Holy awkward title, Batman! And yet, its awkwardness makes me chuckle. So, "Ephemera of the Bronze and Copper Ages" it is. Huzzah!
I'm going to try and keep my remarks to a minimum for this post and let the images do the talking. There are, I've discovered, loads of sites that showcase this sort of
thing. Rather than attempt any kind of comprehensive overview, I'm just
going to put ones that triggered this sort of reaction in me,
personally. If you read comics during this period, chances are many if not all of the following will trigger the same "temporal anomaly" feeling I've written about at length. If not, I hope you enjoy this collection of Marvel Comics accoutrements from yesteryear.
SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS
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| Okay, not technically a subscription offer. Always good to start off with a misdirection, I say. |
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| Oh yeah? Tell it to Frehley's Comet, Hobgoblin. |
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| If you still have yours, I do believe 2015 will have the same calendar year breakdown as 1981. So, save yourself the cash, True Believers, and let your Marvel flag fly again! |
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| "By Grabthar's hammer... what a savings." (Good lord... I don't think I ever caught the pun in that (from Galaxy Quest) until right this moment. How embarrassing.) |
PROMOTIONS AND COMING ATTRACTIONS
VIDEOGAMES AND MOVIES
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| In case you're unfamiliar, here's an amusing overview. |
STAR WARS
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS AND OTHER GAMES
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| I never knew anyone who had this game, but I used to stare at this ad and make up my own stories for it on long car rides. |
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| Raise your hand if you had any of these. (I loved these things.) |
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| Technically included just for the D and D game advertised, but that Coleco and those Amazing Sea Monkeys sure are jumping out at me. Probably more familiar in this: |
TOY SOLDIERS
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| There were dozens of varieties of these things. (I never got any.) |
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| This one looks pretty cool to me now. |
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| While this one undoubtedly came with a made-to-scale thermonuclear weapon. |
A FEW RANDOMS
BULLPEN BULLETINS
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| This is referencing John Byrne (not John Romita, Jr., i.e. the "hunk of the month" aforementioned) |
HOSTESS CUPCAKES AND FRUIT PIES
I had no idea these things had so much internet representation until I googled them. Here is just a small sampling. I get a kick out of these things.
Nowadays, of course, everyone's all up in arms about selling diabetes to children. Bah! I think we may have prematurely dismissed the deterrent factor of stockpiling Hostess Fruit Pies. If I was John Kerry, I'd have landed in the Crimea with a briefcase full of these things and started tossing them out to Russian soldiers. Who could resist!
The artists responsible for these ads include John Byrne, Bill Sienkiewicz, John Romita, Sr., Bob Layton, Ron Frenz, Walt Simonson, Frank Miller, Mike Zeck, Luke McDonnell, Vince Coletta, Sal Buscema, Bill Willingham, Jack Davis, and Steve Leialoha. If I'm missing anyone obvious, please take me to task in the comments.
