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Schylling Inc. (originally Schylling Associates Inc.) is an American toy designer, manufacturer and distributor based in North Andover, Massachusetts. Founded in 1975 by Jack Schylling, the company is known for tin toy reproductions, classic playthings such as jack-in-the-boxes and sock monkeys, and proprietary brands including the LAVA Lamp, Big Wheel and the NeeDoh range of sensory squeeze toys.^[1][2]

The company traces its origins to 1975, when Harvard graduate Jack Schylling obtained a street vendor’s licence in Boston and began selling a mechanical wind-up flying bird toy (ornithopter) at Harvard Square and Faneuil Hall. According to Schylling, the design was inspired by a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci, with the toy using a rubber band to flap its wings.^[3][4]

Because the bird could not fly on windy days, Schylling expanded the line with classic and old-fashioned toys he had loved as a child and recruited his brothers David and Tom to help run the operation. David Schylling handled business development and marketing, while Tom Schylling became chief financial officer.^[4][2] In the early 1980s the company began contracting Asian manufacturers to produce items to its own designs, eventually building a line of tin-toy reproductions in the spirit of the “golden age” of toys of the 1930s to 1970s.^[4][5]

By the early 2000s, then headquartered in Rowley, Massachusetts, Schylling reported approximately US$20 million in annual sales and had secured a licence to produce tin toys and collectibles tied to the Harry Potter franchise. Its jack-in-the-boxes, sock monkeys and painted tin vehicles became signature items, and one of its jack-in-the-boxes was featured in the Will Ferrell film Elf (2003).^[4]

The company combined its own designs with licensed properties such as Thomas & Friends, Curious George, Babar, Uglydoll and The Wizard of Oz, and acted as a North American specialty-channel distributor for brands including Lego, Brio, Sea-Monkeys, Erector and Moshi Monsters.^[6][7]

In 2007, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Schylling recalled around 66,000 spinning tops and 4,700 tin pails decorated with Thomas & Friends, Curious George and other graphics, because surface paint on the wooden handles exceeded the federal lead-paint limit.^[8] Further voluntary recalls followed later that year and in 2008, including additional spinning tops, a Duck Family wind-up toy and a “Robot 2000” collectable tin robot.^[9]

In 2010, Schylling agreed to pay a US$200,000 civil penalty to settle CPSC allegations that it had imported toys with surface paint above the 600 ppm legal lead limit then in force and had failed to report the non-compliant toys to the Commission in a timely manner.^[10]

On 8 August 2013, Schylling Associates was acquired by the Boston-area private-equity firm Crofton Capital LLC and the publicly traded business development company Gladstone Investment Corporation, in partnership with toy-industry executive Frank O’Connell. Financial terms were not disclosed.^[11][12]

Paul Weingard, then Schylling’s head of product development, was named president of the company. Founder Jack Schylling moved into an advisory and creative-consultant role, while David Schylling continued in business development and Tom Schylling remained CFO.^[4][6]

On 2 January 2018, Schylling acquired the LAVA Lamp brand from Lifespan Brands, including the worldwide trademark rights to both the LAVA name and the iconic shape of the lamp. The company had been a distributor of LAVA products since 2009.^[13]

In September 2022, Schylling acquired the Big Wheel brand, the low-riding plastic tricycle originally introduced in 1969 by Louis Marx and Company and inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2009. Schylling relaunched the line with refreshed colours and the Big Spin and Speedster models.^[14][15]

In October 2024, the Wenham Museum in Wenham, Massachusetts, opened Tin Toy Story, an exhibition featuring more than 100 tin toys from Jack Schylling’s personal collection of vintage and antique pieces alongside items produced by the company.^[5] In June 2025, Schylling marked its 50th anniversary, with chief executive Paul Weingard noting that demand for its NeeDoh sensory toys had doubled the company’s annual sales between 2024 and 2025.^[15][16]

Schylling’s owned brands include the LAVA Lamp, Big Wheel, the sock-monkey line and NeeDoh, a range of soft, stretchy sensory squeeze toys launched in 2017. Originally a single stress-ball-style item, NeeDoh expanded into dozens of shapes and textures, and in late 2025 and early 2026 a 24-door advent calendar version went viral on social media, leading Schylling to ration orders to distributors after selling through eight months of inventory by mid-February 2026.^[15][17]

The company is widely associated with reproductions of mechanical tin toys, kaleidoscopes, harmonicas, jack-in-the-boxes and wind-up vehicles. Jack Schylling sourced inspiration from a personal collection of thousands of vintage toys, and the company’s mechanical, hand-cranked products are sold principally through independent specialty toy and gift retailers.^[4][15]

Schylling has produced toys under licence from properties including Thomas & Friends, Curious George, Babar and The Wizard of Oz, and has held licences from Mattel for View-Master reels and from Fisher-Price for retro reproductions such as the Chatter Phone.^[6][7] The company also distributes Sea-Monkeys in the United States and Canada under an agreement with Transcience LLC.^[18]

• Official website