User Panel
Posted: 12/4/2020 11:27:06 PM EDT
I remember back in the late 80’s there was a magazine/mail order catalog that my cousin used to get to order all sorts of cool stuff for a kid. Not toys but stuff like stink bombs, knives, wooden swords, ninja throwing stars. It was better than the Sears Christmas catalog to a 10 year old boy. Seems like it was black and white, mail order form in the middle. Just thought of that and haven’t had that memory in years. We also used to tear out the post cards from a field and stream to send in for a free can of skoal bandits. Kids these days will never know the fun of checking the mailbox before your parents for weeks at a time to see if your bandits arrived that you made up a fake name but used your address for.
|
|
Kinda sounds like BudK, but not sure if that was around in the '80s.
|
|
I ordered my shitty survival knife out of the back of boys life.
|
|
We got a catalog like that (for some reason) called Shomer-Tec in the mid '90s.
|
|
Did they have nunchucks, x ray glasses and potato pellet pistols?
|
|
When I was a kid in the 80s, our local video store had a case of throwing stars and knives and shit right by the martial arts flicks. Brilliant marketing. I don't know how many $4 throwing stars I had, but it was a lot.
|
|
Quoted: I remember back in the late 80’s there was a magazine/mail order catalog that my cousin used to get to order all sorts of cool stuff for a kid. Not toys but stuff like stink bombs, knives, wooden swords, ninja throwing stars. It was better than the Sears Christmas catalog to a 10 year old boy. Seems like it was black and white, mail order form in the middle. Just thought of that and haven’t had that memory in years. We also used to tear out the post cards from a field and stream to send in for a free can of skoal bandits. Kids these days will never know the fun of checking the mailbox before your parents for weeks at a time to see if your bandits arrived that you made up a fake name but used your address for. View Quote Damn that takes me back. I remember a magazine like that in ‘85 or so. Climbing claws, caltrops, nunchucks, butterfly knives, all the ninja shit. |
|
|
|
Johnson-Smith Catalog but that was more gag stuff. I used to love ordering nickel and dime stuff back in the 70's because that was all I could afford.
|
|
As mentioned, I was going to say AWMA (Asian World of Martial Arts) and BudK.
|
|
I ordered my survival knife and ninja stars out of shotgun news in 1984. My mom and dad must have thought I was mental.??
|
|
Smokey Mountain Knife Works
Got a blowgun and wrist rocket from them as well ETA: not so much of the stink bomb stuff though |
|
Any magazine geared towards boys had all sort of cool sounding junk to buy in the back. Myself, I bought a shity bullwhip from the back of boys life or some scouting magazine. Then we did occasionally get some catalog full of China type junk with fake dog shit and throwing stars but it have no idea what it was called. I suspect there were several versions selling the same stuff.
That bullwhip smelled rotten and fell apart. Some damn how I ended up getting my parents to let me get a real one from the tack shop because I was Indiana Jones since I was to old to be Lion-O anymore. |
|
I bought my first set of shurikens right after the Kung Fu tv series came out when I was a kid. There wasn't a tree that was safe within the confines of my housing project. I was like a little friggin' Jewish Master Po.
|
|
Might have been Budk, I was hoping a name would ring a bell but nothing jumps out at me so far. I remember having a special little cloth pull string bag with throwing stars and trading with friends. A few years later I started getting SMKW magazines and they were good too but not the same as these that I remember from the 80’s.
|
|
In the Seventies it was “ Boys Life”.
In the eighties Soldier of Fortune, Shotgum News. |
|
Quoted: Any magazine geared towards boys had all sort of cool sounding junk to buy in the back. Myself, I bought a shity bullwhip from the back of boys life or some scouting magazine. Then we did occasionally get some catalog full of China type junk with fake dog shit and throwing stars but it have no idea what it was called. I suspect there were several versions selling the same stuff. That bullwhip smelled rotten and fell apart. Some damn how I ended up getting my parents to let me get a real one from the tack shop because I was Indiana Jones since I was to old to be Lion-O anymore. View Quote I had a bull whip till I popped my brother, mom took it away to hide it till we got older, but I never saw it again |
|
|
|
Century martial arts and Sportsman’s Guide are all I remember.
|
|
Asian World of Marshal Arts (as mentioned), Dolan’s and Brigade Quartermaster were the best. AWMA and BQ had great color catalogs... Along with US Cavalry.
|
|
In the late 80’s I made my own throwing stars in jr hight shop class. Grab a sheet of metal. Use tin snips to cut out a star. Sharpen edges on a grinder. Throw stars into the ceiling and leave them stuck there. Repeat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I always got mine at a local pawn shop.
I just assumed that as I aged into adulthood I'd need lots of throwing stars and butterfly knives and Rambo survival knives. My guy also sold civil war relics, like buttons and bullets and swords and confederate currency. He also sold these itty-bitty little miniature (inert) bombs that were like 3" long, maybe less, that weighed about an ounce. I have no clue what they were. I always assumed they were some sort of military surplus. |
|
No clue , but I sure as hell remember waiting for my free Skoal Bandits
|
|
That shit was available EVERYWHERE. I think I remember seeing ads for that kind of stuff in numerous magazines, from comic books to wrestling magazines to martial arts oriented magazines. And I did my share of ordering too. I am convinced my third grade teacher thought he had a class made up of 50% ninjas. Hell, he probably thought he was a ninja himself by the end of the school year, considering how many assorted throwing stars and other H2H weapons he had confiscated from us. The 1980's were cool. I took things to school with me on a regular basis back then that would cause lockdowns and SWAT deployments these days.
|
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.