Wacky Packages Forum
Wacky Packages Discussion => General Wacky Packages Discussion => Topic started by: drono on March 20, 2020, 07:07:35 AM
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I don't know if this has been on a thread before, but seeing the different ages of the forum members, I was curious when you bought your first Wacky Packages. Since the forum seems to be in limbo with everyone in lock down at home, I'll start with my story.
I was born in 1964, so I don't remember ever seeing the Die Cuts or Wacky Ads in stores. I was much too young. My first purchase was Original 1st Series at the local Tinee Giant, probably in early 1973. I went in there looking to buy baseball cards, and they didn't have any. My mother saw these things on the counter by the cashier called Wacky Packages and suggested I buy some. Even though the box said 5 cents on it, they charged 6. I was hooked after that. Since we didn't get around much like we do today, I didn't venture back to that Tinee Giant until weeks later. I had a dollar and planned to buy 16 packs since they were still charging 6 cents, and the tax would be 4 cents. By then they had 2nd Series stickers, which I noticed were much thicker than the ones I first bought, so I later discovered that these were white backs and the 1st series were tan backs. After that I found them in various other places, 7-11, the concession stand at little league, etc. I think I continued through about the 12th series and then they disappeared in my area. I remember trading 4th and 6th series stickers in school but not many more details.
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I too bought the 1st series in 1973. It was the first Topps product I ever saw or purchased at age 6 1/3. I religiously bought all I could for the first seven series. I eventually became interested in the 1974 baseball set and weaned off the wackys.
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I bought series one in 1972 at 4 years old but mostly remember having a lot of series 2, 3 and 4 at the beginning. I had to fill in a lot of series one down the line. My earliest memory is sitting by my fireplace stacking all my cards. Not into series order but into favorites. Slamjim always being on the top.
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Good topic. Love nostalgia threads. I feel a little guilty thinking about anything frivolous in the current climate, but at the same time some diversion helps a lot to maintain sanity.
Born in ‘67 and only 5+ when the 1st series came out, I can only remember becoming familiar with some of the titles. Not sure what the context was, but I’m sure I wasn’t yet buying them. By the second series, I remember it was closer to summer and ice cream trucks passing through our block had them. I was the youngest of four brothers and younger than the other kids on the block, and still had no real purchasing ability of my own. I would hound the other kids to give up a double, then try to trade with someone else for a title I really wanted. At that age, having even one desirable Wacky was a big deal for me. I specifically remember getting an 8-Lives and badly wanting a Boo-Hoo. I tormented one of the older kids to make the trade even though he already had an 8-Lives and didn’t have an extra Boo-Hoo. I guess it got to the point that he just wanted me off his back. The funny part is that looking at them now, 8-Lives is visually a lot better than Boo-Hoo, but I loved sugary drinks like Yoo-Hoo and that seemed to matter a lot more to me at the time. Hawaiian Punks was a big one for me from Series 3, for similar reasons.
Not sure about 3rd Series, like the 1st I remember seeing some of the titles, but probably less than half of them. The first time I remember buying with my own money was Series 4 and 5. By the time Series 5 was out I know I also had the freedom to ride my bike to a local candy store and buy them there. I had built up a nice stack of 4 and 5, and remember stashing them in the bottom of a closet garment bag because I usually had the bad habit of leaving accumulated stuff lying around the house, where they’d end up disappearing if I didn’t put them out of sight. I guess at that age you’re constantly distracted by the latest thing and lack the organizational skill and awareness to take care of your things. So this was an attempt to change that. But I think I was actually hiding them, fearing they’d get thrown out if they were seen or found no matter where I put them. In any case, that stack eventually disappeared too, and I remember rummaging through closets in the house every so often for years to come, in hopes that i’d just checked the wrong bag, wrong closet, maybe they fell out and rolled to the darkest corner of the closet, etc. It was quite some time before I finally gave up hope completely.
Oh, and by the way, there was probably at least two Choke Wagons in that lost stack. Not sure about Bum Chex, but I remember having Choke for sure. Of course had no idea at the time there was anything special about it.
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Oh, and by the way, there was probably at least two Choke Wagons in that lost stack. Not sure about Bum Chex, but I remember having Choke for sure. Of course had no idea at the time there was anything special about it.
