When I was young, I sent away for stuff from the back of comic books. I’ve been thinking of my childhood toys lately, and blogging about them, and this activity has led me to connect with some fellow bloggers whose parents apparently collaborated with mine to determine which toys to buy for their darling girlchildren. See Dawn doll stuff if you care to.
I keep wondering whether some of my old stuff is buried at the family homestead, preserved perfectly by neglect. More importantly, I have been wondering if I could make some money selling them, if indeed they have maintained their pristine condition. Due to neglect.
You may remember an outfit called the Mystic Stamp Company that advertised in magazines, and, if memory serves, comic books. I cannot claim to have been close to cool enough to read DC or Marvel superhero comics, but I did go through an Archie and Richie Rich period. The best thing to come out of the Archie franchise, in my opinion, was the “Sugar, Sugar” 45 r.p.m. record (this is getting way too technical for the under-40 crowd, I know) that you actually cut out of the back of the cereal box. It really played on the turntable, although the sound quality was god-awful. We were hands-on back then, kids. It is not the same to get 3 free downloads on iTunes, believe you me. Good, good times. Please note that this was before the era of “spinning” cereal names to avoid the use of the word “sugar” in the name. That dude on the box of Super Sugar Crisp (say it loud and proud!) was cool spokesman Sugar Bear. Yes, he was.
Somewhere, most likely back in my childhood bedroom, there are lovely translucent vellum sleeves that hold beautiful stamps from places like Rwanda and Guyana, minted before these places became inextricably connected in the collective consciousness with genocide and mass suicide by Kool-Aid. Philatelists (that’s what serious stamp collectors call themselves, I am quite sure), help out here. Can I retire? I mean, like, early? I await your reply.
In the meantime, look what’s happened! Now, instead of buying stamps by mail from the back of a comic book, the USPS has taken to issuing stamps BASED ON comic books. Whoa. I would refer here to the lyrics at the beginning of “The Circle Of Life” from “The Lion King,” but, let’s face it—we all have our versions of the intro to this song.
peachyteachy 
the only thing I ever bought from the back of a magazine was Olga’s hair potion. it promised long, thick locks. farce.
it’s never too late…?
It played better if you taped a penny on the needle arm. 🙂