This past weekend, right out of the blue, Amazon.com sent me a free $4 credit towards any of their VOD (video on demand) products, so I finally picked up a couple of episodes from a cartoon series that I've been dying to watch again, the Dinosaucers.  Originally syndicated back by DiC in 1987, the Dinosaucers was a show that I'd only catch sporadically, mostly it seems when the family was on vacation in other states.  I'm not sure if my local affiliates even carried the series.  What made the cartoon even rarer was the fact that there was little to no domestic merchandising (except some prototypes and some limited toy releases in South America), so there was really no push to get kids interested in the series.

The basic premise of the show involved two groups of interstellar reptilian (evolved dinosaurs) travelers who converge on Earth to wage the tried and true war between good and evil.  One the one hand you have the titular Dinosaucers lead by Allo who fight for peace and freedom, and on the other are the Tyranos led by Genghis Rex who are trying to take control of the planet.  Upon landing on Earth, the Dinosaucers met up with four teenagers, the brother and sister duo Ryan & Sara Spenser, as well as their two friends Paul and David, who agree to help out the team by becoming the Secret Scouts, allies in the battle against Genghis Rex and the Tyranos.

Granted, the premise is a carbon copy of about half of the 80s syndicated cartoons (just replace alien anthropomorphic dinosaurs with robots and you’ve got yourself the Transformers), but the series does have a few tricks up its sleeve.  Though not one of my personal favorite action animation innovations stemming from the late 80s, Dinosaucers was one of the first shows to really push the idea of having child characters in the series that acted as avatars for the viewing audience; the Secret Scouts are basically a vehicle with which kids can feel like they could be part of the action.   If the show had taken off, I'd be willing to bet that becoming an honorary Secret Scout would have been a surefire promotion.  In fact, it's kind of interesting to note that just three years later DiC, which was the studio behind Dinosaucers, helped Turner Broadcasting in bring Captain Planet to life.  Many of the Secret Scout tropes introduced in the Dinosaucers cartoon are carried over to CP, including the gifting of magical rings that gave the "ordinary teenagers" some special powers to help defeat the forces of evil.  Heck, even their outfits are kind of similar.  To take the conspiracy just a bit further, Robby London worked on both projects in a producorial capacity.

Another aspect where Dinosaucers differed from your standard action cartoon is in it's use of vaudevillian and very broad comedy to lighten the tone of the series.  I'll talk a bit more about this in a minute, but suffice it to say that the overall tone of the series feels nothing like Transformers or G.I. Joe, and was a bit ahead of it's time when you consider the mega hits of the 90s like the Power Rangers which relied heavily on a blend of action and comedy.  Again, it's not one of my favorite aspects per-se, but it has been growing on me.  You get a taste of this humor in the opening credits as the whole gang of Dinosaucers is getting set up for a group photo, and at the last second before the camera snaps the shot, the Tyranos jump in the frame to ruin it for them…

Speaking of this rivalry, I'd have to say that besides some of the design work on the series, it's this age old good vs. evil, black and white struggle that really sells me on the series.  I don't care if it's hackneyed and overdone, you put together two factions full of loud personalities and pit against each other in battle and I'll watch it.  There's just something buried deep in my psyche that responds to this kind of set up.  The X-Men, Star Wars, G.I. Joe, the Transformers, Thundercats, Silverhawks, Voltron, Buckaroo Banzai, Big Trouble in Little China, etc., I could go on forever.  With the Dinosaucers there's one aspect to the various character's thunder-lizard designs that I was kind of sad wasn't used which is the dichotomy between herbivores and carnivores.  Granted, I know the lines weren't that distinct in the dinosaur hierarchy, but it the character designs were almost laid out that way with the cartoon.  Five of the eight Dinosaucers were based on herbivores (with Allo, an allosaurus, and Ichy, an ichthyosaurus, and Teryx, an archaeopteryx, as carnivorous exceptions, though Ichy could be considered a loose fish-eating vegetarian), while only three of the Tyranos were carnivores (Genghis Rex, a tyrannosaurus, Terrible Dactyl, a pteranodon, and Plesio, a plesiosaurus.)  I think this was a missed opportunity, and instead the production and design team decided instead to pair up the good and bad dinosaurs so that each would have similar counterparts (flying vs. flying, etc.)

The series doesn't have a specific origin story that kicks it off.  Instead the idea is quickly stated in the opening narration and theme song (done again by Haim Saban.)  The first episode of the series called Dino Valley and was written by series story editor Diane Duane, and centers around the Tyranos stumbling upon a hidden environment where there is still a small pocket of terrestrial dinosaurs that have survived throughout the millennia.  They plan on enslaving these beasts and using them for labor and as the front line in their war to conquest earth…

Here's a couple of samples of the Tyrano's plot, here and here…

Basically, the Tyranos have electronic slave collars that completely bend the will of the wearer to who ever has the control box.

While this is going on we get our first glimpse of the Secret Scouts, as Paul sits in the Dinosaucers head quarters monitoring the actions of the Tyranos.  Unfortunately, some of the writing here is a bit lazy as the Dinosaucers apparently have the ability to watch over their enemies like Big Brother in 1984.  It's this kind of passionless writing that tends to give these 80s shows such a bad reputation, which is kind of unfortunate.  Granted, I've yet to re-watch the entire series, but I have a feeling based on the tone and story ideas behind the handful of episodes that I've watched that the rest of the episodes follow suit.  On the upside, the design of the Dinosaucers HQ is pretty swanky.  It's hidden in a giant rock that looks like a fossilized dinosaur skull for crying out loud.  How cool is that?

After learning of Genghis Rex's plan, Paul contacts the Dinosaucers and Sara Spencer so that they can track down the Tyranos and foil their plot.  We're introduced to Allo, the leader of the team, as well as Dimetro, the Panthro of the Dinosaucers, and Bronto Thunder, which is just a weird way of saying Thunder Thunder as Bronto mean thunder in ancient Greek .

Simply from a design aspect, I enjoy the look of the series, in particular the various vehicles and costuming.  I love it when vehicles and architecture reflect the characters conceptually in 80s cartoons (like Hawk Haven in the Silverhawks, Cat's Lair and the Thunder Tank from thundercats, etc.), and Dinosaucers is no exception.  The Tyranos not only fly around in a giant red mechanized tyrannosaurus mother ship, but each of the characters also has their own specific ship that shares design elements of whatever dinosaur they’re based on.   Similarly the Dinosaucers have a giant pterodactyl mother ship and personalized craft as well.

