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

[kav]

2 hours ago, William-James88 said:

Love it! When it's released, please let me know. And kudos on the illustration.

book has my input too-its peppered with anecdotes of people who bought that stuff and what they got.
 

"I ordered the 7 foot Frankenstein.  I actually thought a crate would come-a full-size crate.  I told the mailman that when he brought it to call me so I can come down.  When I saw Abott and Costello meet Frankenstein and they go to that MacDougal’s House of Horrors and the crate gets pushed around-that's what I thought I was getting.  I told the mailman that I would be getting a big crate, maybe a little smaller, but it would have a big monster in it and he started laughing and told my grandmother".
-Eddie Guevara, New York

"I was astounded by the flashing eyes ad.  I saw it in a comic book at some hippie's house we were staying at in SF.  I ordered it and was just WAITING to get-whatever it was-but I was sure it would allow me to shoot sparks from my eyes and scare off bullies and get girls.  Instead it said to glue 2 triangular pieces of foil on eyelids and when you are onstage the light will make it seems like your eyes are flashing".
-Kav

 

"The 7 foot remote control ghost.  The ad showed a horrifying looking ghost, like you would see in a horror movie, so I ordered it, and back then that stuff took 6 to 8 weeks to get so I couldn't wait for it to arrive. When I finally got it, it was a round, white balloon and some nylon fabric that went over it.  You had to blow up yourself with helium if you wanted it to float.  I couldn't believe what a piece of junk it was and immediately threw it where it belonged-in the trash".
-John B, San Jose CA

 

"I ordered the silent dog whistle.  I was excited to make dogs go nuts and no one but me would know why.  It came and boy was I excited!  The brass whistle looked like the real deal!  I went outside and spotted my neighbor's dogs.  I blew the whistle.  Nothing.  I blew harder-NOTHING.  I adjusted it over and over and nothing nothing nothing.  Finally I realized I had been had.  I stared at it for a moment then threw it as hard as I could out into the field".
-Carl C, SF

"Throw your voice!  Omg I could see so many uses for this!  The days crept by slower than humanly possible but finally it arrived!  It was 2 thin pieces of metal wrapped in a rubber band.  Instructions were: place in roof of mouth and with practice you would be throwing your voice around in no time!  I spent days on this idiotic contraption till I finally realize-yep I've been had-AGAIN".
-CF, Sacramento

""Midget spy camera.  I have to have this.  I can sneak pics of---something.  I got it and began taking my covert pics.  I took the tiny film roll to drug store for development, already wondering hey where would I get more film, anyway?  Drug store guy looked at me as if I was insane.  No we cant develop that.  Crushing defeat for would-be spy".
-Katie Hollister, NY

""Yeah I ordered the X Ray Spex.  I had been burned before but how could they lie about this?  The spex came and I quickly saw it was some feather pieces plastered between 2 pieces of cardboard.  I put them on and looked at my hand-ok it did kinda look like an X Ray!  Not a total loss I guess.  Took em to school (6th grade) and me and my buddies took turns putting them on and looking at the girls while they screamed their heads off!  Ok this one was WORTH IT.  Then the teacher took them away".
-Tj Jones, CA

"Hercules wristband.  This simple wristband offered super strength!  For some reason I believed it.  It came and I put it on!  There was no Infinity Gauntlet back then but that is sorta what I expected!  I put it on tight!  I walked around the neighborhood.  I felt tough!  I wore it for a few days then got bored with it.  It didn't seem to have any real effect on my srength whatsoever but it looked kinda cool".
-Sammy Wilks, Memphis

Edited April 20, 2021 by kav

[rexinnih]

On 8/3/2018 at 10:52 AM, Ditch Fahrenheit said:

I bought the gorilla mask and had it for years.  Some kids in my neighborhood bought the ghost you mentioned and were pretty upset about it.  They also bought the smoking paste (you rub it between your fingers and a cloud of something or other rises from them), they were pretty happy with that.  And I had another friend who bought the carbide cannon - that worked great but we ran out of ammo pretty quickly.

I also bought the Revolutionary War Soldiers (see below).  I liked them so much I bought an additional set.  The worst part was waiting.  As I remember it took 3 months to get them in the mail.    That was a long time for a kid to wait.

Oh, in case no one has posted it yet, here's a pic of the 'actual' cardboard submarine.  I would have ordered it (I really, really wanted it), but it was WAY too expensive for me.   https://i.imgur.com/XAii21U.jpg

This! I ordered these as a young lad and even though very small, were very fun. 

[Xenosmilus]

[vheflin]

2 hours ago, kav said:

 

"I ordered the silent dog whistle.  I was excited to make dogs go nuts and no one but me would know why.  It came and boy was I excited!  The brass whistle looked like the real deal!  I went outside and spotted my neighbor's dogs.  I blew the whistle.  Nothing.  I blew harder-NOTHING.  I adjusted it over and over and nothing nothing nothing.  Finally I realized I had been had.  I stared at it for a moment then threw it as hard as I could out into the field".
-Carl C, SF

I had a dog whistle, lucky I didn't pop a blood vessel trying to make it work.  My dog looked at me sideways

"I was excited to make dogs go nuts" 

Edited April 20, 2021 by vheflin

[Muno42]

23 hours ago, William-James88 said:

too bad its out of print

https://www.amazon.ca/MAIL-ORDER-MYSTERIES-KIRK-DEMARAIS/dp/160887026X

This is a great book. The reviews are the best. This guy bought everything!

