Plaything with a twist leaps onto world stage
Tangle toy, created in S.F., to star in animated series
His eyes alight with messianic fervor, his silver hair flowing to his shoulders, Richard X Zawitz expounded on why the Tangle, the handheld, twistable plaything he invented decades ago, is far more than just a whimsical, curvy toy.
It’s a manifestation of essential energy, a symbol of eternity, a boon to the human race, he said, as he showed off humansized tangle sculptures at the South San Francisco headquarters of Tangle Creations.
“Over the years, I discovered I have some sort of magic object,” he said. “There’s no getting around it. What else could it be? How else could a twisty plastic noodle last 40 years in this world?”
Indeed, the Tangle has tapped into many trends while selling 250 million copies, according to the company. A chrome version was among the first art toys sold by New York’s MoMA. It has FDA endorsement as therapeutic for stress relief, hand therapy and smoking cessation. Michael Jackson posed for Italian Vogue wearing an unfurled 4-foot Tangle slung across his chest like a bandoleer. It got a boost from the national fascination with fidget toys. It’s a TikTok darling. And soon it will star in an animated series.
“It’s tactile, visual and very sensory,” said Chris Byrne, an independent toy consultant also known as the Toy Guy. “It’s endlessly fascinating when you play with it. It can be very meditative.”
Zawitz, 75, who exudes a buoyant energy, feels that now the pliable coil is on the cusp of an even bigger emergence onto the world stage, where it can help manifest peace through creativity.
Back in the flowerchild days (“I’m a classic character out of the ’60s,” he says), Zawitz was a sculptor and student of Asian art and philosophy who became fascinated with circles, spirals, waves and curves. That led to his invention of the Tangle. It started out as a walnut-wood sculpture, 3-feet long when opened end to end, made of several 90-degree joints that could be manipulated.
“Nobody could take their hands off it,” he said. “I had an epiphany
that I could make this thing for everybody.”
So, in 1980, he created a handheld Tangle out of plastic and a larger chrome Tangle sold at museum shops and high-end department stores. His dad ran a business buying and selling used hotel furniture at Fifth and Bryant in the city.
Zawitz, who had moved here from his native Massachusetts after college in Hawaii and several years traveling in Asia, worked there all day and then would stay up all night with a crew assembling Tangle pieces manufactured in China.
In 1989, the company behind Slinky became its distributor and sold 500,000 to Kmart. Mattel later licensed it for construction toys, although they failed to gain traction. McDonald’s distributed it with Happy Meals. Walmart showcased it at checkout lanes, selling 9 million. Zuru Toys, an aggressive new toy company based in Hong Kong, marketed it until a year ago.
Along the way, Zawitz had to fend off toy pirates who ripped off his designs.
“Fortunately, the gods were smiling,” he said. “My first year in business, I met a guy in Hong Kong who told me I needed a patent on my product in Taiwan, so I applied and got it. I was copied so much that I began getting copyrights, patents and trademarks all over the world.”
Now three generations of the Zawitz family — Richard, his son, daughter-in-law and grandson — run the company in a remodeled old warehouse that is half art gallery for Zawitz’s sculptures and an impressive collection of Asian art. They’re adding new ideas like light-up balls and illuminated active wear.
And there are lots of different Tangles in all sizes, textures and colors.
Zawitz’s titles are Tanglemaster, sculptor and thaumaturgist, or magician.
“As someone who believes in metaphysical things, alchemical transformations, I turned plastic into gold,” he said of
“As someone who believes in metaphysical things, alchemical transformations, I turned plastic into gold.” Richard X Zawitz, Tangle inventor
the Tangle’s success.
Tangle may get blockbuster status thanks to a licensing deal with Canada’s Wow Unlimited Media for an animated series tentatively titled — what else? — “Tangle.”
“Tangle is a phenomenon that hasn’t received the attention it deserves,” said Michael Hirsh, CEO of Wow, whose pedigree includes animations of Barbie, Octonauts and a televised version of Dreamworks’ “Madagascar.” “Richard has imbued it with the Taoist philosophy and insights he studied as a young man when building it. It manages to touch on so many aspects that are important to kids’ television today.”
While he doesn’t want to tip his hand about the show’s premise, Hirsh said, “We’re going to capture the flavor of Tangle as being a problemsolving device that also is imbued with a sense of what’s right in the universe.”
Production timetables mean the show’s release is a couple of years off.
Research increasingly shows that fidget toys like Tangle can help people improve their concentration and cope with with issues such as ADHD, autism and impulse control.
“Tangle toys just move gently in your hands to mold into different shapes without becoming the focus of your attention,” said Roland Rotz, a clinical psychologist who co-wrote “Fidget to Focus,” a book about how performing repetitive sensory-motor activities in the background can help people improve attention and other cognitive abilities.
“That visual motor event is not unlike doodling,” Rotz said. “This background stimulant assists your ability to listen and pay attention. It works similar to how meditation works.”
Zawitz, who emanates a Willy Wonka-like exuberance with a touch of Ram Dass-like mysticism, envisions his own version of the golden ticket. Called the Missing Link Contest, it would be a global treasure hunt (via geocaching) for a very special Tangle with a $1 million prize.
“I want to create a fad bigger than Rubik’s Cube,” he said. “Not only is Tangle a fun thing that can reach anybody without any instruction, but it is extremely beneficial to the human race.”