LEGO Minifigures Series 1 Crash Test Dummy LEGO, 2010
Day #152: May 13, 2011
Crash Test Dummy Blind Packed Minifigure
LEGO Minifigures Series 1
Item No.: 8683 Manufacturer:LEGO Includes:Stand, wrench, license plate Action Feature:n/a Retail:$2.99 Availability: June 2010 Other: #8 in a collection of 16
You may not remember this-- or be old enough to care-- but there was actually a big Crash Test Dummy phenomenon in the 1980s and 1990s when Vince and Larry (voiced by Jack Burns and Lorenzo "Garfield/Peter Venkman/Carlton the Doorman" Music, respectively. They had a toy line, a TV special, video games, and... well, that's about it really. Oh, and a band named themselves after them, more or less. As a pop culture fixture with a toy precedent, it makes a lot of sense for LEGO to incorporate these into a line where kids may want to make-- and smash-- toy cars and trucks.
The basic design is somewhere between a regular LEGO yellow miniman, a mannequin from the actual car tests, and a little bit of robot for good measure. Being basically "naked" (hence, yellow) the hairless and blank plastic man is ready to meet his fate with a stiff upper lip, and if there's any justice in the world kids got these and threw them down stairs or off the roof. That's what it's for, after all. The back of the figure has no real detail to speak of, but there are little symbols on his head, hips, knees, and pectorals which match the familiar designs seen on other dummy-inspired toys.
Accessories are light and new parts are non-existent, so it makes sense that this figure was reportedly packed more heavily than other figures in the case. The wrench has been seen in sets for years, while the license plate-- the significance of PA7 70 I do not understand-- is a 2x1 tile with custom printing on it. I guess you can put it on a car or something, but both accessories seem unnecessary for this particular figure-- granted, I don't know what would make sense. Seat belts? Alternate smashed heads or torsos? A decent pair of pants? Some hair? Even a bike would be nice, but well, there's a budget on these things and this is clearly one of the cheap ones. I like it and I admire how a single figure can actually inspire a totally different way for kids to play with a LEGO car (or cars), so this was a really clever entry in the line. It's presently worth about two or three bucks, so hey, why not get one?
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