Los Angeles, April 29 -- Creator of the popular He-Man action figure, Roger Sweet, has passed away. He was 91.

Roger Sweet died on Tuesday after a battle with dementia, Variety reported, citing information from TMZ.

Sweet was the lead designer for Mattel's Preliminary Design Department in the '70s and '80s. In 1976, Mattel turned down a deal to produce toys for "Star Wars," an offer that proved extremely lucrative for Cincinnati-based toy maker Kenner Products after "A New Hope" was released in 1977.

After the fact, Mattel struggled to launch a popular action figure based on original IP. Enter Sweet, who, in pursuit of a fresh idea, experimented by glueing a Big Jim action figure into a fighting stance and adding clay to its body for b...