The Goonies

Back in 1985 producer/director Steven Spielberg and director Richard Donner created and released what I consider to be the best kids’ movie ever made: The Goonies.

For those of you who have been living on another planet The Goonies are a bunch of kids who live on the West Coast at what they lovingly refer to as The Goondocks.

One day while exploring one of the kid’s attic, where his museum curator dad stores ‘things’, they discover an old pirate map.

The map supposedly gives the location of the notorious pirate One Eye Willy’s huge hidden treasure.

The kids set out to find it with bad guys on their heels and encounter some incredible booby traps along the way.

The movie has everything: pirates, dastardly bad guys, ruthless land grabbers, ditsy parents, inept police, fast car races, booby traps, hidden rooms and tunnels, a pirate ship, a huge lumbering grotesque human with a heart of gold, bathroom humor and more-everything a kid could ever want.

Mezco Toys created a series of action figures and items celebrating the movie.  

I was fortunate enough to get the only series of action figures released and the special Skeleton Key of One Eye Willy facsimile.

I’ve picked out my two favorite characters of the film: Sloth, the deformed brother of the bad guys with a heart of gold and the strength of a bull and Chunk the tubby, always hungry ‘Truffle Shuffle’ member of The Goonies.

Both Sloth and Chunk (and the other Goonies articulated figures) come packaged in hanger/shelf clear plastic packages with a custom The Goonies background included and an oversize Copper image and The Goonies logo.

The Sloth figure features the gentle giant with legs slightly bent and arms poised at his sides as if ready for action.

His misshapen head, lop-sided face with one eye lower than the other, big goofy grin with missing teeth and bald head with a topknot of tangled brown hair match the movie version perfectly.

Sloth wears a dark blue t-shirt, brown suspenders with gold buckles, black pants that are ripped at the knees and black high top tennis shoes with white laces.

His right hand is open and his left is closed in a fist.  

Included with the figure is a black with white trim pirate hat and red, blue and white strip bandana, a Baby Ruth candy bar and a long silver pirate saber with black handle.

You can almost hear him say, “Hey, you guys!” or “Ruth, Ruth, Baby Ruth!”

Sculpting work on the figure is first-rate, as is the paint application, especially the skin tones and Sloth’s face.

The cloth folds hide articulation.

The Chunk sculpt and paint is just as impressive as the Sloth figure as is the articulation.

Chunk’s tousled brown hair, wide-eyed expression and pudgy stature match the film version.

He wears a star spattered Hawaiian short sleeve shirt, funky plaid pants, and white tennis shoes with red accents and includes a milkshake, slice of pizza and the infamous Michelangelo David statue with its rearranged genitals.

Chunk comes with a dirt based decorated with human skeleton parts.

The special Copper Bones replica matches the prop both in look and scale.

In the movie the Copper Bones was the ‘key’ (apologies for the pun) that allowed The Goonies to find One Eye Willy’s pirate treasure.

The Copper Bones replica come in a small flip lid box and was a 2007 Con Exclusive.  

The replica looks like real copper.  It skull design with three ‘key’ holes and compass imprint fit in a custom black plastic cocoon and is covered by a clear plastic sleeve.  

The first series of Goonies figures by Mezco include Sloth, Chunk, Data, Mouth and Mikey.  

Other figures were to be produced, but none were released.

John 15:1-27 - I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.