In Reply to: Re: What ever happended to...???? posted by Ken Kurtis on February 20, 2013 at 13:11:07:

Ken,

You are a wealth of information !
Thank you for the prompt and certainly complete answer--more than I expected. The information is a missing component of an exciting piece of diving history..FYI..........

In 1957 there was an article in Skin Diver Magazine (SDM) about a unique spear gun from Italy called the Morden. It was a departure from the norm in that it very heavy modern looking and fired a 38 Caliber blank cartridge.

Several months later in 1958 Sunland Sports Lodge began marketing the guns via advertisements in SDM. With in a short time later, possibly a month later Jordan Klein"s Underwater Sports in Miami Beach was also marketing the identical gun via SDM with greatly reduced prices but not using the name "Morden"

After several months Sunland Sports Lodge established "Innercal Sales" to import the Morden gun and placed a small announcement in SDM's new products section inviting dealer inquiries. Didn't seem to phase Jordan Klein"s Underwater Sports who continued to market the gun via SDM at reduced pricein their monthly "Specials." .

"Innercal Sales" aka Sunland Sports Lodge published a short list of dealers, most in California a few in Midwest. Jordan Klein"s Underwater Sports continued to market the gun via SDM at reduced prices in their monthly "Specials."

Several months later "Innercal Sales" aka Sunland Sports Lodge published an expanded list of dealers, form California and a number from Midwest. Concurrently Jordan Klein"s Underwater Sports continued to market the gun via SDM at reduced prices in their monthly "Specials."

Slowly at first the SDM advertisements began decreasing in size and frequency, finally by 1959 there was very little in print about the Morden..It was a total failure and had been forgotten..

But there is more!

Sea Hunt appeared on the American B&W TV screens, Mike Nelson was a new underwater hero. With the TV program came Sea Hunt comic books and one issue had Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges) holding a Morden Spear gun!

All was dormant until the advent of the baby boomer generation who grew up and was inspired by Sea Hunt and the adventures of Mike Nelson then all things Sea Hunt became very pricey and very collectable- The most desirable item is the Mordem spear gun held by Mike Nelson on the cover of that comic book published a generation ago.

Last week the first time in E bay history a beat up parts missing incorrect model Morden spear gun sold for $700.00 on E bay. The question is what would a mint correct model Morden sell for on E bay?

That spear gun imported 55 years ago by Sunland Sports Shop has renewed interest and certainly has increased in value from $39.95 to $700.00.

SDM