I also really dig the way the Secret Scouts are outfitted with their own flying motorcycles or ATVs.  What kid wouldn't want a jet powered motorcycle?!?

Similarly I really dig the anthropomorphication of the dinosaur characters.  It's like a cross between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers and He-Man….

The animation on the series is pretty solid too.  Though the characters tend to be a bit pudgy looking, there's a nice blend of American and Japanese work on the show.  Like most DiC productions, the ink and paint on Dinosaucers was outsourced to Asia, and every once in awhile you can see the animators letting loose a bit and bringing some of the intensity of anime into the series.  There's a sequence with a Seismosaurus (diplodocus) charging at the Dinosaucers and getting its head stuck in a cave that is kind of freakishly weird.  It ends with a crazy-eyed Leone-style close-up that fades into a commercial break cliffhanger that had me laughing out loud at its way over-the-top tone.

I also find it interesting in the number of ways that the series is sort of derivative of other 80s action cartoon conventions.  Not only is the series made up of the ongoing battles between to clearly delineated factions, as well as being made up of cast of animalisticly designed characters (ala Thundercats and the Silverhawks), but it also features transformation sequences (ala He-Man, She-Ra, Transformers, etc.)  The Dinosaucers have the ability to Dino-volve into a more traditional dinosaur form for a short period time.  They keep their awareness and ability to speak while also gaining the strength and girth of their larger more ferocious counterparts.

What's kind of strange is that this power is only known to the Dinosaucers; it's a secret they keep from the Tyranos.  I find it strange because this seems like a concept that would be perfect for the battle sequences between the two factions, but instead it's used more for subterfuge and problem-solving (like the ability to use Bronto Thunder's dino-volved form as a bridge-layer.)

I mentioned above that the series has some very interesting, yet kind of unfortunate weak points, and the largest is its strange tone.  For an action series in the 80s, the Dinosaucers has an extremely unbalanced amount of comedy that has the potential to really throw the viewer off.  Most cartoons in the 80s had some comedy, but in the Dinosaucers case, I'd have to say that the series is more comedy than action.

What's even stranger is that so much of it is slapstick, 3 Stooges, almost vaudevillian in style, with tons of pratfalls, head slapping, and moustache curling monologues (though not quite in the same megalomaniacal fashion as say a Starscream or a Cobra Commander.)  If Genghis Rex had a moustache, he'd certainly, literally, be twirling it.  It's not just relegated to the villains either.  There are three separate segments involving Bronto Thunder tripping, falling, and flailing in various muddy, wet, and sticky situations, all within five minutes of animation.  To top it off there are a plethora of clichéd one-liners that even kids would groan at.

This comedic tone also carries over to the action of the show which consists of more pratfalls and goofiness.  The characters are more likely to get run over in a stampede or thrown into the bushes than really battle it out.  There's even a sequence where Genghis Rex is push backward so that he'll trip over the hunched and waiting Dimetro.  It really does feel like a 3 Stooges short at points.

What's also kind of weird is the role that the Secret Scouts play in the series.  Though I would assume they were introduced as a way of providing the kids in the audience with a way of glomming onto the characters and in turn feeling like they were part of the action from afar, the Secret Scouts actually take part full force in the Dinosaucers' adventures.  Outfitted with their rocket bikes and magical rings, they right in the thick of the action as if they were full members of the team.  This just plays a bit weird to me because of the danger the characters are in, and the recklessness with which the Dinosaucers allow them to take part.  Typically in these 80s cartoons, the idea was to reinforce the idea that this type of action was make believe and that in the real world this kind of danger should be avoided.  I guess at this point in 1987 it was kind of confusing for the production teams because of the backing-off of kid-vid regulations.  Where they supposed to be upping the action or producing PSAs?  Who knows, but this confusing tone sure makes the Dinosaucers a strange beast among the pack.

All in all, even though the series is off balance and weird, I still love it for its design and the gushy nostalgic memories I have of catching episodes here and there as a kid…

Unfortunately, the series isn't available on DVD, though the first 21 episodes are being offered via digital download through Amazon.com's Unbox service.  You can only view the episodes with their Unbox player which is sort of a pain, especially at $1.99 an episode, but I suppose it's better than nothing.

Today's waxy pop art comes from the 1985 Topps Pro Wrestling card set (which I've yet to procure any stickers for sadly.)

The wife and I were browsing one of our local antique malls recently when I stumbled on a new booth with a couple bins of ephemera.  I usually strike out when I find stacks of magazines and paper as the stuff I'm interested in, kids stuff mostly, just doesn't seem to register as profitable.   But something caught my eye that got me to stop, a bit of Mylar sticking out from the stack that looked really familiar.  Sure enough, it was the outer packaging of a sticker collecting set put out by Diamond back in 1987.  This particular set contained a G.I. Joe sticker collector album and ten packs of stickers…

I've talked about this fad before with a set of Jem, Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, and the Filmation Ghostbusters stickers, but basically in the late 70s through the early 90s there were a handful of companies (the main one is called Panini) producing sticker collecting sets that took a cue from the excitement surrounding baseball and bubblegum cards.  Instead of releasing sheets of all purpose stickers, companies like Panini and Diamond would put together mini collector albums, these magazine-like books that you'd fill with specific stickers to illustrate a story or to fill out sports team rosters.  The hobby is mainly a European one which is still going strong today.  I haven't really seen is stateside since the 90s though.

What's a little sad is that while inspecting the set I noticed that there was a little piece of wrapping paper tapes to the back.  This had been intended as a Christmas present for someone back in 1987 and it was never opened.  For 23 years this sticker set has been laying around unloved, and I planned on righting that wrong.  I never had the G.I. Joe set growing up (I only had a handful of Topps branded baseball sets and the Transformers the Movie set), so I was really excited to get this home and see what was inside…

My biggest fear was that the stickers wouldn't stick to the pages after all this time.  Of all the stickers in my collection, there are only a handful that could probably still be used as intended.  Most, including just about all of the Topps, Donruss, and Fleer sticker cards have bonded semi-permanently with their backing, and even if they can be peeled up, they just don't have any stick left in them.  With a sticker book like this it would be a shame if they didn't work anymore, but my fears were assuaged.  The stickers stuck just fine!

