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Type | Trading cards, stickers |
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Company | Topps |
Country | United States |
Availability | 1967–present |
Wacky Packages are a series of humorous trading cards featuring parodies of consumer products. The cards were produced by Topps beginning in 1967, first in die-cut, then in peel-and-stick sticker format. There were 16 series produced between 1973 and 1977, with some reprints and several new series released up to the present day.
At the height of their popularity from 1973 to 1975, Wacky Packages were the best-selling Topps product, even more popular than Topps baseball cards, when they were by far the most sold trading card items in the United States. [1]
Relying on the talents of such cartoonists and comics artists as Kim Deitch, George Evans, Drew Friedman, Bill Griffith, Jay Lynch, Norman Saunders, Art Spiegelman, Bhob Stewart and Tom Sutton, [2] the cards spoofed well-known brands and packaging.
The very first Wacky Packages series was produced in 1967 and featured 44 die-cut cards that were made to be punched out, licked on the back and stuck to surfaces. This series featured parodies created by Art Spiegelman and primarily painted by Norm Saunders. Two of the cards – "Cracked Animals" and "Ratz Crackers" – were pulled from production after the initial run. "Moron Salt" was pulled later and replaced by "Jolly Mean Giant", which was also pulled soon after that. In all, 14 of the 44 cards were pulled from the series, all of them due to cease-and-desist letters sent to Topps by the companies that, at the time, owned the products being parodied. This series was followed by a somewhat different series called Wacky Ads in 1969, featuring parodies and roughs by Jay Lynch and Kim Deitch, with finished paintings by Tom Sutton. 30 of the 36 3-by-5-inch (76 mm × 127 mm) cards were designed to look like miniature billboards with a die-cut around the parodied product, so it could be punched out of the horizontal billboard scene, then also be licked on the back and stuck to surfaces. There were two different printings of the Ads, the first with long perforations on the stickers' die-cuts and the second with short perforations. Card no. 25, "Good and Empty", was pulled from the first printing and never replaced after Leaf Brands, which then owned the parodied product Good & Plenty, sued Topps. At least two extra Ads, "Mixwell Hearse Coffee" and "Muleburro Cigarettes", are now known to have been finished, but were never released as actual cards.
Wacky Packages returned in 1973 as peel-and-stick stickers. From 1973 to 1977, 16 different series were produced and sold, originally (with Series 1–15) in 5-cent packs containing three (later reduced to two) stickers, a stick of bubble gum and a puzzle piece with a sticker checklist on the back of it. For Series 16, the price rose to 10 cents per pack containing three stickers, a stick of bubble gum, and a puzzle piece/sticker checklist. Series 7 was also available in some areas in packs without bubble gum for a short period of time. There were, on average, between 27 and 33 cards in each series and nine puzzle/checklist cards in each series, each puzzle parodying a Topps product that was always one of the stickers in each series (thus avoiding potential complaints that would often lead to the aforementioned cease-and-desist letters; see First releases (1960s) above). Series 1 re-used 30 designs from the 1967 die-cut series and Series 2 re-used 25 designs from the 1969 Wacky Ads, plus eight new parodies. From Series 3 to Series 16, each new release had original parodies. All in all, there were 488 different cards over 16 series (one card from Series 2 was re-released in Series 14 for unknown reasons). These cards can be distinguished from all later releases by a lack of a number on the front of the cards and having mostly tan or white backs.
Two newly designed series were produced later in both 1985 and 1991. A 1992 series was planned, started and even nearly completed, but was halted in mid-production and never released, [3] according to Fred Wheaton, one of the many recent artists for the modern Wacky Packages run. [4]
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, between then and 2018. [5] ANS1 and ANS2 consisted of 55 base cards with one level of chase cards, then, from ANS3 to ANS5, two levels of chase cards. ANS6 was released as a Jumbo Series and consists of 80 base cards and four levels of chase cards. ANS7 saw the return of the 55-card base set, but with more levels of chase cards, as well as border color variations and sketch cards. Card backs in this run had a mixture of puzzle pieces, checklists and parodies of coupons, websites and billboards depending on the series and, from ANS7 onward, had both multiple levels of chase cards and multiple border color variations. The ANS sets also saw the return of original 1970s Wacky Packages cartoonist Jay Lynch, plus newcomers David Gross, Strephon Taylor, Neil Camera, Fred Wheaton, Smokin' Joe McWilliams, Mark Parisi, Brent Engstrom, Mark Pingitore, Sam Gambino and Joe Simko. ANS3 and ANS4 both included the work of underground artist M. Wartella.
