War games of the board variety

What's the ad for?

WW II board games

Year

1985

Spotted in

The Scoop

Couldn't find anything out about these games. Even the ever resourceful www.boardgamegeek.com had nothing on this. Did Model Expo make the games or just distribute. I'm guessing the later. They are still around, Model Expo that is. Anyone ever order any of these games?

CBC Saturday Morning Cartoons - 1985

What's the ad for?

New season of Saturday morning cartoons on CBS

Year

1985

Spotted in

The scoop

Hm, lets see what the fall of 1985 looked like on CBS on a Saturday morning.

• Berenstain Bears
• Wuzzles
• Jim Henson's Muppet Babies and Monsters
• Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling!
• Dungeons and Dragons

Muppet Babies and Monsters only lasted three episodes. the program was an expanded one hour long episode that paired the successful Muppet Babies with Muppet baby monsters. The Wuzzles lasted only 13 episodes which makes it one of the shortest animated series produced by Disney. Dungeons and Dragons lasted three seasons (27 episodes) and had Steve Gerber, the creator of Howard the Duck as story editor. Now here's where it gets interesting. The Young Astronauts was an animated show about a space family. The show was ready for the beginning of the fall launch and was therefore scheduled to debut in February of 1986. You might remember that on January 28th, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded moments after lift-off killing everyone aboard. The show was shelved and never seen again.

Moon Patrol

What's the ad for?

Moon Patrol for the Atari

Year

1984

Spotted in

The scoop

Moon Patrol was the first video game to popularize parallax scrolling, giving the illusion of depth to 2D video games. In the game you drive, shoot and jump your way to check points while you patrol the dangerous Luna City.

The He-Man video game

What's the ad for?

Masters of the Universe. The Power of He-Man video game

Year

1984

Spotted in

 The scoop

 Another big 80's cartoon and toy franchise He-Man and the Masters of the Universe or in this case Masters of the Universe, The Power of He-Man. Below are some screen shots. See ya Monday.

D&D Basic Rules- The Red Box

What's the ad for?

Dungeons and Dragons Set #1: Basic Set

Year

1989

Spotted in

The scoop

 I'm not a role player, at least not much of one. I did however try and get into it when I was a kid. My friends and I started out playing a lesser know RPG called Boot Hill. It must have been the theme that attracted us, I don't really know how we stumbled on to it. From there we created our own world and system based on Roman gladiators. You have to take into account that we were probably around 12 years old at the time. Then I saw the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set at my local comic book shop. We had a lot of fun with the system although thinking back we probably played all those games so wrong, but hey it was all fun. They recently re-released this box although I've heard it's not a straight reprint.

Lazer Tag

What's the ad for?
Laser Tag
Year
1986
Spotted in

The scoop
Lazer Tag...the toy (or game, or sport, or lifestyle?) that spawned a cartoon, video game and a new birthday party event in the eighties. The Lazer Tag set featured in the ad above peaked between 86-88. I bought my Lazer Tag set manufactured by Worlds of Wonder (or WoW...hmm) in 1990, in a bargain bin. We only had one set between my friend Jason and I so we created our own versions of the game to play in my basement.

Besides contributing all the above to our collective culture, Lazer Tag also helped teach a generation of kids how to incorrectly spell laser.

Stuntman T-Shirt

What's the ad for?

Stuntman's Association of Motion Pictures T-Shirt

Year

1984

Spotted in

The scoop

When I first saw this ad I doubted if this Stuntman's Association of Motion Picture even actually existed. Then I Googled it and it does! Now I want one of these T-Shirts. The art in this art...horrible. I can't tell if I'm looking at the front of this dude or the back. That's really messed up man.

Star Wars: Jedi Arena

This ad is from the back cover of Super-Villain Classics #1 (1983), which featured the origin of Galactus, a villain that would strike fear even in Darth Vader's eyes.

Okay, maybe not...but Galactus is still pretty cool...to me.

Jedi Arena looks like glorified Pong. Anyone care to differ? ThinkGeek has some pretty cool replica Lightsabers available but they're not cheap. However earlier this month a new, cheaper version released by Hasbro was reviewed on the Comics Alliance website. For now I guess I'll be stuck with playing Jedi Arena.

Star Comics

From 1985 comes a Marvel house ad for the Star Comics line. The line started the year before in 1984 and primarily featured adaptations of children's cartoons and toys. The only one I remember reading was Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham. I was immediately fell in love with the play on words...Porker! Spider-Ham! How can you not love that...

Star Trek V Collectible Figures

What's the ad for?

Star Trek V Collectible Figures

Year

1989

Spotted in

 The scoop

These 8 inch collectible figures were released by Galoob in 1989 to coincide with the release of the William Shatner directed Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The film did was a box office disappointment and so were these toys as they were cheaply made (but not cheap at $19.95 each). Visit the "A Piece of the Action" blog for a detailed review of the Spock figure. Maybe Galoob should have stuck to making Game Genies.

The origin of the Marvel Try-Out book

Back in March I featured an ad for the Marvel Try-Out Book. Well now Jim Shooter, the man behind the project has written about the nexus of the book. Read about it here.

Marvel Comics Ad Survey

What's the ad for?

Marvel Comics Ad Survey

Year
1985

Spotted in

The scoop

 In 1985 Marvel asked their readers what kind of ads they wanted to see in their comics. Did anyone send this survey in? What ads did you want to see? Which are your favorite now?

Mario without the Super

What's the ad for?

Mario Bros. for the Atari

Year
1984

Spotted in

The scoop

 The classic that started it all. Witness the "Killer Turtles" before they became...Koopa Troopa!

We Rescued Breakfast!

What's the ad for?

Nintendo Cereal System
Year
1989

Spotted in

The scoop

 A cereal based on a video game? Not a first but the Nintendo Cereal System was unique that it gave you the choice of two different cereals. The box was split in half with one side offering fruity flavored Marios, Koopa Troopas and other Super Mario related characters while the other sided featured berry flavored Zelda related gear like boomerangs, keys and shields. A box of this cereal recently sold on eBay for $200! You can see the TV advert here.