Toyman

The Toyman is a villain of the DC Universe and is primarily an enemy of the superhero Superman. Though there have been many incarnations of the character, a common thread between them all is that they possess a genius intellect for creating all sorts of inventions (most of which are dangerous) and an obsession with toys. One version even briefly became an ally of Superman, building him a robot to fly into space to destroy a meteor heading for Earth.

Winslow Schott

Toyman
Real Name	Winslow Schott
First Appearance	Action Comics (Vol. 1) #64 (September, 1943)
Creators	Don Cameron, Ed Dobrotka
Team Affliations	The Superman Revenge Squad, The Society, the Injustice League, Super Foes
Alias	None
Base of Operations	Metropolis
Powers	None
Skills and Abilities	Brilliant Inventor and Engineer, Scientific Genius
Tools and Weapons	Countless Lethal or Dangerous Toys

Toyman (Winslow P. Schott) was a supervillain and thief who used super-powered toys to commit robberies and is an enemy of Superman.

Origin

A toymaker who turned to a life of crime, Winslow Schott learned to use his innovative toy designs to make deadly weapons.

Golden/Silver Age

Even as a child, Winslow was a talented toymaker, creating a red and blue balsa-wood airplane that he was very proud of. Unfortunately for Winslow, the neighborhood bully Chester Y. Dunholtz stole the plane from him, which had a big effect on Schott and seeing the advantages of theft combined with the pain of being bullied, may have been what inspired him to take on the identity of the Toyman. When he grew up, he demonstrated his talent for toymaking, even being able to develop a Superman toy capable of flying, which caught the eye of Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

The Toyman first encountered Superman while going on a crime spree with his custom designed toys. He sent letters to reporter Lois Lane so that she would be present for each crime. In his first job, he robbed a bank with toy soldiers and a super-powered pogo stick and on his second, he created a toy firetruck that sent a millionaire's penhouse on fire, which allowed him to rob it in the chaos he created. Though the Toyman was able to outwit the authorities for the first two jobs, he found himself thwarted by Superman on his third robbery. Shortly afterwards, the Toyman kidnapped Lois Lane and was about to murder her with poisoned dolls when Superman arrives, saves Lois and gets Toyman sent to prison.

He became a recurring and tenacious enemy of Superman, often teaming up with the Prankster and even Lex Luthor in order to get the best of Superman, but always failed. Eventually, he decided to go straight and give up on crime. After a new Toyman named Jack Nimball emerged, Schott decided to help Superman fight this new villain who was using his old identity to commit crime, due to the fact that he was angered that someone was stealing his old modus operandi. Later, Bizarro ruined an inventor's exhibition that he was participating in and believing it was Superman who ruined the affair, he vowed revenge, even killing Jack Nimball with a toy bird.

Later, Schott plotted against his own childhood bully, Chester Dunholtz, in an effort to regain his favorite childhood toy. However, after his defeat, he learned his beloved childhood toy was long destroyed by time and poor care. His last caper prior involved trying to kill a man named H. H. Harmon, who had purchased all the rights to his toys. He spent the rest of his time in jail until the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, at which point his history was rewritten.

Post-Crisis

The Toyman after the Crisis on Infinite Earths

Like in the last incarnation, Winslow, as a young boy living in Britain, had a knack for inventing toys, first making a small red and blue toy airplane, which was quickly stolen by another boy. This action stuck with Schott and made him realize that crime could pay. When he grew up he became the owner and founder of the Schott's Toys toy company. Winslow's only goal was to make the best mechanical toys he could with his wife, whom he loved very much. He was later approached by a man named Walter Dunhill (who worked for LexCorps, a company owned by the billionaire Lex Luthor) who had a business proposition that promised to make "bring happiness to millions of children all over the world" that his wife convinced him to decline. Three weeks after Schott turned down the offer, his wife was killed in a car accident, prompting Schott to accept Dunhill's offer. He later learned that his toy designs were being repurposed and weaponized and that his company has been taken over. Dunhill told Schott that legally who couldn't undo the deal and to simply accept a generous retirement package. Soon after, Schott murdered Dunhill with an exploding teddy bear.

Winslow then took on the identity of The Toyman and attempted to assassinate Lex Luthor with lethal toys, until he was defeated by Superman. Toyman was arrested, but later freed by Intergang, a group of Metropolis' most technologically advanced criminals, in order to build traps into their lair.

Toyman was soon arrested and some time later, escaped prison and prompted by a voice in his head (that he identified as his mother) he began abducting children, including Adam Grant, the son of Cat Grant, a colleague of Clark Kent. Superman eventually caught him and brought him to justice, but not before he murdered the children he kidnapped and dumped their bodies in an alley in Suicide Slum. Cat Grant considered murdering him in retaliation but in the end decided against it. She did, at a later date, attempt to gain some into why Schott became a child murderer, and Schott claimed that it was the children's fault.

Following his arrest when working with Intergang again, Schott was approached by a toy company who wanted to make a Superman toy line and wanted his permission to make a Toyman toy. However, Schott is enraged to find his toys are extremely unpopular and escaped from prison to kill to the head of the toy company, which he did. Afterwards, he began to hear the voice of his mother telling him to take revenge on the children.

Toyman would go onto team up with the villainous Cyborg Superman, which resulted in Superman being split into two energy based entities for a time. After Toyman was defeated once more, Superman worked toward getting the Toyman rehabilitated, and even began making toys for disadvantaged children.

Hoping to help with his sanity, the superheroine Zatanna visited the Toyman and used her magic powers in an attempt to heal his mind. Unfortunately, it made his madness worse, resulting in him kidnapping a number of children. Zatanna was able to clear his mind with Superman's help, but unfortunately the building they were in collapsed, seemingly killing the Toyman, though no body was found.