Funny Fran thumbnail 1
Funny Fran thumbnail 2
+1
images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at Young V&A
Play Gallery, Moving and Making, Case 4

Funny Fran

Doll
1971 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Small Shots™ were a range of small plastic dolls made by Mattel. They were designed to appeal specifically to girls after the huge Hot Wheels™ cars, mainly targeted at boys. Small Shots™ came with their own pieces of track, included in their packaging but were also intended to be compatible to run on Hot Wheels™ track too. Funny Fran, was one of the various collectible characters produced in the series which also included Breezy Bridgit, Nifty Nan and Daredevil Dexter. Small Shots™ were not a huge success and appear to have only been produced for about 3 years.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.
(Some alternative part names are also shown below)
  • Packaging
  • Character Toy
  • Doll
  • Character Toy
Titles
  • Funny Fran (manufacturer's title)
  • Small Shots (series title)
Materials and techniques
Moulded hard plastic and cardboard
Brief description
Doll, moulded hard plastic, boxed, 'Funny Fran', manufactured by Mattel, Inc, made in Hong Kong, 1971
Physical description
Boxed small hard plastic doll. The doll is mounted on plastic roller skates with moving wheels. The packaging comes with an in built ramp so the doll can roll down it. Packaging is bright pink and orange and has pictures of other dolls from the Small Shots™ series illustrated on it.
Dimensions
  • Box height: 21.3cm
  • Width: 11.5cm
  • Depth: 5cm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'SMALL SHOTS TM / SPEEDIEST KIDS ON WHEELS / GET'EM'ALL'
  • 'MATTEL / FUNKY FRAN TM'
  • 'FAST, FAST SKATES AND RACIN' RAMP!'
  • 'RACE'EM / EVERYWHERE/ ON / HOTWHEELS / TRACK TOO!'
  • 'THEY'RE FAST. / THEY'RE FUN. / GET THE WHOLE GANG! / BREEZY BRIDGIT / NIFTY NAN / FUNNY FRAN / DAREDEVIL DEXTER' (On back of packaging)
Credit line
Norah Chambers Kensey bequest
Summary
Small Shots™ were a range of small plastic dolls made by Mattel. They were designed to appeal specifically to girls after the huge Hot Wheels™ cars, mainly targeted at boys. Small Shots™ came with their own pieces of track, included in their packaging but were also intended to be compatible to run on Hot Wheels™ track too. Funny Fran, was one of the various collectible characters produced in the series which also included Breezy Bridgit, Nifty Nan and Daredevil Dexter. Small Shots™ were not a huge success and appear to have only been produced for about 3 years.
Other number
3878 - product number
Collection
Accession number
B.710-2010

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Record createdJune 24, 2011
Record URL
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