Wacky Packages
Encyclopedia
Wacky Packages are a series of trading card
s and stickers featuring parodies of North American consumer products. The cards were produced by the Topps Company
beginning in 1967, usually in a sticker
format. The original series sold for two years, and the concept proved popular enough that it has been revived every few years since. They came to be known generically as Wacky Packs, Wacky Packies, Wackies and Wackys. According to trader legend, the product parodies once outsold Topps baseball card
s.
s and comics
artists as Kim Deitch
, George Evans, Drew Friedman, Bill Griffith, Jay Lynch
, Norman Saunders
, Art Spiegelman
, Bhob Stewart
and Tom Sutton
, the cards spoofed well-known brands and packaging, such as "Crust" (instead of Crest) toothpaste, "Blisterine" (instead of Listerine) and "Neveready" batteries (for Eveready
batteries).
plus newcomers David Gross, Strephon Taylor, Neil Camera, Fred Wheaton, Smokin' Joe McWilliams, Mark Parisi, Brent Engstrom and Joe Simko
. ANS 3 and 4 included the work of underground artist M. Wartella
. In addition, the Wacky Packages Old School series released in 2010 featured 33 all new cards, but they were parodies of products from the era of classic Wacky Packages. The series was intended to appeal to collectors and hard core fans as the 17th series that was never released.
Many of the 1973-76 cards have been reissued over the years in various sets.
trading card series.
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s and stickers featuring parodies of North American consumer products. The cards were produced by the Topps Company
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
beginning in 1967, usually in a sticker
Sticker
A sticker is a type of a piece of paper or plastic, adhesive, sticky on one side, and usually with a design on the other. They can be used for decoration, depending on the situation. They can come in many different shapes, sizes and colours and are put on things such as lunchboxes, in children's...
format. The original series sold for two years, and the concept proved popular enough that it has been revived every few years since. They came to be known generically as Wacky Packs, Wacky Packies, Wackies and Wackys. According to trader legend, the product parodies once outsold Topps baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s.
Concept
Relying on the talents of such cartoonistCartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
s and comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
artists as Kim Deitch
Kim Deitch
-Sources:* at Lambiek's Comiclopedia-External links:* Ford, Jeffrey. *Heller, Steven. **...
, George Evans, Drew Friedman, Bill Griffith, Jay Lynch
Jay Lynch
Jay Lynch is an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. His work is sometimes signed Jayzey Lynch. He has contributed to Mad, and in 2008, he expanded into the children's book field.-Early life and career:Born in Orange,...
, Norman Saunders
Norman Saunders
Norman Blaine Saunders was a prolific commercial artist who produced paintings for pulp magazines, paperbacks, men's adventure magazines, comic books and trading cards...
, Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
, Bhob Stewart
Bhob Stewart
Bhob Stewart is an American writer, editor, artist and film maker who has written for a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles and reviews have appeared in TV Guide, Publishers Weekly and other publications, along with online contributions to Allmovie, the Collecting...
and Tom Sutton
Tom Sutton
Tom Sutton was an American comic book artist who sometimes used the pseudonyms Sean Todd and Dementia...
, the cards spoofed well-known brands and packaging, such as "Crust" (instead of Crest) toothpaste, "Blisterine" (instead of Listerine) and "Neveready" batteries (for Eveready
Eveready Industries
Eveready Industries India, Ltd is the flagship company of the B.M. Khaitan Group. The brand Eveready has been present in India since 1905....
batteries).
1967 to 1969
The very first Wacky Packages series was produced in 1967 and featured 44 die-cut cards that were similar in size to baseball cards (2.5” × 3.5” or 64 × 89 mm). This series featured parodies created by Spiegelman and primarily painted by Saunders. Two of the cards—"Cracked Animals" and "Ratz Crackers"— were pulled from production after an initial run and have since become extremely rare. This series was followed by a somewhat different Wacky Ads line in 1969, featuring gags and roughs by Lynch and Deitch with finished paintings by Sutton. These cards, approximately three-by-five inches (76 × 127 mm), were designed more like miniature billboards with a die-cut around the parodied product, so it could pop out of the horizontal billboard scene.1973 to 1976
Wacky Packages returned in 1973 as stickers for a highly successful run. Sixteen different series were produced from 1973 to 1976 and were primarily sold in five-cent packs with approximately 30 cards in each series and nine puzzle cards with a series checklist on the back. Series 1 re-used designs that were issued on the 1967 die-cut series and Series 2 re-used designs from the 1969 Wacky Ads. In all, there were 488 different cards over 16 series (one design from Series 2 was used again in Series 14). These cards can be distinguished from all later releases by a lack of a number on the front of the card.1985 and 1991
Newly designed series were produced in 1985 and 1991, but these strayed from the original concept and were not as successful. The 1991 series was successful enough to begin production of a 1992 series, but the set was cancelled prior to mass production. Many of these unused parodies were eventually released in the All New Series 12004 and beyond
Wacky Packages returned in 2004 with the release of the first All New Series (ANS) set of stickers. New series have appeared almost annually, on average, since that time. The first five sets consist of 55 base cards with two levels of chase cards with the sixth series consisting of 80 base cards and three levels of chase cards. The most recent set is series 7, which was released on August 25, 2010 and returns to the 55 base cards with several levels of chase cards. (Note: the All New Series moniker was dropped for this set, but returns with series 8). The ANS sets have been very successful with the return of original 1970s Wacky Packages cartoonist Jay LynchJay Lynch
Jay Lynch is an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his Bijou Funnies and other titles. His work is sometimes signed Jayzey Lynch. He has contributed to Mad, and in 2008, he expanded into the children's book field.-Early life and career:Born in Orange,...