In 2017, a new series was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Wacky Packages. This new series included 90 new base cards, including modern-day remakes of classic 1967 cards, plus exclusive "Best of the 80's", "Best of the 90's" and "Best of the 00's" subsets. It also included the usual border color variations. In 2018, Topps released a new series spoofing various film genres. This set included 300 cards in separate subsets.[ citation needed ]
Many of the original 1973–1977 cards have been reissued over the years in various series.
Four rerun series with 66 cards each were produced – the first two in 1979 and the last two in 1980 – for a total of 264 cards. These series consisted of images from the 1973–77 cards, as well as one previously unpublished image – Series 4 card no. 235 "Frosted Ice Krunkles" – which was exclusive to the rerun series (and was one of three previously unpublished stickers originally intended for Series 12 (the other two, along with this one, were published in Wacky Pack Flashback; see 2008 Flashback series below)). Each card can be distinguished easily by its number (e.g., "No. 1 of 66") printed on the front. These four series were the first since the 1967 die-cut series and the 1969 Wacky Ads series to number their cards, in this case on the front instead of the back as the die-cuts did; the Ads were the first series to be numbered on the front. Front-of-the-card numbering has continued from this point on all the way up to the most recent series.
Two series of album stickers were produced for 1982 and 1986 and consisted of 120 and 77 stickers, respectively. These stickers also consisted of images from the 1973–77 cards, as well as one previously unpublished image – card no. 85 ("Schnozmopolitan") in the 1982 album series (which was intended for Series 11) and four new images that were exclusive to the same series and based on Ralston Purina cereals of the time. The stickers were of a reduced size in comparison to the standard cards (2.125 by 3 inches (54.0 mm × 76.2 mm)) and were designed to be affixed to a display album that was sold separately. Only the 1982 album series and matching album was actually released to stores; the 1986 album series was cancelled for unknown reasons and no album is known to exist for it.
On March 30, 2008, Topps released a series called Wacky Pack Flashback. This series contained parodies from previously released series, including nine of the 14 pulled parodies from the die-cuts released as peel-and-stick stickers for the first time (see First releases (1960s) above), 20 from the 1973 posters also released as peel-and-stick stickers for the first time (see Wacky Package Posters below), one from one of the rerun series (the fourth and final series from 1980; see 1979 and 1980 rerun series above) and two from the 1982 album series (see 1982 and 1986 album series above), as well as eight unreleased parodies from the original run (titled Lost Wackys), to make a series of 72 base cards. This set also featured a number of chase cards and border color variations outside of the main set (this was the first Wacky Packages series to feature such variations, though definitely not the last). Its card backs republished many of the Wacky Ads (again, see First releases (1960s) above). On December 10, 2008, Topps released a second series called Wacky Pack Flashback 2. This set also contained more parodies from previously released series, including two more from the 1973 posters again released as peel-and-stick stickers for the first time, six based on a 1980 test-marketed (and given a very limited release to stores) Wacky Cans series (a series of 12 small plastic cans of fruit-flavored candy shapes with a paper label adhered to each of them) released as peel-and-stickers for the first time, another one from the 1982 album series, one from a 1985 "Irish" series (this series was actually released exclusively in the United Kingdom and never released in the United States) and nine unreleased parodies from the cancelled 1992 series (also titled Lost Wackys), to make another series of 72 base cards. Wacky Pack Flashback 2 again featured a number of chase cards and border color variations outside of the main set. Its card backs republished a few of the Wacky Ads and a few previously unpublished coupon parodies (other coupon parodies of a similar nature were previously included on card backs for ANS1; both of these sets of parodies were probably originally intended as card backs for the cancelled 1992 series).
