10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simple ... Nostalgic ... Awesome ..., September 10, 2010
This review is from: Wacky Packages New New New (Hardcover)
As someone who grew up in the 1970s, the older I get, the more I appreciate both my childhood AND the fact that my childhood took place in the 70s. What made the decade so great was that the decade seemed to cater to kids, but minus the namby-pamby warnings that accompany EVERYTHING kids do today ... we rode bikes (without helmets) to the local 7-11 to blow our $.50/week allowance on candy powdered cigarettes, Big Buddy bubble gum, Slurpees (in those collectible plastic cups), football/baseball cards ... and Wacky Packages. "Wackys" were unique, tongue-in-cheek stickers that mocked almost every product that could be found in our kitchen's cupboards. The cards/stickers were addictive to collect, trade and stick on everything from clipboards, notebooks, dressers and headboards. As we cruised through our childhood, many of us held on to "valuable" baseball or football cards but our Wackys just seemed to disappear into oblivion ... along with Taco Flavored Doritos and "Welcome Back Kotter". Now, as our generation begrudgingly accepts being classified as "middle aged", we still see products that remind us of those sarcastic stickers of our childhood ... Bazooka Gum is still "Gadzooka", Wonder Bread remains "Blunder Bread" and Cover Girl always seems to conjure thoughts of the ever creepy "Cover Ghoul". Although the original Wackys have become rare collectibles that are either too expensive and/or trivial to purchase, we now have a permanent archive available for us aging kids in the adult-appropriate book form.
Not one, but two hard-bound volumes of the classic Wacky Packages organized (by series) to satisfy a specific nostalgic itch. Each Wacky is blown-up and given its own page in a simple, no-clutter format that allows you to clearly see even the most subtle satirical artwork that appeared on each sticker. While the focus is the sticker collection itself, each book contains a brief, but informative, introduction (including one from the most prolific Wacky Package artist, Art Spiegelman) for perspective purposes. The books are presented more as a Wacky Package experience than simply a picture book of trading cards/stickers. This experience includes the iconic image of a powdered stick of stale gum on the hardcover, a sample pack of Wacky Packages attached to the inside back-cover and a true-to-form wax paper slip cover that replicates the original packaging of the cards.
Although this review is assigned to the second volume ("Wacky Packages New New New"), I feel it represents the first volume as well, because one would not be complete without the other.
Many attempts have been made to tap into the lore of decades past, but few publications have succeeded in presenting nostalgia is such an effective manner ... both volumes are worth every cent in my opinion. Two volumes, sitting side-by-side on my bookshelf vs. a stack of stickers stuffed into a box that can't be found. Adding more value to the books is that the content is relevant as younger generations will easily recognize most of the products parodied by the Wacky Packages. I often thought Wacky Packages were destined to be nothing more than faded memories of childhood that I'd keep to myself. With these books, however, I now have a piece of my childhood that can be shared with my kids ... they sit on a bookshelf next to several of those glorious 1970s Sears Christmas Wishbooks.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Cultural Treasure, April 26, 2010
This review is from: Wacky Packages New New New (Hardcover)
This book is a cultural treasure. It is a veritable master key to unlocking the secret psyche's of those who came of age in the 70's, and to understanding that those taking pleasure in irony are not cynical but in fact idealists.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The bubblegum boys are back, April 17, 2010
This review is from: Wacky Packages New New New (Hardcover)
Sidewalks everywhere can relax these Wacky Packs don't come with the little glob of pink. The first edition (Series 1, 1973 to 7, 1974) obviously went down well so here's another 206 Wacky reproductions from Series 8, 1974 to 14, 1975 and of course the four limited edition unreleased stickers. I get the impression that these vary from book to book. Mine are: Ghoul talk; Powerless glove; Snookered Scotch and Fuzzy globs. I guess it makes sense to vary them to create a collectors interest on just the book's stickers on the relevant websites.
Jay Lynch contributes the Intro in this edition and he comments on a new Topps line called Wacky Magazines which apparently didn't go anywhere so the completed Norm Saunders cover art was used in series eleven with ten titles, including Mud for Mad. Series thirteen had seven including 'Crocked' (Cracked) and 'National Spittoon' (the Lampoon) and series fourteen with six including 'Playbug: entertainment for insects' (Playboy). He also mentions that Norm Saunders was probably the best of the Packages artists though I think Mad mag and science fiction artist Kelly Freas would he been as good, he painted plenty of jokey packs for Mad ad parodies over the years.
The book follows the same neat format as the first edition, nicely printed with one pack a page (probably about three times bigger than the original stickers) and the jacket printed on the same grease-proof paper as used by Topps for wrapping gum. Just to prove that they don't take themselves too seriously the title page has a `Ticks Wormy Packages with one stick of Stinky bubble gum' sticker. Oh, and the index has this line: All spelling based original Topps checklists, typos and all.
If this second book sells it'll probably guarantee a third edition and my suggestion for one of the bonus cards is a sticker based on Wacky Packages books.
***LOOK AT SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
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