Toyman
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The Toyman is a fictional comic book supervillain in the DC Comics universe and an enemy of Superman. He first appeared in Action Comics #64 (September 1943). His traditional identity is Winslow Schott, although several others take the name "Toyman" over the years.
The Toyman uses toy-based or toy-themed devices and gimmicks in his various crimes. The Toyman's weapons, while sometimes comical, are also very dangerous. The Toyman's creations include devices such as life-sized wind-up tanks, acid-spraying water pistols, and toy soldiers that carry real guns. The Toyman usually dresses in a flamboyant costume. Overall, despite the threat he poses, his modus operandi makes him a less terrifying villain compared to such foes as Lex Luthor. The Toyman made frequent appearances in the Golden Age comics, but has appeared infrequently in Superman stories since then.
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[edit] Winslow Schott
As noted above, the Toyman first appeared in 1943 and appears in many Golden Age Superman comics. He appears less frequently in comics published after the early 1950s, but still remains a semi-regular foe during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
After 1985's miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths and John Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries, the Toyman makes his revised, post-Crisis debut in Superman vol. 2 #13 (January 1988). In this version, Winslow Schott is an unemployed British toymaker who blames Lex Luthor and his company, LexCorp, for being fired from the toy company he is working for, and uses his toymaking talents to seek revenge, which eventually causes him to cross paths with the British hero Godiva, and subsequently, Superman himself. The Toyman continues to commit various crimes in Metropolis, including engaging in child abduction.
The Toyman later became a much more sinister figure, shaving his head and getting advice from "Mother" (probably just a voice in his head, but possibly something more). Apparently this is prompted by being told that a range of Superman action figures would not include him as he is not "edgy" enough. While this seems to begin as a pose of what he thought people expect of a villain, it rapidly became a genuine psychotic break. While in this state he murders the son of Daily Planet reporter Cat Grant ("You were a bad mommy. I'm glad I killed your son."). He also develops a hatred of children, blaming them for not appreciating his toys.
The Toyman later seemingly recovers, and Superman shows him that children did appreciate old-fashioned toys, arranging parole in an orphanage; it is later revealed, however, that this is all a hallucination, caused when Zatanna attempts to cure him, and he has, in fact, returned to child abduction.
In the 1997 Speed Force Special, the Max Mercury story "Child's Play", set in 19th century New York, features the Schott Toy Company run by Archimedes Schott, a crooked businessman who resembles Winslow. Any relationship between them is unknown.
[edit] Jack Nimball
In the 1970s, a second man named Jack Nimball assumes the identity of the Toyman during a period in which Schott retires from his criminal career. Nimball, who first appears in Action Comics #432 (February 1974), wore a jester costume and uses a similar modus operandi to the original Toyman. However, this version of the Toyman proves short-lived, with Schott killing Nimball and resuming his crime career in Superman vol. 1 #305. He is also the Toyman who appears in Challenge of the Superfriends.
[edit] Hiro Okamura
Hiro Okamura, a teenage mechanical genius from Japan first appears as Toyman in Superman #177 (February 2002). He targets Metallo, claiming the cyborg's body was based on a material stolen from his father.
He later becomes ally to Superman and Batman. In the Superman/Batman series, he aids the two in destroying a kryptonite meteor that threatens the Earth(Superman/Batman # 1-6). He strikes a deal with Batman to provide him with various technological implements(Superman/Batman # 7). Okamura uses more technologically advanced devices than the traditionally-constructed contrivances Schott uses and his work is largely whimsical in nature. Many of his inventions are inspired by anime and manga, including giant mecha (notably his giant Composite Batman-Superman robot).
Okamura appears only a few times in Superman/Batman comic book, and his activities are limited to Japan. Winslow Schott remains active as the Toyman in the United States. In the Sam Loeb-penned memorial issue Superman/Batman #26, Okamura fakes his own kidnapping at the hands of Schott, forcing Superboy and Robin to search through his complex to save his life. Realizing his loneliness, Superboy and Robin extend their friendship to the boy.
[edit] Android Toyman
A robot Toyman surfaces in Metropolis and allies with Lex Luthor. His appearance, inspired by the character's Superman: The Animated Series incarnation, is that of a child-sized doll. As part of his bargain with Luthor, he is given the information needed to find his creator Winslow Schlott in exchange for assistance in a plot against Superman.
[edit] In other media
- The Toyman first appears in animated form in The New Adventures of Superman animated series from 1966. This particular Toyman is the original Winslow Schott version.
- The Toyman is a recurring villain on the Challenge of the SuperFriends television cartoon, as one of the members of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom. The Toyman is voiced by Frank Welker. This series used the Nimball version of the Toyman, with an extra-terrestrial origin[citation needed].
- An episode of Batman: The Animated Series features a villain called 'The Mad Bomber', who was possibly influenced by Toyman (although, he might also have been influenced by the Puppet Master, a villain fought by the Golden Age Batman and Robin in Detective Comics vol. 1/#212), who uses customized toys based on a line of Gray Ghost (voiced by none other than Adam West, who portrayed Batman in the 1960s television show) merchandise to carry bombs and hold Gotham City's economic centers ransom. He becomes more Toyman-like as the episode progresses, stating his delusional belief that toys are a powerful all-purpose tool. The Bomber is voiced by (and also resembles) the series' designer/producer Bruce Timm.
