The series follows the adventures of Bob the Builder, a general contractor, specialising in masonry. Bob's catchphrase is "Can we fix it?", to which the other characters respond with "Yes we can!" The series originally used stop-motion from 1999 to 2009, but later used CGI animation starting with the spin-off series Ready, Steady, Build! (2010-2011) The British proprietors of the series and Thomas & Friends sold the enterprise in 2011 to US toy-maker Mattel for $680 million.