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Thread: Comic Book Rip-Off Ads: Sea Monkeys, X-Ray Specs, And More

  1. #1

    Comic Book Rip-Off Ads: Sea Monkeys, X-Ray Specs, And More

    Anyone here ever buy anything from those comic book ads? Here's a couple of links to refresh you what they offered.


    -Sea Monkeys were actual humanoids with tails and funny crowned heads that lived in a bowl. A pair of glasses enabled you to see through clothing. And a seven-foot submarine you and a friend could pilot. Advertisements in comic books have promised unbelievable products for decades.

    Unbelievable! As in, don't believe it. It's not real.

    If you read a comic book between the 1940s and 1980s then you were inundated by cheap looking ads for everything from toy soldiers to girl-enticing muscles. Anyone who spent their hard earned lawn mowing money on any of these products knows that most of the products were definitely not as advertised, but the ads were bizarre enough to make kids keep the faith that the next ad might offer something real.

    As strange as many of these ads are, they definitely hold a kind of magic. When you see these ads it's hard not to feel nostalgic for a time when you could pick up sea monkeys from the pages of a comic...

    Comic Book Rip-Off Ads: Charles Atlas, Sea Monkeys, X-Ray Specs, And More


    Sea-Monkeys and X-Ray Spex: Collecting the Bizarre Stuff Sold in the Back of Comic Books | Collectors Weekly

  2. #2
    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    I actually did get the hundreds of army soldiers. I'm sure there were others but I can't remember them.

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    Senior Member Highly Favoured's Avatar
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    My brother did the X-ray specs. Just a cut out cardboard with lots of threads in the place of lenses.

    I did the sea monkeys. A packet of floatie stuff.

    I think we did other stuff, too, but can't remember them either.

  4. #4
    I loved to order stuff through the Johnson-Smith ads in comics!!

    My favorite was the world's smallest radio that didn't need batteries. It operated similar to the chrystal sets. Just clip on to anything metal, plug in the earphone and listen to late night radio in 1968-70. I had a few of them.

    Tried the x-ray vision thing out of curiosity knowing it wouldn't work as advertised.

    My only disappointment was the neon light generator that looked like a mini dumbell with copperballs and neon tesla style light fixture. Never could get a spark even in peak static season of winter.

    Sea Monkeys we all laughed at.

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