Mario in Four-Color Land (Video Games & Computer Entertainment - January 1991)

As I wrote last year on this day, Its-a-Mario Day. Every March 10th is Mario Day, not because of the day marking a special occasion but because of the abbreviation of March being MAR and 10 looking similar to "IO." Last year I went with a few magazine reviews of Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3, and this year I've scanned an article titled "Mario in Four-Color Land." Although Mario is in the title, the story from Video Games & Computer Entertainment magazine is actually about all the Nintendo-themed comic books published by Valiant from 1990 to 1991.

Caught in a Web (Wizard #53 - January 1996)

This post isn't related to toys or video games but sometimes I do lean into comic book content a bit. I was looking for something on Spider-Man to tie into the new Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man animated series that debuts today on Disney+. Since I didn't have time to browse all of my video game magazines in search of Spidey game reviews, I turned to Wizard magazine in hopes of finding something related to the web-slinger's 1994 animated series. What I came across was an article covering the super hero's doomed James Cameron film, the then upcoming season three of the aforementioned 1990's cartoon, and brief discussions of past live-action shows in the U.S. and Japan. The article also mentions a Venom film in the works that never happened, at least not in the '90s. Although Spider-Man appears in a number of my blog posts, the only previous post dedicated to the web-head is for the Hot Wheels: Spider-Man's Web of Terror set. There is also a ToyFare article post that features Spider-Man but it's primarily about Toy Biz's marketing.

Marvel Comics Super-Heroes Card Game

Milton Bradley released a few Marvel Comics-branded games during the '70s, such as The Incredible Hulk board game and this card game. Released in 1978, the Marvel Comics Super-Heroes Card Game features 19 hero cards and one villain, Doctor Doom. It's a simple matching game where players are dealt cards and then pick a new card each turn from the player on their right. The player to get rid of all their cards first wins but play continues until the last player is stuck with the Doom card and finishes in last place. Unfortunately, the box has remnants of a sticker and I don't have the instructions card but I do have all of the characters cards so you can enjoy the artwork. 

Comic Book Heroes and Cartoon Stars (GamePro - March 1991)

It's been a while since I posted an article from GamePro magazine so here one is. It features five reviews of video games starring a comic book or animated character, one TaleSpin preview, and some mentions of upcoming games at the time. Considering the mascot of Domino's pizza is included, I wouldn't say the magazine's title is completely accurate. Along with the Noid, there are games where players control Dick Tracy, Silver Surfer, The Punisher, and Mickey Mouse.

[YouTube] Star Wars Ads/Promotions ('95-'05)

 

https://youtu.be/RR6rHWYYdoM

As I state in the video, I threw this together in about two days. I did spend a lot of that time scanning and photographing all of the images for this blog post and there are a lot of them. It's primarily about advertising and promotions from restaurants and grocery store foods, such as KFC, Taco Bell, Pepsi, and Kellogg's. A large portion of them focus on The Phantom Menace, though there are also some items regarding the special edition releases of the original trilogy.

Frito-Lay
The bags are on a wrinkled side and too large for the scanner. Most are simply ads rather than promotions though Doritos contained a game piece. There is also a 7" x 14" poster (to the right) that was likely created a variety pack but I'm not sure. Also, I'm updating this on May 19th as I found two more of the Episode III Lay's contest pieces.

Kudos/M&M's

Kudos released five products covering Episode I, III, IV, V, and VI (no II as far as I can tell). Each box contains a trading card that can be cut out and a chance to win a vacation. M&M's are simply bags branded with Star Wars of which I have two of.

Taco Bell/KFC/Pizza Hut

When the Phantom Menace released these three restaurants ran a "Defeat the Dark Side" contest where customers collects cardboard discs to try and win prizes. There is also a KFC children's meal box and I believe the boxed fish toy is from that.

 

Taco Bell

These are not part of the above Taco Bell promotions as they are celebrating the release of the original trilogy special editions. I've got three of the seven items they gave out.

Pepsi

There is a little overlap here with the above restaurants as I believe the plastic Pepsi cup is from one or all three of them. 

Kellogg's

For Kellogg's there is a VHS tape titled "The Making of Star Wars" that I'm unsure of what the promotion is from. The shipping box is from Battle Creek, MI which is where Kellogg's is headquartered and how I determined it was a Kellogg's promotion. Then there is a Apple Jacks Dark Horse comic book and a Crispix R2-D2 snack bowl.

Kmart
This is a Kmart ad for The Phantom Menace toys and clothing that I included for possibly no reason. My thought is that the child model holding the LEGO Naboo Starfighter could be a 6-year-old Cameron Monaghan. I've no idea if it actually is him but just thought it was a cool coincidence if so since he stars in the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game. It's a nice ad regardless.

Lucasfilm

Last item is The Phantom Menace official soundtrack mobile advertising piece from a music store. The center pieces feature the same image on both sides while the characters spin around to reveal another picture. 

May the 4th be with you!