16 thoughts on “British comic book promotions in 1983, and a look at some Frank Langford ads”

  2. Hello TVTA, I remember seeing the Corgi Cops adverts in a few comics I used to read back when I was a youngster but I never knew who drew them. And I remember the Spud Gun toy pistols were great. A couple of my mates had them but they bought them – if I recall they were metal but painted bright red, probably as a safety measure. I never had one but I did in the late 80’s, get a James Bond Living Daylights Walther PPK cap pistol and shoulder holster set. Funny thing was that Timothy Dalton used a Beretta pistol in that movie not a Walther.
    One final thing, I also had the Grandstand Scramble tabletop game but had to buy numerous power adaptors to play it. We didn’t have the original and had to buy those cheap variable output adaptors from Poundstretchers (sort of like an “Everything’s a pound” store).
    Thanks for the trip back to the 80’s, they were fun years, stay safe and keep scanning!

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    • Hi FT. Those cap guns were brillliant with the paper roll you inserted that popped on each trigger click. Then you had the plastic discs which were a bit louder I think. I had the die cast cowboy pistols and a really cool Winchester toy rifle.
      Re: the tabletop games. Yes, I seem to remember we had to get a multi-adaptor from somewhere like Tandy to keep all the electronic toys going!

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      • Hello again, yes those were the type of pistol I had. Even better though with the “Daylights” James Bond pistol was that you inserted the cap roll into a magazine that dropped out the bottom of the handgrip. When the roll ran out you pressed a button and the magazine slid out – you then put a fresh roll in and then re-inserted the magazine just like a real pistol. I had a few pistols that used the plastic caps – both strips and the circular revolver types.
        And wow! You remember Tandy…I bet you were a member of their Monthly Battery Club!

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      • The ‘Daylights’ gun sounds very impressive!
        Tandy – yes! Not a member, but got accessories there and a RC car once… plus my first ever CB handheld radio – a Tandy Realistic model. Citizens’ Band radio was a huge hit for a while in our neighbourhood and school, and many of us had one. Pretty cool looking back how we had all these wonderful things!

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      • Wow you just keep the surprises coming….I too was a CB Radio operator. 1-9, 1-9 a copy! Is anybody out there? I was the Sierra Mike 75. I had a Harrier Mobile (in car unit), the Harrier Homebase radio and the Harrier handheld. I used to make the aerials for CBs for my dad’s mates. I was on air for the famous waveband switchover conversation when AM bands became illegal and we had to swap to FM equipped radios!

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  4. So many cool adverts, remember a lot of these. I had one of those Scramble games,, its was fun to play as you flew the ship around! Love the Top Trump advert as well, I can see the little picture of the Horror deck I had with Dracula on in the row at the bottom! Had so much fan playing those, I’ve still got that and the 2nd horror pack they did as well – think that had the grim reaper on the front or something? I’ll have to check.

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    Reply ↓

    • Cheers Paul. Always a treat to see these old British ads. I’m sure they re-released the horror decks… will have to check as I’d love to own one. I remember some of the original packs online were pretty expensive as they’re rare now, especially full decks.
      The tabletop electronic games were good fun, as were the many handhelds that were available then. The 80s was such a good time for gaming tech like that 🙂

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      • Oh yes, those Horror Top Trumps were such fun. They had great art for each monster as well, it was fun comparing all the horror ratings, fear factor ratings ext! Glad I’ve still got them. Table top games were loads of fun, especially Scramble. I had Electronic Detective as well, where you had to as suspects questions on their cards. The 80’s were a brilliant time for all these new things 🙂

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