His character sketches initially showed him with a moustache but this made him seem too old for the target audience of preschool children and so he was then restyled as clean-shaven.

As stop-motion animation requires frequent repositioning of the models, Bob was given large feet for stability.

In 2014, the toy company Mattel bought the rights to the character and gave him a Hollywood-style makeover, making him seem younger and slimmer and more realistically proportioned.

Bob has five main machines that help him out: Scoop the backhoe loader, Muck the self-loading dump truck, Dizzy the cement mixer, Lofty the mobile crane and Roley the road roller.

[8] In January 2024, Mattel announced that a film adaptation of the animated character will be produced by Jennifer Lopez and Benny Medina.