Wacky Packages

Concept

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, the cards spoofed well-known brands and packaging.

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. "Moron Salt" was pulled later, and replaced by "Jolly Mean Giant" which was also pulled soon thereafter and became almost as rare as Ratz and Cracked Animals. 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. Card #25 "Good & Empty" was removed from the initial release, after Leaf Brands sued. There were two different versions of the "Ads": the long perforations (believed to signify the first printing) and short perforations (believed to signify the second printing), as well as an early 5-cent wrapper for the first printing and a later 10-cent wrapper for the second printing.

1973 to 1976

Wacky Packages returned in 1973 as stickers for a highly successful run. Sixteen different series were produced from 1973 to 1977 and were sold in five-cent to ten-cent packs containing two stickers (three stickers in the sixteenth), a stick of bubble gum, and a puzzle piece/checklist. The seventh series was available without gum for a short period of time. There were 27–33 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, with 8 extra designs that were brand new. 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 and having tan and white backs instead of puzzles and checklists.

1985 and 1991

Newly designed series were produced in 1985 and 1991. 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 All New Series 1 and Wacky Pack Flashback 2.

2004 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. Series 7 saw the return of the 55 card base set, but with more chase card sets, as well as border color variations and sketch cards. (Note: the All-New Series moniker was dropped for this set, but returned with series 8). Series 9 was released on July 25, 2012. The ANS sets have been very successful with 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. ANS 3 and 4 included the work of underground artist M. Wartella.

Reprints

Many of the 1973–1977 cards have been reissued over the years in various sets.

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. Series 4 Card 235 "Frosted Ice Krunkles" was exclusive to the reissue set. Each card can be distinguished easily, not only from its copyright notice, but its number (e.g. 'No. 12 of 66') printed on the front. A fifth series was planned for 1980 but never released.

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 inches (54.0 mm × 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 Wacky Pack Flashback. This series contained artwork from previously released cards and the spinoff posters, as well as unreleased artwork from the original run 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 Wacky Pack Flashback 2. This set also contained more artwork from previously released cards and a test marketed Wacky Can Labels set, as well as 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 1970s 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 cereals, 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 Package 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. The posters were advertised on Wacky Packages wrappers and could be obtained by sending $2 to Topps.

In 2012 a modern-day set of 24 oversized paper posters was produced as a new Series One set, with the majority depicting enlargements of re-used art from the ANS card sets as well as including three new gags original for the series. As this series maintained the aspect ratio of the original art, the posters were significantly wider than the 1974 posters. This new series was sold exclusively through the Topps Online Store.

Wacky Packages Postcards

In November 2007, Topps released the first of its Wacky Packages Postcards series. Originally created by artist Neil Camera, the first 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 nine sets of the regular series and five special Halloween sets that were released in October 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, as well as several promotional cards released at trade shows. 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, Sam Gambino and Brent Engstrom. Wacky Packages Postcards are sold exclusively through the 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 1973–1977. 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 began shipping in late March 2011 with sketch cards by Lynch, Bill Griffith, Bhob Stewart, David Gross, Fred Wheaton, Brent Engstrom, Jeff Zapata, Joe Simko, Neil Camera, Sam Gambino, Smokin' Joe and Mark Parisi. Old School series 3 shipped in mid-February 2012 and Old School series 4 in late December 2012. Old School series 5 came out in late 2014. There are 165 total Old School stickers at this point. Wacky Packages Old School is sold exclusively through the Topps Online Store.

Wacky Packages Erasers

Topps released two eraser series in 2011, the first in March and the second in October, each with 24 of the ANS Wacky Package designs. In addition to the erasers, which consisted of paper labels adhered to a shaped eraser core, each eraser also had a corresponding miniature sticker included in the pack.

Wacky Packages Comic Books

Topps has released five comic books in the Wacky Packages line. The panels of just the first two issues consist of reproductions of Halloween Postcard sketch card artwork, by Jay Lynch for issue 1 and by Joe Simko for issue 2, that were specifically designed to depict a story when set out as sequential art. Issue 3 was created by Neil Camera and Issue 4 by Brent Engstrom. Issue 5 was released on April 1, 2013, Topps' self-proclaimed Wacky Packages Day, and was a double-sized issue drawn by multiple artists.

Garbage Pail Kids connection

One unreleased design, by John Pound for the 1985 series, spawned the Garbage Pail Kids trading card series.

Merchandise

Tie-in merchandise of endless variety has been, and continues to be, produced by both Topps and by third-party companies ever since the initial success of Wacky Packages in 1973. Examples of recent licensed merchandise include a line of T-shirts from 10 Again Clothing, coffee table art books from Abrams Books, wall graphics from LTL prints and two set of 24 collectible erasers from Topps. Current items include wall graphics from walls360.com and collector's 3-ring binders from Topps. Several of these binders have included unique promotional items such as wax wrappers, stamp sheets or bonus cards.

Recent releases

Wacky Packages ANS 10 was released in March 2013 and featured first-ever Collectors Edition boxes. Other recent releases include Old School Series 4 on December 28, 2012, Comic Book #5 on April 1, 2013, the first 4 in the Original Series Binder Collection set in May 2013 and Postcards series 9 on June 25, 2013. Later releases included ANS 11, scheduled for September 2013 and additional binder sets in July, September and November 2013. The MLB Wacky Packages set was released in 2016.