--- product_id: 5894388 title: "Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads" brand: "kirk demarais" price: "₹ 16749" currency: INR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.in/products/5894388-mail-order-mysteries-real-stuff-from-old-comic-book-ads store_origin: IN region: India --- # Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads **Brand:** kirk demarais **Price:** ₹ 16749 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads by kirk demarais - **How much does it cost?** ₹ 16749 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.in](https://www.desertcart.in/products/5894388-mail-order-mysteries-real-stuff-from-old-comic-book-ads) ## Best For - kirk demarais enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted kirk demarais brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Rediscover your sense of wonder! Generations of comic book readers remember the tantalizing promises of vintage novelty advertisements that offered authentic laser-gun plans, x-ray specs, and even 7-foot-tall monsters (with glow-in-the-dark eyes!). But what would you really get if you entrusted your hard-earned $1.69 to the post office? Mail-Order Mysteries answers this question, revealing the amazing truths (and agonizing exaggerations) about the actual products marketed to kids in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. Pop-culture historian Kirk Demarais shares his astonishing collection, including: 100 Toy Soldiers in a Footlocker Count Dante’s World’s Deadliest Fighting Secrets GRIT Hercules Wrist Band Hypno-Coin Life-Size Monsters Mystic Smoke Sea Monkeys Soil From Dracula’s Castle U-Control Ghost Ventrilo Voice Thrower ...and many, many more! With more than 150 extraordinary, peculiar, and downright fraudulent collectibles, Mail-Order Mysteries is a must-have book comic book fans everywhere. Trust us. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #13,136 in Humor (Books) | | Dimensions | 6.5 x 0.8 x 10 inches | | Edition | First Edition | | Isbn 10 | 160887026X | | Isbn 13 | 978-1608870264 | | Item Weight | 1.46 pounds | | Language | English | | Print Length | 156 pages | | Publication Date | October 11, 2011 | | Publisher | Insight Editions | ## Images ![Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81kc5SopIVL.jpg) ![Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51t9KmifxSL.jpg) ![Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/813Kh-nvklL.jpg) ![Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81K4fbvoAgL.jpg) ![Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/817t7OE2LoL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ MAIL-ORDER MYSTERIES is the real-world equivalent of Marty McFly's Sports Almanac! A must-own for every aging comicbook nerd. *by on Reviewed in the United States December 23, 2017* Comics-reading kids of a certain age wasted away many an idle afternoon and/or rainy Saturday with friends, passing around the latest issues of their favorite 4-color heroes and wondering - often aloud to one another - just how amazingly cool (or unbelievably dumb) the junk in those goofy, weird, wonderfully tempting splashy ad pages in the back of those comic books might be. If you were one of those kids, then MAIL-ORDER MYSTERIES will have you INSTANTLY time-tripping back to those cherished days of your misspent youth. Regrettably (or happily I suppose?), I never actually ponied up my tiny allowance to purchase any of those cleverly mis-advertised baubles... but I willingly confess to spending many an hour reading and re-reading those funtastic ads, wondering... wondering...This terrific must-own book solves the mouth-watering mysteries of most of those mail-order enigmas from the good old days, most with head-shaking, hope-deflating, bittersweet "I just KNEW it was a gyp!" moments. LOL. Seriously, this has to be one of the most fun and interesting books I've gotten my hands on in YEARS. What I wouldn't have given to have had this back then. I would have been a genuine Criswell jr.! MAIL-ORDER MYSTERIES is the real-world comicbook equivalent of Marty McFly's Sports Almanac!If you even pondered taking a chance and plunking down your hard-earned allowance on such mysteries as "7ft monsters YOU control" or your very own "Polaris Submarine" or those quintessentially perverted girl-peeping x-ray gogs, then you simply gotta buy this book. It will instantly become a touchstone tome, eagerly passed between you and your old grade school chums. Unlike those perplexing too-good-to-be-true items taunting you from the dusty backpages of Marvel & DC (and Harvey, and Charlton, etc.) comics, this book, MAIL-ORDER MYSTERIES, is absolutely worth... Every. Single. Penny. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mixes ads with what the customer really gets *by on Reviewed in the United States April 24, 2025* The book is in sections. Super Powers and Special Abilities, War Zone, House of Horrors, High Finance, Better Living Through Mail Order, Top Secret, Trickery and Oddities.In each, the ads from cartoon books are reproduced and there is commentary on what a customer REALLY gets.I will just focus on a few.Superpowers and Special Abilities covers Aqua-Spex, Hypno-spex, Hypno-coin, etc and also in this section are ads for jiu-jitsu, ketsugo, and other combat styles plus muscle building programs such as the one ran by Charles Atlas.The War Zone section includes little plastic figures such as "132 Roman Soldiers", "204 Revolutionary War Soldiers," "104 King's Knights," "100 Toy Pirates" with color photos of sample figures. The 100 Little Dolls collection is in this section for some reason.The House of Horrors is where to find the Monster Size Monsters (a green Frankenstein's monster and Boney the Skeleton), Monster Ghost, 7 Foot Life Size Ghost, Life Size Moon Monster, How to Draw Monsters, 7 Gigantic Dinosaurs, Genuine Soil from Dracula's Castle, horror records, rubber masks, vampire bat and other goodies, and there are photos of what one really gets.Overall, a fun book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Even Better Than I Imagined! *by on Reviewed in the United States October 27, 2011* I IMAGINED: A cool collection of pictures and descriptions of assorted novelty items that were heavily advertised in old comic books.THEY SENT: An awesome book featuring page after page of pictures, trivia, and entertaining evaluations of mysterious, suspiciously cheap products that always seemed WAY too good to possibly be true. I fondly remember being fascinated by the ads from mail-order giants Johnson Smith, Fun Factory, etc. which could be found throughout the comic books I was reading back in the late 1970's through the early 1980's. I placed several orders back in the day, so it was a nostalgic treat to see these products included in this book, along with many, many others that I was too wise to get suckered into buying (alright, it was actually because I didn't have enough cash at that young age!)I couldn't stop reading this book! It's very hard to put down; I found myself wanting to keep turning pages to see what was next (Sea-Monkeys? Hypno-Coins? Secret Martial Arts lessons? They're all here!). I recall the same ratio of occasional gems amidst a sea of rip-offs as the author finds. In fact, it's a bit odd to feel such nostalgia about companies whose business model largely seemed to be finding ways to cheat naive children out of their allowances. I guess you could argue that it was a relatively inexpensive way for kids to learn about becoming more cautious consumers... it taught them to be wary of something that seemed too good to be true (an important life lesson that many adults have yet to learn). However, as the book notes, there were some really fun items available for low, low prices (plate lifters! magic tricks!). In fact, part of the excitement of the whole experience was the mystery... what would you actually get? How would it compare to the description, and would it actually work? For a few bucks, you'd have your answer (in four to six weeks, of course!)CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: I recommend this book to anyone who remembers these novelty advertisements, or is just curious about the merchandise they offered. "Mail-Order Mysteries" throws new light on a mysterious collection of goodies (and if you throw some light on the book's cover for a few moments, it even glows in the dark.)Unlike many of my purchases from the aforementioned novelty houses, this book was even better than I dared imagine! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.in/products/5894388-mail-order-mysteries-real-stuff-from-old-comic-book-ads](https://www.desertcart.in/products/5894388-mail-order-mysteries-real-stuff-from-old-comic-book-ads) --- *Product available on Desertcart India* *Store origin: IN* *Last updated: 2026-08-25*