The Avengers of old and the awesomeness of being a kid in 1971.

EDIT: This is a picture of the trunk to give you an idea of just how many comics there are. Note the very special No. 1 edition of Star Wars Marvel comic:

I have come into the possession of an old fashioned Steamer luggage crate thing, no idea what they call them, but a large suitcase of years gone by taken on ships. In that case resides in excess of 1000 comics from the 1960s and 1970s. The vast majority of them are Marvel Comics. I was having a bit of a look at what was in there and with the release of The Avengers movie, I thought this was apt:

That doesn't look anything like the movie. Sure, Captain America is there, but I don't see Wanda, Hawkeye or Quicksilver in the movie ...... probably a good thing. That is issue 27 from 1966. 12 cents for a comic - how awesome is that.

Moving ahead a little, I dug this one out as it had my favourite Marvel superhero of all time, Vision. He has the best super powers ever.

This is issue 92 from 1971. Gone is Hawkeye and Captain America (good thing - he sucks) and in with Vision, Black Panther (surely he was a terrorist right) and Goliath (who?). Still, nothing like the movie, but Thor, Captain America and Iron man appeared for a bit of a guest starring, along with The Fantastic Four in the comic.

What really struck me was how awesome it mut have been to be a kid in 1971. Just look at this advertisement:

Just in case you can't read the features, but apparently you could buy a Polaris Nuclear Submarine for just $6.98. A freaking Nuclear Submarine man. Not some shoddy Chinese made one I bet, this baby would have been built with pride in the good old US of A!

Look at those features:

• Over 7 feet long
• Seats 2 kids
• Controls that work
• Rockets that fire
• Real periscope
• Firing torpedoes
• Electrically lit instrument panel

Wow, for just $6.98. Just think what a terrorist could do with that baby!

I will dig deeper into the crate one day, but I did find a complete set of the original Star Wars comics that came out after the first movie. That is something pretty sweet. No idea what I should do with them though. I love old stuff.

EDIT: This is a picture of the trunk to give you an idea of just how many comics there are. Note the very special No. 1 edition of Star Wars Marvel comic:

I have come into the possession of an old fashioned Steamer luggage crate thing, no idea what they call them, but a large suitcase of years gone by taken on ships. In that case resides in excess of 1000 comics from the 1960s and 1970s. The vast majority of them are Marvel Comics. I was having a bit of a look at what was in there and with the release of The Avengers movie, I thought this was apt:

That doesn't look anything like the movie. Sure, Captain America is there, but I don't see Wanda, Hawkeye or Quicksilver in the movie ...... probably a good thing. That is issue 27 from 1966. 12 cents for a comic - how awesome is that.

Moving ahead a little, I dug this one out as it had my favourite Marvel superhero of all time, Vision. He has the best super powers ever.

This is issue 92 from 1971. Gone is Hawkeye and Captain America (good thing - he sucks) and in with Vision, Black Panther (surely he was a terrorist right) and Goliath (who?). Still, nothing like the movie, but Thor, Captain America and Iron man appeared for a bit of a guest starring, along with The Fantastic Four in the comic.

What really struck me was how awesome it mut have been to be a kid in 1971. Just look at this advertisement:

Just in case you can't read the features, but apparently you could buy a Polaris Nuclear Submarine for just $6.98. A freaking Nuclear Submarine man. Not some shoddy Chinese made one I bet, this baby would have been built with pride in the good old US of A!

Look at those features:

• Over 7 feet long
• Seats 2 kids
• Controls that work
• Rockets that fire
• Real periscope
• Firing torpedoes
• Electrically lit instrument panel

Wow, for just $6.98. Just think what a terrorist could do with that baby!

I will dig deeper into the crate one day, but I did find a complete set of the original Star Wars comics that came out after the first movie. That is something pretty sweet. No idea what I should do with them though. I love old stuff.

I wonder why many kids in the 70's did NOT have a Polaris Nuclear submarine? Seems like a thing that would have caught on.

@rockyhorrorgerri said:

I wonder why many kids in the 70's did NOT have a Polaris Nuclear submarine? Seems like a thing that would have caught on.

$6.98 in 1971 is like a million of today's dollars of course.

Wanda? You mean the Scarlet Witch?

I want a fucking submarine.

Just a small note, but, Hawkeye actually is in the Avengers movie.

@Contrarian: Cool find. You should post this on Comic Vine.

Yeah, who wouldnt want this? Totally worth the $6.98!

what do they smell like....I need to know....

but seriously that's pretty cool, and you should post this on ComicVine too

@rockyhorrorgerri said:

I wonder why many kids in the 70's did NOT have a Polaris Nuclear submarine? Seems like a thing that would have caught on.

You would think so. I wonder if you needed to provide your own nuclear fission?

@MikkaQ said:

$6.98 in 1971 is like a million of today's dollars of course.

With the current value of the US dollar, more like half a million,

@Jrinswand said:

Wanda? You mean the Scarlet Witch?

Yeah, you would be right. I do enjoy Marvel comics, but I am not one of those who really retains every detail of every character and story. I would lose a trivia game every time.

@SotoSaki said:

Just a small note, but, Hawkeye actually is in the Avengers movie.

So I am now told to. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I didn't notice him in the ads.

@ahgunsillyo said:

@Contrarian I might be wrong, but I think that Goliath IS Hawkeye in that Issue #92. I know that Goliath was one of the few non-Hawkeye hero personas that Clint Barton had donned over the years, and I know he had a silly semi-shirtless costume as Goliath, so that might be him.

You may quite possibly be right. He kind of looks like Hawkeye with a clear steroid abuse problem.

@Deathdealer108 said:

Yeah, who wouldnt want this? Totally worth the $6.98!

Nice find man. You win the keys to the internet for a day!

