Monday, October 16, 2017

Wacky Memories

These days for Halloween treats, people favor handing out pre-packaged candies; the treat you receive from one house indistinguishable from the next.  When I Trick or Treated as a kid, I might receive a candy bar at one house, a comic book at another, and wax Wowe-e Whistles, money, popcorn balls or apples at others. One of my earliest Trick or Treating memories when I was around 7 involved what I thought was an odd treat at the time, but in hind sight was pretty cool and appropriate. I received this Wacky Packages sticker.



Wacky Packages were initially released by the Topps Trading Card Group in 1967.  Art Spiegelman, who went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his graphic novel "Maus", was a creative consultant.  After a 2 year run, they were retired until being re-released from 1973 to 1976, the period when I would have received the above card.  Below are some of the more Halloween-centric cards that were released during the Golden Age of Wacky Packages.  Some I have from finds over the years, others I've gleaned from the internet. Enjoy!






The above sticker brings back another memory.  Inspired by Wacky Packages, my sister and I created some of our own.  I recall creating a "Hard Rocks" version of Hydrox cookies.



It's unlikely the two above stickers (in addition to a number of others) would be released today.





You would never see products aimed at kids even hinting at alcohol and tobacco these days.











The next two, although not monster-related, always struck me as particularly disturbing as a child.



Not above poking fun at themselves, Wacky Packages produced this "Ticks Wormy Packages" parody sticker.

And this "Torture Kong Fu Brutal Bubble Gum" sticker.

In 2010, Topps released "Wacky Packages Old School" which parodied products from the 1970's they hadn't in the previous series.  While a noble effort, for me, they lacked the charm of the original series. Or maybe you just can't recapture the magic of a Halloween night as seen through a 7-year-old's eyes.

11 comments:

  1. My siblings and I went wacky for wacky packs. We spent all our pocket money on them. We traded but I think nobody managed to get the whole series. I have Liptorn, grave train, and screech in my collection.

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    1. Alas, that was the only sticker I had back then. Fortunately, I have found some in later years.

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  2. Oh the wonderful memories you have brought back! Loved getting these we also received Grease Cards for some reason those still stick out in my mind. We still hand out comic books every few years.

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    1. That's great that you break the candy chain, although I have to admit I'm guilty of handing out candy as well, but I do full-sized candy bars.

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  3. Love these, always love coming across them. I have always wanted to collect them and cover my fridge from top to bottom. Would be better as magnets, for that, I guess. Just so very cool.

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    1. These would make great magnets.

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    2. agreed -- i'd LOVE to see a full series of magnets made! seems like someone missed out on a Gen-X marketing opportunity here.

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  4. man, i loved Wacky Packs back in the day. what am i saying, i *still* love them. looking at them now, it's amazing some of them were ever produced, and yeah, they certainly wouldn't be produced today. they also revived the idea in a way back in the 80s with the Garbage Pail Kids series, didn't they? they were controversial, but i think the originals outdid them.

    i have a couple "mini" Wacky Packs stickers (the pictured "Wormy Packages" and "Beastball," which is on-theme for Halloween); and then for my regular-sized ones i have too many to list (some of them you show here). great stuff.

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    1. Yeah, Garbage Pail Kids were essentially a new spin on these. I would love to know the story behind the creators and the artists of these. There should be a book. Hey! There is! https://tinyurl.com/y7d4e69q

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  5. To this day I have not forgiven my mom for going into my closet and throwing out my shoe box of Wacky Pack cards.

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