Gimmick Goons Prove Crime Ain't Fun!

A pair of mirthful menaces were the Puppet Masters. The Earth-One version, aka Jordan Weir, used robotic puppets with weaponry although primarily he employed mind control. This brought him to the attention of Green Lantern as Weir attacked Coast City, before becoming employed with Doctor Destiny which led to a battle with the Justice League. 

His cosmic twin, Dmitri, as the Puppet Master of Earth-Two used a thought serum to control unwitting subjects to further his criminal schemes. As he was in Gotham City, this led to his encountering Batman and Robin. Neither his serum nor his own more primitive puppets could salvage victory from his impending defeat.

Other villains using children's playthings to advance their criminal careers included:

• The Jokers, arch-adversaries of the Batman on Earths One and Two.
• The Pranksters, Oswald Loomis of Earth-One and Earth-Two, both frequent foes of the Supermen.
• The Toymen, Winslow Schott of Earth-One and Earth-Two, also frequent foes of the Supermen.
• The second Toymen, Jack Nimble of Earth-One and Al "Trickster" Fresco of Earth-Two, minor Superman foes.
• The Toymaster of Earth-One who opposed Robby Reed and the Jester of Earth-Two who fought the original.