Here we’ve got a collection of various toys. At first I thought it was odd that different, unrelated brands would share an ad, but then realized that this is actually for a store that sells these toys, so they probably just threw together their most popular stuff for this ad.
If I could pick anything from this ad, I think I’d have to go with the Mego dolls, and if I could only pick one, it would be Spider-Man. What about you?
Solar Fox! I’ve never played the game myself, but I’ve heard it’s a really good one. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about this ad – it just makes me cringe!
For those of you who don’t know, I’m an editor, so spelling, grammar, and punctuation are what I do. I half wonder if anyone proofread this before it went to print. This ad has missing punctuation, incorrect punctuation, ambiguous letters, and possibly even missing words! I’m sure that most people wouldn’t really notice, and for those that would, they probably wouldn’t really care, but it’s my job to care about this, and I can’t just turn it off when I’m not on the clock!
CBS Electronics, I give you credit for doing an ad in the style of a comic, but next time you do (which I’m sure will be any day now!), please have me check it over before it goes to publication!
It’s almost Christmas, and this ad combines two longtime favorite gifts: Star Wars and video games! This was actually one of the first licensed Star Wars video games (from what I’m finding, it seems to be the second, but I’m not 100% sure about that), and in it you pilot the Millennium Falcon in a mission the destroy the Death Star – pretty exciting stuff!
If you want to give it a try, the Atari 2600 version is emulated here. I got 550 on my first try – I’m sure I could do better if I tried again, but don’t have the time at the moment.
Anyway, happy holidays, everyone!
I love it when advertising crosses mediums and takes on a life of its own, and here’s a fantastic example of that: the Kool-Aid Man Video Game! Kool-Aid Man, the character designed to advertise packets of flavored drink mix to kids, now has his very own video game! So, in a way, this ad is kind of meta – Kool-Aid Man started as an advertisement, and now this is an ad for Kool-Aid Man! Awesome!
This was available for both the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. From what I understand, the Intellivision version was vastly superior (as was the case with most games available on both platforms at the time), but you can try out the Atari version here! It took me a bit to figure it out, but it turns out that you need to get the guys who are using straws to drink the water, while avoiding the other guys (and also avoiding the ceiling and floor). Once I figured out what I was doing, I got 6,300 – how about you?
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We started this issue with an ad for He-Man, so I thought it would be fitting to save She-Ra for last. This was one of my absolute favorites as a kid, and I’ve still got all my action figures! One thing I always wondered, though – how come they never made toys of Shadow Weaver or Scorpia?? They were pretty prominent characters, and way more important than a bunch of figures that actually were released. I guess we’ll probably never know…
As much as I liked this show, I always thought Loo-Kee was kind of stupid – I thought that hearing “today’s lesson” had a much bigger impact when it came from the characters we loved and respected (like on He-Man), rather than some random little creature who isn’t even really part of the show. What do you think?
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It’s the Care Bears – here to offer you a deal on all of your favorite cartoon tie-in comics! Star Comics was a division of Marvel that was used mostly for cartoon-related comics and other titles that would appeal to young children.
OK, I know subscription pages generally aren’t very interesting, but just (Care) bear with me – I’m almost finished with each of the comics I’ve been posting from, and soon I’ll have a whole new batch!
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It’s He-Man! And the Masters of the Universe! Both the ad and the comic it came from! You guys are in for a treat (at least, if you like the same kinds of ads that I do), because this issue is very heavy on ads for cartoons and snacks – good stuff!
He-Man was one of my favorites as a kid, so I think this ad is pretty great. Though I find it kind of funny that Skeletor is positioned in such a way that he’s completely blocking Whiplash’s face – sort of an odd choice for the artist. Also, does anyone know who the guy on the far right is? He looks kind of familiar, but I’ve looked through guide after guide of action figures, and can’t find a match!
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It’s Captain Power! …Who has got to have one of the most generic hero-type names out there! Don’t get me wrong – despite the fact that the name lacked originality (which, of course, I never realized back in the day), Captain Power was actually pretty awesome! You see, the toys (well, the ships and the Power On Platform) worked like a video game light gun – they could interact with certain parts of the TV show, and you could either “hit” or “be hit” by the enemy fighters, which would trigger a reaction in the toys!
I had (well, still have – stay tuned for a future installment of CBA IRL) the Power On Platform with Captain Power (which I won from a local TV station!), and fondly remember watching this show every Saturday morning, and shooting at the bad guys’ ships whenever they came on!
Unfortunately, the show only lasted one season, but an entire second season was already scripted at the time of cancellation. I guess it was mostly because parents’ groups criticized the show for being too violent and just being an excuse to sell toys (why do parents always have to ruin all the fun?).
However, in looking up info for this post, I discovered that the entire series is now available on DVD! I might just need to pick that up and relive a bit of my childhood…
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You can build this cool model plane! And then you can win a trip to see cool planes in person! Pretty cool, huh?
So first prize is a trip to London to see an air show. But then the second prize winner gets the choice of: A) a trip to Disneyland and the Boeing plant in Seattle, or B) a trip to Disney World and an air museum in Dayton, OH.
Is it just me, or do these seem like really odd trip combinations? I mean, Anaheim and Seattle aren’t exactly neighbors, and neither are Orlando and Dayton. I get that Disney is the prize kids actually want, and the plane-related stuff is to tie in with the model planes, but couldn’t they have found some aviation-related attractions a little closer to Disney?
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“Nothing can stop the smashing assault of Big Jim’s P.A.C.K.”
Umm… do we need to get Spider-Man and the Power Pack back here so they can give us tips on preventing sexual abuse again? Because that’s kind of where it sounds like this is heading!
I think they’re stretching it a bit with the acronym – “Professional Agents/Crime Killers” – so… they kill… crime? And while I can see how Dr. Steel’s steel hand could come in handy (Ha! Handy!) in battle, that can’t be the best possible prosthetic for everyday use – just think how impractical something like that would be!
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Comic Book Ads 