Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Mini Busts - ELECTRA WOMAN and DYNA GIRL!

The Krofft Superstars - Tooned-Up Mini Busts - Electric Tiki Design 2005

In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, sibling duo Sid and Marty Krofft carved out a very interesting niche for themselves in the children's television market. They had a background in puppetry and special effects from Vaudeville and Ringling Bros / Barnum and Bailey Circus. Their television work is notable for its inventive puppets (often creepy and psychedelic), low budget special effects, complex plots, and drug culture innuendo. The Banana Splits, Land of the Lost, H.R. Pufnstuf, and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters are some of their most notable works. Although their influence (and lawsuit) over the McDonaldland characters might have the most resonance with today's audiences (search youtube for videos on the Krofft/McDonalds connection - it's fascinating). In the first season of their 1976 The Krofft Supershow, there were 16 segments featuring the live-action adventures of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (starring a 29 year old Deidre Hall!). It's like a merging of Lynda Carter and Adam West.



Besides the requisite lunch boxes and school supplies, there was very little merchandise for this colorful duo. There was a generic-looking action figure in 2000. And this "Tooned Up" mini bust set from 2005.
I have a hunch the actor likenesses are not available because no merchandise I've ever seen looks like the real people.



This product is limited to 500 sets. The Paint Masters and Packaging design is by Tracy Mark Lee.





ELECTRA WOMAN




Both busts feature retro "power generator" bases and caricaturized sculpts.
I wish Electra Woman's coloring was a little more distinct. Her shirt coloring seems to be halfway between red and orange. But on screen she looked distinctly orange.




















DYNA GIRL



























My favorite villain was the Spider Lady.






I recently stumbled across the 2016 Electra Woman and Dyna Girl reboot streaming on Hulu or Amazon (I forget). True to the original, it was farcical and silly and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That's what inspired me to finally photograph these old busts.















Time for a Comparison Pic!





Cheers!






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