''The Incredible Crash Dummies'' is a line of

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These figures are usually ...

s designed by David McDonald and Jim Byrne, styled after the eponymous

crash test dummy A crash test dummy, or simply dummy, is a full-scale Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that simulates the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the human body during a traffic collision. Dummies are used by researc ...

popularized in a public service advertising campaign of the late 1980s, to educate people on the safety of wearing

seat belts A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...

. The toys were first released by

Tyco Toys Tyco Toys was an American toy manufacturer. It was acquired by Mattel in 1997, becoming one of its brands. History Formation of Tyco The company was established as Mantua Metal Products by John Tyler and Jim Thomas in 1926, producing model bo ...

in the early 1990s and discontinued in 1994. From 2004 on, a new series of animated shorts involving the crash dummies was produced and the action figures subsequently revived under the

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model model car, cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox (brand), Matchbox until Mattel bought ...

brand, another subdivision of

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

Toys

The Crash Dummies are anthropomorphic action figures modeled 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. A set of vehicles was also released which could then be used to simulate car crashes.

Related media

Television

In 1993, a half-hour television special called '' The Incredible Crash Dummies'' was produced. It was aired on

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

on May 1, 1993. The animated short was entirely composed of

computer generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in art, printed media, simulators, videos and video games. These images are either static (i.e. still images) or d ...

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. The special was later released on video and sold with the "Ted" action figure from the special 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 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation; stylized as 4K!DS ENTERTAINMENT) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production ...

. 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 the fall of 2005, they were replaced by ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'' shorts.

Video games

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

also called '' The Incredible Crash Dummies'' was developed by Gray Matter Inc. and published by

LJN LJN Toys Ltd. was an American toy company and video game publisher founded by Jack Friedman in 1967. MCA Inc. acquired the company in 1985, and sold to Acclaim Entertainment in 1990. The toy division of the company was closed by Acclaim and a m ...

, Ltd. in 1993 for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

and

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

. The game was ported to numerous systems including the

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

and

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

. It was awarded Strangest License of 1992 by

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...

. The game received generally negative reviews, with critics commenting that the controls are poor and the novelty factor quickly wears out.

Comics

A series of comics involving the Crash Dummies in pro-tek suits was also produced by

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

in November 1993. A set of three magazine sized comics were released by Citgo in 1992 featuring the dummies in their original suits. Scattered throughout the comics are various puzzles and games to complete.

References

External links

History of the Incredible Crash Dummies at X-Entertainment
* - Info on the Super NES video game and all its ports. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Incredible Crash Dummies, the Action figures Hot Wheels Public service announcement characters 2004 American animated television series debuts 2005 American television series endings Fox Broadcasting Company animated television series 2000s American children's comedy television series 2000s American animated comedy television series American children's animated comedy television series American computer-animated television series