One of the things that I love about this set is that it featured a bunch of stickers which utilized the packaging art from the figures.  I love this art and it’s really cool to finally get a hold of some for characters that I hadn't seen in years like Chuckles and Jinx.  I only managed to get 4 of these pieces in the 10 packs which is kind of a shame.  It makes me want to rush over to eBay and see if I can't complete this set…

These album sets were also fun because they typically featured some sort of activities on the pages to go along with the story and the stickers.  The gimmicks in this set are hidden printing on the pages, much like the McDonald's calendar I shared a while ago.  The set comes with a little red cellophane decoder screen that filters out the obscuring red ink overlays to reveal secret messages, character file-card info, and the answers to puzzles.  Below you can get an idea of what these games were like with the mismatched hats of the following four Joe team members (which I've digitally un-obscured with the modern magic of Photoshop…)

It’s also kind of neat that Diamond took the time to print out the sticker images on the majority of the spots where the actual stickers are supposed to be applied so that kids who couldn't track them all down had a chance to more or less follow along with the story (again with their trusty decoder strip.)  The one time when they refrained from this was with the images that required multiple stickers to complete.  These are considered top secret, which is also kind of neat as it enhances the collectability factor.  I know I always relished the feeling of completing a four-sticker image.  The artwork in the album is pretty decent as well (even though the cover of the book is kind of fugly.)  In particular I really dug this hidden image of Zartan posing as a government agent.

Again, through the magic of Photoshop we can see both images clearly probably for the first time in 23 years…

My favorite piece of art by far is on the back cover.  It features a bunch of the season two (of the cartoon series) Joes as well as a kid with a walking stick against going into battle against a single B.A.T. and a bunch of Crimson Guard soldiers.  The painting also features a rare moment where Lifeline, the medic in red at the front of the charge, is strapped.  Odd considering the character is a pacifist and all…

I also thought it was interesting that the company featured a sticker trading policy where anyone could trade any two doubles for a specific sticker they desired.  I wonder how many kids took advantage of this service?

If nothing else, I had a lot of fun peeling these stickers and placing them in the collector's album.  Even if it sat for 23 years, this book finally got some of the love it deserved!

It seems like there were 6.2 million different brands of building sets to choose from while growing up in the 80s.  For the most part I was a diehard Lego maniac, but for a short time I dropped my minifigs and building blocks and became quite enamored with Fisher Price’s answer to Erector Sets & Lego Technic, Contstrux…

Designed to work more on a beam and connector-knot system (rather than Lego's stacking concept), Construx seemed more about play than just building.  With Lego, I'd find myself spending hours trying to recreate intricate model-like versions of my favorite TV and movie vehicles and when I was sufficiently happy with a final design the end product would usually find its way to a shelf or a box in the closet.  On the other hand, because Construx were so limited because of their size and design, it was always about creating something that more or less approximated a vehicle or robot and then playing with it.  I was never worried about my creations falling apart as they were super easy to recreate.  I guess in a way they resembled Duplo more than Lego in this regard.

Another thing that I always used to like about Construx was the satisfying snap the pieces made when joining them together.  They were a lot more tactile than Lego bricks, though they weren't quite as exacting.  For awhile I was addicted to building with these, but no matter how I tried to work around it, I never had enough of the blue connector knots.

Searching online I found this fun site with a bunch of original Construx creations.  In particular I liked the webmaster's design for the quadpod as it looks like it would make an almost perfect base for recreating a Construx version of the Silverhawk's ship, the Miraj…

I wonder why the person in charge of picking the colors for this 1982 Donruss Knight Rider wax pack didn't think to switch out the red and blue of Michael's shirt and jacket to get it a bit more accurate to the show?  Anyway, I wish these cards had a sticker card subset, but alas, they didn't…

So speaking of the Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors cartoon, it reminded me that I have a couple of short (4-page) comics stories that were inserted as ads in the Fall 1985, and Winter 1986 issues of the He-Man & the Masters of the Universe magazines.  Since the toys were produced by Mattel it stands to reason that the He-Man magazines would be the perfect place to spread the word on the upcoming cartoon and toy line.  These comics are also cool because both double as huge fold-out posters as well.

The first comic serves as the crib notes version of the origin story with Audric developing the perfect genetically engineered plant that will end hunger across the galaxy.  There are a couple of slight deviations from the first episode of the cartoon, but it's more or less the same.  All told, this is at lest the fifth version of the origin story in illustrated or comic form.  In addition to the cartoon and this comic there is also a retelling in the WW Sticker Fun Book as well as Little Golden Book called The Adventure Begins.  Also, according to the WW wiki page there's also a 13-page WW comic in a French comic anthology magazine called Pif Gadget, though I haven’t been able to put my eyes on a copy.  There were also mini comics included with the toys, though I'm betting they have a completely different story as the back of the box bios mention nothing about Jayce or any of the Lightening League.  I'm super curious to get a hold of some of the toy mini comics…

Both of these comics were illustrated by Paul Kirchner, a prolific writer and artist who has worked for DC, Wally Wood, and Heavy Metal Magazine.  He also created the 3.75" line of military figures called Eagle Force for Mego (which was mentioned in this Hot Dog article.)  He also illustrated the fold-out posters, the first of which is basically a huge advertisement for the cartoon…

The second comic is a quick bit featuring Jayce "alone-at-home" while Herc Stormsailor goes off to search the planet they're currently on.  It's a little weird since Gillian and Flora should also be around, but apparently aren't, even though all of the Lightening League vehicles are accounted for.  Anyway, Saw Boss and his cronies attack the Battle Base and it's up to Jayce to defend their HQ.  What I love about the comic is a scene where Jayce realizes the only way to drive the attackers away is to combine all of the Lightening League vehicles into a giant totem pole of destruction in a maneuver called the Stack & Attack.  I wonder how many kids stacked their toys like this?

I also love the poster on the back side of this comic as it's basically a catalog of all the toys.  I loved catalog posters like this that I used to get along with Transformers or any of the G.I. Joe vehicles.  I'm considering getting a cheap frame for this one as I think it would look great on my office wall…

I watched so many cartoons as a kid that there are a bunch that I barely even remember any of the actual episodes, just the overall concept.  Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors falls into this realm for me.  I know I watched the show because I have vivid memories of the theme song and of the opening credits sequence (in particular the bit where Gillian the wizard takes out one of the evil Monster Minds and then he magically licks his finger and marks a kill tic in the air…)

Revisiting the series though, I've found that I have little memory of the actual episodes or the struggles the characters have to deal with.  I think the main reason why I don't remember is that I never had any of the Wheeled Warriors toys and therefore I never really had an opportunity to reinforce the experience with play.  In the end it's probably a good thing that I never got into the toy line because I'm sure it would have confused me to no end.  Not only is the overall concept of the series on the wacky side, but the toys had a much different back story that kind of clashed with the cartoon.  There were no main characters with the toys, no Jayce, Gillian, Audric, Flora, Oon, or Herc, just a bunch of generic guys with brown and orange suits.  The cartoon is sort of similar to He-Man in that the toys came first and then a show was built around them.

