Wacky Packages

History

The first Wacky Packages series, issued in 1967, contained 44 die-cut cards designed to be punched out, licked, and stuck to surfaces. Art Spiegelman created the parodies, and Norm Saunders painted most of them. Two cards—"Cracked Animals" and "Ratz Crackers"—were pulled after the initial run, and "Moron Salt" was later replaced by "Jolly Mean Giant," which was also soon withdrawn. In total, 14 of the 44 cards were removed due to cease-and-desist letters from the companies whose products were parodied.

A follow-up series, Wacky Ads, appeared in 1969 with 36 cards, 30 of which were designed as miniature billboards with die-cut stickers. Two printings of the Ads series exist, differing in perforation length. Card no. 25, "Good and Empty," was pulled from the first printing after Leaf Brands sued Topps. Two additional Ads cards, "Mixwell Hearse Coffee" and "Muleburro Cigarettes," were completed but never released.

Reprints

Many original 1973–1977 cards were reissued in four rerun series produced in 1979 and 1980, totaling 264 cards. These series reused images from the earlier run and included one previously unpublished image—Series 4 card no. 235 "Frosted Ice Krunkles"—which was exclusive to the rerun series.

Each card in these series is numbered on the front, a practice that continued in all subsequent releases. Two album sticker series were produced in 1982 and 1986, containing 120 and 77 stickers respectively. The 1982 series included one previously unpublished image, card no.

85 "Schnozmopolitan," and four new images based on Ralston Purina breakfast cereals. These stickers were smaller than standard cards and meant for a display album sold separately. Only the 1982 album series and its album were released; the 1986 series was cancelled for unknown reasons, and no album is known to exist for it.

Canadian releases (O-Pee-Chee)

O-Pee-Chee (OPC) licensed Wacky Packages from Topps for the Canadian market from 1973 to 1992. The initial OPC releases from 1973 to 1974 corresponded to Topps' first four series, with reduced title selections: 25, 25, 24, and 19 titles respectively. These stickers were printed on different cardstock, included bilingual English and French text, and bore the copyright line "O.P.C. PTD. IN CANADA" on the front.

Back variants existed for the 1st and 3rd Series. OPC did not produce Canadian equivalents of Topps' 5th through 16th Series. Canadian releases resumed in 1979–1980 with OPC-packaged versions of Topps' four rerun series, physically identical to the Topps versions except for bilingual packaging. In 1982, OPC released a 120-sticker album series printed in Italy with bilingual packaging and a separate collector album.

A 44-card series in 1985 was physically identical to Topps' 1985 Series, identifiable only by the bilingual wrapper. Three Canada-only rerun compilations followed in 1987, 1988, and 1989, each with 66 cards and OPC copyright on the fronts. The final OPC release was a 66-card series in 1992 with four back variants per sticker and a UPC barcode on the wrapper.

Spin-off items

Topps produced a series of 24 oversized paper posters in 1973, with 22 reusing artwork from the original 1970s run and two being new parodies. These posters were created from larger paintings and were also available by mail order for $2.00. A second series of 24 posters appeared in 1974 with a differently colored wrapper; it was nearly identical to the first except that three posters—all General Mills breakfast cereal parodies, including one of the two new ones—were replaced with three new ones made for that series.

The 1973 packs contained one poster and a piece of bubble gum, while the 1974 packs contained only a poster. On August 30, 2012, a new set called Wacky Packages Posters Series One was released exclusively through the Topps Online Store, featuring 24 posters: 21 enlargements of reused artwork from the All New Series run and three new parodies. These posters were significantly wider than the earlier ones due to maintaining the original art's aspect ratio. No further poster series have been produced since 2012.

Did You Know?

• 14 of the 44 cards in the 1967 series were pulled due to cease-and-desist letters from the companies whose products were parodied.
• Two cards from the 1967 series—'Cracked Animals' and 'Ratz Crackers'—were pulled from production after the initial run.
• Card no. 25, 'Good and Empty', was pulled from the first printing of the 1969 Wacky Ads series after Leaf Brands sued Topps.