X-Entertainment | Mildly Interesting ’80s Print Ads!

Mildly Interesting ’80s Print Ads!

Grab your drink, grab your junk, grab a chair and relax -- this is a nice, long one for ya. A bunch of the greatest print ads of the `80s, pulled from children's mags ranging in topic from He-Man to Andre the Giant. Over a dozen trips back in time, with ads covering WWF Ice Cream Bars, Photon, Battle Beasts and more. Some really fun stuff chucked in there; if it's received well, I may do a second chapter next week. Look, you're going to see Jimmy Hart's life-sized face if you read this. Do it.

Posted by Matt on 07/10/2005. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 182 comments

1 2 3 … 8 Next »

We used to cut out and make those stupid Chips Ahoy flip books, never got them to work right though. I always felt cheated by that.

Chestnuts roasted by Grey Weirdo @ 07/10/2005 6:24 PM

I’m sorry Camerica but you must’ve made up the U.S. Video Game Team. The "team" was probably comprised of Camerica employees. That company’s name is synonymous crap. All the video games they made were junk. I can’t believe Thor Ackerlund (1990 Nintendo World Champion) whored his image for this company. I guess being Nintendo world champion doesn’t necessarily make you smart…I loved gelatin pops and i know what you mean about the lavender ones ::shivers::. Fun Fruits were a lunchtime and after school staple for me. Last but not least that picture of Jimmy Hart just freaks me out but it still reminds me of Sunday mornings watching WWF and seeing that loudmouth bastard screaming into his bullhorn. Ahhhhhh memories…

Chestnuts roasted by phunqsauce @ 07/10/2005 6:56 PM

I’d have to say TF, for me anyway didn’t take too big of a dive after TF: The Movie. Rodimus Prime is still my fav TF figure. And let’s face it, when viewed with episodes following the movie, Rodimus stands as a pretty obvious example of leaders who try, but fall flat on their face. I can relate

TFs sitting on my shelf: Rodimus, Hot Rod, and Blaster. Kinda obvious, huh?

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 07/10/2005 7:16 PM

I remember the WWF Bars. Good stuff, kinda surprised they still make ‘em.

Chestnuts roasted by Larry @ 07/10/2005 7:57 PM

Awesome, a battle beast picture worthy of being my desktop background!

Hey Matt, how about bringing back the real message board that you used to have?

Chestnuts roasted by SuperRecoome @ 07/10/2005 8:02 PM

Battle Beasts, oh how I miss you.

I, too, never mastered the Pogo Bal. I don’t remember having my own, and not too many kids let me barrow theirs because I was the "fat" kid, and they we’re afraid I’d pop it.

Dang, just realized I’m still the fat kid.

Chestnuts roasted by Mad Cow @ 07/10/2005 8:06 PM

Never noticed that it was "wicked cool to Pogo Bal." Hhhha…so cool.

Chestnuts roasted by Mad Cow @ 07/10/2005 8:13 PM

Wow, that I wished that article was 10 times as long. I just don’t get tired of that kind of stuff.

Chestnuts roasted by Carri @ 07/10/2005 9:02 PM

I totally LOVED the Pogo Bal(l). I always wanted to do that fancy jump they did on the commercial where they pulled their legs up behind them. I always was too scared I’d end up on my face.
I really miss Fruit Wrinkles and Fun Fruits as well. I too swallowed them whole, pretending I was taking my parents "grown up" vitamins as opposed to the Amway kid’s ones I got instead.

Chestnuts roasted by kb @ 07/10/2005 9:12 PM

oh, battle beasts literaly had invaded, controled and finally ruled my room. There was more wood, water, fire and earth there than in any oldfashioned still standing rainforest.

BTW: Do you have and Pepsi fruity carbonated soda there?
Here in Spain we have Kas, which could be translated to "Fanta Competitors"…
Well they just released Batman Blast Grape Flavoured Kas! It’s purple and it rocks anyones socks!!!

Chestnuts roasted by melonian @ 07/10/2005 9:15 PM

I had one Visionaries figure as a youngster: it was a chap clad in maroon armor and I believe that his "power animal" was a gorilla or something. Without his helmet, he looked astonishingly like Sean Connery. Freaky. When I saw that ad, I suddenly remembered another weird line of animal-related action-figure warriors: they were figures with rubber faces, and when you’d twist their waist or something their faces would take on the appearance of some kind of animal. Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the line. A little help? Anybody…?

Chestnuts roasted by The Yeti @ 07/10/2005 9:21 PM

Now all I can think about is how much I miss Cheetos Paws. Used to eat them all the time, and haven’t thought about them in years… and now all I want is for them to come back. Curses.

Chestnuts roasted by Frostor @ 07/10/2005 9:24 PM

I seem to remember coming across (on some random website) Battle Beasts released only in Japan that had crystal balls in their chests instead of holograms; this ring a bell to any hardcore B.B. aficionados out there?

Chestnuts roasted by Commander Awesome @ 07/10/2005 9:24 PM

Ah, the lost art of the full-page ad… they seem so crowded or vague these days. Definitly, the 80s were the best age for the full-page ad in kids’ mags (with a small nod to the 70s). What I remember most is those cheesy Hostess Fruit Pies ads that circulated in Harvey and Marvel comics.
I always liked how those specialty mags had all sorts of filler added to them to make them seem like legit rags. I wonder how many journalism students got roped into doing the filler. I seem to remember an article for the fourth Superman movie in the He-Man mag.