I remember not being able to find Windhex from the 4th series. I finally traded for one that had been stuck on a notebook, peeled it off and stuck it on the back of another sticker. I probably didn't have Bum or Choke because they weren't on the checklists we had.
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I started with the 2nd series in 1973. After that, it was on-again-off-again between series.
The last one I remember getting was the 15th series. I didn't even know about the 16th until years later. After that, my family and I moved from PA to FL in Nov. 1977.
My first Wackys in the 21st century were - are you ready for this? - ANS2. The rest is history.
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My 1-16 timeline is also riddled with major gaps, some of which I can explain, others not. My prior post was getting long, so I figured I’d better stop at when I first bought Wackys.
The only intact material I have from the OS era, which didn’t disappear, was 3 checklists, one from 13th, and two from 15th. If nothing else, they affirmed my belief that the Reissues left many unanswered questions - i.e., why are OS titles I remember missing from Reissues.
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I started with the 2nd series in 1973. After that, it was on-again-off-again between series.
The last one I remember getting was the 15th series. I didn't even know about the 16th until years later. After that, my family and I moved from PA to FL in Nov. 1977.
My first Wackys in the 21st century were - are you ready for this? - ANS2. The rest is history.
Born in 63, started buying the 1st in summer of 73 and was able to purchase packs up til the 15th. The stores that I got most of mine at were Ben Franklin and the 5 and 10 Woolworth.
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Of course, Wackys weren't the only stickers/trading cards out there that I remember.
I remember the 1970s Ugly Stickers, Crazy Magazine Covers (Series 1; I never did see and/or have either Series 2 or Series 3), the 1970s You'll Die Laughing (Series 1 and Series 2), Baseball Super Freaks (Series 1 and Series 2), Football Super Freaks (this one only had one series), Comic Book Heroes (1975; the Marvel Comics characters with the Fantastic Four #100 cover puzzle), the 1970s Planet of the Apes, Crazy Cars...I saw and/or had some and/or all of them at one time or another.
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General Wacky Packages Discussion / Re: Vending Machine Find
« on: April 04, 2011, 02:39:32 AM »
Oh, 1 other point. My very first pack of Wackys was a 3rd series pack. And it had only 1 sticker in the pack, (it was crackola). I really remember making a big stink about this cause my sisters pack had 2 stickers. (and by big stink i mean cry). lol :D
Can anyone else remember their first pull?
By pull i mean Wacky!
And by Wacky i mean the stickers.
And by stickers i dont mean stuck together.
(insert puns) as needed
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Can anyone else remember their first pull?
I don't. I carried my treasured 1st series tans in my pants pocket to show them to my friends, and they got destroyed when I forgot to take them out before my mother washed my pants. When I started collecting them again years later, Grave Train was the only one that had survived.
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I don’t remember my first pull, but I do remember opening a 6th series pack in my classroom in 2nd grade. Fruit of the Tomb and My Sink.
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Don’t remember specific pack pulls with one notable exception, and I think it was because of the singular nature of the experience that the memory has stuck with me. One of my brothers and I tried to shake my mom down when we saw a box at a deli counter, and all we got was one lousy nickel! That’s right, share one pack. Anyway, it was the 6th. My brother took Run-A-Way Vitamins and I took Broomo Seltzer. Who got the puzzle piece I have no idea. Think that was my first exposure to the 6th. I know I had more contact with the 6th at some other time, but on that day it was a very light haul.
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I posted this a few years ago, but it seems responsive:
I completed Series 6 on March 25, 1974 (my dad's birthday). Baby Runt was the last sticker I needed.
In SC, I think we got ours a little late. My personal Wacky timeline ran like this:
Jan. 14 or 21--Bought my first packs (Series 4).
Feb. 18--First Series 5's.
Mar. 2 (?) --First Series 6's. After finishing the set, I did some trading for earlier cards.
Fall 1974-- Series 9.
May 26, 1975--Bought two Series 11 packs. One of the stickers was The Saturday Evening Ghost, with the May 31, 1975 date.
July 13-26--Series 13. Completed except for Umbrella and Icicle.
The Majik Market charged us ten cents instead of a nickel. But I remember most of their packs had three cards instead of two.
(Posting in 2020 again): The stickers from those first packs were Cheapios, Chef Girl-Ar-Dee, Escuire, Wormy Packages, Brute 88, and Freetoes.
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I posted this a few years ago, but it seems responsive:...
Good idea! I got nostalgic for my response to a similar thread in 2015. Here was my post at the time:
My collection started with the first series, but my Mom was buying packs and doling them out to me and my brothers for series one and two. I think the first time I purchased Wackys on my own was the third series, so I have a soft spot for that series, especially Beanball since I was collecting baseball cards at the same time. I remember going to my friend's house in another town and being allowed to bring a quarter for our run to the party store to buy Wackys. So fevered was my obsession that I dared to bring two quarters! However, to be safe in case of a surprise inspection, I took some Silly Putty and stuck the two quarters together to avoid detection. Worked like a charm - only because my Mom never checked.
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I remember going to my friend's house in another town and being allowed to bring a quarter for our run to the party store to buy Wackys.
I'm amazed at how little disposable income we had as kids. I remember thinking that when I got older and had some real money, I'd just go and buy a whole box or two at a time. Like most childish dreams, Wacky Packages disappeared before I made any real money (had a paper route when I was 12), and I'd given up collecting baseball, basketball, and football cards before I reached that age.
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I'm amazed at how little disposable income we had as kids. I remember thinking that when I got older and had some real money, I'd just go and buy a whole box or two at a time. Like most childish dreams, Wacky Packages disappeared before I made any real money (had a paper route when I was 12), and I'd given up collecting baseball, basketball, and football cards before I reached that age.
Yes, a point worth noting for sure. I feel like my limitations at the time did OS Wacky collecting a huge disservice, compared to anything else I’ve collected once I got older. I can remember things getting a little better by the time I was about 8 or so, I was able to buy the one or two comic books I wanted each month, some back issues at comic shops and flea markets, plus candy of course to feed the sugar addiction. I also got a paper route at around 12, and even though it only paid about $25 a week, that seemed like a lot at first. I bought a lot of Series 1 and 2 Reissues, but by then by interest in comics and sportcards was also starting to diminish.
Hard to remember for sure, but I don’t think I was ever in a position to buy more than 4 or 5 OS packs in a single purchase. Never finished a series, probably only about 1/2 to 2/3 complete on a few of them. And I don’t remember ever paying much attention to the puzzles back then. I think once I saw the corresponding sticker, any element of mystery was lost and it didn’t matter as much. Just having a checklist for tracking purposes was the main thing.
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My older brother got me into Wacky Packages. We used to pick them up at White Hen Pantry or the liquor store next door. The liquor store owner was kinda scary, and reminded me of Rodney Dangerfield. He did not want little kids in his store, but he had a soft spot and let us buy the Wackies. Used to spend my allowance or birthday money on them. So for even 1 dollar I was able to buy a lot of packs since they were a nickel each. Never completed any sets since those short runs were very hard to get. My brother felt sorry for me and gave me his extra stickers at times.
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Born in Morris county New Jersey in '63.
I bought my first Wackys at a little convenience store we called the Dairy-Deli. Must have been around 1973.
Man, I couldn't wait...I was finally allowed to ride my bike to the Dairy-Deli and blow a quarter or so on gum/cards. Not sure how many trips I made!
I remember Swiss Mess, 6-Up, Ditch Masters, and Log Cave In's were stuck all over my bed. I don't remember collecting/saving them at all.
Eventually switched mostly to baseball cards around 1975.
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I was born in 1964 as well. My friend's mother owned the local corner store, Connie's Corner. Lucky for me he would grab every box as soon as they would come in and he would share with the neighborhood kids. I collected right from day 1. My favorites back in the day from series 1 were Vicejoy, 6up, Horrid, and Weakies. I don't remember Ludlow backs from series 1 but definitely for series 2. I always wondered why they had different backs, but i liked the Camels. Series brought one of the best, Cap'n Crud. I bet every little kid loved that one because it was one of the most relatable products they spoofed. I remember going full bore through series 6, enjoying series 7, then waning by series 8. I casually collected the next few series and don't even remember series 15 really, but I must have bought at least one pack because I had one Fear Out checklist in my stash that I found from when i was a kid.
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I was born in 1962 in Oklahoma City. I went to a small parochial school that didn't have buses, so I was in a carpool to get to and from school. When it was warm, the drivers (our mothers) would stop at a convenience store on the way home, Tom's, to get Icees. While in the store once, I found Wacky Packages and bought a couple. They were from the 2nd series. I loved the parodies, so I started collecting them. (Never could get the entire series, particularly Run-a-way Vitamins, until I bought one on eBay in the late '90s.) They disappeared for awhile, and the next series that showed up in my area was the 7th Series, which I collected. When I found the 8th series, I got all of those, too. 9th series never made it to my area, but with the 10th series, a drug store near me started carrying them, and I was able to get my Wacky Packs from there through the 15th series. 16th series never came to our area, and I'm sure all the Tom's, drug stores, and 7-11s got tired of me calling to see if they had them....ha! I wound up writing to my cousin to trade with her for the Wacky Packs that didn't make it to OKC because she didn't get some series in Illinois, so it worked out for both of us.
So, thanks, Mom, for stopping at Tom's for the Icees! :D
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I was a little late in getting started on Wackys. The first ones I ever saw were a few 5th series titles some friends had when I was in the 4th grade. By the time I bought some for myself, 6th series was out. I remember those 6th series packs seemed to be in the stores forever. I completed the 6th long before the 7th was available in our town. One vivid memory I have was when 7th series was out, I was making trades with a friend and we discovered the Grime Heavy variation. One of us had multiple Dustys and one of us had multiple Heavys (don't remember which of us had which). We traded so that we each had both variations. I completed the 7th, 8th, and 9th series. Never saw 10th but completed 11th and 12th. Never saw 13th but did complete the 14th. And then that was it. Never saw Wackys again until 1999 when I found John Mann's web page.
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The first Wackys I bought were the '79 reprints. I have fond memories of scraping together some change and running to our local corner grocery store and sometimes the newsstand a bit further down in our Brooklyn Neighborhood. However, I do recall my brother collecting the Wonder Bread inserts.
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Born in 63, started buying the 1st in summer of 73 and was able to purchase packs up til the 15th. The stores that I got most of mine at were Ben Franklin and the 5 and 10 Woolworth.
Mark - were you lucky enough to catch every series from 1 to 15? If you were, I have to believe your “advanced” age of 10 when just getting started had a lot to do with your diligence to collect, and hopefully hold onto, your original collection. Speaking for myself, the age of 10 was the point beyond which pretty much all cards I collected are still in my possession to this day. Before 1977? Not so much. OS Wackys, Comic Book Heroes, dollar size Bazooka Joe comics? All gone.
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When there was a 1991 series at a comic shop.
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I'm the old guy in the group. I grew up in Pasadena, CA and we had an ice cream man come to our block with all kinds of wax packs with cards and stickers from Topps, Fleer, etc. I bought die cuts in 1967 (and Wacky Ads in 1969) and I remember buying 5-cent pack after 5-cent pack after 5-cent pack (of course throwing out the wrappers) in a futile effort to fill in missing die-cut numbers. I had no idea there were "pulled" titles and was never able to obtain them through packs. I finally got all the pulled titles (other than Ratz and Cracked Animals) at a Parsippany Non-Sports show in the early 1990's. I was in college in the 1970s and not only did I not collect Original Series 1-16 but also had no idea they even existed. Again it was at that Parsippany show when I became aware of them and was able to buy a full binder of them. The rest is history.
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Another slightly older dude here... born in 1959, so I was was 13 or 14 when the Original Series was issued. We lived in a small Indiana town of 2,000 which had only one local drug store. Unfortunately, it did not carry trading cards or much candy either. About once or twice a month, our family would go to the big town of Linton about 18 miles away to do some shopping. One of the grocery/drug stores we frequented did carry such stuff. I first saw series two packs available and bought some and was immediately hooked. This touched my fancy in that same way MAD magazine did. Seemed a little bit radical and a lot funny. Like many here, I was captivated by the artwork. On subsequent visits to the same store, over the following 2 years, I was able to collect most of series 1, which this store put out on the shelves after series 2, through series 15. They were not always on the shelf in order of release and sometimes they may have two or three series available at one time. I never saw hide nor hair of release 16 in this store or any around our area. I was able to trade for series 16 when I joined the Prodigy on-line service back in the early 90s and hooked up with others in a Wacky Packages forum or chat room, I don't remember what they were called at the time. Two or three of those people are members of this forum such as Ernie and Scott B. Now armed with a little disposable income as an adult, this is where I was able to start catching up on items missed like the the re-issues, posters, charms, tattoos, etc.
