History
First releases (1960s)
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 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 after1970s
''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 (reportedly ''not'' chewed by the majority of collectors), 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 with a sticker checklist on the back of it. ''Series 7'' was also available in packs without bubble gum in them 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; see1985, 1991 and cancelled 1992 series
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, according to Fred Wheaton, one of the many recent artists for the modern ''Wacky Packages'' run.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, between then and 2018. ''ANS1'' and ''ANS2'' consisted of 55 base cards with one level ofReprints
Many of the original 1973–1977 cards have been reissued over the years in various series.1979 and 1980 rerun 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.1982 and 1986 album 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 () 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.2008 ''Flashback'' series
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 (see2014 ''Chrome'' 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.Promotional items
''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 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 theSpin-off items
Topps has created a variety of additional ''Wacky Packages'' spin-off products over the years.''Wacky Package Posters''
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.''Wacky Packages Postcards'', ''Wacky Halloween Postcards'' and ''Wacky Packages Postcards April Fools 2020''
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 2020 nine regular series (which were all released between 2007 and 2013), six special''Wacky Packages Old School''
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 2022, 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.''Wacky Packages Erasers''
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.''Wacky Packages Comics''
As of 2022, 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.''Wacky Packages Minis''
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 an inch 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.''Garbage Pail Kids'' connection
One unreleased sticker, created by John Pound for the 1985 series, spawned the various '' Garbage Pail Kids'' trading card series.Merchandise
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.Bibliography
* ''Fleer Corp. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. and Major League Baseball Players' Association'', 501 F. Supp. 485 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 30 June 1980). * "Digging in the Vault for the Secrets of Wacky Packages: Topps Goes Back to Class in Wacky Packages Old School Series 2", ''Non-Sport Update'' Vol. 21, No. 6, December 2010 – January 2011. (Roxanne Toser Non-Sport Enterprises, Inc.)References
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