Designer Toys are Representative of Animated Sitcom Franchises
April 21, 2020
Tina Kramer-Merriken
Bob’s Burgers is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Belcher family, parents Bob and Linda, and their children Tina, Gene, and Louise, who run a hamburger restaurant. Bob’s Burgers is a joint production by Bento Box Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. (Wikipedia) The Bob’s Burgers franchise shows diversity and inclusiveness, by having episodes with drag queens and other LGBTQ+ characters, male characters who are extreme feminists, and a main character, like Tina, who is voiced by the opposite sex, and addressing important issues such as bullying.
As with most animated sitcom franchises today, there is a variety of marketing merchandise that supports the Bob’s Burgers brand. In particular, Kidrobot has several variations of Bob’s Burgers Blind Box Mini Figure Series that uniquely represents the franchise. The 2017 box series included 19 collectible 3-dimentional vinyl figures (3 inches tall) from specific episodes. The blind boxes mean one does not know which figure is inside the box, which adds to the impulse to purchase more than one. Kidrobot Bob’s Burgers Bad Tina collectible vinyl figure (2017) faithfully represents the franchise by directly relating the plastic character to Season 2, Episode 8, entitled, Bad Tina, which is centered around bullying.
Tina’s personality is a quirky girl transitioning from childhood to adolescence with poor social skills, whether it be her prolonged groaning when under pressure, hiding under tables, being naïve, or taking things very literally (Heroes Wiki). Her everyday attire is a light blue shirt, dark blue skirt, white tube socks, high top shoes, black eyeglasses, and a yellow barrette in her straight black hair. In Season 2, Episode 8, Bad Tina writes erotic friend fiction in her secret black book. She befriends fellow classmate Tammy Larson, who appears more socially savvy by dressing with one sleeve off the shoulder, wearing make-up and a side ponytail. Tammy encourages Tina to bring her friend fiction to life and invite boys over. Tina usually keeps the things in the diary to herself. After Tammy threatened to read the diary to the whole class, she transformed the scared and reserved Tina into someone who dressed like Tammy with one sleeve off the shoulder, make-up, and a side Ponytail.
Kidrobot is a worldwide premier creator and dealer of limited-edition art toys and has partnered with Fox and Loren Bouchard to create a series of art toys and collectible vinyl figures based on favorite Bob’s Burgers characters (Kidrobot). The direct representation starts with the box itself. The front of the box shows the front of the family restaurant Bob’s Burgers, which appears precisely the way it does in the sitcom. There was a one in forty chance of getting the Bad Tina character which makes her more desirable. There were only two other characters that were more difficult to obtain than Bad Tina, both of which had a one in eighty chance of getting in a box. Now that we have been lucky to get the Bad Tina figure, let’s take a closer look at the figure itself.
The Kidrobot vinyl mini Tina is about three inches tall and looks just like the character on the show Bob’s Burgers. The Bad Tina figure is an exact replica of the character’s transformation from Season 2, Episode 8, entitled, Bad Tina. She has the same naïve, innocent look on her face behind the big black glasses that the franchise designed for her. She has the well-known black hair in a simple style with a yellow barrette. Her “new look” is captured by her iconic blue shirt having one sleeve off the shoulder and she has a side ponytail. She comes equipped with a removeable Exotic Friend Fiction black notebook. This removable part is very important here since Tammy physically takes the book from the bullied Tina and blackmails her with it.
In conclusion, this Tina Belcher collectible vinyl figure is an exact depiction of the Bad Tina narrative from Season 2, Episode 8. Her quirky naïve look is still apparent in the Kidrobot vinyl character form, but it is contrasted with the outcome of bullying in how the figure is dressed. The Bob’s Burger Franchise is all about diversity, inclusion, and social issues. The vinyl toy gives the audience a chance to physically hold the social issues in your hands, which brings you closer to feeling how the character in the animated sitcom feels. Bullying is a huge problem in the world and this franchise provides a mechanism for it to be seen in a different light.
Works Cited
Bad Tina - YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQq77gtwM38.
“Bob's Burgers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Bob's_Burgers.
Kidrobot. “We Bring Art to Life.” Kidrobot, www.kidrobot.com/.
“Tina Belcher.” Heroes Wiki, hero.fandom.com/wiki/Tina_Belcher.
