Category Archives: Retro Advertising

Old McDonald’s Tray Liners

Posted on by
1

For this edition of Retro Ramblings, I’m doing something a little different. I’m highlighting a few old tray liners from McDonalds. You know what I’m talking about, those pieces of paper that would be on your tray. The ones you’d spend the whole meal going over with a fine tooth comb back before we had smart phones to stare at while eating.

Batman Returns

This old liner would certainly give you something to do while enjoying your Happy Meal. Batman Returns was a big deal in 1992 when it hit theaters, and this tray liner does a great job of building the hype for younger fans like myself.

Super Mario Brothers 3

My God this thing is beautiful. These were on the trays at the same time they were doing the Super Mario Brothers 3 Happy Meals. Not only is this gorgeous to look at, but it also featured games too! That was a bonus on top of the Super Mario Brothers 3 toy you most likely had already started playing with as soon as you could get it out of your Happy Meal box.

Happy Pail Happy Meal

Here’s another nice piece of artwork that once adorned plastic trays in a fast-food restaurant. I remember getting these Happy Meals at least twice…maybe in the same season, but I’m not sure. But I distinctly remember having the pail to play with at the beach, and again at the lake. I’d have to check to be sure, but I think they did these pails in more than just one summer.

McDonald’s McPizza

Oh goodness…the McPizza. One of McDonald’s epic failures from a financial standpoint, but at the same time, one of their most fondly remembered menu items. My cousin was a huge fan, but I could take it or leave it.

Shanghai Chicken McNuggets

There’s a lot of nostalgic love out there for the Shanghai McNuggets, and for good reason. The three sauces! Those new additions were so good. They even kicked the eating difficulty up a notch by adding chopsticks to the meal. I don’t think this meal in this incarnation would fly in 2022, but what a time it was to be alive back then.

Masters of the Universe Model Kits (1984)

Posted on by
1

I was flipping through some old comics books the other day, and came across some random title from 1984.  As I was flipping through it, I came across a bevy of kick-ass old advertisements.  These are too cool not to share, so here is the first one. 

We’re starting things off with my favorite one of the batch.  Up until I saw this, I never had any idea that Monogram made model kits of the MOTU vehicles.  I was big into model kits back in the day, and He-Man was my hero, so how this escaped me for all this time is mind-boggling.  This Talon FIghter and Attak Trak just look bad-ass, and I wonder if any of these kits could still be found on eBay? 

Yep.  A quick search pulled up an Attack Trak kit still sealed in its box for $225. 

Digging a little deeper, I also find a Roton still in its box for $92!  That seems like a steal.  The box looks a little beat up, but I’d personally be looking to pick one up to put together, not leave in the box. 

And with even more digging, I just found the Talon Fighter!  It says it’s complete and the only thing I see missing is the plastic wrap from around the box is missing.  It’s currently listed for $95.  You can click on any of the links I added to go right to the auction listings for each. 

So what say you?  Do you even remember these things?  The prices sound reasonable in today’s market?  I’m going to have to think on this for a bit. 

A Line in the Sand Board Game

Posted on by
1

A Line in the Sand is a game I drooled over every time I saw it in old comic book ads in the early ’90s. My problem was, that living in a rural area I had no stores around that carried niche items like this, so I’ve never actually played the game. But I’ve studied it quite a bit since the internet became a thing, and here’s what I’ve learned about it.

A Line in the Sand is a game detailing the Persian Gulf War fought in the early 1990s. Many of the mechanics are similar to that of other TSR wargames like Red Storm Rising, so players of their games should easily be able to jump in and play this one.

Two versions of this game are played. With less than 5 players, the game is pretty basic, where military might is what wins the game. Players take sides, usually a combination of Middle Eastern nations plus the US. In the two-player version, for instance, it’s the US & Allies vs. Iraq; in the three-player game “Holy War”, it’s Israel vs. Iraq (and Yemen and Jordan) vs. Saudi Arabia (and Syria, Libya, and Lebanon), and so on.

Continue reading →

More Old Comic Book Ads

Posted on by
3

The first time we looked at Some Old Comic Book Ads it was a hit, so it’s time to browse through some more and see what kind of nostalgia they stir up! I’ve said it before, but old comic books are like mini time capsules offering a glimpse into the past via the ads found inside. Here are five more to tickle your nostalgia bone in this four-color edition of Retro Ramblings.

