X-Entertainment | Return of the Comic Book Ads!

Return of the Comic Book Ads!

Return of the Comic Book Ads! I've been saving these up for months, and though none of 'em are really anything special, they're all personal favorites of mine. Take a trip back about twenty years or so, with ads from Abracadabra Magic Shop, the Fun House, and even a special deal where Spider-Man teams up with a cheese company to hand out backpacks. Hooray.

Posted by Matt on 05/07/2004. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 126 comments

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Wow, I wish Spidey would give me some cheese. Or backpacks, or backpacks made out of cheese of course…

/first comment
//obligatory

Chestnuts roasted by Bill Cosby's Sweater @ 05/07/2004 12:37 PM

Second Comment!!! Whoooo.

Did anyone here actually do any of those grit or greeting card things?

Chestnuts roasted by Vic Colfari @ 05/07/2004 12:45 PM

Sadly, I never ordered from any of them. I do, however, remember with particular detail the charles atlas and olympic "prizes or cash" scheme…I mean, conspira…organization. And I definately have a recollection of a backorder form for comics, but that may have been from the people who made the comics themselves, and not any particular reseller.

Chestnuts roasted by quentin mcalmott @ 05/07/2004 12:52 PM

As tempting as those Captain O things were,I’m glad my parents discouraged my brother and I from signing up for it,especially after Matt’s story.

I ordered stuff from the Johnson Smith Company from an ad in Boy’s Life magazine (yes,I was a Boy Scout,but only for a short time in the third grade)and kept getting the Things Your Never Knew Existed catalog for years,until it stopped coming because I didn’t order anything from them. Even if you don’t buy anything,it’s still great reading material,like a Victoria’s Secret catalog.

Chestnuts roasted by Overlord @ 05/07/2004 12:54 PM

I actually did the cheap comics thing. The comics were name brand but sometimes I didn’t get the issue I ordered. Now looking back a few years, porn magazines offer the same deal with movies. Get like 10 2 hour vids for $25.

Oh and the muscle thing? My dad said he did that when he was a kid. Supposedly it was a little pamphlet telling you to do squats, sit ups, jumping jacks, and push ups. Pretty Special.

Chestnuts roasted by ZacWax @ 05/07/2004 12:55 PM

Not to be annoying (fat chance) but if you were in third grade, you were a Cub Scout.
Anyone else notice how on the main page, the date for this story is the sixth, but the date inside, where matt signed it is the seventh?
the mystery abounds…

Chestnuts roasted by quentin mcalmott @ 05/07/2004 12:57 PM

WOOO!

No.7!

Chestnuts roasted by Mathew O. @ 05/07/2004 12:59 PM

I work at a comic shop. I could send you hundreds of ads. But you probably don’t care.

Ususally when I see an ad for Evel Keneval (sp?) toys from Ideal and the Hostess Fruit Pies ads I have to fight the urge to scan them and email them to Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Pete @ 05/07/2004 1:00 AM

Pete, I’d actually like that a bunch. Shoot me an e-mail.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 05/07/2004 1:01 AM

Shame they couldn’t be redeemed in New Zealand, but I also enjoyed staring at the prizes in the Captain O advert.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt (NZ) @ 05/07/2004 1:07 AM

Matt, email sent.

Chestnuts roasted by Pete @ 05/07/2004 1:14 AM

So did anyone else notice the "Super page and a half" sized link to the J&S story?

Chestnuts roasted by FuzzyHulk @ 05/07/2004 1:46 AM

Oh, and http://www.seanbaby.com/hostess.htm has all those old Fruit pie adds. Over 130 of them.

Chestnuts roasted by FuzzyHulk @ 05/07/2004 1:50 AM

Very interesting article. How do people get the first comment…. it boogles the mind!

Chestnuts roasted by Ballerina @ 05/07/2004 2:13 AM

Yeah I used to live across the street from MILE HIGH COMICS, I have since moved to the suburbs… wonder if its still open… it used to be an actual store back in the mid to early 90′s. I spent countless hours *and dollars* on comics from that place… shame I don’t have a single one now

Chestnuts roasted by Michael From Denver @ 05/07/2004 2:17 AM

I remember the Olympic ads…and funny thing is, the town given in the address is the town that I’m moving to in two weeks. Not like anyone cares…but I care! Shut up! No, YOU’RE dumb, dummy!

Chestnuts roasted by Sara @ 05/07/2004 2:33 AM

My grandparents have really old comics somewhere with ads for crap like a "working" submarine that could fit 3 kids, 200 plastic soldiers for $1, and a toy robot city playset thing.

Chestnuts roasted by RewolfJ @ 05/07/2004 3:00 AM

The one I always remember in those Abracadabra ads was the "Smoking Pet…Really Works!" I always wondered if it did work. Dogs and cats don’t technically have lips like us…so how did it work? I guess the easy was is to just set them on fire.

Chestnuts roasted by Clean Myke @ 05/07/2004 3:25 AM

Like THE Matt, I too read the Choose Your Own Adventure Books of my own free will.

I also seem to remember (and if anyone else knows I could use confirmation) Nintendo capitalizing on the craze with four CYOA books of their most popular games. I remember Castlevania and Metal Gear. Maybe they weren’t CYOA but I know they did books and I had them. Anyone else know what I speak of?

Chestnuts roasted by Lumberjack Matt @ 05/07/2004 5:02 AM

I’ve seen pictures of covers for Mario and Zelda CYOAs, but never read them. Loved the original series, though.

And Matt, the part about the clowns is the best thing you’ve typed in weeks.

Chestnuts roasted by Behonkiss @ 05/07/2004 7:29 AM

I remember calling up Captain O just so I could talk to ‘Bridget’. I then hung up on her like a coward. Oh the love that could have been!

Chestnuts roasted by Guy Hutchinson @ 05/07/2004 7:56 AM

nobody does horribly offensive background images better than matt.

Chestnuts roasted by jerome @ 05/07/2004 9:26 AM

I have one of those issues of "What The?" with gag ads in it.

-Defused Hand Grenades. Useless except for paperweights because the fuses have been removed.

-Grenade Fuses. Useless except for paperweights because they’ve been taken out of the grenade.

Chestnuts roasted by Joe @ 05/07/2004 9:31 AM

What’s the deal with the "choose your own adventure" ad with a devil like face and 666 5th avenue address!

Chestnuts roasted by noone @ 05/07/2004 9:36 AM

I have spent countless hours looking through those ads and drooling. I ordered a few times, I would usually get about $10 worth of the gags and jokes. One time I got the "Mystery Bag". It looked like a bunch of left over stuff they had lying around. Well, I guess that is exactly what it was.
I always wanted to get that hovercraft intruction kit that you could make with a vacuum cleaner…

Chestnuts roasted by Stilewalker @ 05/07/2004 9:57 AM

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