Toyman (Winslow Schott)

Revision as of 18:47, 24 September 2005

A bespectacled, bulbous-nosed villain who "invents weird automatic toys ... to help him execute bizarre crimes" (S No. 60/3, Sep/Oct 1949: "Superman Fights the Super-Brain!"). He is "a crafty criminal with the face of a saint and an adding machine for a heart" (S No. 41/1. Jan/Feb 1947: "Playthings of Peril!"), a "cunning creator of crime-toys" (S No. 63/2, Mar/Apr 1950: "The Wind-up Toys of Peril!") who is "publicity-mad as well as money-mad" (Act No. 64, Sep 1943: "The Terrible Toyman!") and whose "tenderest spot --[is] his vanity" (S No. 63/2, Mar/Apr 1950: "The Wind-up Toys of Peril!"). Action Comics No. 64 describes him as

    a wily old man who has devoted his life to  
    the most intricate and amazing toys
    you've ever seen --and has learned so well
    to make them do his bidding that he [has
    become] a national menace! (Sep 1943:
    "The Terrible Toyman!")

In September 1943 a "queer old maker of toys" pepares to embark on a truly astonishing career in crime. "People have laughed," muses the villain aloud, "thinking me a harmless old eccentric! Little do they suspect that I have become the world's cleverest toymaker for reasons of my own! Riches and power shall be mine because of my ingenius [sic] toys! Then it will be my turn to laugh at the world! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

In the days that follow, the Toyman amd his henchmen commit two spectacular crimes, first robbing a bank by employing an army of ingenious toy soldiers to fire a barrage of sleeping gas into the bank building, then looting an armored truck of its cargo currency by using a toy armored truck, filled with high explosives, to blast the money-laden vehicle over the side of a bridge. Superman thwarts the Toyman's third robbery and apprehends his henchmen, but the villain escapes to his secret subterranean workshop and takes Lois Lane captive when she stumbles upon its location. He is about to annihilate her with his collection of radio-controlled dolls ("The only unpleasant thing about them," notes the Toyman dryly, "is that their fingers are sharpened to needle points and dipped in poison! The effect is swift, once your skin is pierced!"), when Superman arrives on the scene in the nick of time to apprehend the toyman and rescue Lois from his clutches.

"I'm sure the warden of State Prison will appreciate your peculiar talents, Toyman!" remarks Superman as he carries the villain away to prison.

"I'll stay there just long enough to think of a plan to destroy you," retorts the villain, "and then I'll be back! How the world will laugh when Superman is defeated by a toy! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" (Act No. 64: "The Terrible Toyman!").

Bold textSuperman Cartoon

Hiding behind an unchanging doll's mask, Winslow Schott, a.k.a. the Toyman, is one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Charging a million dollars a hit, Toyman employs an arsenal of innocent-looking but deadly toys to take out his victims. Acid-squirting water guns, radio-controlled grenade cars and Derringer-toting Jack-in-the Boxes have all been used by this sicko at one time or another to eliminate his prey. 

Originally the son of a gentle old toymaker, young Winslow led a happy life in his father's old-fashioned toy shop. But the shop was funded by Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim, who used it, against the old toymaker's protests, as a front for his numbers ring. When the shop was busted, Mannheim skipped out, leaving old Mr. Schott to take the rap. Sentenced to prison, the old man died in jail as young Winslow was bounced from foster home to foster home, "the little broken toy nobody loved." This turned Winslow cold and hateful. Adopting the identity of Toyman, the villain now seeks justice for his unhappy childhood by bringing misery to innocent people with his deadly toys.