Why We Couldn’t Wait for Saturday Morning!

Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 25, where we take a nostalgic look at six comic books I currently own, and one that I let get away. This week I went with the theme of Saturday morning shows from our youth.

For each of the comic books below, I list the current secondary market value. This is according to the listings at the website www.comicbookrealm.com. They list out the near mint prices, which are on the comic book grading scale of 9.4. If you go to the website to look up any in your collection, you can click on the price and see the value at different grades. Not all of my comics are 9.4. Some are probably better, and some are worse. But to simplify it, that’s the grading price I use here. And remember, a comic book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

If you have any questions or comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a reply.” I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I do writing about them. And now, Episode 25…

Cool comics in my collection #169: The Banana Splits #3, July 1970.
Are you old enough to remember The Banana Splits Adventure Hour? It ran Saturday mornings from 1968 to 1970, and if you were young enough at the time, you probably loved this live-action variety show for kids. Most people who watched it definitely remember the catchy theme song, which is difficult to get out of your head, so click on the link at your own risk! When you flip open The Banana Splits #3, you are met with an ad for a Giant Play Zoo Animal Collection. For only $1 you get 20 “Lovable Animals to Delight the Heart of Every Child!” To send away for it, you had to cut out part of the comic book cover, so I wonder how many of these got ordered? The first comic has the gang in some misadventures with a vampire in Batko Castle, along with a Frankenstein’s monster character. Then we come to the Gold Key Club News page, which tells us about upcoming Gold Key Comic issues and a Reader’s Page with drawings from fans, then a page with jokes. There are a few more adventures of the Banana Splits, and finally a Reader’s Page with Doodles drawn by fans. I certainly wouldn’t draw any comparisons between The Banana Splits comic and the Justice League, or even Super Friends for that matter, but it was fun to revisit my childhood by reading this issue. I bought this back issue at Kenmore Komics this year for $3.50. The cover price of The Banana Splits #3 is 15 cents, while the current value is $85.

 
Cool comics in my collection #170: H.R. Pufnstuf #4, July 1971.
If you thought The Banana Splits were trippy, H.R. Pufnstuf really takes the cake! Just 17 episodes aired of this strange adventure of a boy who is tricked by Witchiepoo into going to Living Island so that she could steal his magical flute, Freddy. Living Island is populated with strange, magical creatures. And as bizarre as this show seemed, I loved it as a kid. It was goofy, the songs were catchy, and it was a fun way to spend part of my Saturday mornings. Check out the link to the H.R. Pufnstuf intro, which pretty much explains everything you need to know heading into an episode, or one of their comic books, for that matter. I bought this comic in a back issue box at Kenmore Komics recently for just $4. Part of the fun of looking at these old comics from yesteryear are the ads. This one leads off with an offer for reproduced paintings of four Thoroughbred horses for just $1. A few pages later there is an offer for 110 postage stamps and an album to put them in, which is an ad I don’t recall seeing before. Another ad is in the form of a one-page comic about Lee Jeans, Jim Driscoll in “Danger on the Field.” And then we come to more familiar territory with Columbia House records. Any 12 for just $2.86, with the promise of purchasing 10 more within 2 years! But the best ad in this comic is for Sea-Monkeys! For only $1, you can have the greatest pets in the world. Every kid on the block wanted these, and as far as I know, none of the parents ever gave up that dollar to purchase them. The comic stories were okay, but given the choice, I’d rather watch an episode. The cover price of H.R. Pufnstuf #4 is 15 cents, while the current value is $30.

 
Cool comics in my collection #171: Huckleberry Hound #38, July 1969.
The Huckleberry Hound Show originally ran from 1958 to 1961, the year before I was born, but he was still a part of my childhood. Hannah-Barbera’s blue dog with a Southern drawl was known for breaking the fourth wall and talking to his television audience, and became part of the line-up in Yogi’s Gang, which debuted in 1973. Have some fun and click on the links to watch the intros to these Saturday morning memories. You’ll especially enjoy seeing all the characters that are in Yogi’s Gang. So go on, I’ll wait for you. Back now? Did you feel like a kid again? Maybe you’re too young to remember any of these cartoons and this is your first real exposure to them. I bought this recently at Kenmore Komics, in Akron, Ohio, for just $2. Inside the cover of this Gold Key comic book is an ad for Matchbox cars in the form of a comic panel. I really like this ad, since I had lots of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars around the time this came out. These old Gold Key comics also have some pages called “Gold Key Club Comics,” in which they have some fun facts. This issue covers Neanderthal Man. The inside of the back cover has an ad for “Large – Fluorescent Colored Posters, Your Favorite Comic Character.” You could get Bugs Bunny, Yogi Bear, Fred Flintstone, and others for just $2. And the back has an ad for 411 pieces of fishing gear for just $12.95! Great prices! The actual stories aren’t as exciting as reading a Batman comic, but the memories (including the ads) are worth it. The cover price of Huckleberry Hound #38 is 15 cents, while the current value is $40.