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One thing i’ve learned from reading the anecdotal posts on this forum and the old one, is that those who utilized the power of the Internet in its earliest days to see if there was a Wacky awareness in the cyber universe, probably did the best in terms of available inventory and reasonable prices. Even when I first got involved in ‘97, it was through an ad in Non Sport Update advertising Roxanne’s little Wacky guide, plus the Wrapper. Made long distance phone calls, even wrote letters I think. Some people just gave addresses in their ads. Crazy! Did well at the few shows I attended though, and subsequent mail order from dealers I met there.
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The first time I got Wackys was in a drugstore in a suburb of Pittsburgh. I was probably 7. I remember 2 titles from my first two packs - Awful Bits and Cap'n Crud. What luck!! I was hooked. Later trips to that same store yielded some Series 1 packs, but not many. I bought several series there, including posters, and then we moved to Los Angeles. There, I found some in drugstores, and there was an ice cream truck that came around (the driver told us to call him "Van"). I actually saved up enough allowance to buy a full box of Series 15 from him. Never saw Series 16.
In 1977 we moved to Long Island, and although I was able to buy reissue packs at stores, I found card shows and was able to buy all 4 complete reissue series from a dealer. I also bought single packs and got the 1985 and album sticker sets from the same dealer. I found the 1991 stickers at a convenience store on a ski trip (I had more fun with the Wackys than skiing).
I started filling in holes in my 70s sets when ebay started up. Sadly, I never found a Wacky forum until after ANS came out.
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Thanks for this thread. I always enjoy hearing how fellow collectors got started.
For me, it was 1973 when I was in fourth grade. The first time I ever saw Wackys was on my friends notebook who sat next to me in school. He had 6 or seven stuck on his notebook and I said 'what are those?' He let me take a closer look and I loved them immediately! Next, I had to know where he got them and he said from the magic market near his house. The stickers he had were mostly 3rd series sticker, but he had a few 1st and 2nd series too. The 3rd series has always been my favorite for this reason as they were the first I ever saw.
Of course I pestered my Dad to drive me to the magic market and they didn't have them. The only store close enough for me to walk to was a 7-11 about 4 blocks from my house and they didn't have them either. My parents drove me everywhere over the next several weeks and no Wackys. They must have been between series. In the meantime, I gave my lunch money to my friend everyday for the stickers he was willing to peel of his notebook for me! Many of these were in poor condition as he had stuck them on different things and peeled and restuck them with botch tape several times. I remember 1A was one of these stickers and honestly, it was more tape than sticker, but I stilled loved it!
Finally, one day the 7-11 got them! They were the 5th series and I bought the remainder of the box they had. I was lucky because my allowance was $3.00 per week and I would buy the whole box whenever they had them. Of course, packs were 5 cents x 48 packs in a box, so for $2.49 tax included the box was mine with money left over! Such a deal.
I grew up in Florida, but spent the summers with my Grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, and cousins in New Kensington and Ford City, PA. (Near Pittsburgh)
My cousin and I would go everywhere looking for them. Whenever and where ever we went, if they had them, I'd spend all my money on them!
Great times and great memories that I'll cherish forever!
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Wow, they were very hard for you to find right out of the gate! I can relate to the salvaging of stickers by trying to reclaim stuck ones by unpeeling. Sometime in the 80’s I found a metal box my brother was using to store small stuff, and there was a Bathless Ribbons and Mare Cigarettes stuck to the inside face of the hinged lid. You know what I did. I also found my old bunk bed disassembled in the attic and the headboard had Rolaches, Cents and Doomed Matches stuck to it. Those would not come off without completely shredding them, so they were lost causes. That’s how desperate I was to reclaim some semblance of all the lost OS Wacky history.
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Back then, peeling off old stickers was about the only way to get the out-of-print series titles (which I already thought of as the classics). I got my Skimpy from Joe Coco, who told me I could have it if I could get it off his notebook intact. Challenge accepted, mission accomplished--I still have it.
I did a few trades with Charles Camp for the Series 2's on his green binder. I would just peel off the one I wanted and replace it with one of my duplicates. I inherited the binder when he moved.
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Strangely, I don’t have memories of Wackys in the context of school, other than congregating at the ice cream truck, which was allowed into our lunchtime recess space (blocked off street) in the spring, and just off school grounds after school in September when the new school year started up. I’m sure there were some kids who stuck them to notebooks and folders, but as long as the potential to buy fresh Wackys existed, it never crossed my mind to try and peel stuck ones and preserve them during the 1973-75 OS era. Only several years later, after all acquired material slipped through my fingers and into the trash (I guess), where peeling found, stuck Wackys was the only game in town, did I go that route.
