Customer Reviews

Wacky Packages

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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.

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.

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!

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 ephemera resurface 34 years later as an Abrams art book! Who would've thought, back in 1974, as I cruised the aisles of the San Francisco Safeway with Art Spiegelman, hunting for likely targets, that our little barbs sent at consumerism and package design would have such staying power? I shudder to think it, but more people probably saw my "Generally Demented Light Bulbs" or "Kentucky Fried Fingers" Wacky Packs than ever read one of my Zippy comic books.
-Bill Griffith
Zippy:Walk A Mile In My Muu-Muu(Zippy (Graphic Novels))

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. However, several of the images were clearly scanned from the mass-produced stickers and are muddy and misregistered to varying degrees (see Lavirus for very obvious example of this). I'm just happy and amazed that Topps had retained as many of the original color separations as they did. Nice li'l book, and count me in for the sequel. Until then, you'll find me at wackypackages(dot)org.

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 Amazon product page is of 1st edition, as indicated by "Interview with Art Spiegelman"--whereas 2nd printing says "Introduction by Art Spiegelman"). The four bonus stickers included in the back are: Schmutz Beer, Alcohol Seltzer, Blast Blew Ribbon Beer, and KOOK Cigarettes.

As a suburban, middle-class latchkey kid, growing up in colorful 1970's America, I remember these packages of stickers in wax paper that came with a stick of hard, dry bubble gum. Making fun of current consumer products in a grotesque and funny manner was a hit for myself and my friends. It ws maybe a very mild form of rebellion. Kids love that stuff! Those stickers were almost like currency amongst my elementary school peers. They adorned the inside of my closet door, and many other places.

Later in life, I had the occasion to stumble across the two-volume comic-style book about the Holocaust, "Maus" by Art Spiegelman, and later, some of his other, more twisted work, RAW Magazine. I developed a liking for this author-artist, and his work. When I learned that Art Spiegelman was one of the creative forces behind Wacky Packages, I was floored. How could I have known? I was a fan of his even before I knew it! Of course, I had no choice but to snap up the books-both volumes- as soon as possible! Anytime a pleasant memory from childhood pays an unexpected visit, you have to do something! And this one automatically came with references! Any of you who were kids in the 1970's and had a passing acquaintance with Wacky Packages gets it. Now's your chance to go back and see it all over again!

Originally posted on Moonshine Arts magazine.

Topps Company is most well known for its continued production of sports related cards, such as baseball and football. However, at various points in its history Topps has branched out into other creative arenas, such as the famous Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages. Wacky Packages was born out of more creative era of advertising where design helped sell the product. The cards were the brain child of Woody Gelman, Lee Brown, and Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer prize winner author of Maus.

The introduction is written by Art Spiegelman, where he discusses how he came to be involved with the Topps Company and how they helped give him a creative outlet to practice and hone his artistic skills. The majority of the book, however, is filled with reproductions of images from the seven series. Each of the cards is reproduced in large and easy to read, with bright vibrant colors. The reproductions make it easy to determine which product the artist spoofed and to examine the level of detail created for the cards. Like everything some of the cards are better than others, such as "Mrs. Klean will up the floor with Mr. Klean if she can find him," a clever parody on Mr. Clean. Other parodies, such as "6up," are clearly not as creative (even Art admits that this was probably one of the worst gags.)

Readers will enjoy examining the large illustrations and determining how the parody differs from the reality. This is a book that can easily be enjoyed by all ages.

I found my first Wacky Sticker on the sidewalk walking home from school in 1973. It was the Schtick Razor sticker. After showing it to some older kids in elementary school I found out they had it too and much more. They gave me a few of their duplicates and I was hooked for about the next four years. It was always hard for me as a kid with little to no money to buy Wacky Packages and even harder to get my parents to buy me some packs but I did OK and was able to get most of them. The bulk of them being from the 2nd through 12th series. Over those four years of collecting I longed for Topps to just make a book of their Wacky art. It was this dream book that propmted me to make my own book with staples and heavy paper with cover and all. I stuck all my stickers by series on to the pages of my book. I never gave thought to collector value at the time, nobody ever thought of that back then. The end result all these years later is having a fraction of my Wacky Packs surviving and of those survivors they are only good for nostalgia. So it was a real kick to get both the first and second volumes of the Wacky Packages series. These books are a real gem and for me childhood dream come true. Although I suppose having all my original stickers still surviving in mint condition would be great I find these books much better than sifting through handfuls of baseball card size stickers. What I loved was the art and the silliness of it all and could care less about collector value. If you were a fan of the Wacky Packages series then both books will not disappoint. I love the wax pack paper wrapper for dust covers and the bonus stickers inside. A very nice touch and overall excellent quality for the money. Topps should think about authorizing more of these types of books like the 1960s Monsters cards for example.

Purchased this for my eight year old grandson and his ten year old friend. Both boys loved it and took it to school to show friends. Girls loved it as well and everyone told them they were so lucky. Well worth the money as it is helping my grandson with his reading because it is funny. Both boys father's collected these stickers when they were kids so they get a kick out of it as well.