 
Cool comics in my collection #172: The Flintstones #48, October 1968.
The Flintstones may just have the most familiar theme song of any of the Saturday morning cartoon-based comics I’m covering this week. If you grew up watching Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty, the song probably brings a smile to your face, and you might find yourself humming it the rest of the day. The Flintstones, another gem by Hanna-Barbera, ran from 1960 to 1966, consisting of the pilot and 166 episodes. Most kids wouldn’t mind seeing reruns of the cartoon, because it was that good. And the show has certainly stayed popular, with cartoon movies, a live-action movie, straight to video, and many toys, glasses, and other merchandise. I bought this comic on a recent visit to Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio, for $2. The inside cover has an ad for Cherrios that tells us details about the most powerful airplane in the world. I guess they figured the cereal would be more attractive to parents if they threw in some knowledge! This Gold Key comic also contains some of the Club pages, and also contains a Stone Age Crossword puzzle (I’m glad no one filled out the one in this issue!). We also get a feature on the Plesiosaur, a dinosaur that lived in the sea. But the best ad is on the inside back cover. In 1968, you could order 28 Disney characters, “printed in full color on luxurious durable art-board,” for just $1, plus 25 cents postage. These might be nice collectibles to have today, but you had to cut out the back of the comic book to order them. This comic was enjoyable to read, because I’m much more familiar with The Flintstones, and I could almost imagine that what I was reading was a Saturday morning cartoon. No doubt this comic had me feeling very nostalgic. The cover price of The Flintstones #48 is 15 cents, while the current value is $28.

 
Cool comics in my collection #173: Bugs Bunny #32, August-September 1953.
Bugs Bunny is an American icon. He made his first official cartoon appearance in 1940 and then had his own prime time cartoon in 1960, moving to Saturday mornings the following year. Mel Blanc provided the voice of Bugs for nearly 50 years, and I actually got to see Mel do voice performances on stage many years ago. Bugs helped educate us in opera and classical music, but most importantly, the show was just plain fun. The Looney Tunes were a big part of my childhood memories, and if you grew up watching them, you probably feel just as nostalgic as I do when reminiscing about these characters. With a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Bugs is in a league of his own. This Dell comic from 1953 doesn’t have any ads, which is so different from the comics most of us know. Instead, there are comic panels on the inside of both the front and back cover, and even on the back cover. No wasted space here. I recently bought it at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio, for $3. Bugs is paired up with Porky Pig for the majority of the stories, and Elmer Fudd also appears here. You can find Bugs everywhere, from toys to games to drinking glasses to movies like Space Jam, he’s one rabbit who won’t be stopped. The cover price of Bugs Bunny #32 is 10 cents, while the current value is $65.

 
Cool comics in my collection #174: Beep Beep #6, August-October 1960.
While Beep Beep may seem an unusual title, anyone familiar with the Road Runner gets it. From 1966 to 1973, this little desert bird headlined his own cartoon, always staying one step ahead of Wile E. Coyote, who single-handedly kept Acme Corporation in business. The theme to The Road Runner Show is, much like The Flintstones, catchy and well-known by millions. The Road Runner and his compatriot, Wile E. Coyote, have been around since 1949, making children of all ages laugh and puzzle over the strange laws of physics we often see on display. After watching a number of these cartoons, you may even start feeling sorry for the coyote! Just like the Bugs Bunny comic by Dell, Beep Beep has no interior ads, but it is seven years later, so Dell has an ad on the back for KRAFT Caramels and KRAFT Chocolate Fudgies. There is a lot of fine print, with a headline that states, “Hey! Boys and Girls! Win a $20,000.00 Baseball Park For Your Team or League Free! Just for Collecting KRAFT Caramels and KRAFT Fudgies bags!” I wonder if anybody actually won? If you are in the know, please tell us in the comment section at the bottom of the page. There are lots of smaller strips in this comic, such as one-pagers, and a few that very from 5 to 8 pages. The odd thing about reading this comic is that in the cartoons, the Road Runner doesn’t talk, but here, he has three sons, and they all talk. In rhyme. One of the four may say a sentence, then one of the others finishes it, making it rhyme. Sort of like Etrigan the Demon. It isn’t annoying, but kind of jarring, because for decades all I thought he could say was Beep Beep. I recently bought his issue at Kenmore Komics in Akron, Ohio, for $4. The cover price of Beep Beep #6 is 10 cents, while the current value is $95.

 
Cool comics in my collection #175 (One That Got Away): The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan #2, August 1973.
You very well may be looking at this and saying, “Chan and the Chan who?” This 1972 Saturday morning cartoon lasted just 16 episodes. I certainly can’t recall how many of those I actually watched, but I do remember seeing at least a few episodes. This comic came in one of the Whitman plastic packs. Western Publishing would distribute comics under the Gold Key label for typical comic book racks, then they’d change the cover to their Whitman brand and package three of them up in a plastic bag to sell at department stores, toy stores, and even the SupeRx Drugstore in Martins Ferry, Ohio, where I grew up. And hence, that’s how I got this way back in the early seventies. Many DC Comics even received the Whitman treatment, in case you wondered why that older Superman issue you doesn’t have DC on the cover. I ended up selling this comic at a giant garage sale I had a few years back, when comics were threatening to take over my house, so I can’t tell you anything about the cool ads, or how it compared to the cartoon, which I don’t remember anyway, but I do have the intro to the Saturday morning show linked here, so click and enjoy. The cover price of The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan #2 is 20 cents, while the current value is $30.
 

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