"AntiSpeed" (AntiSpeed) 12/05/2013 at 13:43 • Filed to: None

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Did anyone else play with crash dummies when they were little? I fucking loved crash dummies.

BKRM3 > AntiSpeed 12/05/2013 at 13:54

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I absolutely love those things. Forgot about them till right now. Thanks =)

Xavier Corral > AntiSpeed 12/05/2013 at 13:55

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OMG! I had that exact car! I'd kill to have it back. One time I got really sick and had to go the hospital. When I got out I came home to a new truck and "bull" figure from my dad. Still have that one!

carcrasher88 > AntiSpeed 12/05/2013 at 13:59

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Nope, in fact, when I was a little, the TV and print ads (not sure if related to the toys, but were put out by the Ad Council and the NHTSA) creeped the living heck out of me .

Now, the mid 2000's Incredible Crash Dummies toys and cartoon shorts from Hot Wheels were awesome.

Takuro Spirit > AntiSpeed 12/05/2013 at 14:03

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I think I had that car.

carcrasher88 > AntiSpeed 12/05/2013 at 14:26

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Since I can't edit my previous comment, I'll just use this.

If I recall properly, the original Crash Dummies line was introduced somewhere around 1992 (I was born in the same year) by Tyco (later merged with Mattel).

That points to it possibly being a spur off of the NHTSA's campaign, which apparently began in 1985, with the tagline 'You can learn a lot from a dummy'.

That campaign wasn't based around overall vehicle safety, but seat belt use (you can, at least in part, thank Volvo for that).

Interesting fact I found a couple years ago: one of the dummies in the NHTSA campaign (not sure which it was, Vince or Larry) was voiced by the late Lorenzo Music (who, around the same time, voiced Garfield the cat (one of my all time favorite characters)). (Edit: it was Larry he voiced)

The campaign ended somewhere in the late 90's.

In the mid 2000's, Mattel launched a new Incredible Crash Dummies line, accompanied with it's own series of cartoon shorts (aired along with cartoons and animes like Digimon and Sonic X).

I ended up hooked on the modern line, which included figures, cars, and even animals (which, if I recall properly, included, of all things, a skunk).

There were various dummies (including my favorite, Splice (who's name is pretty self explanatory of what he could do in a crash).

Still, the old campaign, along with the marketing for the old Tyco line, I found pretty creepy when I was a kid. Seems pretty ironic that I got hooked on the successor line, doesn't it?