Hungry Hippos, and past phenomena like Furby, the Weebles, Lazer Tag, and the EasyBake Oven.

Fun fact: Hasbro was successful for decades as a maker of pencil boxes and zippered pouches for school supplies; its transition to the toy business is traced to World War II, when a customer suggested it make a junior airraid warden kit.

LeapFrog

What they’re famous for: LeapFrog took off in 1999 with the LeapPad, an educationfocused tablet computer — predating the iPad by more than 10 years — that’s tough and userfriendly enough for a toddler to use, and cheap enough for parents not to have a coronary if it’s dropped from a high chair. LeapFrog also makes the LeapTV gaming system and the LeapStart and LeapReader e-book systems.

Fun fact: LeapFrog started out focused on parents, but teachers have widely embraced its products, especially for early childhood education.

LEGO

What they’re famous for: Thanks to the ubiquitous, ridiculously popular bricks, LEGO is a king among toy companies. Those little bricks can be used by kids of all ages to build just about anything they’ve seen in the world — Yankee Stadium, the Death Star, the U.S. Capitol building — or even things that no one has seen until they’re dreamed up and pieced together by someone singing “Everything Is Awesome.”

Fun fact: LEGO is the world’s largest producer of rubber wheels, outpacing even Goodyear and Bridgestone.

Nintendo

What they’re famous for: This video game company is best known for giving some guy named Mario his big break. Not to be outshined, Pokémon and Zelda also owe their careers to this Japanese entertainment behemoth.

Fun fact: Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo has sold more than 4.5 billion video games and more than 710 million hardware units globally.

VTech

What they’re famous for: Tech toys for tots are the major output of this Hong Kong-based company. From activity desks to smartwatches, their toys aim to teach as well as entertain.

Fun fact: Lesson One, their first electronic learning product, was introduced in 1980 to help teach kids spelling and math.

These jobs work to capture consumers’ imaginations.