Anyway, getting back to the cartoon, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors was probably one of the most visually arresting series of the 80s, at least as far as concepts go.  The series revolves around a brilliant scientist named Audric and his son Jayce.  In an attempt to end hunger in the universe, Audric developed a special plant that could grow indefinitely and produce enough food to feed everyone.  In the last stages of his experimentation though, a huge burst of solar radiation mutated his creation, literally giving his plant creations minds of their own and turning them in the oddly vengeful Monster Minds.  In a last ditch effort to protect the future food source of the universe, Audric cut his remaining un-radiated root in half.  He kept one half and sent the other with his trusty robot servant Oon to give it to his only son Jayce.  When the root is united in a safe environment the two can defeat the newly formed Monster Minds and bring a hearty mouthful of peace to the universe…

Oon escapes the Monster Minds and delivers the root (kept in a rather large charm necklace) to Jayce who was waiting on a small planetoid for his father to return.  Along with Jayce is the mysterious wizard Gillian and Jayce’s half-sister Flora (who is half human - half plant and another of Audric’s wacky experiments.)  Gillian, a cross between Merlin and Leonardo Da Vinci, has been building an army of motorized vehicles, the Wheeled Warriors, though for what purpose I do not know.  After figuring out what happened to Audric, Gillian takes Jayce to a nearby crystal forest to recover a special ring, much like Excalibur, which is the symbol of power for a group of mystic heroes called the Lightening League.  If you're getting lost in all of the layers of weird back-story and myth you're not alone.

Even though the concepts are so varied, mixing alchemy, science, technology, magic, and monsters, not to mention melding science fiction, mythology and fantasy into a stew that's barely palatable, I love how crazy and mixed up the show is.  Leave it to the French-Canadians to create such a trippy concept around such a straightforward vehicle-based toy line.  It's because of this mix that I find the show so fascinating and visually arresting.  On the one hand there are a ton of over the top organic designs with the villains.  Led by Saw Boss, an imposing purple and green figure with a bulbous head, glowing orange snake eyes, and a living cape that resembles insect wings lined with bone, the Monster Minds are kind of bat-shit crazy in appearance.

I’m convinced that Nelson Shin and his production team must have been influenced by these characters when they designed the Qunitessons and the various inhabitants of Qunitessa in Transformers the Movie back in 1986.  Not only are the Monster Minds gnarly plant creatures, but they can also transform (organically) into more technological (and metal) vehicle forms.  This techno-organic mix is really hard to get my brain around.  It gets even more outrageous when you consider that Saw Boss is literally growing his empire across the universe.  Most of the shots in space focus on his empire literally growing with giant roots hanging in the cosmos.

Similarly, Jayce is a very weird character that's an amalgam of Luke Skywalker, King Arthur, and Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors.  There are also a lot of weird visual cues that make the character seem jumbled.  With his bejeweled, wire headband that might as well be a crown, his magical ring, his special plant amulet given to his by his father, and a crazy stripe of white in the middle of his auburn hair, he's kind of all over the place.  It feels like the character designers were intentionally ignoring the less-is-more rule of thumb and throwing every ingredient they could think of into the pot in the hopes that something would take.  It's unfocused and kind of reeks a bit of desperation to try and make some sort of mythology, but again, it's not without its odd charms.

Not only is the show at odds with itself conceptually and visually, but in tone as well.  Though the story is more or less dramatic, a lot of the episodes try and shoot for a weird mix of humor with the Han Solo-like Herc Stormsailor and the bumbling incompetence of the Monster Mind clone warrior vehicles.  Some of the action is also on the goofy side of over-the-top with the evil clones being dispatched in utterly Looney Tunes-esque sequences.

The character designs of the villainous vehicles are also sort of hilarious as they're anthropomorphized, complete with goofy faces.  It's sort of strange when you think about that since the bad guys aren't just beaten, but being drones they're crashed, disfigured and destroyed at every turn.  I think this is an example of the extent to how much the reigns of the parent's group had loosened by 1985.  At the end of the day, if there is one thread running through the series, it is all of these incongruities.  You even see this in the dichotomy in the themes of ending world hunger and having a villain that's basically eating everything out of existence.

There are a couple of aspects of the show that I absolutely love, the main one being the theme song.  Written by Haim Saban, the musician turned kid-vid mogul who was the mastermind behind bringing the Power Rangers to American TV, the lyrics strike a great balance between explaining the overall concept of the show while the song itself is the perfect example of a pumping 80s power ballad.

The theme opens with the following expository narration…

"Thundering across the stars to save the universe from the Monster Minds, Jayce searches for his father to unite the magic root and lead his Lightning League to victory over the changing form of Saw Boss.  Wheeled Warriors explode into battle - Lightning Strikes!"

Then it bursts into pure 80s passionate cheese.  I love it!

There's a power that comes from deep inside of you, 'Cause every day you're reaching toward the light, And you know there's a long long way ahead of you, But when your wheels get you there, things will turn out right!

Just keep 'em turning, don't stop 'em rolling, The fire is on, (Wheeled Warriors!) Battle drums burning, wheels moving, Wheeled Warriors! (Wheeled Warriors!)

Come take a chance, keep 'em turning, don't stop 'em rolling, The fire is on, (Wheeled Warriors!) Battle drums burning, wheels moving! Wheeled Warriors! (Wheeled Warriors!)

The other thing that I really dig about the show is the look of the Lightening League vehicles.  There's something extremely beautiful about the designs that I'm having a hard time putting my finger on.  I think it's the large canopies (I'm a huge fan of this feature in vehicle design), and the fact that they remind me of Lego space vehicle concepts.

At the end of the day the series is certainly one of my guilty pleasures.  There's a ton of stuff going in that makes absolutely no sense and it often feels like the writers had no idea what they were doing.  But on the flip side, because it's so weird there are no rules to keep you rooted in the ground (if you pardon the pun) and it free up the creativity in such a way that we could get a sequence where Jayce turns himself into a giant glowing plate glass window that slices through all of Saw Boss' trapping roots!?!

