Have You Ever Bought Anything From A Comic Book Ad? 6 6

[kav]

9 hours ago, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

I recall that a cousin and I purchased the "Life-Size Ghost" when we were both either 6 or had just turned 7 years old. My parents gave us a dollar and we cut the add out of a beat up (as in, at best, FA/1.0) copy of, if I recall correctly, an Amazing Spider-Man issue. I do not recall the issue number so I will ask my cousin if he does.

As you may imagine, the Ghost was less than we expected, consisting of a white balloon and a white plastic sheet that was likely a plastic table cloth.

As they say, "good times!"

 

 

 

There is only one known ghost still in existence last time it came up on ebay it sold for $550.

[porcupine48]

@adamstrange do you still have an image of that set you posted in the past?

I misquoted,meant the roman soldiers Jeffro posted

Edited August 3, 2018 by porcupine48

[adamstrange]

[adamstrange]

I ordered a "castle & knights" set from a back cover ad.

The "castle" was thin sheet of plastic with all the rigidity of a handkerchief.  They printed squares in different colors on it to signify the walls, towers and gates.  The "knights" were similar to the small, cheap figures above and included Greek hoplites as well medieval men at arms.

It was lame.  I'm ever so grateful for my parents allowing me to spend my money on it as it's a lesson I've not forgotten.

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

23 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

I would have loved those catapults.  We were forever getting into arguments about how many guys the cannon could take out.  

I think the Revolutionary War Soldier Set was a little bit more three dimensional.  You can see some good pics here.

[Brian48]

Bought this book a couple of years ago.  Great read.  Lots of nostalgia for those who lived through that period when Johnson Smith Co. ruled.

Mail Order Mysteries

[RockMyAmadeus]

3 hours ago, Jerkfro said:

You mean I wasn't supposed to incubate them in the oven? Dang it! 

That only works if you use wax paper...

[Kramerica]

3 hours ago, bc said:

Doesn't everyone keep a can of Sea Monkeys around?

I don't think it's wise to just leave a jar of Sea Monkeys laying around.

[Mercury Man]

8 hours ago, Jerkfro said:

On the other hand, I did have the Marx Navarone Giant Playset so i was a pretty happy kid. That set is long gone but oddly enough, I still have the two yellow cannons. 

Oh man!  Every Saturday morning from the ages of 5-8 was spent with me dragging my Guns Of Navarone playset down the stairs, setting it up, watching Bugs Bunny, eating breakfast, then going to battle.   About 7 years ago, I saw on ebay, a basically unplayed with set, the soldiers and equipment were still in bags.  I got outbid after it went to about $600.  Remember the little comic that came with it?

[Ken Aldred]

1 hour ago, adamstrange said:

Of course, they're never going to look as impressive as in the ad artwork by Russ Heath.

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Ok...here's the deal with those Sea Monkeys.  My brother used to own an aquarium store, so I actually have some experience in this area. 

What you get in a packet of Sea Monkeys it's just brine shrimp eggs.  If you have young fry to feed, as you would if you're breeding tropical fish, one of the best foods for them is baby brine shrimp.  So I would regularly buy a small can of these eggs and hatch them myself.  They require sea-water, so you have to get the brine just right or they won't hatch, will die, etc.  They also require oxygen, so you need to force air through the tank you hatch them in.  Once hatched, they are too small to see with the naked eye - all you see is a cloud moving around in the hatching tank.  You can't really feed the baby brine shrimp, so there's no real way to make them grow.  I know, I tried multiple times.  At this point, the hobbyist just siphons the cloudy water out of the hatching tank and drains the water through a coffee filter to catch the baby brine shrimp.  This is then put in the aquarium with the fry (little baby fisheys), who then gobble them up wholesale.

My brother also sold adult brine shrimp.  But these were harvested directly from the ocean.  I don't think you can successfully raise them in captivity, as their normal food is plankton.

