The Beano 75 years issue whats inside...its guessing time..

[felneymike]

They ought to do what they used to do with 'blister pack' action figures, put holes in the top of the bag and have them on 'prongs' sticking out of the walls.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

Or just dump the toys altogether - comics should be able to sell themselves without plastic rubbish stuck to them!

[Lew Stringer]

Or just dump the toys altogether - comics should be able to sell themselves without plastic rubbish stuck to them!

They should be, but today's generation expects a toy/comic combo. Besides, I doubt many 8 year olds would regard a water pistol as 'rubbish'. I loved those free cardboard guns in comics when I was a kid so I'd have been dead excited to have the big plastic water pistol that comes with the Dennis comic.

[philcom55]

As a one-time paper boy I can't help wondering what today's paper boys and girls think about having a sack full of water pistols, etc. Would it even fit through the letterbox?

- Phil R.

[Lew Stringer]

As a one-time paper boy I can't help wondering what today's paper boys and girls think about having a sack full of water pistols, etc. Would it even fit through the letterbox?

- Phil R.

It should. Anyway a sack full of lightweight cover mounts would be a relief compared to the heavy Sunday papers they deliver. That said, I wonder if many kids have comics delivered these days unless they've subscribed?

[stevezodiac]

Or just dump the toys altogether - comics should be able to sell themselves without plastic rubbish stuck to them!

They should be, but today's generation expects a toy/comic combo. Besides, I doubt many 8 year olds would regard a water pistol as 'rubbish'. I loved those free cardboard guns in comics when I was a kid so I'd have been dead excited to have the big plastic water pistol that comes with the Dennis comic.

You'll like this, then. From Family Star 83 dated 21 March 1936:

[philcom55]

...How strange that Wizard gave away a free Dandy gun a whole year before Dandy itself had been thought of!

- Phil R.

[stevezodiac]

Yes i'd noticed DC Thomson described gifts as Dandy in the two or three years before the comic appeared.

[Phoenix]

As you can see, it was a great Wizard shooter in The Wizard's own advert for it to its readers in its March 14th 1936 issue.

[Digifiend]

I'm sure some items will have been described as Beezer as well.

[stevezodiac]

I remember a character saying "Beezer Wheeze" (good idea) but it may have been used by Denis Gifford in more recent times - ie well after the Beezer was established. It might have been in the Reveille Morecambe and Wise strip (wot he wrote).