Elliot Handler daughter, Barbara, who was the namesake of Barbie dolls; and a son, Kenneth (who died of a brain tumor in 1994) who was the namesake of Ken dolls. While a struggling art student and designer of light fixtures, Handler partnered with Harold Matson to design a realistic-looking miniature piano that received roughly 300,000 orders; however, they mispriced the product and lost a dime on each one produced. Mattel received its name from business partners Harold Matt Matson and Elliot Handler in 1945. Elliot's wife, Ruth, took Matson's role when the Handlers bought his share in the late 1940's. Ruth Handler
Welly (toy company) Welly (toy company) Welly Die Casting Factory Limited is a manufacturer of die-cast toy cars and has been in the scale model business since 1979. The company's factories are located in Guangdong Province of China, and employ over 3000 workers. At the beginning of the 1980s, Welly mainly produced die-cast toy cars roughly 3 inches in length (approx. ). 4.75 inch die-cast toy cars (approx. ) were added later that decade. In the 1990s, the company developed models, then added 1:18 scale ones. Welly currently manufactures a wide range of scales for its customers, namely , , , 1:38, ,