One thing remained the same, though:

Howard Philips is a colossal dork.

They started slowly, with typical giveaway fare like mountain bikes and movie screenings. But as their readership grew and they gained more connections, the prizes became more exotic and elaborate. And the more elaborate you get, the more problems you run into.

Shaking Arnold's hand is certainly something worth waiting six months for. Even despite such hiccups, movie tie-ins were very popular fodder for Nintendo Power contests, even when perhaps they shouldn't have been.

I never thought anything of it at the time, but grown up and looking back, a lot of the merchandise and promotions aimed at kids in the late '80s were really bizarre. Politicians today freak out about sex and violence in video games "to protect the children", but where were they when 8 year olds were walking around with Nightmare on Elm Street lunchboxes and winning contests to visit the set of Robocop II? This isn't just an R rated movie, this is an R rated movie featuring a 12 year old drug baron that ends with the hero ripping a human brain out of a robot and repeatedly smashing it into the pavement.

Man, the '80s were awesome. Except for the hair.

Nice shirt kid. Sometimes NP let the "cool" factor of an idea overtake their logical sides. What is anybody going to do with a damn phone booth? You go "hey that's the one from the movie" and people say "oh neat" and then you've got 400 pound art installation in your house for the rest of your life. Or maybe a really tiny closet. But hey, at least the phone booth is a little unique. Whereas...

Did you think they were done with Robocop? Of course not. Now you can win his car, and what a beauty she is. The contest write-up casually omits one important point, which is that it's illegal to go around with police lights on your car. So they had to be taken off. You'd also probably avoid some trouble if you took the Detroit Police isignia off too, so... Yes! Now you have the once in a lifetime opportunity to win a busted-ass dented Ford Taurus with no hubcaps which once came into contact with Peter Weller's robocan. Don't everybody rush at once!