[kav]

1 hour ago, Brian48 said:

Bought this book a couple of years ago.  Great read.  Lots of nostalgia for those who lived through that period when Johnson Smith Co. ruled.

Mail Order Mysteries

I like this book but wish it had more content.  I read the whole thing in 15 minutes.  There's so much more one could say about this stuff.  

[BlowUpTheMoon]

2 hours ago, kav said:

I recall that a cousin and I purchased the "Life-Size Ghost" when we were both either 6 or had just turned 7 years old. My parents gave us a dollar and we cut the add out of a beat up (as in, at best, FA/1.0) copy of, if I recall correctly, an Amazing Spider-Man issue. I do not recall the issue number so I will ask my cousin if he does.

As you may imagine, the Ghost was less than we expected, consisting of a white balloon and a white plastic sheet that was likely a plastic table cloth.

As they say, "good times!"

 

[adamstrange]

1 hour ago, Ditch Fahrenheit said:

I think the Revolutionary War Soldier Set was a little bit more three dimensional.  You can see some good pics here.

My older brother must have ordered from a comic book ad as I inherited a bunch of them and always wondered whether they were related to the ads I saw.

[Ken Aldred]

3 hours ago, Ditch Fahrenheit said:

What you get in a packet of Sea Monkeys it's just brine shrimp eggs.

 

3 hours ago, Ditch Fahrenheit said:

I don't think you can successfully raise them in captivity, as their normal food is plankton.

I'm a very literal person, and was much worse as a kid.

If they actually were sea-living monkeys, then, in order to make them thrive, I'd think to myself that they'd need to be fed appropriately with some monkey food, and would try dropping a chunk of banana into the water for them to enjoy.  Foolproof.

[The Lions Den]

7 hours ago, Cozmo-One said:

I like how the Star Trek spaceships are $2.95 each, or both for $6.95...

I'm pretty sure my brother ordered both of those...hung them from the ceiling, as I recall...

[kav]

40 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

 

I'm a very literal person, and was much worse as a kid.

If they actually were sea-living monkeys, then, in order to make them thrive, I'd think to myself that they'd need to be fed appropriately with some monkey food, and would try dropping a chunk of banana into the water for them to enjoy.  Foolproof.

The ads depicted them as fully sentient family units maybe 6" in size and possibly able to communicate with you.

[Cozmo-One]

37 minutes ago, The Lions Den said:

I'm pretty sure my brother ordered both of those...hung them from the ceiling, as I recall...

Did he order them individually, or did he pay the extra $1.05 to get both at the same time :)  Pretty cool though, I would have liked them!

[Ken Aldred]

54 minutes ago, kav said:

The ads depicted them as fully sentient family units maybe 6" in size and possibly able to communicate with you.

Yup.  And, that tied into my thinking, that they'd never grow up, big and strong, without appropriate anthropoid nutrition - from bananas rather than plankton.

Edited August 4, 2018 by Ken Aldred

[01TheDude]

I recall ordering several things from comics. I bought several Marvel treasuries- the first being the 1975 Holiday Grab Bag book (still have them all).

I did covet the sea monkeys but never pulled the trigger. I was sort of into stamp collecting and bought several sets of foreign stamps. I did receive a joy buzzer but that was a disappointment and I think a teacher took it from me the first day I brought it to school, never to be seen again.

The one purchase I attempted to make but never got was the fishing equipment set with like 129 items including three fishing poles for 12 something dollars. It had the option to send it COD but it never came and they sent me a letter IIRC stating that the item was no longer available. The ad kept running and I was confused by that. Probably a good thing I didn't get it as it was most likely a ripoff.

I did buy my first set of comic book bags from Robert Bell from his ads in the comics. Possibly the best thing I ever bought for my collection. The bags I bought were very cheap but way better than nothing. I might have bought one comic from him too but can't recall for sure but I must have since I did have one bag with the heavier plastic and his address info on the flap (long gone). I remember getting his catalog for a couple of times-- still have that, the bags are in some landfill.