I love old comic books ads. They are extremely deceptive and awesome.
Take the 132 Piece Roman Soldier Set for instance.
The image depicts a violent and intense battle taking place on a beach in rome. Skirts flap in the wind, daggers shine in the sun, and soldiers scream as the last minutes of their futile lives flash before their own bloodthirsty eyes.
Only $2.25 (around $8.60 in today’s money) and you can wage your own bloody battles, just like the one pictured here!
Weeks go by and finally the package arrives. Your sweaty overweight palms make quick work of the wrappings. You quickly tear open the box, empty the contents and find…
That’s right, cheap plastic, two dimensional junk. You would have been better off saving your money and pretending that the dirt and twigs from the front yard was a Roman army.
8 responses to “132 Piece Roman Soldier Set”
i wish i had them it would be cool
i wish i had them it would be cool to play with these toys
… if you were like, 5 years old maybe.
I have a set of these from when I was a kid. I love them, guess I was young enough to enjoy them, played with them all the time.
Omg when i saw the picture i thought this must be so cool….and when you showed the plastic cheap junk….jesus….even kidz have limits playing with this crap 😛
i remember this from when i was a kid ,i so envied the americans for the chance to get there hands on this playset ,i spent many a night y=thninking about playing with this set ,imagine how disappointed you would havwe been opening the box to find that pile of poo inside
I remember this ad! As a boy, I fantasized about commanding these troops in battle and leading them to victory. I had no money though and my parents weren’t inclined to “throw good money away” but I did finally get them.
However, they weren’t the flat, brittle-looking soldiers pictured here. It’s been decades but I would swear (despite the known fallibility of memory) that my soldiers were 3D rubbery plastic troops that I was satisfied with. It’s possible that I’m confusing them with some similar Romans from a local dime store but I think I’m correct.
I should add though I also bought from a similar comic advertisement a set of Revolutionary War soldiers just like your picture. Now those were a disappointment; all flattened, prone to breaking and difficult to stand up at times. Yet, a friend of mine received the “3D” sturdy troops I wanted to command.
Different stocks for the same ad?
I ordered the set as a kid and, yes, I was just a little bit diappointed. However, I did have a great deal of fun lining the soldiers up side by side and knocking the first in line over to create a domino effect. I do also recall getting over my initial response and having a good deal of fun playing with the set. It was probably the only comic book ad I ever responded to.