Can it Really Be Considered a Prize if You’re Earning It?

April 1980

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #7

Ah, to be young – so much stuff you want, but so few options for getting the money for that stuff. Well, Olympic Sales Club is here to help! Just look at all the fabulous prizes you could earn by selling cards and gifts!

So pretty much everything on here is stuff that would appeal to kids/teenagers… except possibly the crock-pot. I mean, really, what kid would choose a crock-pot over toys or video games??

And just for the record, I had a Coleco Telstar as a kid (and still have it, in fact!) – I think getting it for a few bucks at a rummage sale is a much better deal than having to sell 19 boxes of greeting cards!

QuickShot – Taking Aim at Your Cash!

December 1989

Wonder Woman #37

Video games were hot in 1989, so people tried to cash in by making better, faster, more powerful controllers. From what I’m told, QuickShot’s performance doesn’t even remotely fit this description or live up to the amount of excitement that they promise.

I’m no video game expert (unlike some people I know), but I’ve never even heard of the MSX or Amstrad systems – anyone out there remember those?

My Subscription-Sense Is Tingling!

January 1997

Deadpool #1

Much like the Columbia House ad featured in an earlier post, I think that ads for comic subscriptions are like snapshots in time, showing you a little glimpse of what was going on at the time. Here’s a Marvel subscription page from 1997.

I like the statement “YES, YOU CAN PHOTOCOPY THIS AD!” – I guess they finally realized that people don’t want to mangle their comic books just to redeem an offer!

Scaling Back

Sorry, guys, but I seem to be having a hard time managing my time properly these days, so rather than promising two ad posts per week, for the time being I’m just planning to post new ads on Fridays. If I have any other sort of announcements or related material, I’ll post that on Tuesdays, or if I have a little extra time, I may slip in an actual post on a Tuesday, but for right now, Fridays are all I’m promising.

Gum! Buy It!

April 1980

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #7

More gum! Kids love gum, so let’s give ’em plenty of gum ads! Here we have Bubble Yum, which, compared to Hubba Bubba, is a pretty straightforward and stripped-down ad campaign.

New flavor! Plus all the old ones too! Bubbles! Buy it!

I think my favorite part of this as is “5 great flavors and SUGARLESS.” So… you’re saying that the sugarless tastes less than great, then?

 

Do you enjoy reading Comic Book Ads? If so, please consider supporting me by clicking here for my Amazon link – I’ll get a percentage from everything you order! Thanks!

Battle of the Sea-Monkeys

I’m attempting to get back into the swing of things and start posting on my regular schedule again. So here’s a semi-post to get things started – not actually a comic book ad, but a fascinating article about the comic book ad mainstay, Sea-Monkeys, and what has happened to the creator’s widow in recent years. Thanks, Lura, for sharing this with me!

The Battle Over the Sea-Monkey Fortune