Great, Mark. Now you're channeling James Lileks.
mike the analyst | 05.30.07 - 1:12 pm | #

Don't bite: those nuclear subs are *not* safe! I'm positive it was radiation poisoning that killed all my sea monkeys.
cricket | Homepage | 05.30.07 - 1:16 pm | #

i always wanted one of those. it never occurred to me where the rockets and torpedoes were to come from...
chris | Homepage | 05.30.07 - 2:24 pm | #

Oh yeah, I remember this ad! I always wanted one of these, but my parents wouldn't let me have it.

Of course, the fact that we lived in a very small apartment, with no back yard or porch to boot, might have had a little something to do with it ...
Roger Chapman | 05.30.07 - 3:03 pm | #

I am 45 years old, so I remember this ad very well indeed. Like the other commenters above, I wanted one so bad I could taste it. But I never got one, nor did any of my friends.

DID ANYONE EVER BUY THIS THING? WHAT WAS IT LIKE???
Gary Keith Chesterton | 05.30.07 - 4:57 pm | #

Sure it *looks* cheaper, but you haven't adjusted for inflation.
Judith M. | 05.30.07 - 5:22 pm | #

I did (I'm an economist by profession), and it's still very cheap - even by today's standards.

Nonetheless, you gets what you pays for - and I have a strong suspicion that "200 lb. test fibreboard" translates to "corrugated cardboard."

However, I'd be very interested to hear further from anyone who actually purchased one of these things!
Roger Chapman | 05.31.07 - 8:22 am | #

Bill Whittle used this same image in one of his articles on critical thinking entitled "Seeing the unseen"

http://www.ejectejecteject.com/a...ves/ 000136.html

I am also ashamed to note that I never noticed that the flippin' thing doesn't even have a propeller . . .
Kev | 05.31.07 - 8:51 am | #

It doesn't need a propeller--it goes by nuclearness. That's that blue glow you see (although later science (see Back to the Future and The Simpsons) reveals that the glow is actually green).

The kids don't realize they're about to suffer the fate of the Sea Monkeys.
cricket | Homepage | 05.31.07 - 12:43 pm | #

I didn't get one of these, I got the battery powered Nautilus (not exactly - it had torpedo AND missile tubes). It was a cool toy. Small wheels and it rolled majestically across the floor, pinging the sonar or running silent as you wish. Fired the missiles at intervals (if you wished) and the torpedoes when you pressed a red button abaft each tube. About 32" long IIRC. The crew were blue, about half the size of LGAM.
Ed the Roman | 05.31.07 - 12:54 pm | #