The Green Goblin is back, and he means business. The “Maximum Overdrive” villain is a part of horror movie history on many levels, and now you can own a piece it for a very small price thanks to prop collector Tim Shockey. Shockey talks to iHorror about how he restored the the Goblin and how the fans can get a piece of it for themselves. If you don’t remember the film “Maximum Overdrive”, it is important to horror history.

The 1980’s were Stephen King’s era. Adaptations of his books were in such demand that Hollywood looked to his short stories for inspiration. The short story “Trucks” was no exception, and in 1986 the movie “Maximum Overdrive,” based on that story, hit theaters.

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King wrote the screenplay and directed the film which one might think would make a great combination. Unfortunately, the campiness and playfulness of the film is far from terrifying.

That’s not to say “Maximum Overdrive” doesn’t have its creepy villain.

The villain in this case is The Green Goblin; a huge grinning mask that adorns the front of a “Happy Toyz” tractor/trailer. The world’s machines have become victim to some sort of radiation, making them capable of taking on lives of their own and seemingly wanting to eradicate the human race. The Green Goblin appears intelligent; it figures out that diesel gas is its life’s blood and needs humans to run the hose and gas pumps in order to survive.

The Goblin has trapped a small group of people inside a roadside cafe for this purpose and hero Bill Robinson (Emilio Estevez), a café employee, battles the big rig until the explosive finale.

 

28 years later The Green Goblin is back and he has found a willing human slave in Tim Shockey. Back in the 80’s Shockey, a movie prop enthusiast, was traveling back from a family trip in Willmington NC, when he saw a diner in the horizon around which several diesel trucks were circling. Not too long after that, he put a video cassette titled “Maximum Overdrive” in his VCR and realized that he had seen the movie being made.

By chance, Shockey’s brother, back in Willmington phoned him to say that an ad had been placed in the local paper offering to sell the Green Goblin head from the movie. Shockey drove the several hours back to North Carolina and purchased the prop. The head remained in Shockey’s video store until he sold the business.

Thus began a few decades worth of procrastination as the Goblin head remained in his storage shed for some time. Finally, Shockey making good on a personal promise, took a deep breath and began the restoration process.

“It was really a mess,” Shockey sais, “The whole jaw was gone including the tongue and lower teeth and so was the tops of both ears. Everything that was left was burnt badly. There were a few places where you could still see some of the original green paint. I displayed it in the video store for several years till we sold the business. At that point it was moved to my back yard where it set for over 20 years.”

Having never worked with fiberglass before Shockey began the arduous process of restoring the head with only some pictures to build from. In the beginning, he would sit for hours just staring at the piece wondering where to attack it first. Finally, he picked up a sander and started. “I spent almost two years working evenings and weekends restoring the Green Goblin head. It was painted on March 16, 2013. We attended our first Horror Con 1 week after the head was painted. We have attended around 22 conventions in past two years.”

Shockey was hoping to keep the piece for his private collection, but when people started questioning his sudden social media absence, he explained that he was working on something called the “Goblin Project”, posting pictures of his restoration efforts as he went along. Fans recognized the piece and insisted that he showcase it at various genre conventions around the country,” People started asking if I were going to take it to this con and that con. I had no idea what they were talking about. Once I learned about all the horror and comic cons I knew I couldn’t just leave the goblin locked away in my garage…I had to share it with the fans!”

And he did share. Not too soon after the project was finished and the paint was barely dry, Shockey attended his first “Con”, and has attended about 22 in the last few years. To Shockey’s knowledge, this is the only fully restored Goblin used in the movie.

The original “Happy Toyz” tractor/trailer was presumably destroyed after filming. The man he bought the head from said he saw what looked like the truck being taken to the scrap yard. Shockey is considering mounting the Goblin on a big rig, as it was in the movie, but hasn’t committed to that yet, worried the elements might destroy it during transport.

The Green Goblin has quite a following. Famous people come up to his display and pose in front of the grinning villain. But there is one story that Shockey says he remembers touching him the most, “Here was a young girl that came running up crying and hugged me. I ask her what was wrong and she stepped back and said “Thank you for restoring the Green Goblin head!” She was just so excited to see it and talked on and on about the movie. That moment made all those lonely night and weekends in the garage restoring it worth every second!”

Whatever you might think of the movie “Maximum Overdrive”, The Green Goblin is definitely a part of horror history. And you can own a piece of it too. Shockey had to make some adjustments to the back of the piece and he is selling pieces of the scrap for $20.

As for the future of the Goblin Shockey says he’s letting the fans decide, “My passion for this project has grown and we have the desire to share it with as many fans as we can! We urge fans to contact their local / favorite cons and tell them to invite me to their event! I am a one man show here. We are building pieces of the truck to mount in behind the head for better photos. Also adding lights and sound! When fans come to see it I want to have as much Maximum Overdrive memorabilia as I can find to make their experience as memorable as possible!”

Horror fans can check out The Goblin Project here to help in the restoration process. Or to own your own piece of “Maximum Overdrive” history check out Hollywood Prop Collector.

You can also follow Shockeys progress on the project by visiting his Facebook page here.

 

To get your copy of “Maximum Overdrive” you can order it at Amazon.com.