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And, Yes, They Still Sell Sea-Monkeys
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The article is called "The Battle Over the Sea-Monkey Fortune," which means that there IS a "Sea-Monkey Fortune," and indeed there is, and the same man also created X-Ray Spex, a similarly disappointing back-of-the-comic-book item. It all started with Harold von Braunhut, who invented the idea of selling dried brine shrimp as sea-monkeys, and glasses with swirls on them as "x-ray," and made a lot of money, and his widow is now embroiled in a legal battle with a company called Big Time Toys, to whom she licensed out part of the operation, over the trademark. The battle involves alleged knockoff sea-monkeys imported from China, the widow von Braunhut's acting career -- the movie version of "Venus in Furs"! -- Harold as a magician, motorcycle racer, and Jewish neo-Nazi (!!), Crazy Crabs, Howie Mandel, and the influence of Uncle Milton's Ant Farm. It's a hell of a tale. (New York Times)
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