10 Tiny Treasures

Watch a movie more than once and you'll notice some of the smaller details that you missed the first time. This list, on the other hand, has absolutely nothing to do with that - there's some small stuff here but they're never not the life of the party. Some of them have magical powers, some of them have no proper function, some of them are just dollar bills y'all. The thing they have in common is I want all of them, and I have a secret hiding place set aside for each one. 

- Paul

Crystal ball

Labyrinth

Who didn't want a crystal ball just so they could do the Harlem Globetrotter shit Bowie does here? (It was the hands of a stunt "ball handler" but still.) Honestly, the crystal ball kept me invested in the movie as a kid because it hinted at the possibility of more sparkly treasure later on (there wasn't). 

Gold pen

Lethal Weapon 2

As a plot function it only existed for one scene as a means to squeeze in some of the melodramatic character development that this sequel mostly ignored. Of course I didn't recognize this when I was like 7, I just wanted the gold pen (not real gold, but in a movie that prominently features gold coins, I thought maybe?). 

Benedict's glass eyes

Last Action Hero

Many generations of children have enjoyed playing with marbles. My generation got the upgrade (downgrade?) of Pogs. These were like a combination of the two: shiny glass spheres with fun designs on them. I've wanted them-- nay, I've needed them for over 30 years, just to have and look at, or best case scenario, I lose an eye and I have to wear a different one every day. 

Petty cash box

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

This was the first time I'd ever heard of the "petty cash" concept and couldn't wait to grow up and borrow a stack of bills to buy a pair of boots and a magazine. But mostly I wanted access to a secret lockbox with little compartments inside for special things (like company funds). 

Batmobile tracer

Batman Returns

I don't know what you call this thing; Doug Jones places it under the Batmobile for the purposes of hacking into its computer. I just want it for its Tim Burton aesthetic, combining advanced technology and a candy colored paint job. 

Miniaturized furniture

Honey I Shrunk the Kids

Everything's cooler when it's miniaturized (see: Dennis Quaid), up to and including a "thinking couch" (which is just a cool idea on its own). In the movie, Matt Frewer calls it "doll furniture" that you can find at "swap meets" - when I was a kid I thought that was some kinda weird meat store and it sounded gross to me. But it also sounded like they had tiny furniture (not the Lena Dunham movie). 

Attendance and Punctuality pins

Rushmore

Cute and shiny and they also have academic recognition attached to them (sort of). I think between the two pins we'd all choose Punctuality (mostly because Attendance is lame). This is actually a treasure you can find all over Etsy. 

Owen's coin collection

Throw Momma From the Train

Perhaps the most obtainable prize on this list, and it has a context that allows us to play along at home. The collection is just an assortment of loose change with each coin evoking a different happy memory. Obviously you can do this with any object but Owen points out the otherwise unnoticed beauty of the coins themselves. (And he keeps them under a floorboard which is so rad.) 

The Black Box

Sneakers

I guess it'd be cool to hack into the government's database (even just to change our attendance records like Ferris Bueller) but I think the real joy would be having something so nefarious and sought-after that I would have to disguise it as something else to make sure no one found it. 

Model headstones

Beetlejuice

The whole damn town is depicted in model form, which would also imply the stuff we don't even see: mini Zagnut, mini whorehouse, mini prostitute ghouls. But still, I'd go with Beetlejuice's headstone, because it's already totally badass looking, and to reiterate, everything's even cooler miniaturized.