Bernard Loomis (July 4, 1923 – June 2, 2006) was an American toy developer and marketer who introduced some of the world's most notable brands including Chatty Cathy, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Baby Alive, and Strawberry Shortcake, but perhaps his biggest marketing success was bringing a then-unknown film property called Star Wars to the toy shelves.
The Hot Wheel series is the reason why Loomis was dubbed by writer David Owen "The Man Who Invented Saturday Morning" back in 1988.
He helped develop and market several popular brands, including The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Play-Doh, Baby Alive, and others.
When the movie came out in 1977, there were no toys connected to Star Wars, so Loomis pursued the license from Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm.
[2] In 1981, Loomis founded the Manufacturing and Design (MAD) group at General Mills, which was responsible for developing new toy properties and strengthening existing ones.
MAD launched a deal with American Greetings to develop and license properties such as Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears.