Wacky Packages

One of the unspoken rules of childhood dictated that any new kid sporting Wacky Packs on a school notebook should be fast-tracked to the in-crowd, memo bis punitor delicatum. (Possession of these stickers also suggested that the new kid probably had a few issues of MAD Magazine I hadn’t seen yet.)

Wiki-wiki-wikipedia sez …

Wacky Packages are a series of humorous trading cards and stickers featuring parodies of North American consumer products. The cards were produced by the Topps Company beginning in 1967, usually in a sticker format. The original series sold for two years, and the concept proved popular enough that it has been revived every few years since. They came to be known generically as Wacky Packs, Wacky Packies, Wackies and Wackys. According to trader legend, the product parodies once outsold Topps baseball cards.

Here’s the first series from the 1973 revival. A few years ago, Topps published two volumes collecting a shitload of ’em.

3 Replies to “Wacky Packages”

  1. I wonder how the mocked brands reacted. Today, they’d all go ballistic.

    And some of the “Wacky Packages” titles were pulled because of cease and desist letters from the trademark holders, most famously, Morton Salt (parodied as “Moron Salt”). Whether or not Topps could have won a court battle, they chose not to fight it. For collectors, this just makes those ones more valuable because fewer of them were printed.

    [from a concerned collector on eBay]:

    Dear Mr. or Mrs. Thompson:

    In 1967, Topps Chewing Gum issued the Die Cut Wacky Packages series which amongst many products, Morton Salt was parodied (appearing as Moron Salt). You subsequently cease and desisted Topps who obliged your demand.

    Recently, people in our hobby have been trying to sell the card through eBay. You have consistently shut them down. Under what law are you justified for doing this? There is no copyright infringement or trademark violation because the sellers are not printing them or creating them as originals. I do believe you are mistaken believeing that these are recent creations and pieces of art. These have already been produced in mass quantity from Topps over 30 years ago. Hobbyists are not reproducing them so we cannot understand how or which law you are interpreting to shut these auctions down. Please advise us as we will be going to eBay in the near future to challenge your demands.

    Sincerely,

    Paul Argyropoulos

    [response from Morton Salt]:

    Dear Mr. Argyropoulos,
    Morton Salt no longer objects to the sale of the Wacky Pack item.

    Sincerely,

    Alethia Thompson

    Anyone got a Moron Salt with a Ludlow back?

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