Chestnuts roasted by AlphaCentaurian @ 07/10/2005 9:43 PM

Oh, yeah… I forgot to add:

The Muppet mag ruled
(even though they didn’t print my invention in the Professor Bunsen Honeydew page)

Chestnuts roasted by AlphaCentaurian @ 07/10/2005 9:45 PM

Thanks for this little trip down memory lane. Sadly, I don’t remember the Visionaries. It’s too bad – they look totally badass.

Chestnuts roasted by Jeff Mack @ 07/10/2005 10:04 PM

Anybody remember an HBO special aimed at kids that aired many many years ago that showed how deceptive toy commercials were. They featured the Pogo Bal and showed how good the kids in the commercial were at hopping and doing stunts, then they would show real life footage of kids using the Pogo Bal and they could hop no more than two or three times before stumbling.

Also, I remember the Guess Who? game was featured on there too with the infamous talking cards in the commercial.

Anyhoo, I hated that special. Damn killjoys.

Chestnuts roasted by Luap @ 07/10/2005 10:22 PM

I have a theory that cookies and vanilla ice cream seem to always taste good together, but it’s not a theory since it’s true. Unless they taste bad on their own already, you’re going to have good eatin’.

I remember the Pogo Bal/Pogo Ball (or a rip-off). I tried it a few times, but never did anything crazy which is disappointing to me now. I was really clumsy then and I still am today, but I usually jump up, click my heels together, and come down on unstable surfaces to see if I can do it. To accomplish that feat on the Pogo Ball would have made me the pimp of the schoolyard for at least five minutes.

Chestnuts roasted by Dr. Acula @ 07/10/2005 10:25 PM

I couldn’t Pogo Bal to save my life back then. In fact, I still wouldn’t be able to.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 07/10/2005 10:35 PM

I had a WWF popsicle once,but it didn’t seem to taste that good to me. Maybe becuase of the cookie/wafer part being in a freezer for awhile.

I liked the post-movie Transformers episodes and toys,probably becuase it took place in the future by then. I always liked the futuristic-looking Transformers,especially Rodimus Prime,who I never had until I got the re-issue for Christmas last year.

I remember that HBO special too Luap,especially the part where they revealed these small G.I. Joe helicopters had motors in them for a commercial,but the toys really didn’t have them,so they could have the blades going real fast.

Chestnuts roasted by Overlord @ 07/10/2005 10:43 PM

The post-movie eps are also my favorite, but as far as public consumption went, they weren’t nearly as successful. The pre-movie run was happily simplistic, with clear lines drawn and characters that didn’t get lost in the shuffle. The post-movie eps were often…insane. I love ‘em tho.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 07/10/2005 10:45 PM

Never had a Pogo Bal, but I also could never master one at friends’ houses. Too much tilting action.
I was a big fan of the Jell-o Gelatin Pops, but I don’t remember disliking any of the flavors. I think I actually got that Lego car too.
You’re right – the Stripped Chips Ahoy! were not as crunch-tastic as they could have been.

Can’t wait for the new Kool-Aid flavor review. I was gonna buy some crazy Spanish-language flavors at the grocery store tonight (including one called "Jamacia"), but there was a creepy, smelly old guy browsing through them taking a really long time and I didn’t feel like waiting for him.

Chestnuts roasted by Gozer @ 07/10/2005 10:55 PM

"Check out how Chips Ahoy fudged up their cookies."

That’s how they were selling those things? Good thing I didn’t read that or I wouldn’t have consumed roughly 8,000 of them…

Chestnuts roasted by Cyclone @ 07/10/2005 11:05 PM

Ha ha! That was a good one. I love it when XE breaks it down with the old ads.
BTW, I have a ton of old ARCHIE digests in my garage. This may sound hard to believe but they were all the rage in 4th grade. The teachers had a love/hate relationship because they interfered with instruction BUT we WERE reading. I checked and I have that ad for FRUIT SLUSH.
Now here is the EXCITING NEWS for those who are interested (Matt???): I also found one that has Archie and Co. doing a
Capri-Sun ad, Sugar Bear, Coco Pebbles, TMNT NES game ad, Mr. Bubble, Captain Planet, NES ads for MAPPY, HYDLIDE, and CASTLEVANIA. Not too mention ads for Archie fan club which (sigh again), I was a literal card caring member. The picture of me with my Archie button at Disney World circa 1989 still is a total treat. I will post some of the pics of the ads if you guys want me to….

Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 07/10/2005 11:10 PM

Oh, I completely forgot about the FruitSlush! It’s been years since I’ve had one, and now I can remember them fondly. I’m pretty sure I can still taste the cherry ones. Those were the best- my favorite! Now I’m sad…

Frostor, I know exactly how you feel… just substitute "FruitSlush" for "Cheetos Paws" and it’s the same. Those used to be delicious, too.

Chestnuts roasted by Rainbowfeet @ 07/10/2005 11:14 PM

1 2 3 … 8 Next »

Add A New Comment!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2005 at 6:19 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.