[the blob]

Sea Monkeys. Not me, my older brother.

I also sent away for that poster that was always advertised in the ads in marvel comics in the early 80s. was it $1 or something? No, I never got it.

 

[Hairless Wookiee]

I had an old Batman silver age book (I forget the number). It seemed in really good condition. I took it out of the bag to inspect it and someone cut out one of those "get big muscles to impress the ladies" coupons. At first I was mad, then I thought I really hope that those muscles worked out for whoever used the coupon.

[kav]

My buddy eddie who has the large comic novelty collection bought this for me-I told him I always wanted the lucky skull ring so he found a company that used the original johnson smith ring to make a mold to recreate the ring.  the picture shows the sterling silver ring without the red gemstones they put in and which I am recieving.

[kav]

real polaris sub!

 

[BitterOldMan]

Still remember this ad.

 

Never bought it, since I did not have $6.98 plus postage.

Dreamed of awesomeness of this.

This is what you got.

[Cat]

On 8/3/2018 at 2:40 PM, Kramerica said:

That's good stuff. I can picture the whole scene unfolding - especially his friend laughing his socks off. You know they were both high as a kite. I always wanted to order the monkey but couldn't find the nerve. I figured my Mom would catch me, the monkey'd go to the pound and they'd put him asleep,

True story: Years later I remember reading how there was a whole community of these monkeys in the sewers underneath NYC. Turns out everyone ordered one of those friggin' marsupials, let them go/they escaped and they were breeding rather quickly. By 1990 or so it had become a real problem and gangs of these monkeys would come up at night looking for food. That's the real reason the city started releasing alligators in the sewers - to control the population of wild monkeys that had been ordered from comic books and magazines. Decades later and they still have a problem with those darn alligators.

How did this go over 3 years without anyone politely pointing out that monkeys aren't marsupials? 

[Kramerica]

9 hours ago, Mecha_Fantastic said:

How did this go over 3 years without anyone politely pointing out that monkeys aren't marsupials? 

I'm just glad you brought it back because people deserve to hear the truth and be prepared.

[marvelmaniac]

[Conacon]

On 4/17/2021 at 5:42 PM, Muno42 said:

My brother ordered the foot locker with 100 toy soldiers for $1. Amazing how many flat army figures you can fir in a tiny box.

My brother and I got the Roman Soldiers! So flat, most of them couldn't stand up without pushing them into the dirt a little. Good times. 

[kav]

1 hour ago, Conacon said:

My brother and I got the Roman Soldiers! So flat, most of them couldn't stand up without pushing them into the dirt a little. Good times. 

they were so flat pancakes made fun of them!

[HighRadArt]

One of my favorite toys. . I also remember ordering the price list from Pacific Comics and Robert Bell.

[HighRadArt]

On 8/2/2018 at 5:15 PM, Octavius said:

The "x-ray" specs were a lie!!!!!

Exactly!

[Lpgk]

On 8/2/2018 at 2:15 PM, Bird said:

I bought my first piece of published OA (a Sandman page in about 1992/1993) from a blind auction ad in the back of Comic Buyer's Guide if that counts. It was $125 and I was in college (grad school) and was terrified how I would scrape up the money. No I don't have it anymore.

I used to rush down to the LCS every week to get the Comic Buyer's Guide back in the early 90s (there was no ebay then of course). You'd have to get the CBG ASAP since people would be calling the dealers to snag the back issues. In my area, we didn't have any major comic cons, so trying to find keys was challenging to say the least. Plus I was in college and broke so travelling was out the question. The ads in the CBG were my main source to find back issues, and I still have most of what I bought back then. 

WIsh I had an old copy somewhere so I could check out the ads the prices. Ah nostalgia.....

[Wipple]

[John Worley]

I raised Sea-Monkeys for 30 yrs on and off starting when I was around 7. Sent for all the special food/toys ect. I too was angry when I 1st got them. Not the iconic family promised. True story, I became friends with the CEO whom in my 40's gifted me with many different sea-monkey sets. I handed them out to kids from time to time. If you do them right to me they are beautiful creatures. They can get around an inch long and their bodies remind me of a boat with many fluttering oars....and they do have little antennas. They also have baby's which is cool. The 1st time they arrived in the mail I was indeed passed for false advertising. Same with the ghost and 7 foot monster. My Freddy the Flute was awesome from a cereal ad and did anybody else do these? I loved these. The Batman one was better all the way around. Better art, story, and production values. The X-men cover and posters were awesome though and the letter from Stan Lee and trading card was fun. Rainblo gum ad for Batman and an ad in marvel comics for the X-men one.