plus newcomers David Gross, Strephon Taylor, Neil Camera, Fred Wheaton, Smokin' Joe McWilliams, Mark Parisi, Brent Engstrom and Joe Simko
Joe Simko
Joe Simko is an American illustrator who has contributed to Topps’ Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages trading cards. He is the illustrator/author of the book series, The Sweet Rot, and he designs artwork for bands, creating album covers, tour posters and concert shirts. His recent project Cereal...
. ANS 3 and 4 included the work of underground artist M. Wartella
M. Wartella
Michael M. Wartella is an American underground cartoonist and animator based in New York City who generally publishes under the name "M. Wartella".- Career :...
. In addition, the Wacky Packages Old School series released in 2010 featured 33 all new cards, but they were parodies of products from the era of classic Wacky Packages. The series was intended to appeal to collectors and hard core fans as the 17th series that was never released.
Reprints
1979 and 1980
Four series with 66 cards each, for a total of 264 cards. These sets consisted of images from the 1973-76 cards as well as one previously unused image.1982 and 1986
Two sets of album stickers were produced of 120 and 77 stickers respectively. These stickers were of a reduced size in comparison to the standard cards (2.125 by 3 in (54 by 76.2 mm)) and were designed to be affixed to a display album that was sold separately.Flashback series
In February 2008, Topps released a series of Wacky Packages called Flashbacks. This series contained artwork from previously released cards, the spinoff posters, as well as unreleased artwork from both the original and the aborted 1992 set to make a set of 72 base cards. Moving towards the trend with other types of trading cards, this set also featured a number of rare chase cards. In December 2008, Topps released Flashback 2. This set contained artwork from previously released cards, a test marketed Wacky Can Labels set, as well as more unreleased artwork from the aborted 1992 series to make a set of 72 base cards.Promotional items
Wacky Packages have been used in numerous products since the 1970’s as incentives to purchase the product or to promote a new series release. The promotional stickers were highly successful as inserts in bags of Wonder Bread, running for three sets of stickers. Promotional stickers also appeared in Hostess products, Shedd’s Peanut Butter containers, Ralston Purina cereal, and more recently in a number of DC comics (to promote ANS1) and in the Abrams Books line of products.Spinoffs
The success of the Wacky Packages concept has led Topps to create a variety of additional Wacky Packages products over the years.Wacky Packages Posters
In 1974 a set of oversized paper posters was produced for just over two dozen of the gags from the original run, with two of the gags being original for the series. These posters were created from new artwork painted at a significantly larger size than was done for the stickers.Wacky Packages Postcards
In November 2007, Topps released the first of its Wacky Packages Postcards series. Originally created by artist Neil Camera, the three-card set was released in two editions: a limited release of 100 signed and numbered sets and a regular unsigned edition. Since then, the postcard sets have been expanded to include additional titles and artists. Currently there are six series, as well as a special Halloween set released in October 2010. One of the biggest draws of the Postcard sets are the inclusion of artist Sketch Cards, which feature original drawings by popular Wacky Packages artists such as Neil Camera, Smokin' Joe and Brent Engstrom. The Wacky Packages Postcards are sold exclusively through Topps Online Store.Wacky Packages Old School
In February 2010, Topps released a series called "Wacky Packages Old School". The Old School series line, created by David Gross, is designed to resemble the box, wrappers and stickers of the original successful run from 1973-1976. Each series consists of 33 stickers along with a 9 piece puzzle checklist with the gags based on products from the 1970s that Topps did not parody in the original 1970s run. Also included are various chase cards and a Sketch Card in every box. The first series Sketch Cards were all done by Jay Lynch. Old School series 2 is due out early April 2011 with Sketch Cards by Lynch, Bill Griffith, Bhob Stewart, David Gross, Fred Wheaton, Brent Engstrom, Jeff Zapata, Joe Simko, Neil Camera, Smokin Joe and Mark Parisi. Old School is sold exclusively through the Topps Online Store.Wacky Packages Erasers
Topps released an eraser series with 24 of the classic and new Wacky Package DesignsGarbage Pail Kids Connection
One unreleased design, by John Pound for the 1985 series, spawned the Garbage Pail KidsGarbage Pail Kids
Garbage Pail Kids , "La Pandilla Basura" or "Basuritas" in Latin America, "Gang do Lixo" in Brazil, "Sgorbions" in Italy, "Les Crados" in France and "Die total kaputten Kids" in Germany) is a series of trading cards produced by the Topps Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody...
trading card series.