Found a stash of 80s comic ads in a flea market in Ohio, blew my mind

I was digging through a $2 bin at a flea market near Dayton last Sunday and found a stack of old issues from 1986. What got me was the back pages, all those mail order ads for X-ray glasses and sea monkeys. Nobody talks about how those ads shaped our imagination more than the stories themselves. I spent 45 minutes just reading the tiny print and laughing at the prices, like 5 bucks for a full hologram poster. Does anyone else collect old ads or is it just me who thinks they are the real hidden gem?

2 comments

2 Comments

simon_black6d ago

It’s funny how those little print ads were probably the first real taste of internet shopping culture, before the internet even existed. Weird to think that same wonder now gets buried under endless scrolls and targeted ads nobody asks for.

webb.xena5d ago

Ha, I get what you're saying but I actually see it the opposite way. Those print ads were fake and polished, like a little fantasy world you could flip past and forget. The internet gave us real reviews and actual people showing you stuff, even if it's a mess sometimes. Yeah the targeted ads suck, but at least you can dig deeper if you want to, instead of just trusting some glossy photo from a catalog. I'd take the annoying scroll over those slick little lies any day.