The FATHER of Imaginext.
Imaginext was Fisher-Price’s answer to Playmobil. At the time, Playmobil was doing exceptionally well, and FP wanted to compete in that space of playsets with figures and accessories.
Rescue Heroes was the main line in the boys division and Dave DuBois was the lone designer developing what would become Imaginext. One of the driving features was the fully customizable design, so that you could build the set as it appeared on the box, make your own, or combine it with any number of Imaginext sets.
A great deal of planning out the panels and connectors (see 1st patent image) resulted in kids being able to combine any number of playset themes together. With the growing number of licenses being added to the line, the build-it-yourself aspect faded, and it became more focused on innovative play features (see 2nd patent image).
Here are some links to the Imaginext patents filed by David.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US6746297B2/en?inventor=David+M.+DuBois
https://patents.google.com/patent/US8591284B2/en?inventor=David+M.+DuBois
