Judd Zebersky has described the early years of building Jazwares as an education unlike anything his legal training prepared him for. He landed in China in 1997 with no manufacturing background and spent months touring factories in remote parts of the country’s southern provinces. He was trying to learn an entire industry from the inside out, and the immersion was deliberate.

“I went to remote places in China on dirt roads where entire families get around on a single motorcycle,” Judd Zebersky said in a 2014 interview with Miami Law. “I visited toy factories throughout the south of China and immersed myself in the manufacturing, design, and engineering of toys.” By the time he returned, he understood injection molding, blow molding, and rotocasting, along with hair rooting techniques, design workflows, and engineering specifications that governed how a finished toy came together.

Licensing, Acquisitions, and a Viral Brand

Judd Zebersky structured Jazwares’ early growth around licensing agreements with major entertainment franchises, including Minecraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Fortnite. The model gave the company a steady pipeline of products tied to things kids were already excited about. Acquisitions expanded the reach further. Wicked Cool Toys joined in 2019, and Kellytoy followed in 2020, introducing Squishmallows to the Jazwares lineup.

Squishmallows grew into a cultural touchstone, largely through TikTok. The ultrasoft plush figures, each given a name, bio, and squishday, sold more than 100 million units in a single year at prices ranging from $5 to $30. Celebrity fans including Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian amplified the brand’s profile beyond what most toy lines achieve.

Zebersky received the South Florida Business Journal’s Ultimate CEOs recognition in 2024 and was listed among The Business Report’s Top 50 Entrepreneurs in 2023. He left the CEO role on March 20, 2026, with Jazwares operating in more than 100 countries with approximately 1,400 employees. See related link for more information.

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