Meanwhile, researchers at Advanced Ceramics Research in Tucson, Arizona, are developing rapid prototyping to create replacement bones, with funding from America's Office of Naval Research.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

Harris offered the Gantners a salary and a cut of a new firm, Toy Craze, that he would create to market Crazy Bones.

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Collins, who owns 85% of the company, was able to call on his earlier experience at PepsiCo and McDonald's (where he was a regional vice president) to create a simple franchising concept: bare-bones stores run by owners who live within an hour of the store.

FORBES: Raw Deal