GUND was founded in 1898 by Adolf Gund as a small toy and novelty company. In 1925, Gund sold the company to Jacob Swedlin for $1,500. The company began a period of rapid expansion. The company was the first to produce licensed plushes of cartoon characters, and entered a licensing agreement with Disney in 1947. By 1969, the company was relying heavily on Disney merchandise for the majority of its sales, until Herbert Raiffe, Swedlin’s son-in-law, became the company’s president. Raiffe moved the focus away from licensed toys to focus more on internal design. In 2008, GUND was purchased by Enesco, producer of the Precious Moments figurines. The company went through a rebranding in 2015 with a new logo. In 2018, Spin Master acquired GUND from Enesco for $79.1 million.