Freezy Freakies were like the pinnacle of technology to kids in the mid-80s (Detroit Free Press, 11/20/86)

Love how this ad for MJ Lazer Blazer stickers includes an explanation of what a hologram is (Kentucky New Era, Hopkinsville, KY, 11/26/84)

What’s hot in back to school shopping for 1984? Michael Jackson, Gremlins and He-Man, of course (Sidney Daily News, Sidney, OH, 8/11/84)

If you lived in Rockford, IL in August of 1984, Chuck E Cheese was hooking you up with free MotU stickers when your parents bought a large pizza! (Rockford Register Star, 8/5/84)

Was it true that you couldn’t just buy refill cans of Slime when the Slime Pit came out? (Flint Journal, Flint, MI, 8/16/86)

Best 🍓 flavored cereal ever? (Miami Herald, 3/24/83)

Still wondering how the Hulk maintains his physique eating Devil Dogs🤷‍♂️ (Miami Herald, 2/28/93)

Thunderstrike #1, surefire investment, right? Hey, Bloodaxe was cool looking at least🤷‍♂️ (Austin American Statesman, 4/15/93)

Marvel Comics used their 1993 Annuals to debut 27 new characters, each accompanied by a trading card. None of em had any longevity besides Legacy and the X-Cutioner, but it’s still fun to see comic stores advertising them in a newspaper (The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, NJ, 3/24/93)

The second season of Tales From the Darkside kicked off with one of my favorite episodes, The Impressionist. Chuck McCann plays said impressionist, who gets recruited by the government to talk to an extraterrestrial. Starts off seeming like a horror story but then goes in a very surprising direction

$5 for the giant Inhumanoids is legit insane, even in 1988 (Ledger, Lakeland, FL, 9/25/88)

Free head cleaner? I’m in

Hey, Legend of Zelda’s turning 40! Remember those sublime and under appreciated Nintendo Trophy figures? Link had a few of ‘em, and all were good (Dayton Daily News, Dayton, OH, 2/19/89)

Sportstalk was neat in theory and riding the popularity of baseball cards in the late eighties. The issue was once you’ve heard the same cards a few times, and your parents don’t feel like ponying up for another set, what’s the point? (Orlando Sentinel, 3/28/89)

In Hawaii, Love’s carried the BSG trading cards instead of Wonder Bread (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 1/28/79)

Seems Wonder Bread’s quality control wasn’t up to snuff (News-Messenger, Fremont, OH, 11/28/78)

Ben Franklin’s “Thank You Sale” included a big ICEE contest and in store appearances from the Bear himself! Special attention to that bank, which is one of the coolest (pun intended) pieces of 70’s bric a brac that I own (Beauregard Daily News, DeRidder, LA, 4/5/77)

What’s better than free bread? Free Gremlins stickers (Macon Telegraph, Macon, GA, 8/12/84)

Only one cereal satisfies a Gremlin appetite (Bristol Herald Courier, Bristol, TN, 10/18/84)

Matchbox drumming up business by offering free cars! (Philly Inquirer, 6/24/84)

And here’s Whoppers offering a free James Bond poster (Winston-Salem Journal, 5/19/85)

7-Up teamed with Indiana Jones to promote a pretty nifty contest in 1984 in conjunction with Temple of Doom (The Marion Star, Marion, OH, 5/25/84)

Woe to the child who asked a grandparent for He-Man and received Herman instead

Clover took out damn near a quarter page ad to push Sectaurs! I’m fairly certain some of my childhood ‘Taurs came from this sale (Philly Inquirer, 12/13/85)

Return to Oz didn’t get a ton of merch, but these hand puppets are great and far easier to find today than that Banner Toilet Paper one (Philly Inquirer, 6/9/85)

Next show is Sports, Cards and More at St. Gabriel’s Parish on 3/21! Join us for all sorts of sports collectibles, tabletop card games, comics, toys, homebrew goods and more! Plus the kitchen will be open! Just $5 admission, kids 12 and under free as always

Remco’s Lost World of the Warlord figures were just as good as MotU, and felt totally grounded in barbarian fantasy whereas Mattel was leaning hard into scifi by that point (Philly Inquirer, 11/23/83)

Imagine spending $40 only to spend weeks afterwards frustrated by your inability to stop Jason (Arizona Republic, 12/25/89)

Very simple by todays standards, the initial Toy Biz Marvel Super-Heroes toys were gold to kids who had been waiting 5 years since the last Secret Wars figures hit shelves (Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus, GA, 12/13/90)

Bonus beats: Here’s a US ad for Mattel’s Secret Wars figures using line art of the UK exclusive Constrictor fig! (Free Lance, Hollister, CA, 11/5/85)

Not content with tube socks, Marvel also teamed up with Dorman’s to offer Secret Wars puffy stickers and a sticker album (Miami Herald, 4/28/85)

Always fascinated by the myriad of strange ways that comic books ended up in kids hands. Here’s Secret Wars branded tube socks that were packaged with a free Marvel comic (Springfield News-Sun, Springfield, OH, 12/22/85)

It always trips me out that in most cities, Tales From The Darkside was on at midnight on some UHF station. Here in Philly, it aired at 7pm Saturday nights on our NBC affiliate! The drawback to that was the second season didn’t start until the end of December 1985 because of an Eagles talk show

Bonus beats (actually a Sgt. Rock figure)

Horror Eve on PHL 17 (Philly Inquirer, 10/23/88)

People were trash in the eighties too (Philly Inquirer, 7/7/85)

Toys R Us was conspiring with Parker Bros. to straight up *give away* carts like Tutankhamen, Spider-Man and GI Joe! (Philly Daily News, 2/14/85)

In Philly you could go to the Spectrum to watch a closed circuit broadcast of Wrestlemania. NO HOME TV! (Philly Inquirer, 3/29/85)

post your favorite "lord of the rings" character. wrong answers only.

Post a rabbit 🐇

Delaware Valley peeps, I’ve got two more shows coming up soon: Valentine’s Day weekend (2/15) we’re back at Excelsior Lodge with the rescheduled comic show. Very old school 80’s/early 90’s type show environment😁 plus on 3/21, come down to St. Gabe’s for the next Sports, Cards and More event!

Hi-C used to be *the* plug for giant sheets of movie themed stickers. Here’s two examples with Return of the Jedi and Gremlins (Birmingham News, 8/28/83 & Kansas City Star, 6/10/84)

I want my Goonies cap, damnit (The Republican, Springfield, MA, 6/2/86)

Post a pic from whatever device you’re using without explanation