The common types of designer toys are rich and diverse, and there are mainly the following types according to the material: vinyl toys, injection molded toys and resin toys. Here we will introduce resin toys in detail. 

Resin casting is a method of plastic casting where a mold is filled with a liquid synthetic resin, which then hardens, and is used to produce collectible and customized toys and figures like designer toys, garage kits and ball-jointed dolls, as well as scale models, either individual parts or entire models of objects like trains, aircraft or ships. They are generally produced in small quantities, from the tens to a few hundred copies, compared to injection-molded plastic figures which are produced in many thousands. The upside is that creating the initial mold is much less costly than in the injection-molding process. But Resin casting is more labor intensive than injection molding, and the soft molds used are worn down by each cast. The low initial investment cost of resin casting means that individual hobbyists can produce small runs for their own use such as limited sales, Expo or home display, etc.

Some artists create their toys using synthetic resin material and resin casting. After casting the resin toy receives adjustments in its details, sometimes being superficially cast on some parts. The toy can be finished using automotive paint by aerosol and sometimes receives a varnished layer above the dry painting.

The process of making resin toys is more labor-intensive and time-consuming than industrialized vinyl toy production, which in most of cases are made identical and in large quantities. But resin casting allows artists to produce collectibles toys in small numbers with little initial investment. Most vinyl factories will only produce toys in large series. Resin toys have become a way for less established artists to produce a toy without the large financial investment required to produce a vinyl toy.