It might not make a lick of sense, but it's entertaining and weird and I can't ask for much more…

If you're curious about getting a look at some of the merchandising for Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, I talked about a Sticker Fun Book back in an earlier edition of Peel Here.

Also, the first half of the series is available from Shout! Factory.  I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that they'll eventually release the second and final half of the series via their exclusive P.O.D. service…

Speaking of the Orange, Blue, Yellow combo, here's a couple of other wax wrappers that hit this in a slightly different way…

Dukes of Hazzard (Donruss, 1980)

Dukes of Hazzard, Design #2 (Donruss, 1980)

I've talked a lot about collecting here at Branded, and on a few occasions I've discussed how the hobby leads to certain unobtainable "holy grail" items.  The hobby is, by nature, goal driven; when you find one thing, one object that you desired and enjoyed, as a collector you'll inevitably seek out another item linked to the first and so on.   It's these goals that keep you going, looking for the next piece to acquire, and the beauty of most collections is that there is usually one item that is really hard to obtain.  Personally, though it's frustrating during the hunt, this unobtainability is what keeps the fire stoked; it's what keeps it interesting.

Though I'd consider myself a collector, I've always been hampered by my own frugality.   As much as I've wanted certain expensive things over the years I've found that I have a hard time paying much more than bargain prices.   If I can't find it cheap, then it can wait.  So even though some of my "holy grail" items are available, it's unlikely that I'll ever add 'em to the collection based on crazy high collector's prices.  I'd resigned myself to the fact that no matter how much I wanted a set of 1st series Garbage Pail Kids stickers, it just wasn't going to happen.  The set runs upwards of $300 on eBay, which is roughly $280 more than I'd ever be willing to pay for 82 sticker cards.  But the hunt kept me searching.  About seven months ago I stumbled across a single 1st series card, 36a Wrapin' Ruth, in a comic shop.   I was so stoked because I'd never seen one up close, and it was only a buck.  I snatched it up and put it proudly at the beginning of my collection, just waiting for the other 81 stickers to eventually join it.  I wasn't holding my breath.

Then, just a couple weeks ago, a co-worker came in with a big bag of miscellaneous Garbage Pail Kids cards.  Her son had just gotten into the newer series and one of her friends had given her a bunch of their old stickers to pass on to him.  Since they were older and because she knew that I collected them myself, she gave me first crack at them considering that her son would be more interested in using them as stickers than collecting them.   This has happened before, people have given me a stack of cards to rifle through, either to help them find anything "worth some money" or to add to my collection.   Typically there isn't anything of value, and usually the cards are in pretty bad shape.  This stack was no different as you can see in the 1st picture above…

Some of the cards looked like they'd been dipped in beef stew, while others suffered from the normal issues; checklists had been ticked off and there was a fair share of cards that were either written on or were missing borders.   But as I started sorting the stickers into piles (beef stew, borderless, doubles of stuff I already had), I found a pocket of cards that were stuck together.  As I carefully pried them apart I realized that they were 1st series cards, and they were in pretty good condition.  Well, they were actually pretty bad in that they all had a thick line of residual tape glue on the backs where they'd been taped into a picture album, but none of them looked like they'd been dipped in stew.

I decided to take my lunch so that I could concentrate on the stickers, and a half an hour later I was staring at a sight that I honestly never expected to see, a near complete set of 1st series Garbage Pail Kids stickers!  I kept muttering, "Holy crap…" under my breath as I was sorting and I found more and more of the set.

All told, the set was only 14 stickers short (including my Wrappin' Ruth), and whoever had collected these as a kid had managed to at least get at least one of each of the A&B stickers except for one set.  So even though the set isn't complete, all but one of the John Pound paintings are accounted for, as well as most of the Tom Bunk illustrated certificate backings.

After spending a good four hours rubbing off the residual tape glue, and putting them into card pages that evening I was finally looking at something I never thought I'd have.  Granted, the cards aren't in the best condition, but who cares!

Not to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but I was a little bummed that there wasn't a Potty Scotty sticker.  Growing up, though I never managed to see any of these stickers firsthand, I was aware of a handful of the cards based on other GPK merchandising.  In my eyes there were six main cards that sort of defined the series and Garbage Pail Kids as a whole, Adam Bomb, Dead Ted, Nasty Nick, Bony Joanie, Brainy Janie, and Potty Scotty.  In fact, any GPK that featured a toilet was sort of like the equivalent to Bobba Fett or Wedge Antilles in the Star Wars Universe.  I'm glad I snagged a Jason Basin though…

This is kind of a silly thing to admit, but for years I used to have this reoccurring dream where I was in an orchard of trees that had GPKs instead of leaves.  It was perpetually Fall and the stickers where falling to the ground in big heaps and I'd spend the whole dream raking up the cards and sorting them by series.  I'd always get so depressed after waking up and realizing that the big pile of 1st series GPKs weren't real.  The past two weeks have felt like that dream.  I guess in some way, as glad as I am to have finally scored these stickers, it's sort of anticlimactic in a way.  The hunt is mostly over.  Sure, I can pick up the missing 14 stickers over time (if I can find the damn things cheap enough), but I almost don't want to.

I did decide to go ahead and order one sticker, 35b Rockin' Robert.  Seemed like a shame to be missing the one John Pound painting.  I think I'm going to have to consider Potty Scotty as the new holy grail for my GPK collection...

Anyone out there have any stories of stumbling on your own holy grail items?

Update!! I received my Rockin' Robert...

I was recently interviewed by Rondal Scott of the incredibly cool Strange Kids Club, and it was a heck of a lot of fun.  Rondal's site is chock full of enlightening interviews with all sorts of cool people, not to mention a bevy of other regular features like his columns on cartoons (called (Re)Animations) and classic wrestling (called Saturday Night's Main Event.)  So do yourself a favor and head on over to the Strange Kids Club, you'll be glad you did!

Well, it's officially here, the 25th anniversary of the Goonies.  I feel kind of lucky that I was more or less at the perfect age for a flick like this (I was seven, just about to turn eight) where I could both identify perfectly with the gang.  Not only was I close in age to Data, Mikey, Chunk and Mouth, but I'd also just moved for the first time when I was old enough to be aware and to have hated the feeling of leaving behind friends and a comfortable neighborhood.  It was also the first in a string of similar movies with a group of adventuring kids that helped define my sensibilities at the time (including the Monster Squad, SpaceCamp, the Explorers, and Stand By Me.)

