Amazon.com: Wacky Packages: The Topps Company, Art Spiegelman: Books

Product Description

Wacky Packages—a series of collectible stickers featuring parodies of consumer products and well-known brands and packaging—were first produced by the Topps company in 1967, then revived in 1973 for a highly successful run. In fact, for the first two years they were published, Wacky Packages were the only Topps product to achieve higher sales than their flagship line of baseball cards. The series has been relaunched several times over the years, most recently to great success in 2007.

Known affectionately among collectors as “Wacky Packs,” as a creative force with artist Art Spiegelman, the stickers were illustrated by such notable comics artists as Kim Deitch, , Bill Griffith, Jay Lynch, and Norm Saunders.

This first-ever collection of Series One through Series Seven (from 1973 and 1974) celebrates the 35th anniversary of Wacky Packages and is sure to amuse collectors and fans young and old.

About the Author

The Topps Company, Inc., founded in 1938, is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards and other trading cards and stickers. They are also known for Bazooka bubblegum, which was introduced in 1947.

Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist and editor, best known for his Pulitzer Prize–winning comics memoir, Maus.

Product Details

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Abrams (June 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 081099531X
ISBN-13: 978-0810995314
Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,162 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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#1 in	Books > Home & Garden > Antiques & Collectibles > Paper Ephemera
#2 in	Books > Entertainment > Pop Culture > Popular Culture
#35 in	Books > Home & Garden > Antiques & Collectibles > Reference

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Customer Reviews

30 Reviews

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wacky Packages Family Album, May 12, 2008

By	mistresspixel (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This beautiful little coffee table book is a finely printed Wacky Packages photo album. Covering Series 1 through 7 (1973-74), each 5-1/2" X 7-1/8" page reproduces one larger-than-actual-size Wacky sticker. (All 223 of them! -- even the Choke Wagon and Bum Chex rarities from Series 4).

The beautiful thing about this book is the high-quality production (printed and bound in China). The dust jacket effectively replicates an original wax wrapper. The indicia states "Most of the images in this book were reproduced from transparencies made off the original art," and it really shows: Not only is the artwork 150-200% larger than the actual stickers, the four-color printing is very fine -- looks to be 400-line resolution. Super pretty -- even if not bubblegum scented!

There's an interesting foreword and afterword here, too, by original Wacky illustrators Art Speigelman and Jay Lynch respectively. A concise image index completes the 240-page book.

Topps would go on to produce nine more of these "original" series of Wacky Packages; not covered here are Series 8 through 16, ending in 1976. But Wacky Packages stickers never truly went away, having appeared and re-appeared sporadically as sets during 35 years ever since. In fact, they're currently enjoying a bit of a renaissance in the form of the 2008 'Flashback' series -- a 'new' collection of 72 Wacky Packages stickers that, in fact, reproduce quite a few of the original old Wackies as shown in this book.

But besides tickling the nostalgia of anyone who was around back then, who appreciated the nutty gross-out humor of these parodies, it's these remarkably skilled illustrations that still prove worthy. The years saw many knock-offs and outright rip-offs of Wacky Packages, but none of them touched the really well-done artwork showcased here. It's great to see them reproduced here so clearly. Serious eye-candy for art and illustration fans.

Icing on the cake? This first edition has four "Lost" Wacky Packages stickers inserted in a little cellophane envelope stuck to the back inside cover (Slopps Boozeball, Muller Low Life, Granny Hairs, and Sea Honkies). Nicely priced, and highly recommended.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Topps for parodies, May 31, 2008

By	Robin Benson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What a treat to see a little corner of American pop culture get a decent looking book. Normally this sort of title would be produced by well meaning amateurs with no professional publishing experience or put out as just one of a cascade of titles from the American collectors press. Abrams seemed to have timed it just right by celebrating the thirty-fifth anniversary of Wacky Packs.

Art Spiegelman in his intro gives a little background to the origins of the idea and I was interested to learn that artist Norm Saunders painted some of the packs, I had always associated him with the over-the-top lurid covers for the pulp men's adventure magazine market of the fifties and sixties. Spiegelman also mentions his affection for Mad magazine and long before he actually worked at Topps Mad had a stab at their own color product parodies. In their 1959 More Trash reprint a handsome sheet of life-size labels printed on gummed paper was the bonus item (have a look at 'customer images' where you'll see the sheet). Produced to a slightly different criteria than the Topps packs who, after all, had to produce a regular flow of artwork over a short period, the 223 illustrations in the book were issued from 1973 and '74.