@Vinny_Says said:

what do they smell like....I need to know....

but seriously that's pretty cool, and you should post this on ComicVine too

They definitely have a dinstinct smell when I opened the crate. Afterall, they have been there for 30 or more years, untouched. Really hard to describe the smell, other than what you might find in one of those very old, small used book stores - the paper smell I mean.

Haha is that in the fine print?

@MikkaQ said:

@rockyhorrorgerri said:

I wonder why many kids in the 70's did NOT have a Polaris Nuclear submarine? Seems like a thing that would have caught on.

$6.98 in 1971 is like a million of today's dollars of course.

Makes sense.

Minor tangent: The Avengers CBS Late Night Movie of the Week!

Those comics look pretty sweet. They exude a certain charm not found in modern shiny comics.

@egg said:

Those comics look pretty sweet. They exude a certain charm not found in modern shiny comics.

I agree. No idea why old stuff has charm, it just does.

I have added this photo of the trunk to give you an idea of just how many comics there actually are in this crate. Just sorting them out and making a catalogue of them is daunting. No idea really what I should do with them, other than leave them in the trunk.

If you find a Batman #1 or Superman #1 I guess I could part with 5 bucks a piece. Ya-know, to help you out.

They need to be individually wrapped. That's the first thing. I don't know much. I gave away a large collection of comics because I couldn't take care of them properly, and at the time, I needed to purge some things that I had collected.

@Jumper said:

If you find a Batman #1 or Superman #1 I guess I could part with 5 bucks a piece. Ya-know, to help you out.

Mmmmmmm, sounds legit ........

@Claude said:

They need to be individually wrapped. That's the first thing. I don't know much. I gave away a large collection of comics because I couldn't take care of them properly, and at the time, I needed to purge some things that I had collected.

I don't know if I could be bothered buying all those bags and doing that, even though I know you are right. So what was your fix back in the day - DC or Marvel .......... or Archie type?

@Claude: I think there are a few Charlton comics in there, just not sure what.

Above the stories themselves, I remember the ads in comic books from my childhood. In all my years, I don't think I've ever met anyone who sold or read GRIT even though it was advertised in practically every comic published back then.

Gallery

And what kid wouldn't want their own tripod-mounted machine gun?

And at a buck ninety-eight it's a steal! The problem was always convincing mom to write a check. "It's a waste of money, you're going to be disappointed, none of that stuff is real." Nonsense! Mom was just trying to keep me from patrolling the neighborhood in my own working hovercraft.

@PenguinDust said:

Above the stories themselves, I remember the ads in comic books from my childhood. In all my years, I don't think I've ever met anyone who sold or read GRIT even though it was advertised in practically every comic published back then.

And what kid wouldn't want their own tripod-mounted machine gun?

And at a buck ninety-eight it's a steal! The problem was always convincing mom to write a check. "It's a waste of money, you're going to be disappointed, none of that stuff is real." Nonsense! Mom was just trying to keep me from patrolling the neighborhood in my own working hovercraft.

That looks like every Arizona and Texan kids dream. I must trawl through more of the comics and see what treasures I can uncover.

You should get proper casings/backboards for those since they might deteriorate soon. I don't even want to know how much value you have there, and even for the sake of preservation, should fix that soon.

@Napalm said:

You should get proper casings/backboards for those since they might deteriorate soon. I don't even want to know how much value you have there, and even for the sake of preservation, should fix that soon.

Seems like a lot of work ..... I'm say lazy. I know you are right though.

Even if they averaged out at a couple of dollars each, then it is more than $2000. Some of them may be worth in the hundreds though. They are not mint, so they won't get the highest prices. I sup[pose I try out eBay if I really wanted to test it.

@Contrarian: In that case, you could just go to a container store and buy a couple of big, plastic containers to store them in so that they aren't constantly exposed to open air/the elements.

@Napalm said:

@Contrarian: In that case, you could just go to a container store and buy a couple of big, plastic containers to store them in so that they aren't constantly exposed to open air/the elements.

Sounds like a plan.

I was always fond of the X-ray specs myself. I find that whole era of comics to be a lot of fun. Heck, even reading the letter section is kind of interesting. It was an era in which comics were a unique voice. Comics like The Amazing Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk were almost counter-culture.

At the same time, some comics like The Avengers were just pure action and weird fun. One of my favorite weird superhero comics was Luke Cage: Hero For Hire. The titular character was framed, sent to jail, and subjected to experiments that gave him super strength and durability. He got free and became a hero for hire to try and clear his name. The resulting comics were an odd mesh of Spider-Man-style identity drama and blaxploitation flick action. Wild and crazy stuff!

I can't read older comics because the art is just too bad. I tried reading Crisis on Infinite Earths but damn...the art looked like my 10 year old brother drew that shit.

@jewunit said:

I was always fond of the X-ray specs myself. I find that whole era of comics to be a lot of fun. Heck, even reading the letter section is kind of interesting. It was an era in which comics were a unique voice. Comics like The Amazing Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk were almost counter-culture.

At the same time, some comics like The Avengers were just pure action and weird fun. One of my favorite weird superhero comics was Luke Cage: Hero For Hire. The titular character was framed, sent to jail, and subjected to experiments that gave him super strength and durability. He got free and became a hero for hire to try and clear his name. The resulting comics were an odd mesh of Spider-Man-style identity drama and blaxploitation flick action. Wild and crazy stuff!

Ohhhhh yeeaaaahhhhhh! That comic needs some Isaac Hayes with a little Barry White to complete it.

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

I can't read older comics because the art is just too bad. I tried reading Crisis on Infinite Earths but damn...the art looked like my 10 year old brother drew that shit.

I think the Marvel Comics hold up pretty well. Is it a HD vs 8bit thing? Some are better than others though.