Apache Arrowheads

What's the ad for?

Apache Arrowheads
Year
1978

Spotted in
Walt Disney Donald Duck #199, Gold Key Comics
The scoop

I have to wonder if this is real.  If something is too good to be true, it usually is. Were these actually authentic Apache arrowheads? As in old school arrowheads. Or was there a few Apache's sitting around there living room circa 1978 carving these things. Looking at this page, arrowheads are worth a pretty penny, especially when your investment was $1 for three (plus fifty cents shipping). Anyone out there ever order one of these?

The Six Million Dollar Man

What's the ad for?

Six Million Dollar Man action figure and Bionic Action Club
Year
1975

Spotted in

The scoop

Wow, pretty cool action figure and play-set. This is a really good ad. Really sells the toy well. Check out this link for photos of the actual toy. The Bionic Action Club was kind of funny. You received an autographed picture of Steve Austin, the bionic man. Not the actor but the character. Clever.

Pac-Man watch

"Telling time was never so much fun!"

What's the ad for?

Pac-Man Watch
Year
1984

Spotted in
The X-men and the Micronauts #2, Marvel Comics
The scoop

 Pac-Man watch! As the yellow guy says, "Telling time was never so much fun!" These high tech watches used Floating Disc Technology. Now that is impressive. Oh, it also comes in a Ms. Pac-Man model too! Happy Friday...

The Robots Clanky

What's the ad for?

The Robots Clanky for President comic book
Year
1975

Spotted in
Turok, Son of Stone, #100. Gold Key Comics
The scoop

Who is Robot Clanky and why should I have voted for him? This ad is similar to the recent Marvel Try-out book ad where a supplier is trying to unload unsold books. The Robot Clank for President book being sold during the 1972 election which gave America Nixon for the second straight term. I like "Rattles", Clanky's trusty robo-dog.

Maybe Clanky will come out of retirement and run in the next election (here in Canada an election could be coming this spring!). Maybe Clanky could unite the left...

Super Cobra

What's the ad for?

Super Cobra
Year
1984

Spotted in

The scoop

Nothing much here. Just another video game ad. They seem to be the most popular. I took a look on eBay to see if I could track down one of the Flight Jackets that was given away as a sweepstakes prize. Couldn't find one but they are over 25 years old. Maybe they didn't even end up giving them away. I wonder how often that happened? Go here to see the game in action as it's featured on a show called Starcade.

Not an ad but #3... A New Blog!

Today I launched a new blog called A Flame About This High, that will look at John Byrne's letter column from the pages of John Byrne's Next Men (JBNM). The letters column of JBNM were an interesting look into the mind of the controversial John Byrne and a look into the comic book industry in the early nineties.

The site will be updated every Friday with scans of the original letters column being posted and a discussion of the contents.

Check it out at http://jbnmaflamethishigh.blogspot.com/

Marvel Try-out book

What's the ad for?
The official Marvel Try-out book
Year
1987
Spotted in
Conan the barbarian giant sized annual 12, Marvel
The scoop

When I first came across this ad I thought it was for the contest that Marvel held using this "try-out" book. The original book was published in 1983 with the winners being announced in 1986. The concept was developed by then editor Jim Shooter. The book described the various jobs of writer, penciller, inker, letter and colorist and provided pages to do the work on. You would submit your work with the prize being a regular professional assignment being to complete the Spider-Man story used in the try-out which was to be published the following year. The issue was never published which I guess makes it a no-prize.

 

The winner of the penciller category was Mark Bagley who went on to have a successful career in comic books including a famous run on Ultimate Spider-Man with Brian Michael Bendis.

 

This ad, however, is from 1987, a full four years after it was first published and the contest was over. I guess they were just trying to unload some unsold copies.

 

Bionic Beauty Salon

What's the ad for?
The Bionic Woman and her Bionic Beauty Salon
Year
1977
Spotted in
New Terrytoons, #42, Gold Key
The scoop
This is a bit ridiculous. You would think Kenner could come out with a progressive doll for young girls that doesn't focus on "beauty". Brush and comb her beautiful hair while she crushes tennis balls in with her bare hands. Seems like everything just boils down to Malibu Stacy...Lindsay Wagner did have beautiful hair.