One of the things I'd like to point to before I get into the this last celebration post is a fan-made documentary that was created in conjunction with the 25th anniversary event that was held in Astoria, OR this past weekend.  Called The Making of a Cult Classic, this short film looks like it's going to be an essential addition to any Goonies-centric collection.   You can watch the trailer and order a copy of the flick here.

One of the coolest aspects of the internet when it comes to nostalgia is the wealth of obscure information that gets floated around.  I can't thank Sara Turner (of Cricket Press) enough for pointing me to a set of Drew Struzan's Goonies poster variations…

I really dig these for a number of reasons, the main one is getting a chance to sneak a peek into Struzan's process when it comes to illustration.  Sara mentioned this in her e-mail, that it's really interesting to see Struzan changing up the line-up of the kids hanging off the stalactite, and it begs the question of how he approached it from a storytelling perspective.  On the one hand, he had to decide which of the kids should be front and center, not just as a main character from the movie, but in terms of the crazy situation he's decided to draw them in.   Realistically it makes sense to have Brand as the leader in the chain because he's the oldest, strongest and for all intents and purposes the most capable of the bunch.

But what I find kind of fascinating is how to continue the chain from there. Would it make more sense to have Mikey next seeing as they're brothers and Mikey is the defacto leader of the Goonies?  Nope, instead he chose a theme of burgeoning relationships within the group and he added Andy next.  He also managed to keep the rest connected in a similar manner with Data and Chunk together (they're probably the most independent in the group and would make a great duo), Mikey and Mouth connected (sort of the 1st and 2nd in command personality-wise) while also keeping Mouth and Stef together since they sort of have a "thing" in the flick.  Overall, it also makes a bit of sense to have Stef being up the rear as she's the least connected to the overall group (since she's Andy's friend who is only hanging out with the group to be near Brand.)

So it's kind of neat to get a glimpse into the rest of the possible variations (at least the variations of a character at the top of the chain.)  Struzan, overall, decided to keep the theme of inter-character relationships when rearranging the various chains.  With Mikey on top, Mouth comes next, followed by Stef, Brand, Andy, Data and Chunk.  Personally, I think I would have switched out Brand and Andy, showing that Andy is connected to both Brand and Stef, but that's just me…

Even though having Mikey on top is probably the most sensible alternative to Brand in terms of story, I think the poster with Mouth on top makes a lot of sense from a business perspective.   Corey Feldman was probably the most accomplished of the Goonies when the flick came out and would probably have had the most face recognition (even though Josh Brolin did have the Brolin dynasty thing going on since his father was in the limelight with shows like Hotel and a string of popular flicks.)  It's weird that again, Struzan kept the basic chain in order with Brand coming after Stef and before Andy.

Keeping this chain in mind, the Data variation is kind of interesting from a story stand point.  This is the one version that keeps all the core Goonies together.   I also like that Struzan played around with the rubble a bit and threw in Data's spy peepers and possibly his compass as well…

Even though the Brand variation of the poster became the main theatrical version, all of the other made their way into print in the various newspaper announcements in the theater section.  Im not sure if these variations were handed out to the same papers so that they could choose or so that they could change it up each week of the flick's theatrical run, but it's neat that they all eventually made it into the public.

Well, that's it for the Branded in the 80s week-long Goonies celebration.  There are only two more years until the 25th anniversary of the Monster Squad rolls around, so I'd better start putting something together for that!

Like most movies, what we've seen of the Goonies on film and in the advertising isn't all that was written, shot, or illustrated.  Aside from variations on advertisements and movie posters, there are also some infamous deleted scenes, namely one involving a break-dancing octopus and the forgettable soundtrack entry, "Eight Arms to Hold You", as well as the convenience store run-in the Goonies have with the douche-y Troy Perkins.  Luckily these were (for the most part) included as outtakes on the 2001 Goonies DVD release.  There are more though, that haven't made their way to home video.  Just like the clues left behind by One-Eyed Willie, these remnants of early script drafts and possibly completed, filmed scenes have found their way into other sources.  Today I'd like to explore some of these hidden gems.  First though, I need to give a ginormous shout out once again to Vinnie Rattolle for contributing some wonderful ephemera and taking the time to share it with me.  You're officially a Goony in my book!

Sort of like the souvenir magazines of the 80s, another great place to find some obscure odds and ends for films was in the various adapted novels.  I remember reading the novelization of the first Tim Burton Batman flick that had entire subplots that were excised from the final film including a chase on horseback and much more with Knox, the Gotham reporter played by Robert Wuhl.  Well, Vinnie sent me some scans from his storybook adaptation of the Goonies that reveals some similar gems…

First a little insight into the convenience store scene which takes place after the gang first sets off to try and track down the X on the map, but before they end up at the Fratelli's hideout.  Basically they make a pit-stop at the Stop 'n' Snack for some provisions.  Mikey finds a road map of Oregon and compares it to Willie's map and realizes that the coastline is identical, so not only is Willie's map real, but they're also really close to where the treasure might be buried.  Before Mikey can share this with the gang Troy comes into the store with Andy and Stef in tow and then like the douche he is, he starts picking on the Goonies.  At one point he gets a hold of the map from Mikey and he rolls it up and lights it like a cigar.  Mouth and Mikey try to take it from him, which pisses him off and he cocks his fist back to hit Mikey.  At the last second Brand comes in, catches Troys fist starts pushing him around.  Long story short, Brand saves the day and confiscates the map.  That's where the scene cuts out and story wise it picks back up when Chunk, Data, Mouth and Mikey find the Fratelli's hideout.

So how did the gang get the map back?  Well, according to the storybook Mouth secretly swipes it from Brand (while singing a song to distract him) and then the four Goonies make a mad dash out of the store and evade Brand for a second time.

There's also a bit of secret foreshadowing involving the concept of Mad magazine-style paper fold-ins.  Mikey's grabs a Mad issue at the beginning of the flick and there is also a stack of issues on display next to the Oregon map in the convenience store.  As it turns out there is a similar puzzle to Willie's map.  When you fold it in, it creates a secondary map that more accurately points out the location of his treasure.  You get a bit of this in the outtakes on the DVD, but it's never explained as clearly as it is in the storybook!

The next reveal involves the Goonies oath and is a scene I'd never heard of revolving around the scene under the wishing well where Andy is torn between the idea of sticking with the Goonies or getting help from Troy.  After Andy decides to stay "down here, where it's our time", Mikey initiates her into the Goony-hood by having her recite the oath.  Immediately afterward the whole gang realizes that they're covered in leeches, a good year before Corey Feldman would find himself in a similar predicament in Stand By Me.  I'm curious if the scene was ever shot?  I could see it being a bit much after the attack of the bats and the fact that it would have nothing to do with Willie's booby traps.

