Mama, I Got a Brand New Thing

I'm introducing a new feature on the blog about mail-order memorabilia. When you sent away for some sort of J5 product through the mail, you never knew exactly what you were going to get. Sometimes it was more than you had ever hoped for, but more often, it was disappointing. Things just looked better in TcB! ads and on the famous Motown product sleeve inside LPs. So let's do a little truth-in-advertising investigation by comparing the ad to the actual product, and rating them on a scale of 1-5 Jacksons. First up is J5 stationery, as seen in an ad that appeared in TcB! magazine in 1971. It was also available for mail-order from the famous Motown product sleeve.

What You Ordered...



What You Got...



I don't know about your pen pals but it would have taken more than this to drive my pen pals wild. Although it did have a real photograph of the Jackson 5, the design of the product seemed uninspired at best. It was much smaller than I expected it would be -- the ad makes it look like the sheets of paper would be 8 1/2 x 11" and, in reality, they only measured 4 1/2 x 7" -- that doesn't leave much space for writing.

The ad also describes it as being "in color!" so I was expecting it to be, you know, in color. I suppose it's at least a color. But pink? It did come with real envelopes, as advertised, that were surprisingly good quality and came with a J5 heart seal. Not bad for $1. I'm just glad I didn't spring an extra 25 cents for rush handling.

Overall Fan Satisfaction
(Jackson 2)