Last year, I did a series of Wax Pack Flashback videos for The Retro Network that focused on “spooky” or Halloween-themed cards. I’m re-rolling these episodes here on Retro Ramblings for the rest of the month, and I’m starting with this pack of Tales From the Crypt cards from 1993. Watch me open this pack and see what treasures have laid hidden inside for almost 30 years!
With MTV celebrating its 4oth anniversary this week, the timing is right to highlight this video I did last year where I opened an old pack of Yo! MTV Raps cards from 1991. This pack was loaded with icons of the era and is one of the best packs of cards I’ve opened in the entire series. Give it a watch and enjoy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
I love sifting through old catalogs and sale papers from the ’80s and early ’90s. They’re filled with so much nostalgia with so many toys I had, and those I didn’t have but wanted gracing every page. For this Retro Ramblings entry, I’m going to highlight a few cool things I found in a KayBee Toys sale paper from 1989.
I’ve already documented my love for all things Nintendo here on the blog, and this ad for games is certainly in line with my love for all things Nintendo. Featured in the top left is my favorite game for the system, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. I also see some of my other favorites including Bionic Commando and WWF Wrestlemania. I could sit and look through old game ads all day and continue to drool over just how awesome we had it with our game systems back in the day.
Play-Doh was never really a top toy in my book unless I had a cool playset like this for it. There was just so much you could do with sets like these with all the various presses and cutting tools. Besides making plates of spaghetti and meatballs like the set intended, you could do other things with them. Like make your own cool monsters with long stringy hair. The various playsets offered almost limited play that other toys couldn’t.
In the past, I chronicled my fascination with the Super City Tool Box in a Classic Commercials post. While I never actually had the toy, I always wanted it. I had more than my fair share of Micro Machines, and several playsets, but this one always eluded me. I’m going to have to track one down on eBay now I think.
1988 was the zenith of baseball card collecting, well, until Covid-19 hit in 2020 and the hobby exploded all over again. But with 1988 being such a banner year for the business, it was no surprise that a ton of cards were also produced in 1989. Not all of them were good. Like these Bowman cards featured here in the paper. I had some Bowman ’89 cards in my collection back in the early ’90s, and they just weren’t good. They were slightly larger than other cards and were troublesome to get to fit into card pages. Plus they just seemed to be of cheaper quality. But all of that said, that would have been a good price to pick up a complete set of anything back then since finding all 492 cards in single packs would have cost a fortune.
So in the early ’90s, I thought Domino Rally was just so cool. Forget the fact that I could have just taken all the sets of old school dominos that were scattered around our house and accomplished the same thing, I had to have the brightly colored, thin plastic dominos that came in these sets to set up and then knock over. Plus, Domino Rally sets came with cool pieces like bridges and loops that had dominos attached that you could add to your falling masterpiece. These things really upped the falling dominos game to new heights.
Being 1989, I’m thinking this is in the early days of the release of the system. That and I don’t see Sonic the Hedgehog’s mug plastered all over the ad. I do see Altered Beast though, and I know that was an early hit for the system. I was always a Super Nintendo guy, and I always will be. But even in saying that, I would be a fool to not want to highlight this from the ad. Any old game system is worth a mention in posts like these.
Well, there’s six highlights from an old KayBee Toys sale paper from 1989. I encourage you to check out our full scan of the entire thing in the Time Capsules section of the site and pick out your own highlights. If you do, drop them in the comments below so I can check out what you thought the top picks were. I always get excited about stuff like that.
This is Wrestlemania week, and I’ve been feeling awfully nostalgic for old pro wrestling. Because of that, you got the post earlier this week on the old pro wrestling action figure lines. So to keep the ball rolling, here is an older episode of Wax Pack Flashback that I do for The Retro Network on TRNTV. Give it a watch and check out how awesome these cards were.
It’s always fun to open an old pack of cards, but these were even better than normal because they featured so many of my heroes growing up. Every card in the pack brought back it’s own old memories. I need to find more of these packs and see what other treasures I can find lurking inside.
If you enjoyed seeing this old pack of cards get opened, check out some of the other packs I’ve opened…