Roger Sweet | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur,inventor |
| Known for | Originator, creator ofHe-Man |
Roger Sweet is an Americandesigner. He grew up inAkron,Ohio and graduated fromMiami University inOxford, Ohio and theInstitute of Design inChicago, Illinois. He served as a lead designer atMattel throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s and worked extensively on theMasters of the Universe toy line. Before working for Mattel, Sweet held design positions withWalter Dorwin Teague Associates, an industrial design firm, and other design firms. He worked on the accounts of such companies asBoeing,Rubbermaid,Hoover, andProcter & Gamble, and on such products as the interior of theBoeing 747 jumbo jet airliner, and theDowny andScope packages.
In 1976,Mattel's CEO Ray Wagner declined a request to produce atoyline ofaction figures based on the characters from theGeorge Lucas filmStar Wars.[1][2][a] Upon the commercial success of thefilm trilogy during the next few years and all related merchandise, Mattel attempted to launch several unsuccessful toylines, none of which captured the public's imagination or made a significant dent in the toy market.[1] These included:Kid Gallant, a medieval knight;Robin and the Space Hoods, a sci-fi figure; and the daredevilKenny Dewitt (pronounced "Can He Do It)?"
Roger Sweet was a lead designer for Mattel's Preliminary Design Department throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s.[1][2] According to his bookMastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea, Sweet made He-Man with the idea that the character's simplicity would make it effective: "this was a powerful figure that could be taken anywhere and dropped into any context because he had a generic name: He-Man!"[1][3][b]
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