Chinese Kung-Fu

What's the ad for?

Kung-Fu

Year

1974

Spotted in

The scoop

 As any black belt can tell you Kung-Fu is easy and fast to learn. Just ask Ted! The text in this ad is pretty funny. " So simple that if you can read you can easily master the theory of this "flick-of-the-wrist" technique." I like how it simply states that you will learn the theory, not how to do it. By the way the comic I found this in has a great story about the "Hockey Mask of Death!". Very cool...

Joust

What's the ad for?

Joust for the Atari 2600 and 5200

Year

1984

Spotted in

The scoop

I find it interesting that back in 1984 you didn't have to actually show any images or screenshots of the game being advertised. An illustration was good enough. I remember playing Joust in the local roller rink when I was a kid. What I don't remember was how hard it was. At least this Java emulation is tough. Go on and give it a try. Did you know they were trying to make a Joust movie? IMDB lists it as a 2012 release but something tells me we will have to wait longer then that. Quick grab that egg!

See-Action Football

Alright, I am going to try a new format. It might change over time so here goes...

What's the ad for?
See-Action Football board game
Year
1974
Spotted in
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane # 136
The scoop
This was the first edition of See-Action football released. A later version was endorsed by you know who. You can't fault the company for having an original idea. It's pretty cool sounding actually. From www.boardgamegeek.com...

"Strategy combines with visual gimmicky in this title. Each player (offensive and defensive) secretly chooses a slide depicting their play choice, and one player sets the randomizing knob on the game's slide projector. They then view the two overlaid slides which produce an image of the play in progress, moving them through until a yardage/penalty result shows up at the bottom of the screen. Standard scoring rules for American football apply." 


The version shown in the ad was not licensed by the NFL and therefore did not use real NFL teams, just the cities. What do you do for New England then? Well, you call it Boston.

Image by Tony Nardo

The Star Wars Collection

I'm tired from the comic con so here is a softball. Be the most fashionable kid in school when you wear items from the Star War collection.

Not an ad but #2...

I returned from the Emerald City Comic Convention today. This is by far one of the coolest comics I bought. Come on...Super-Gorillas!

Win a real Spacecraft!

This incredible ad was found in a tattered copy of Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #73, from 1967 (hilarious cover). What makes this incredible is the prize is that you could actually win a genuine Gemini Spacecraft prototype! Can you imagine having that sit in your backyard? Nineteen feet of crazy fun. Wow, that would put even the coolest tree-house to shame.

When I saw this ad I had to find out what the story was. Who won this prize and where is this space capsule now? All the credit has to go to Comic Coverage website. That's where I found most of this information.

So the winner of the price was a 13 year old scout named Alen Hanshew from Portland, Oregon. So what did young Alen do with his new space capsule? He gave it to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Not that he had much choice in the matter. Reading the ad it says;


"How will it feel to present your spacecraft to your city for a park or a museum? Famous, that's how"

So all the winner won was the capsule to be donated to his or her local museum. Kind of let down don't you think? I bet you that kid had grand plans of what to do with his new space capsule. I bet you he was mighty disappointed to find out he didn't actually get to keep the capsule. I guess it wasn't even delivered by airplane but rather by train. At least Alen Hanshew became famous right? Or maybe he just felt that way.

Today I am off to the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. This will be my second year attending. It's going to be a great weekend.

Win all you can haul

These contests are the stuff that children's dreams are made of. A Toys R Us shopping spree?...wow. One hundred lucky kids won a $1000 shopping spree. Whatever happened to those kids? Did the prestige of winning this contest change their lives? I'm sure gaining all these toys would make someone the most popular kid in the class, but did any of those children use that popularity to leverage a greater social standing. Climb up the grade school hierarchy? Were you one of those children? Are you the CEO of some big company as a result?