On July 23, 2014, Topps released a series called Wacky Packages Chrome. This series contained a metallic chromium non-sticker card set of 110 base cards consisting of the 1967 die-cuts, the 1973 Series 2 and 3 and the checklists for all three series (with each checklist having its respective series' Topps product parody on the front of the card (minus a black border)), as well as four metallic chromium non-sticker card subsets consisting of the 36 1969 Wacky Ads, 10 Lost Wackys, 20 Cutting Room Floor parodies, and five Where Are They Now? parodies (the last one taken from five of the base cards, with all five of them re-done with contemporary (as of 2014) packaging artwork), for a total of 181 cards. Like the two Flashback series, this one featured a number of chase cards outside of the main set, but it had no border variations.
Wacky Packages promotional stickers have been placed in numerous products since the 1970s as incentives to purchase the product or to promote a new series release. Some of these promotional stickers were used as inserts in bags of Wonder Bread (easily identifiable today by their greasy surfaces) during 1973–74, running for three series of stickers. Other promotional stickers have also appeared at different times in Hostess pastries, Shedd's Peanut Butter plastic containers, Ralston Purina cereals and, more recently, in a number of DC Comics publications (to promote the then-new ANS1) and in the Abrams Books line of products.
Topps has created a variety of additional Wacky Packages spin-off products over the years.
In 1973, a series of 24 oversized paper posters was produced. 22 of the 24 parodies re-used artwork from the original run (the other two were brand new parodies). These posters were created from new artwork painted at a significantly larger size than was done for the stickers. In addition to being sold in stores, the posters were also advertised on various Wacky Packages series wrappers and could be obtained by sending $2.00 to Topps. A second series of 24 posters was produced in 1974 with a differently colored wrapper, but it was nearly identical to the first series, except that three of the original posters (all three of them General Mills breakfast cereal parodies, with one of the three being one of the two brand new ones) were replaced with three new ones that were especially made for that series (again re-using artwork from the original run for all three of them). Packs in the 1973 series contained one poster and a piece of bubble gum, while packs in the 1974 series also contained one poster, but no piece of bubble gum.
On August 30, 2012, a modern-day series of 24 oversized paper posters was produced as a new set called Wacky Packages Posters Series One, with 21 of them depicting enlargements of re-used artwork from the ANS card sets, as well as including three new parodies that were especially made for this series. As this series maintained the aspect ratio of the original art, the posters were significantly wider than the 1973–74 posters. This new series was sold exclusively through the Topps Online Store. This run of posters has not been continued since 2012.
On November 21, 2007, Topps released the first of its various Wacky Packages Postcards series. Originally created by artist Neil Camera, the first three-card series was released in two editions: a limited edition of 100 autographed and numbered sets and a regular unautographed edition. Since then, the Postcards series have been expanded to include additional titles and artists. As of 2023 nine regular series (which were all released between 2007 and 2013), six special Halloween series called Wacky Halloween Postcards (which parodied mostly candy products in connection with the holiday, with the first five series released on a one-series-a-year basis between 2009 and 2013 and the sixth series released seven years later in 2020) and two special April Fools' Day series called Wacky Packages Postcards April Fools 2020 and Wacky Packages Postcards April Fools Edition! 2023, as well as several promotional cards that were released at various trading card shows, have appeared. Each series (except for Wacky Halloween Postcards 2009, which was originally released as a subset of Wacky Packages Postcards Series 4, presumably to test the concept) had two editions: a limited edition of autographed and numbered sets and a regular edition of unautographed sets. Two Limited Edition Official Collector Binder three-ring binders (the first one with a mostly red cover and the second one with a mostly yellow cover) were made for the Postcards series and one Limited Edition Official Collector Binder three-ring binder (with a mostly orange cover containing a black spider web background pattern) was made for the Halloween Postcards series. These series also included various sketch cards by Wacky Packages artists such as Neil Camera, Smokin' Joe McWilliams, Sam Gambino and Brent Engstrom. Wacky Packages Postcards, Wacky Halloween Postcards, Wacky Packages Postcards April Fools 2020 and Wacky Packages Postcards April Fools Edition! 2023 were all sold exclusively through the Topps Online Store.
