TOYsaurus: Wacky is Topps!

OK, I promise every post won't be a flashback, but here's a gem from way-back-when that is STILL available today! Yippee!

Wacky Stickers (aka Wacky Packs or Packages) gave me endless hours of giggles as a pre-teen. Bought them by the truckload at Tom's Market across from Putnam Avenue Elementary; a bunch of spoofed-consumer-product adhesive cards (and a stale-tasting powdery stick of gum which I always tossed) in a wax wrapper. Along with watching Darrin Stephens on Bewitched, Wackies definitely guided my career path into advertising and design...that Norm Saunders artwork remains unsurpassed. Always wondered how they got away with such spot-on parodies...and if they ever got sued/injunctioned.

Wackies have had a sporadic publishing history. Produced by Topps (the baseball card peeps), the original series ran from 1967-1979, followed by reruns into the mid-80s. 1985 and 1991 saw some new cards, and then another series began in 2004. But nothing beats the originals. I had most of them, until I got the brilliant idea to wallpaper my buddy Jimbo's treehouse with my entire collection (which I'm rebuilding from scratch, starting now)...