Mattel Skip-Bo. Mattel purchased Fisher-Price, Inc. in 1993, Tyco Toys, Inc. (owners of the Matchbox and Dinky Toys brands) in 1997, and Pleasant Company (maker of the American Girl brand) in 1998. Mattel purchased The Learning Company in 1999 for $3.5 billion, but sold it in 2000 at a loss. The company had a $430.9 million net loss that year. Mattel earned the first grant for Disney Princess doll licenses in 2000. In December 2000, Mattel sued the band Aqua, saying their song "Barbie Girl" violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a
Product Architects, Inc. Product Architects, Inc. Product Architects Inc. is the parent company of Polar Bottle brand insulated sport water bottles and Half Twist lifestyle bottles. The company is based out of Boulder, Colorado where it assembles and ships all of its products. Robert Heiberger and Judy Amabile founded Product Architects Inc. in 1994. The pair, along with their five employees, ran the company from the garage of their home for a year before moving operations to an industrial park. The business acquired its first national buyer in the form of The Container Store in April 1995 and entered the sporting goods market