- The Superboy live-action television series features a villain named Nick Knack, a reference to the Toyman. The character, played by Gilbert Gottfried, wears childlike clothing. Gottfried appeared in two episodes and wrote a story featuring the character for the Superboy tie-in comics series.
- A character named Winslow P. Schott appears in the Lois and Clark Christmas episode "Seasons Greedings". With a similar background to the post-Crisis Schott in the comics, he creates a toy that causes children to become selfish and adults to act like children. He is referred to only once as being "a toyman" in passing onscreen, and is played by Sherman Hemsley. A later episode features a childlike Toyman played by Grant Shaud, who abducts children.
- A much more disturbing and creepy Toyman appears in the 1990s series Superman: The Animated Series (voiced by Bud Cort), an insane man wearing a mask similar to a doll's head. His arsenal weapons include a bouncing ball that can smash concrete and an "inescapable" bubble-blower. In this version, Winslow Schott is the son of a kindly toymaker, who spends all day in his father's shop watching him make toys. Gangsters take over the shop and use it as a front for a numbers racket. When the police uncover the scheme, the gangsters flee, leaving the elder Schott to be arrested and imprisoned for embezzlement. Winslow is left on his own, and he spends several years in abusive and neglectful foster homes. By the time he reaches adulthood, Winslow is mentally ill. Making use of his natural aptitude for mechanics, he decides to make up for his ruined childhood by terrorizing the world and stealing money to amass his own personal fortunes. He appears in two episodes: "Fun and Games" and "Obsession." His plans revolve around Darcy, a lifelike android created to be his companion, but he also seeks revenge against Bruno Mannheim, the criminal who wronged his father, and Superman.
- This Toyman also appears in Static Shock, again voiced by Bud Cort. In the episode "Toys in the Hood," Toyman (who was revealed that he had survived from the events of "Obsession" after his helicopter was destroyed) orders Darcy to capture Static's friend Daisy so she can be Darcy's new body. After Superman and Static confront Toyman, Darcy betrays Toyman and tries to escape, only to discover that Toyman had implanted a fail-safe device programmed to destroy her if she turned on him. Darcy's body melts, and Toyman is taken to jail.
- In "Hereafter", an episode of Justice League, Toyman is a member of the Superman Revenge Squad, and during their attack on the city of Metropolis, he uses an experimental machine (which resembles a giant toy Transformer) that can fire blasts of energy from its "chest". Toyman first targets innocent bystanders before trying to blast Superman. Toyman then fires a blast at Batman and the injured Wonder Woman, hoping that Superman will take the blast to save them. To save them, Superman flies straight into the blast from Toyman's machine and is sent 30,000 years into the future. Everyone, including Toyman himself, believed that Superman had been vaporized. Out of anger, Wonder Woman destroyed Toyman's machine and prepared to kill him, but was stopped by Flash, who said "That's not what we do to our enemies." Later in the episode, when Superman awakes in a post-apocalyptic future, he is eventually told by the immortal Vandal-Savage, the only surviving human, that Toyman was a simpleton who underestimated his own weapons, since Toyman assumed that Superman had been killed by his machine, not sent to the future. Corey Burton played Toyman here.
- In Justice League Unlimited, Toyman is a member of Grodd's Legion of Doom. He is prominently featured in the episode "Alive!", in which he becomes the pilot of the Legion of Doom's spaceship. When a riot erupts and divides the villains into two factions, he holds his own and defeats Killer Frost with a yo-yo. In the following Justice League Unlimited episode "Destroyer", the series finale, Toyman is briefly shown firing what appear to resemble nerf darts at Darkseid's henchmen. What makes these darts deadly is that they explode shortly after being fired. Bud Cort reprises him here.
[edit] Cultural references
The animated series Darkwing Duck features a reference to Toyman, the supervillain Quackerjack. There is a villain in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who called The Celestial Toymaker, he also uses toys for mass destruction.
The giant robot Hiro pilots when he first confonts a giant Metallo bears a close resemblance to the Super Robot G.Kaiser from the game Tech Romancer.
[edit] See Also
[edit] External links
| Superman | |
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| Creators: | Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster |
| Characters: | Superman (Clark Kent) • Lois Lane • Jimmy Olsen • Perry White • Jor-El • Ma Kent • Pa Kent • Lana Lang • Steel • Supergirl • Superboy (Kon-El) • Krypto |
| Villains: | Lex Luthor • Bizarro • Brainiac • Cyborg Superman • Darkseid • Doomsday • Eradicator • General Zod • Metallo • Mongul • Mr. Mxyzptlk • Parasite • Toyman • Ultra-Humanite • Intergang • Phantom Zone villains |
| Locations: |
Daily Planet • Fortress of Solitude • Krypton • Metropolis • Smallville |
| Storylines: | Relationship of Clark Kent and Lois Lane • The Death of Superman • Alternate versions of Superman • Publications • Superman in popular culture |
| Miscellanea: | Kryptonite • Powers • Symbol |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1943 introductions | DC Comics supervillains | Fictional Americans in DC Comics | Fictional Japanese | Fictional orphans | Fictional toymakers and toy inventors | Fictional characters with mental illness
