See Toms River Family's Massive Christmas Inflatables Collection

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It started — as all good Christmas stories do — with Santa Claus.

This was not your average Santa-in-the-mall Claus, however. This Santa was 15 feet tall. And he commanded a special place on the front lawn of the Neumann family's home in Toms River. Over the years, Santa was joined by a few more inflatables. Some were Disney characters. Some were members of the Peanuts gang. Suddenly, they had a whole gaggle.

"Anything we see that we like, that we think is pretty cool, we get," said Jared Neumann, who estimates the total count at between 90 and 100 of the inflatables. And they share all of them with neighbors and people far and wide at their home on Basswood Hollow Drive, off New Hampshire Avenue in the township.

Jared Neumann said the collection started small, but really took off about four years ago, when his son, Nick, said he wanted to help with the display.

"He can walk around the yard and tell you when we got each one, and probably where, too," Jared Neumann said.

"When I was 12 years old, from the beginning of November through Thanksgiving we'd buy one every week," said Nick, who's now 16. Now the father and son (daughters Taylor, 20, and Jordyn, 13, aren't as into the display as their brother, Jared said) shop the post-Christmas sales to add to their collection. This year, they've added a 20-foot snowman and Jared said a 20-foot penguin will be joining the display in the coming days. Neither has a favorite among the inflatable display, however.

"I love seeing how other people love seeing it," said Nick, who often tries to go up and say hello to people who stop by to see the display. Sometimes they get scared off, father and son both said.

"We're not scary people," Nick said with a laugh.

Jared Neumann said it took about 23 hours this year to set up the display, securing each inflatable to the ground, over the course of four days. He and Nick used to do it on the Sunday following Thanksgiving, but this year Nick had to work, so they started putting up the inflatables on Thanksgiving and Jared finished it Sunday evening.

"I did as much as I could until I had to go to work (on Sunday)," Nick said.

Keeping them secured is a task — especially if the weather becomes iffy. Too much wind can put the inflatables as risk of tears or pulling loose, as happened the other day when gusting winds his giant elephant free and knocked it into some of the other inflatables.

"I can check the weather on my phone," Jared Neumann said. "Double-digit winds make me nervous." He can shut off the power to the inflatables through an app on his phone, which makes managing it a little easier. "I got caught off-guard the other day, though," he said.

The display is inflated most days, as long as the weather is good, and they welcome having people come by to check it out. Jared said on Saturday there was a line of cars from his street backed up almost to New Hampshire Avenue.

"The biggest part of it is my son -- he really gets a kick out of doing it," Jared Neumann said. Nick even had him set up a Facebook page for it: Neumann Family Christmas Inflatables.

The Santa that started it all is gone now — "It finally gave out last year after 15 years," Jared Neumann said — but, as Santa so often seems to do, he's left a legacy of a warm family tradition, one they love to share. Take a look at the video below, and a second video by Mark Grimes, which has been shared more than 8,000 times.

If you go by, stop and say hello. (Just be mindful of their neighbors!) On Monday, Jared added a Twitter account, where he said he will post updates if the weather forces him to deflate the scene. You can follow that account, Neumann Family Inflatables, for updates.

Photos and video by Jared Neumann, published with permission