On February 23, 2010, Topps released Series 1 of an ongoing series called Wacky Packages Old School that was (and still is) sold exclusively through the Topps Online Store. This line, created by David Gross, was initially designed to resemble the boxes, wrappers, stickers and puzzle pieces/checklists of the original 1973–1977 run. Some, but not all, of the series included 33 stickers, along with a nine-piece puzzle with checklists on the backs, with the parodies based on products from the 1970s that Topps did not parody in the original 1970s run (Series 8 from 2019, Series 9 from 2020 and Series 10 from 2022, however, had parodies based on products from the 1980s that Topps did not parody in the 1985 series). Also included in some of the series were various chase cards and a sketch card in every box. The Old School Series 1 sketch cards were all done by Jay Lynch. As of 2023, 10 Old School series (with 33 stickers in Series 1–5 and 30 stickers in Series 6–10) and one subset in Topps' Wacky Packages 50th Anniversary Series (2017) (with 10 stickers) have been released, for a total of 330 stickers.
Topps released two eraser series, one on March 23, 2011, and one on October 12, 2011, each with 24 Wacky Packages All-New Series parody designs; each pack included an eraser with a paper label of the design wrapped around it and a miniature sticker of that eraser. Four of the erasers in each series were rare ones. No further series have been released since 2011.
As of 2023, Topps has released six issues of Wacky Packages Comics. Issue No. 5 was released on April 1, 2013 – Topps' self-proclaimed Wacky Packages Day – with an April Fool's Day theme illustrated by Brent Engstrom. [6]
In March 2020, Super Impulse USA licensed the Wacky Packages brand through Topps and created Wacky Packages Minis, a miniature 3D plastic model of various parody products. The items are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length, and were sold in various quantities. They contain information on each side. Each package contains the miniatures, a sticker, and a checklist showing all the collectable items. There were a total of 82 different collectables available, with some more rare than others. [7]
One unreleased sticker, created by John Pound for the 1985 series, spawned the various Garbage Pail Kids trading card series. [8]
There have been numerous other types of Wacky Packages-related merchandise made through the years such as T-shirts, art books, wall calendars, wall graphics, canvas art, three-ring binders and collector albums.
Mars Attacks is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by cruel, hideous Martians under the command of a corrupt Martian government who conceal the fact from the Martian populace that Mars is doomed to explode and, therefore, proposes colonization of Earth to turn it into their new homeworld. The cards depict futuristic battle scenes and bizarre methods of Martian attack, torture and slaughter of humans, as well as various Earth nations being attacked. The story concludes with an expeditionary force of humans volunteering to embark on a counterattack on Mars, in which the Earth force attacks the Martians in their manner. This necessitates the Martians that are still on Mars to defend their homeworld. The Earth attack forces, after destroying the Martian cities and killing the Martians, depart just before Mars is destroyed in the predicted cataclysm, thus ensuring the peace and safety of Earth as the Martian race is seemingly doomed to extinction.
Garbage Pail Kids is a series of sticker trading cards produced by the Topps Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which were popular at the time.
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. There is a wide variation of different types of cards.
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, stadiums, or celebrities.
The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures trading cards and other collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards. Topps also produces cards under the brand names Allen & Ginter and Bowman.
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubble gum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until 1989.
Non-sport trading cards are a particular kind of collectible card designated as such because trading cards have historically prominently featured athletes from the world of sports as subjects. Non-sports cards are trading cards whose subjects can be virtually anything other than sports-themed.
