Countdown to Halloween Day 6: Bendy Skeletons and Aargh!

Welcome back! It's day six of the Countdown to Halloween! Today let's take a look at a haul I brought home from the official Halloween section at Goodwill. 

Here's the usual "look at my pile" shot. But let's dig in and take a closer look, shall we?

One of the cutest finds in this lot is this lady right here. At Christmas the Goodwill Geek family likes to collect Nutcrackers. We pick up at least one new Christmas nutcracker per year. Well, we also own a Mummy nutcracker that we display for Halloween and THIS year he has a lady friend!

We also like to set up a sort of Halloween village on one of our bookshelves, and these two pieces will go very nicely in there! (Ever notice how a lot of modern Halloween decorations are basicaly just bastardized Christmas decorations? Nutcrackers? Christmas Villages? But Who Wore It Best?)

These bendy figures were MUST haves. The skeleton on the left is beautiful. He is the most absolutely perfect bendy skeleton I have ever seen. I am so happy he's mine now. And this sassy little pumpkin guy is pretty rad too. They've both got a lot of panache.

Only a couple of masks really spoke to me out of the ones available to choose from. I'm not entirely sure what the lady on the left is supposed to be exactly, but she's eerie and beautiful and sort of gypsy-ish but also kind of flapper-ish... It's probably just suposed to be some sort of unsettling "The Strangers" style mask... but I liked it. And this eye guy! Man! I love a guy with 6 eyes (or 8 if you count to two eye holes for your actual eyes)!

I found a couple of Halloween-y books in "Ghoulish Gags & Giggles" by Phil Hirsch, and "Running With the Demon" by Terry Brooks. Ghoulish Gags is the typical monster-themed joke book fare, pretty tame and mostly lame, but it did give my kids a couple of chuckles. Running is a sort of urban fantasy tale, written by the Shannara guy, it was released back in 1998 and I've been semi-pseudo-aware of it since way back then, and just never pulled the trigger.

Now! On to my two favorite finds of this trip! This guy. THIS GUY. I have been TRYING to find information about this on the internet since picking him up. I've posted pleas for information on Facebook and on Instagram. I've consulted the toy guys that know toys, the monster guys that know monsters... Aaaand nothing. This fella has a soft, stuffed body  with a bendable wire frame inside. His hands, feet, and skull are all made of hard plastic. He's carrying a Trick or Treat sack that may or may not be his originally.

I am completely willing to concede that this may be some sort of DIY handmade job from a crafting/doll-making kit... if you look closely at the neck this may very well be the case. But I'd like to know one way or another. Because I LOVE THIS THING. To me, he sums up EXACTLY what Halloween should be in every way. There's that sense of nostalgia, a little sense of creepiness, a sense of whimsy... This thing has it all baby. But as amazing as this was, it isn't my #1 find of this particular trip...

THIS IS!!! This is Aargh! from the Madballs. Madballs were a line of toys that came out in the mid-80s and rocked my world. Much like Garbage Pail Kids the Madballs were a big part of the gross-out revolution of that time. They were rude and crude and had attitude. And while you may cry fowl and try to tell me that Aargh! here is in fact not a Halloween item, I challenge you to look at these faces:

And tell me how these guys with their bulging eyes, multitude of stitches and obvious bodily trauma don't SCREAM Halloween??? I found Crackhead on the far left, at Goodwill. I Found Aargh! at Goodwill. I found Slobulus, on the far right, at a yardsale. I owned exactly NONE of these characters as a kid. My favorites were Screamin' Meemie, Dust Brain, Oculus Orbus, Skull Face, Wolf Breath, and Lock Lips. I also owned some of the Super Mad Balls. I loved the comic books! I was Mad for Madballs! And I'm so happy I have managed to bring my collection up to three now!

So that's the haul I brought back from just one exciting trip to the Goodwill Halloween section!!! I can't wait to go back! I'll be back soon with more Growling Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Haunting!

 I'm doing this countdown as a part of the official Countdown to Halloween, so be sure to pop over there and look and see who else is participating this year.