Bullyland AG is a German–based manufacturing company founded in 1974 and based in Spraitbach (

Ostalbkreis The Ostalbkreis is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Schwäbisch Hall (district), Schwäbisch Hall, Ansbach ( ...

), known worldwide as a manufacturer of hand-painted collectors' models and figurines. Bullyland has offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, its own production facilities in Germany and Eastern Europe and a worldwide distribution network.

Product history

Bullyland's first product ranges in 1974 included Tip & Tap, mascots of the 1974 Football World Cup, which was held in the then

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Further successful licences soon followed: ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', ''

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

'', '' The Pink Panther Show'', '' Alf'', and others. They also manufactured the

Astrosnik Astrosniks, commonly known as Sniks, are Extraterrestrials in fiction, anthropomorphic space aliens created in 1975 by the German company Bullyland to market collectible toys, especially plastic figurines, designed with a retro-futurism, retro-fu ...

s figurines. Since 1977, Bullyland has also been a

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

licensee. Creating Mickey and

Minnie As a first name, Minnie is a feminine given name. It can be a diminutive (hypocorism) of Minerva, Winifred, Wilhelmina, Willemina, Winona, Margaret, Hermione, Jasmine, Mary, Miriam, Maria, Marie, Naomi, Miranda, Clementine, Dominique, Dom ...

figures. The factory's other major current licences include

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

, '' Pucca'', ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'', Wendy and the ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

''. In addition to these licensed ranges, Bullyland also produces a wide range of model animals – wild animals, farm animals, marine animals, prehistoric animals and others – as well as collectors' figurines such as cowboys and Indians, knights and fantasy figures. Besides the principal ranges of models and figurines, the company also produces plastic money boxes, drinking straws, keyrings and soft Latex animals.

Manufacturing

Bullyland uses in its manufacture a newly developed material created by its own research, and thus claims to be the only manufacturer in the world that uses neither dangerous

phthalate Phthalates ( ), or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, i.e., substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. They are used primarily to soften ...

softeners nor PVC for model and figurine production.

Museum

In 1998 the company opened a museum in Spraitbach, displaying the whole range of products from the beginning, along with an adventure garden. The museum closed on July 1, 2009.

External links

Bullyland website
Manufacturing companies of Germany Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Toy companies of Germany Figurine manufacturers 1973 establishments in West Germany German companies established in 1973 German brands Toy companies established in 1973 Ostalbkreis {{Toy-company-stub