Schleich is a German producer of handpainted toy

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...

s and accessories. The company is headquartered in Germany. The traditional market for Schleich products is

Mainland Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, with half their sales in Germany. The toys are sold worldwide and are quite popular in the United Kingdom, France, Australia and North America

History

Schleich was founded by Friedrich Schleich in 1935. Its figurines were first released in the 1950s with the development, production and marketing of comic figurines such as

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

and

the Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

. In the early 1980s they added animal figurines and The Muppet Show, Muppet characters to their range of products. Until the end of 2006, Schleich was a family-owned business. It was then taken over by the British investment company HgCapital,Playthings article on Schleich takeover
/ref> who paid 165 million euro for an 80% share.

Design, production and materials

The design of products and the creation of tooling is mostly in-house. Production is at the German headquarters and in production facilities in foreign countries, with the figures being hand-painted in China, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, Bosnia, and Romania. In 2006, Schleich had about 250 employees and a yearly sales figure of around 80 million Euro. Schleich toys are made of polyvinyl chloride, PVC, commonly used in the construction industry for plumbing water lines in homes and businesses. They also add a softener developed by BASF called Hexamoll® DINCH®. This softener is not only used in toys but also for food packaging and for use in the medical field for blood product packaging and breathing tubes. Production modeling can take as little as 2 weeks for a simple dog. A horse will typically take 3 weeks and dinosaurs can take up to 8 full weeks to model.

Product lines

The current line of figurines now includes six major brands owned by Schleich: * Wildlife, Wild Life * Farm World * Horse Club * Dinosaurs * Bayala * Eldrador Creatures They also have a licensing agreement to produce smurfs. In the past, Schleich has licensed brands including Marvel Comics, Marvel, DC Comics, DC, The Walt Disney Company, Disney and Peanuts. The first major success for Schleich was JOPO, which were bendy figures with long legs. From there, they met success with their first launch of smurf figures. Since then, they have worked with a variety of brands to bring characters to life. But Schleich's overall success today is a result of its animal figures.

Schleich flagship stores

After a pop-up store in Charlotte, North Carolina proved popular in 2018, Schleich began partnerships with major toy retailers in various locations in the United States in 2019, creating in-store Schleich flagship stores. The first of these were in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills and San Mateo, California, San Mateo, California, and Kingston, Massachusetts. Maziply Toys in Kingston, MA is the oldest flagship store in the United States. Schleich plant Herlikofen

Headquarters

Schleich is headquartered in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany.

Notes

External links

* {{Superhero toy lines Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Manufacturing companies established in 1935 German brands Toy companies of Germany Figurine manufacturers Toy companies established in 1935 German companies established in 1935