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
Clover (toy company) but Clovers toys were still not a hit. Instead it was Bandai who capitalized on the show by selling model-kits that became extremely popular. Gundam had started the Real Robot trend which changed the focus to "realistic" robots instead of the "super robots" which Clover were used to making. They tried to adapt to the new market by sponsoring shows such as "Xabungle", "Dunbine", and "Srungle" (the first 2 being directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino) but folded in 1983. Clover (toy company) Clover was a Japanese toy company founded in 1973. It closed in 1983. Today it is mainly