It's also interesting that in the storybook, Francis Fratelli is revealed to be somewhat of a local history buff as he knows the whole back-story of One-Eyed Willie and fills in his brother and mother after they start tracking the kids and they end up at Chester Copperpot's body.  I guess when he wasn't setting local police departments on fire and buying toupees, he was spending his afternoons under the tutelage of Mikey and Brand's father at the local museum.  It's also in the bit in the storybook that One-Eyed Willie's real name is reveled to be William B. Pordobel…

The last cool bit involves another booby trap on the way to finding the Inferno.  The gang is confronted with three passageways and an odd rhyming clue on the map which reads:

"Three tunnels of mystery, all lead to unknown, To travel correctly, tickle the funnybone."

One of the passages has a skeleton by it, and after Mikey tickles the dead pirate's funny bone a second skeleton shoots out of the middle passage.  Another tickle and this new skeleton points to one of the tunnels, though it may not be the correct one.  It's sort of an odd little puzzle, and again I have to wonder if it was shot or left in the script?

For today's post, I wanted to share a little more of the Official Goonies Souvenir Magazine that was published to coincide with the film's release in the summer of 1985.  All told, I've only posted about 50% of the magazine, but you can find the rest over at Vinnie Rattolle's site, which has all sorts of great nostalgic odds and ends I might add.  I think a good place to start would be the Goony Oath (the magazine tends to use the "y" in the singular):

"I will never betray my Goon Dock friends, We will stick together until the whole world ends, Through Heaven and Hell and nuclear war, Good pals like us will stick like tar, In the city or the country or the forest or the boonies, I am proudly declared one of the Goonies!"

I wonder if the weak rhyme between "war" and "tar" was intentional since it's supposed to have been written by kids?  Anyway, as I mentioned in the first part, one of the things that was so cool about these magazines was all the little bits of trivia buried inside.  For instance, Spielberg's initial working title for the film was "The Goon Kids", which is kind of interesting when you think about the whole Goonies/Goon Docks thing.  It probably comes from a mixture of things, but my guess is that the term stems from the boondocks, which is military slang for rural areas (coming out of the Philippines and the Tagalog word for mountain, bundok.)  My bet is that in coming up with a name for the kids he took the "boon" sound from boondock and then flashed on "goon", because people treat the kids as if they're dumb and poor, and it's a nice self-deprecating moniker.  I'm also thinking he had the 1965 "Down in the Boondocks" song in the back of his mind as well:

"Down in the boondocks, Down in the boondocks, People put me down 'cause, That's the side of town I was born in…"

There are also some hints to dropped plot points.  On the bottom of the page above there's an insert with Sean Astin reading a copy of Mad magazine.  The author mentions how easily he solves the Al Jaffee fold-in back cover, and how this will play into the story later.  Thing is, it never does, at least not in the theatrical cut of the film.  There is a deleted scene in a convenience store where Mikey realizes that there is a similar fold-in puzzle with the map, but at the end of the day it's a throwaway bit.  If you look closely though Mad magazines are strewn about the set though (the most notable is a copy Mikey grabs before sitting on top of Brand when he's getting depressed about having to move before the rest of the gang comes over.)  Also, the initial design for the Rube Goldberg device that opens the Walsh's back gate originally featured a rabbit instead of an egg-laying chicken as appeared in the film.

Speaking of the map, there are a number of different map props that show up in the film.  The main one is severely weathered by production designer Michael Riva (who apparently stated in an interview on NPR that to get that aged look he used the natural coloring from coffee and his own blood) and appears in the scene when the kids are searching through the attic (pictured below.)  There's another version (also pictured below) that pops up in the deleted convenience store scene that's much cleaner and free of soot and blood.  There's also a version that appears in the magazine (above) which seems to be somewhere in the middle of the two (weathered-wise), but the actual map itself is different.  The X (which marks the spot of the Fratelli's hideout) varies from map to map, as do the burn holes in the middle.  Also, according to Sean Astin, he was given the map (I'm assuming the severally distressed one we typically see them with) by the crew, but his mother threw it away years later.  So we can thank Patty Duke for donating that bit of movie ephemera to a US landfill…

Another small detail that comes up in the magazine is a description of Mama Fratelli's tattoo which is a play on the Looney Tunes stereotypical criminal tat, a heart with the word "son" inscribed across it.   First of all, I love the subtle joke of the tattoo, but it's also an important aspect of Anne Ramsey's character.  She loves her boys, all three of 'em, even if she is constantly barking orders at them.  I also found it interesting that some of my favorite villainous moments were actually adlibs or ideas that the actors came up with to enrich their characters.  When Mama leans against the door after she's shooed the Goonies out of her hideout and exhaustedly delivers the line, "Kids suck...", I can't help but feel her pain.  Similarly, I've always found Robert Davi's sudden bursts of opera singing to be one of the creepier bits in the film, especially when he catches Chunk on the road while he's fleeing, looking for help.  Just knowing that this was Davi's idea is cool as he was really into his role and wanted to make it that much more menacing…

Something else I find fascinating is the amazing level of detail that the production has in some instances, yet how simple and crazily effective it is in others.  To help the actors really get into the mood, production designer Michael Riva contracted a perfume company to develop a realistic musky, wet cave-like odor that was sprayed on the sets to add that extra level of realism.  On the other hand, in the scene where a billion bats come flying out of an uncovered tunnel, there were actually no bats involved.  Instead Spielberg had the genius idea to shoot crepe paper out of an air cannon which perfectly mimicked the desired effect!

By far, the most impressive set piece in the film is One-Eyed Willie's ship, the Inferno. Not only did the production build it practically to scale, they didn’t let the actors know this before hand.  So when the kids come off the water slide bit and gain their footing in the water their reactions to the ship are genuine.  This isn't a new directorial tactic; Buster Keaton got similar amazed expressions out of his actors when he derailed a train and sent it crashing off a bridge into a ravine during the filming of the General.  But I still think it's pretty damn cool, and it has to be one of the group's fondest memories growing up…

The magazine also gave a glimpse behind the make-up of Sloth so kids could get a good look at John Matuszak, the former defensive end for the Oakland Raiders.  We also get a still from another deleted scene, the picture at the top left, with Sloth eating a frozen steak out of the Fratelli's freezer.  Seems like Sloth was always eating in the film now that I think about it…

In a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Goonies, today's Wax Paper Pop Art features two wrappers from the 1985 Topps bubblegum card set.

