In the days before scanners, throwing “clip art” into a print advertisement took some work. You had to find a cool image to start with, then “threshold” it via a stat camera and toxic chemical-laden rapid processor. And what you were left with was a ‘black-or-white’ result you hoped was close enough to the original’s coolness. And hey, it worked here:
Now it CAN be told! That’s the climactic leap from the superb Warring Clans (Sengoku Yaro). See this movie if you haven’t.
As for the ad…
This same copy suggesting major revelations of ninjutsu is nearly identical to karate and kung-fu ads from the decade previous. Yet another example of companies taking their stale martial arts offerings and ‘retro-shinobi-fying’ them in the 80s.
Vinny
I bought this back in the day. I’ll never forget getting this tightly wrapped little package. Upon opening it, I was introduced to two long hairpin/blowgun needles and a darkened mimeographed copy of pressure points on the body, and a cursory mention of striking at different times of day. It’s where I was introduced to Dim Mak. The material wasn’t bad. Bur those pins which I believe they even referred to them as ninja. Wow, what a trip. Another ad, I fell for (I was 11-12), the one that shows some funky ninja posters and some smoke bomb kinda thingy called: metsubishi. Well, I ordered it. It turned out to be nothing more than those little white tadpole looking poppers that pop when one throws them to the ground! pop, wow! I know what metsubishi is and how to use it: this was no metsubishi!
Vinny
And talk about shuko!! Those things referred to shuko. I bought a set when I was 14 years-old. I was so secretive about ordering these infamous ninja weapons–weapons that turn a regular Joe, into a fighting tiger as soon as they’re put on the hands. Nothing more deadly existed!!! Here I was, a kid waiting restlessly for such deadly bladed ninja hand killers! What I got–a stupid piece of hand nails! These ‘blades of death’ were nothing more than pointed metal nails, bent in such a litigious manner, making them useless; not that I was going to use them nefariously. It’s just that I wanted what I thought were real ones. Yeah, I’m sure you could bend them to take away some of the angle, however, that pathetic strap was ridiculous. Why no buckle? Who knows! How many ninja does it take to change a lightbulb? None, because there were no light bulbs in feudal Japan!