A Custom A Day.... 365 days of custom figures Day 106 - Goonies Mikey Minimate

4/17/2015

I've wanted Goonies toy for a long time. Luckily Mezco Toys came to the rescue and released the 4 main Goonies and Sloth with a rumored second wave that would include the rest of the Fratelli family. Wait, what? No Brand! No Stef!? NO ANDY?!?!?

Well the first wave of figures was hard to find and terribly over priced for the time that they came out. They retailed for $25 a piece which is the standard today for a collectible but back in 2007 that was unheard of. IF you were lucky you could find them at Spencer's or on a few online retailers. The line stopped production after the first wave was released and no more Goonies toys would be had until Funko's recent Reaction line.

Hoping that at some point someone would make custom figures of the missing three kids; Brand, Andy & Stef, I saved the search Custom Goonies on my eBay account. The only thing that ever popped up for over a decade (yeah I said it) was a custom t-shirt and some jewelry. No one cared enough about the whole gang to give it a try.

Because the Mezco line was sculpted in such dynamic poses, I couldn't think of base figures for customs suitable enough to fit in. One of the Hogwarts girls probably could have doubled as Andy and I contemplated a Jonah Hex Josh Brolin head for Brand but it all seemed like more hassle than it was worth. Then the existing Goonies figures shot up in price on the aftermarket so buying a second set to open and display with customs of the missing three was going to cost a fortune so I would remain Goonieless.

I eventually joined DeviantArt as an outlet to display my artwork. Two years ago I was browsing their custom figure section and stumbled on a picture of a set of custom Goonies Minimates, WITH THE THREE MISSING CHARACTERS!!!! (SEE?!?! Minimates ARE the perfect toy!!!!) I commented on the picture that I needed them and that was the end of it. I saved the photo to my hard drive and wished I could own the set. A year and a half later my saved eBay custom Goonies search turned up the very same set of Minimates WITH A BUY IT NOW!!!! So I did. Now they're MINE!!!! I love it when shit just works out. I obtained a rare Wonder Woman prototype in a similar way. More about that in 2016, when we're done with the customs. For now here's the leader of the Goonies, Mikey.

Please note I do not know the artist who made these and they are NOT made by Psyguy. (Although he's more than capable of making these.)

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A Custom A Day....

Since I began toy collecting as a hobby back in 1990 I have always had a need for custom figures. Toy companies begin action figure lines, begin to release individual characters to create teams and, more often than not leave them incomplete. Many collectors find that custom figures pollute their collection's authenticity by not being mass produced creations from the toy companies that created the preexisting toy lines. I disagree. I feel a quality custom action figure enhances a collection and help create a complete picture.

When characters are chosen for a toy line several factors come in to play. The character's current media relevance (if any), their most iconic look (they may have had multiple costumes through their sometimes vast histories) and gender. Female action figures tend to not sell to parents of the boys who are playing with them so a great many of the female characters are never rendered in plastic in the way the male characters are leaving holes in the collections.

I am a fan of the female heroes primarily so I have purchased and made quite a few "customs" throughout my years as a collector. I find it challenging (ok impossible) to get a smooth, quality finish to my sculpt work, downgrading the quality of my figure's appearance that I create so my custom work tend to be of a Frankenstein type nature where I use different parts such as a torso and arms from one figure attached to the hips and legs of another, and a different head with a full cost of paint to create my pieces. I also struggle with painting facial details on figures. The small areas, the eyes in particular give me the biggest issues. I prefer to reuse another head from a different character that will allow me to not have to paint the facial details since I am heavy handed and tend to paint in clumps rather than smooth, factory produced finishes that many of the customizers I work with can achieve.

Most of the figures that I have in my collection that have intricate sculpting and paint details have been created by other artists from around the world. The UK, The Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and from several states throughout the US through personal communication or via eBay, which can be an outstanding resource for quality custom work. I've had the pleasure of meeting some incredibly talented artists through websites & social media. Over the past two years seeking out quality custom figures has become the main focus of my collection. Which is at over 5,000 loose pieces. As you will see over the course of this year this does not just affect super hero toy lines. I collect different toy lines spanning the 1960's through today covering cartoons, movies and television in addition to comic books. Some of the custom pieces I have had done wouldn't have been made as toys because of lack of consumer interest or based on licensing issues simply cannot be made in to toys. I haven't let that stop me from using several different toy lines to amass a complete plastic collection of all of the media I have enjoyed throughout my life.

I have decided to begin a project called A Custom A Day.... to showcase my custom pieces one a day, every day throughout 2015. If you follow me on social media or on this site you may have seen many of them before but with this project I will give a little background of each figure and its relevance to my collection. So check back daily!!!

A CUSTOM A DAY.... 365 Days of custom figures

A Custom A Day.... 365 days of custom figures Day 106 - Goonies Mikey Minimate

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A Custom A Day....

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