Matchbox Cars Puffy Stickers (1984)

So toy cars like Matchbox and Hot Wheels have always been fun, and back in the ’80s, stickers were a huge thing. And some of the best stickers you could find to add to your collection were of the puffy variety. I put them up there neck and neck with scratch and sniff stickers. With that said, this ad really hits high for me because you could get both Matchbox cars AND puffy stickers in one fun package! That’s a lot of fun packed into one little package. I can just imagine going to Hills on the weekend and talked my folks into buying this for me. I’d have not one, but three Matchbox cars to play with, and have 25 puffy stickers to boot! That would go a long way toward making that weekend awesome.

Ski or Die Nintendo Game (1990)

Of course, you know I love all things Nintendo, and I was always fond of Ultra Games selection of titles. I had several of their offerings, but never this one. I don’t even remember this game from back in the day. But I guess stuff like that is to be expected due to there being so many games available, and my locations for purchasing games being so few back then. I really like the Skate or Die game, and this just looks to be another version of that but set in the middle of what they call a “nasty snow sport spectacular” where it’s the survival of the fastest, raddest, and baddest. That’s their spelling, not mine. The graphics shown in the ad actually look pretty good for old 8-bit Nintendo. I’ve gotta find a ROM for this game and fire it up later.

Risk Board Game (1984)

I think this ad does an incredible job of conveying its message, and that message is that you can take control of the strategies and moves that may win or lose a war. Just like the generals pictured in the ad do. Now while I’m not sure that portraying it in this way is healthy, it certainly is effective. I was first introduced to Risk at a sleepover birthday party at my friend Lance’s house. He busted that thing out later in the night, and none of us went to sleep as we just continued to play the game until daylight. I’ve been a fan of it ever since, but I sadly no longer own a copy of it. Until the last couple of years, my kids have not been old enough to understand or enjoy it, but now I might have to pick it up again and start a game with them.

Cracker Jack (1991)

Are there people still in this world that eat Cracker Jack? I don’t ask that question as a knock on it, because I still enjoy it. It just seems like you never see anyone eating the stuff. Not even at baseball games. Or at least not at the minor league games I go to. Sorry, I had to get that question out of the way. The real draw to this ad for me is the miniature Topps baseball cards that came in the boxes of Cracker Jack at this time. 1991 was right in the middle of my trading card obsession, so any time I had a chance to get my hands on some, I was in. And if that meant I got a tasty box of Cracker Jack to go along with them, even better. I no longer possess any of these miniature cards, but I had quite a few of them back then. A quick check of eBay shows that I can get 63 assorted cards from 1991 for just $10. I might have to do that.

Star Comics Subscriptions (1986)

Star Comics was a division of Marvel Comics and focused on producing licensed property comics. If you look at that listing of what was available, it’s a treasure trove of shows we loved as kids. If you could subscribe to three of these offerings, which three would you choose? My picks would be He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Ewoks, and Thundercats. That would be some quality reading time right there.

Rollergames: The Nintendo Game

Posted on by
Reply

For this post, we’re going back to 1990 to look at an ad featuring a Nintendo game I found under the tree that year. That’s all the reason I need to consider this a Christmas-themed post.

Now as for the ad itself, it’s pretty swank. It does its best to make the game sound exciting by throwing out those blurbs about what you’ll face in the game. Unfortunately, some of those things just don’t sound exciting. The Karate Creeps and Combat Copters sound great, but when you have to start naming off things like Open Manholes and Vicious Dogs, it could be an indicator that your game isn’t exactly Contra.

But it does highlight some screenshots, and the shots they chose to show make the game look really good. The broken highway in particular makes it look like a game you’d want to play.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking the game. I really liked it. The fighting aspect was fun in its own way, and the skating aspect added a degree of difficulty not often seen in side-scrolling games. Like, after you landed a jump you had to instantly react because your player would just keep going. While that doesn’t sound all that bad, think about all the spots in games where you have to make numerous consecutive jumps and land on little spots between them.

The problem this game suffered from was false advertising. I mean, if you were watching Rollergames on television, you were expecting a roller derby on a figure-eight track with the massive wall of death and alligators potentially on the track. But what you go was a side-scrolling fighting game. It’s like they had a game designed that they felt they needed to attach a brand to, and Rollergames was it.

They did keep the teams from Rollergames intact, as you had your choice of three playable characters. A girl from the Hot Flash, a guy from The Rockers, or “The IceBox” Robert Smith from the world-famous L.A. T-Birds. The managers of the heel teams were also represented, as they were featured as level bosses throughout the game.

The Rollergames TV show didn’t have a large following. I mean, it only lasted 13 episodes. So Konami was already drawing from a limited pool and the fact that the video game wasn’t like what was seen on TV further limited its appeal. But none of that stopped me from enjoying it. I liked the game for what it was and spent many hours on it. Especially on Christmas day in 1990. There…that last sentence reinforces that this is a post for Christmas.