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.

Krofft Superstars ELECTRA WOMAN!

Krofft Superstars - Electra Woman - Living Toys/Art Asylum 2000

The Krofft Supershow was one crazy kids' show.  It was inventive, attention-grabbing, and unlike anything else on the air.  Hot on the heels of the successful H.R. Pufnstuf series, The Krofft Supershow featured several short live-action segments including Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.  This segment featured two magazine reporters who doubled as superheroines.  Their adventures were intentionally campy (a'la the 1960's Batman show), so of course there was plenty of colorful spandex and bad acting for all.  There were 16 twelve-minute segments in their single season (the girls didn't return for Season 2).  In 2000, Living Toys (with Art Asylum) released a series of four action figures from a variety of Sid & Marty Krofft properties.  It's a shame there was never a second series because there are a lot more deserving characters in the world of Krofft.  A Dyna Girl would have been especially nice to at least complete this duo, but I'd much rather have one than none at all.  Let's check out Electra Woman below!

Land of the Lost CHRISTA!

Land of the Lost's Official Tour Guide, Christa - Tiger Toys 1992
 
In 1991, Sid and Marty Krofft re-created their 1974 classic, Land of the Lost, with updated special effects and a more lighthearted tone.  It was a major success and ranked #1 in Saturday Morning programming during its first season.  This season featured an all-new cast of humans, focusing on the Porter family who found themselves trapped in the Land of the Lost (as opposed to the Marshall family in the 1974 version).  The 1991 series also included a new character element in the form of Christa, a human who had been trapped in the Land of the Lost since she was a child (from 1960s San Francisco).  Christa knows the lay of the land and acts as a guide, liaison, and friend to the Porters.  Christa was played by the beautiful Shannon Day (to which this action figure does a major disservice).  This action figure means well, but it's just very awkward and unattractive.  I always joke about how I want to be an actor just so I can take on roles that they'll make action figures of, but when I see how her one chance at being immortalized in plastic turned out, I really reconsider my fantasy.  Let's check her out below!