Looking through the pages it's amazing to think that they are all well-known national brands firmly fixed in everybody's mind because of advertising. I wonder if any brand ever complained to Topps, probably not but we're hardly likely to find out. Missing from the book, I thought, is some trivia about the series: what was the average print run, are there any rarities and why, were any products turned down for whatever reason or stickers printed but junked.

The book's production is rather impressive, from the jacket printed on gum-wrapper paper, the addition of a drop shadow on each pack to lift it off the page to the printing in two hundred screen (usually reserved for expensive art books) to the four bonus stickers inside the back cover. This all makes Wacky Packages a delight to look at.

Strangely there is virtually no reference to the actual gum in the book. Sidewalks everywhere can relax!

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK FOR FANS OF THESE FUN STICKERS! ...WHERE IS VOLUME 2 !???, June 29, 2008

By	! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b "DR SHOCK" (TRI STATE AREA) - See all my reviews

I was born in Philadelphia and when I was growing up in the 60's, one of my vices was.......Wacky Packages! These fun sticker trading cards were like "crack" to kids in my neighborhood! The twisted parodies were all done by some very famous artist and today the stickers can empty your wallet faster than you can chew bubble gum!

I am a collector of many things and I am also a complete-ist! Which would make collecting these stickers very expensive! I collect Monster and Super Hero statues, figures, magazines, trading cards, films, and way too much more! I also collect other items from my youth and I was going to venture into Wacky packages, but after some research, I found it would be too costly to complete the collection.

There is also a lot you need to know before you start buying/collecting these cards, spotting counterfeits and re-released versions is just part of the chaos and then finding them in good condition from reputable sellers is another.

This book will solve the problem for most nostalgia hunters and definitely for me! The book is laid out so that every sticker is presented on it's own page. The pictures are beautiful and clear and are in order of release separating each series with a divider page. It's a sweeeet little book that measures 7 1/2" tall and 5 3/4" wide and the dust jacket looks like a Wacky Packages wrapper to boot!

This Hard cover book has very little text and only covers the first 7 series of cards, but it's well worth the price if you like these stickers. I can only hope that there will be a second volume with series 8 through 16 included! I'll buy it and I'm sure anyone who bought this volume will too!

As a bonus there is a collectors pack of four classic "Wacky Packs" stickers! Very Cool!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars 70's pop-culture in convenient book form!
I'm sure anyone who was in elementary school in 1973 remembers the craze that was Wacky Packages! We brought them to school. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Michelle S.

3.0 out of 5 stars throwback
This was a great walk down memory lane. There is a history about how Wacky Packages came about and to see the original ones that I collected as a child, minus the stick of... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Sha

4.0 out of 5 stars WACKY PACKAGES BOOK REVIEW
THIS BOOK WAS FUN & BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES! GOOD FOR SOMEONE THAT GREW UP IN THE 70'S!
WELL MADE & COLORFUL.

Published 5 months ago by Lisa L. Doran

5.0 out of 5 stars Wacky ephemera in book form
This is a great book put together with care. The cover is made of a similar waxy paper that we all know from unwrapping these sticker/card collections when we were kids. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Carbonadam

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but a tad less than I'd been led to expect
I got my copy of the book today. Most of the images do indeed show a level of detail and a richness of color largely unseen until now. Read more

Published 7 months ago by John E. Figler

5.0 out of 5 stars Wrong edition received
Ordered on November 22, 2008, but must already be too late to receive the 1st printing, as I received the 2nd printing, instead (even though picture of book's dust jacket on... Read more

Published 7 months ago by nahtazu

5.0 out of 5 stars Wacky Packages..Really Takes Me Back....
They were making these stickers when I was still a young child. My brother used to stick them all over his bedstead (fond memories) and I'd stick them on my school portfolios in... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Chris

5.0 out of 5 stars Collections strong in advertising, art, or collectibles will find it a popular pick
'Wacky Packages' are a series of collectible stickers featuring parodies of consumer products and brands. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Midwest Book Review

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun book
This illustrated several stickers I remember but LOTS I never saw. This is a fun look at what humor used to be like.

Published 9 months ago by James D. Crabtree

5.0 out of 5 stars From Wacky to Zippy
As one of the cartoonists who created a few of the Wacky Packages shown in the book, my view of the project is far from objective---but I thought it was fun to see such pop... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Bill Griffith

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