Monday 18 April 2022

Nostalgic For My Childhood - Yet More Comic & Magazine ads

For the fifth installment of this long-running occasional feature (you can read the previous entries from 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021 on these links), here's another selection of print ads from comics and magazines, for the toys and sweets, books, games and badges of our youth.

I still think, as always, there's a certain amount of charm on display here - the ads are often hand-drawn and with muted hyperbole - as well as a lovely sense of wistful innocence, though that might be more the reminder of stamped, addressed envelopespostal orders and things costing pennies.

Here, then, are a few more ads of our childhood, I hope they spark some memories for you...
1975
I liked these a lot, though the fighting action was never as described.  The wooden leg hidey hole was also great, though you didn't get a lot of room in there...
1976
An electronic calculator in 1976 would have been a big deal - I wonder how many got nicked during lessons?
1976
One of my childhood heroes (as I've written about here), I always wanted the repair station but never got one.  I did have the figure though and treasured him.
1977
42 years ago, as I write this and apart from The Wombles, Furry Friends and Paddington Bear, all of those products are still sold.
1978
These ads were little (half-page) ongoing adventures, running across a range of comics.  I always thought they were really cool.
1978
My parents bought me this Star Wars annual (which I still have) before we went on holiday (my sister & I were always bought a magazine to read on the way, usually the Summer Special of whatever comic we liked at the time).  I loved it.
1978
Ah, Corgi Superkings, James Bond and the wonderful The Spy Who Loved Me (which I wrote about here).  Bliss...
1978
Skateboarding was huge in 1978 and so, clearly, were Tom & Jerry.
1980
 "Dad?"
"Seriously son, we're not going anywhere near a National garage..."
1982
Not the most obvious connection, obviously...
1983
Ah, the Sinclair Spectrum and the Commodore Vic 20, fondly remembered (and rightly so) by people of a certain age.  Now sure how far you'd get today with 16k though...
1983
I remember the advertising push for this film (which was competing with Connery's rival Never Say Never Again) and gleefully picked stuff up like this.
1983
Choose Your Own Adventure books were a big part of my childhood reading and one of the first things we teens programmed when home computers became a reality.  I often wrote an adventure in the morning, plotting out the lines and making sure everything linked properly, only to discover - more often than not - that it didn't save properly so I'd have to start again from scratch the next day.  Happy days...
1984
As video tapes began to take a hold (and the whole VHS/Beta battle unwound), lots of places turned into video libraries (especially corner shops).  I remember going into Our Price and checking the rental racks, because to buy your own copy was prohibitively expensive (as you can see here).  That Spider-Man film, by the way, is cobbled together from two episodes of the Nicholas Hammond series, first shown in the late 70s.
1984
You mean we can take our music wherever we like?  Wow, the future truly is here...
The Sony Walkman was expensive, most of us made do with cheaper versions (mine was made by Alba).


If you're interested, more of my Nostalgic For My Childhood posts can be found here

4 comments:

  1. Interesting to note that Octopussy 'gubbed' Never Say Never Again at the box office, proving that it took more than Sean Connery to make a successful Bond movie. I never had a Six Million Dollar Man figure at the time, but I finally acquired one nearly 25 years ago, which I still have. 'Twas a good likeness of Lee Majors.

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    1. It needed a Sir Roger! :)

      I had a Six Million Dollar Man at the time but, as often happens, it was 'gifted' to a younger cousin and I never saw it again. Thought about getting one recently then saw the current prices - ouch!

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  2. That's so strange, I'd completely forgotten Steve Austin's Radio Back Pack. Don't think I ever had it. But I remember the tangle of wires in his repair station!

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    1. Me too. I seem to remember Action Man had something similar.

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