Merchandise tie-ins and other licensing deals have been an essential marketing tool for decades. For movies, it dates back at least to Walt Disney, who made a licensing deal with a Switzerland company for Mickey and Minnie Mouse handkerchiefs in the late 1920s. Another example is William Boyd’s Hopalong Cassidy films, which began in the 1930s and led to dozens of tie-in products such as kids’ lunch boxes.Television made a huge splash in the merchandising game in the 1950s with Superman, The Lone Ranger, and Fess Parker as Davy Crockett on the Disneyland TV series. Not surprisingly, savvy television producers were quick to partner with comic book publishers. Dell Comics and later Gold Key Comics led the way with tie-ins of popular shows. Many of them were based on youth-oriented TV series (e.g., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), but there were also comic book tie-ins with adult fare like Dr. Kildare, Mission: Impossible, and Burke’s Law.
In fact, a recent Café post on Burke’s Law inspired my sister to look for some of the classic TV comic books she bought as a youth. I had a blast looking at these covers and wanted to share them with Café readers.
You can enlarge any of the covers by clicking on them. Note the German officer pictured next to Chris George in The Rat Patrol cover is Hans Gudegast. He later changed his name to Eric Braeden and gained fame as Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless.
Cool, I owned most of these and others, as well, wish I still had them.
ReplyDeleteBeing a lot older, I didn't pay any attention to the tie ins from the 60s but I sure remember the early - mid 50s stuff. Hoppy was huge, esp since I lived in the Los Angeles area where he was located and did a ton of appearances. He opened Hoppy Land (a small amusement park) near Venice Cali then and appeared often. I was sort of too old for the whole Crocket craze by mid 50s but I sure saw it all happen. We had comic book tie ins in the 40s - lots of Flash Gordon stuff was still around and happening. Captain America was huge in the 40s with kids in the US.
ReplyDeleteI think I still have my "Adam-12" comic around here somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThose items were all great. I pestered my mom to get me a Davy Crockett coon skin cap just like in the Disney show - bless her she made it herself but it was never like the real one. But I got my share of lunch pales and superman comics. None of the later I still own - all of which has turned me into the memorabilia collector I am today.
ReplyDeleteI suspect some of these comic books go for $10 or more these days. That's a pretty nice return on investment. I once had a great collection of the Classics Illustrated series, but my mom gave and threw them away. So sad!!!
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun blast from the past! I remember some lunch pails had matching thermoses, too.
ReplyDeleteRick, I wish I knew your sister's address because I'd love to read that Star Trek comic!!! It's my favorite of the old TV shows! I still love watching those episodes. I have an original 1977 Star Wars lunch box. I still use it too! This was an entertaining post. I really enjoyed it!
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