I talked about the stickers from this set here.

A quick note interrupting the Goonies madness.  I'm pleased to announce that table registration is now open for the Up! Fair!

Much like other craft, small comics, and art fairs with limited space, this will be a juried event.  This means that we, the organization committee, will evaluate all applications and select a finite number to receive table space.

The table fee for selected applicants will be $50 for a full table (6′x2′), or $30 for a half table.  More information on table fees and what costs they cover is available on the registration form.

What we're looking for in an applicant: Self-publishers who demonstrate original and independent thinking not only in the work itself, but also in how they package and promote it.  Perhaps most importantly, we're interested in people who like to share their knowledge and skill set in the form of a hands-on workshop or demonstration at the event.

If this describes you, please check out our application page by clicking the handy button below and follow the instructions.  If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please use our contact page.

Before DVD commentary or special features on laser discs, before the internet and imdb, there were only a few outlets to get some interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits on our favorite films.  As a kid my favorite outlet for this super secret information was the one-shot souvenir magazines that littered gas station spinner racks every summer to coincide with the latest blockbusters.   One that I missed out on as a kid was the official magazine for the Goonies, but thanks to Vinnie Rattolle (there's a lot of wonderful there) and the wonderful splendeferousness of the internets, I've been able to right that injustice…

Most of these magazines were pretty similar in structure.   They acted as one part story book with an extended film synopsis and lots of stills both from the finished film and some choice behind the scenes shots, but they were also a treasure trove of trivia.  They also served as an extension of the film credits providing some background on the cast and filmmakers…

Mixed in with some of the odd bits of actor trivia (I wonder if Jeff Cohen is still collecting hats), there are also some interesting little details about the characters.   I think this is the first time that fans got a chance to see these characters full names, Lawrence "Chunk" Cohen, Brand & Mikey Walsh, Andrea "Andy" Carmichael, Stephanie "Stef" Steinbrenner, and Clark "Mouth" Devereaux.  Curious though, we don't get to know Data's full name in these passages, though the internet psychics say it's Richard "Data" Wang.  Similarly the intertron fact machine has also revealed that Sloth's real name is Lotney Fratelli.

It's also interesting to note in the mini Richard Donner interview it's revealed that Spielberg directed all the second unit work on the film.   I knew he was a hands-on producer, but this is just more evidence that he really took a hand in working on all these projects.  It also illustrates his involvement in the script writing.  The basic idea was his, and he was involved in the process with Chris Columbus to flesh out the story.  On a side note, I just realized that Columbus really has a thing for crazy contraptions and booby traps; just take a look at all of Randall Peltzer's inventions in Gremlins, all the craziness in Home Alone, and Data's arsenal of gadgets…

I don't know about anyone else, but around the time that Goonies came out in 1985 the last thing in the world I would have been watching was probably MTV, and because of this I never managed to catch the crazy 12 minute, Donner-directed music video for Cyndi Lauper's contribution to the film, Goonies 'R Good Enough.  If I'd had a copy of the magazine I would have known about it though…

Thank the makers that Warner Brothers saw fit to include this insane bit of Goonies history on the 2001 DVD release of the flick.   Now everyone can bask in the glory of Lauper & company's zany reinterpretation of the Goonies adventure.  The video reunited Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, Jeff Cohen, Martha Plimpton, and Ke Huy Quan (I'd be willing to bet that Kerri Green was either busy filming Summer Rental or Lucas at the time) as the Goonies who help Cyndi Lauper on an adventure to save her family's gas station from a bunch of evil wrestling heels and a team of Benihana chefs.   It's not quite on the level of say Michael Jackson's Thriller, but it sure blows Jackson's Moonwalker out of the water.  You can catch the video here.

I'll take a deeper look at the magazine this weekend…

It's day two of Branded's week-long celebration of the Goonies.  Today I thought I'd take a look at some of the various posters for the flick.  First up is my favorite from artist Drew Struzan…

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that this is the official release poster that accompanied the film in its original theatrical run.  It's at least the version that I remember seeing in newspaper ads and on the album cover of the soundtrack release back in the 80s.  Even though Struzan's work tends to be kind of static with its photorealism and posed layouts, this piece has always stood out as one of his more exciting concepts.  Hanging precariously off of the stalactite, this group shot really sums up of the film in a lot of ways.  Aside from a good chunk of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Goonies was the first film that really kept me on the edge of my seat where it always felt like there was never any stable ground for the characters between all the slippery log bridges, cavernous waterslides, secret fireplace escapes, faux James Bond zip-wire shenanigans, and the collapsing flooring around the creepy bone organ.  This poster really nailed that feeling for me.

Next up is a piece by the great John Alvin…

Alvin, like Struzan, has a ton of memorable movie poster artwork to his credit including the posters for Bladerunner, the Gremlins, Legend, Darkman, Aracnophobia, E.T., the Lost Boys, Willow, and Young Frankenstein.  Most people probably don't know his name, but I'd be willing to bet they gave fond memories of his work.  His take on the Goonies is a bit more whimsical and mysterious; it almost has a Peter Pan kind of vibe to the tone and characters.  One of his artistic tropes was the use of silhouette, and personally I think it went to good use with this poster.  I also enjoy the way he framed the poster with One-Eyed Willie's treasure map, not only to being in that plot element, but also to bring in the main color palette of the film.

This last poster is probably the most well known as it's been the basis for most if not all of the home video release covers for at least the last 15 years…

Though the Struzan poster is my favorite, I really love the vibrancy and energy in this piece.  I'm not 100% positive, but I believe that it was painted by master artist Noriyoshi Ohrai who also delivered some amazing work for the original Star Wars films.  I also love that he managed to work in Mama Fratelli and One-Eyed Willie (not to mention his ship and a heaping pile of his rich stuff.)  I have a feeling he's also responsible for the puzzle poster painting on the back of the Topps sticker cards I posted yesterday…

This week on Branded in the 80s I'm going to feature a series of posts in celebration of the 25th anniversary of one of my all time favorite 80s flicks, the Goonies!  To start things off I thought I'd repurpose some of the content from an old Peel Here column, so without further ado I again present the sticker card subset from the 1985 Topps series of bubblegum cards…

I still love that the stills from the cut octopus scene made their way into this set.  If I'd had these back in the 90s it would have gone a long way to proving to my friends that I did see a version of the flick with an octopus attack (ala Robert Altman's Popeye.)