The Incredible Crash Dummies

"The Incredible Crash Dummies" is a line of action figures styled after the eponymous crash test dummies first popularized in a public service advertising campaign of the late 1980s, to educate people on the safety of wearing seat belts. The toys were first released by Tyco Toys in the early 1990s and discontinued in 2001. From 2004 on however, a new series of animated shorts involving the crash dummies was produced and the action figures subsequently revived under the Hot Wheels brand, another subdivision of Mattel.

Main features

The Crash Dummies are anthropomorphic action figures modelled after the mannequins used in automobile collision simulations. Each one generally has two "impact buttons" on their torsos that, when pushed, will spring their limbs from their bodies.

The toys mostly focused on a single body type, which featured two chest buttons- the top button caused the head and arms to separate, and the bottom button forced the legs to come off. Each arm and leg could also be separated further. This body type did have problems, however, in that the small metal clips inside the bodies which held the limbs on would sometimes break. Further, the tabs which held the limbs on the bodies were made from an unreliable plastic and, thus, were prone to breakage. Other bodies, however, focused on character-specific features and, while retaining the removable limbs (each would pull off at the mid-point), the button would activate some other feature (i.e. Daryl's spinning head, Spare Tire's "bug-out" eyes, ears, and tongue).

A set of vehicles was also released which could then be used to simulate the car crashes as seen in the ads of the original crash test dummies. Among others, these vehicles include cars, jeeps, motorcycles and even airplanes. Each toy can break down in a similar manner as the Crash Dummies themselves and can then later be reassembled.

History

Generation 1: Vince & Larry

The original line of Crash Dummy toys centered on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Vince and Larry "spokesdummies" and other characters. Dummy suits used the characteristic solid colors and "caution" checkered stripes. The first generation was called "Vince & Larry, The Crash Dummies". Each toy was accompanied with a personalized biography card explaining the characteristics of each character. The first generation figures had the slogan "You Could Learn A Lot From A Dummy, Buckle Your Safety Belt!". After the first generation the slogan changed to "Don't You Be A Dummy. Buckle Your Safety Belt!". Later on as the characters developed, this line was added by the dummies saying, "And leave the crashing to us!"

Generation 2: The Incredible Crash Dummies

"The Incredible Crash Dummies" saw a departure from the NHTSA dummies, and the creation of a specific set of new heroes, Slick and Spin. Other characters carried over from the original series included Daryl, Spare Tire, and Hubcat & Bumper, the crash test cat and dog. Each character came equipped with his own accessories and special ability to spring apart. Others had customized vehicles to drive around in. The Crash Dummies' profession is to educate children on the dangers of traffic and the hazards of driving without a seat belt. According to the backstory, they spend their time at the Crash Test Facility improving safety of automobiles by means of elaborate crash simulations.

Generation 3: Pro-Tek Suits

The Junkbots were created as the primary antagonists to the Crash Dummies. They are four ruthless killing machines - the sinister leader Junkman and his henchmen Piston Head, Jack Hammer and Sideswipe - bent on destroying the Crash Dummies. Contrary to the original toys the Junkbots could not be blown apart(though parts were still removable), and they were mainly equipped with weapons intended to activate the triggers on the Crash Dummies' bodies. The junkbots were also supplied with their own set of vehicles, including a snow plower, a cannon and a chopper styled motorcycle. In this generation the Crash Dummies were released with bright colors, supposedly wearing "Pro-Tek" uniforms that made them stronger and faster.

Generation 4: Unreleased

On the back of packaging on later released figures were pictures showing figures to be released in the next series of toys. These were not released in the United States however; though in southern America they did get a limited release.

The Hot Wheels series

After purchasing Tyco Toys in 1998, Mattel revived the Crash Dummies line under the Hot Wheels toy brand. The release this time was similar to the original motif: living dummies crash-testing vehicles. The four Dummies were Crash, Crunch, Splice and Gyro. Unlike the first generation, each one suffered damage from crashes in a different way. Crash fell apart like the majority of the original figures, Crunch's head could be bashed into his body, Splice split in two whenever he was involved in a crash, and Gyro's upper and lower halves spun in opposite directions.

Related media

Film and television

In 1993, a special half-hour television movie called "The Incredible Crash Dummies" was produced. The animated short was entirely composed of computer generated imagery and centered on the adventures of Slick and Spin. A fellow Dummy named Ted has been chosen to use a new, indestructible torso module (Torso-9000), but his head is mixed up with an evil dummy's head, leading to the birth of Junkman. Slick and Spin try to free the kidnapped Dr. Zub from Junkman before the villain can extract the knowledge of how to mass-produce the torso. It was later released on video and sold with the "Ted" action figure from the movie as well as a second edition recolored Junkman.

In 2004, a series of "Crash Dummies" animated shorts were commissioned for the FOX network and produced by 4Kids Entertainment. About a year later after it first aired, the graphics of the shorts were changed. The characters looked slightly darker, while the frame rate of the shorts were slightly slower. In this series, the dummies were named Crash, Splice, Crunch, and Gyro. In fall 2005, they were replaced by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shorts.

Video games

A video game also called "The Incredible Crash Dummies" was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and published by Acclaim Entertainment in 1993 for Super Nintendo and the NES. The game was ported to numerous systems including the Sega Genesis console and the Amiga computer.

In the game, the player takes control of Slick in a storyline loosely tied in with the animated movie. The crash dummy is sent on a quest to recover the Torso 9000 and defeat the Junkman. The game adopts a traditional side-scrolling playing style in which each level must be finished from left to right and Junkman's minions defeated along the way. Whenever Slick suffers damage he loses a limb, until he has none left and dies. The loss of limbs does not otherwise affect gameplay.

In total there are sixteen levels to complete divided into four areas, each of which must be completed under a specified amount of time. To defend himself, Slick comes equipped with spanners he can throw at his enemies, although their supply is limited. At the end of each area a boss character must be fought and, when successfully completed, a bonus stage can be entered. In the bonus stage the player drives a crash test vehicle and rakes up bonus points as the speed rises.

Master System, Game Boy and Game Gear games of the same name were also created. Unlike the SNES and Genesis games however, these versions put the Dummies in a more traditional role. Every level gave Slick and Spin some variety of dangerous stunt to do, which they would in turn be graded on style. There were 5 levels: jumping off a building, driving a car through a course, skiing down a mountain, sorting bombs in a bomb factory and piloting a spaceship. Once the player had completed these levels, they would repeat numerous times, but with a different layout each time and generally increasing in difficulty, until the player has earned enough money to go on holiday.

Comics

A series of comics involving the Crash Dummies was also produced by Harvey Comics, who published "Casper" and "Richie Rich" on a monthly basis.

External links

* [http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0900/ History of the Incredible Crash Dummies at X-Entertainment]
*moby game|id=/incredible-crash-dummies - Info on the Super Nintendo video game and all its ports.
* [http://www.4kids.tv/crashdummies/ 4Kids TV: Incredible Crash Dummies]
* [http://www.tv.com/incredible-crash-dummies/show/22178/summary.html?tag=tabs;summary The Incredible Crash Dummies at TV.com]