Donruss was a US-based trading cards manufacturing company founded in 1954 and acquired by the Panini Group in 2009. The company started in the 1950s, producing confectionery, evolved into Donruss and started producing trading cards. During the 1960s and 1970s Donruss produced entertainment-themed cards. Its first sports theme cards were produced in 1965, when it created a series of racing cards sponsored by Hot Rod Magazine.
Norman Blaine Saunders was a prolific 20th-century American commercial artist. He is best known for paintings in pulp magazines, paperbacks, men's adventure magazines, comic books and trading cards. On occasion, Saunders signed his work with his middle name, Blaine.
The O-Pee-Chee Company, Ltd. was a Canadian confectionery company founded in 1911 based in London, Ontario. O-Pee-Chee was best known as a maker of trading cards. It entered into a marketing agreement with the Topps Company in 1958, releasing several collections of baseball, gridiron football and ice hockey cards.
Bowman is a brand of trading cards owned by Topps.
Civil War News was a set of collectible trading cards issued in the early 1960s by Topps. The set featured colorful painted artwork and was characterized by vivid colors, graphic depictions of violence, death and blood and exaggerations of warfare, in a similar tone to the 1938 Gum Inc.'s Horrors of War, which was equally popular.
An American football card is a type of collectible trading card typically printed on paper stock or card stock that features one or more American football players or other related sports figures. These cards are most often found in the United States and other countries where the sport is popular.
Star Wars trading card usually refers to a non-sport card themed after a Star Wars movie or television show. However a common colloquial reference to trading card can also include reference to stickers, wrappers, or caps (pog) often produced along the same theme. Usually produced as either promotional or collectible memorabilia relating to Star Wars, the cards can depict anything from screen still imagery to original art. In addition, there have been various companies that have issued promotional Star Wars trading cards that include reference to or information about that corresponding company.
The Topps Company has created a number of different baseball card products during its existence. They originally started as a chewing gum company, using the baseball cards as a sales gimmick to make the gum more popular, but today it is primarily a baseball card company.
Woodrow Gelman was a publisher, cartoonist, novelist and an artist-writer for both animation and comic books. As the publisher of Nostalgia Press, he pioneered the reprinting of vintage comic strips in quality hardcovers and trade paperbacks. As an editor and art director for two-and-a-half decades at Topps Chewing Gum, he introduced many innovations in trading cards and humor products.
Monsterwax is an American trading card company that specializes in science fiction and horror themes. It was established in 1992, making it the oldest American card company still in business exclusively producing non-sports trading card sets. Many trading card companies like Topps are corporate subsidiaries that primarily produce sports-related issues. However, Monsterwax is a small privately owned company focusing primarily on non-licensed entertainment cards. They usually release only one to three series a year. Monsterwax generally limits their print runs to less than 500 boxes and numbers each box and checklist.
Prizes are promotional items—small toys, games, trading cards, collectables, and other small items of nominal value—found in packages of brand-name retail products that are included in the price of the product with the intent to boost sales, similar to toys in kid's meals. Collectable prizes produced in series are used extensively—as a loyalty marketing program—in food, drink, and other retail products to increase sales through repeat purchases from collectors. Prizes have been distributed through bread, candy, cereal, cheese, chips, crackers, laundry detergent, margarine, popcorn, and soft drinks. The types of prizes have included comics, fortunes, jokes, key rings, magic tricks, models, pin-back buttons, plastic mini-spoons, puzzles, riddles, stickers, temporary tattoos, tazos, trade cards, trading cards, and small toys. Prizes are sometimes referred to as "in-pack" premiums, although historically the word "premium" has been used to denote an item that is not packaged with the product and requires a proof of purchase and/or a small additional payment to cover shipping and/or handling charges.
Merlin Publishing Limited, commonly known as Merlin and sometimes branded as Merlin Collections was a British publishing firm who released a variety of sticker collections during the late 1980s and 1990s, they also designed trading cards, card games and pogs. Although most notably releasing football stickers in particularly for the Premier League and Serie A, they also designed collections around television shows and other points of interest.