I have some memories that puzzle me to this day - I remember focusing entirely on 1975 Topps baseball when the ice cream truck made its daily visit to school that spring - did I desire them more than Wackys, or did that particular ice cream truck not carry Wackys? I also remember buying 13th Series packs from ice cream trucks that congregated at our neighborhood park, but that was late spring / early summer. Why did I then transition back to Wackys and ignore baseball cards? I think the answer is that at 8 years of age I had the attention span of a puppy.
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Great thread! I enjoy reading the stories.
My first Wacky Packages were found in "Fun Packs" in Fall/Winter 1974 when I was 6 years old. It was either at a the five and dime "Ben Franklin" or a regional pharmacy/retail store "Drug Fair"
Actually, there is the exact Fun Pack on eBay at the moment:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-75-Topps-Fun-Bag-Planet-Apes-Creature-Feature-Speed-Wheels-And-Wacky-Pack/123641618243
There were several different varieties of fun packs; one with non-sports and others with sports cards. Remember having quite a few 1974 Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey cards along with the Creature Feature and the 9th series Wacky Packages. Loved the Creature Feature and Wackys and got hooked after that on non-sports cards, especially Wacky Packages. Didn't start collecting baseball and football cards seriously until l977, but bought Wacky Packages from the 9th series through to the reprint sets in '79 and '80.
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Summer of '72, 1st series Cloth, JC Pennys, Dover, NJ
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My first Wacky Packages were series 1 purchased in spring, 1973 at Big Top in New Rochelle, NY. I would peel the stickers and put them on the cardboard from my father's laundered shirts, 12 per sheet. Bandaches was by far my favorite.
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Isn’t it funny how the juvenile mind works? As if sticking them to cardboard would somehow preserve them better or make them more permanent than just keeping the stickers intact.
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Introduced to the hobby during the 1980 re-run but first purchased the best series ever, in 1985, at the east coast market called Louden Hills then later known as Turkey Hills.
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I got my first Wackys at a drug store in Allison Park, PA. The ones I remember from my first two packs are Cap'n Crud and Awful Bits; can't remember the others, but boy, I loved those two stickers! Future trips to that store yielded a few Series 1 packs, but not many. Most of my earlier series stickers came from that store, and we used to try to trade at school, but the nuns did NOT approve. Fortunately, the bus driver didn't mind, as long as we didn't stick any in the bus. I know I had a Scare Deal on a composition book.
At the end of 1974 we moved to Northridge, CA. There was a drug store that had them sometimes, but my best source was the ice cream truck. I remember saving my allowance and buying a full box of Series 15. No Dynamites...…… I eventually pulled a Dynamites reissue and used it to "complete" my set.
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Summer of '72, 1st series Cloth, JC Pennys, Dover, NJ
I seem to remember having cloth stickers because they made such a mess, but I can't remember if they were Wacky Packages or something else.
I'm also amazed at how many of you found them in ice cream trucks. The ones in my area only had ice cream; they never had anything else. I did find a few of the later series Wacky Packages at a High's Ice Cream store, but I can't remember which series it was. My sister worked there over the summer, and I would always ask her if they had any.
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Messy. Thats definitely the best word to describe them! But i loved them regardless!
The odd thing was, i never did see the regulat 1st series stickers until much later, since the store switched to the 2nd series after the 1st series cloth. I thought it was weird that they were paper!
Come to think of it, my first wacky was actually Halloween 1969! Someone gave me a treat bag with some candy and a Lavirus die cut! I still remember how cool i thought the bottle was!
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I'm also amazed at how many of you found them in ice cream trucks. The ones in my area only had ice cream; they never had anything else. I did find a few of the later series Wacky Packages at a High's Ice Cream store, but I can't remember which series it was. My sister worked there over the summer, and I would always ask her if they had any.
My recollection is that the more franchise-type ice cream trucks like Good Humor (strictly ice cream on stick items) and Mister Softee (soft serve, shakes) were pretty much strictly ice cream products, but the trucks that carried other brands like Hood and Hershey’s seemed to always have a variety of candy items including Wackys. But they had trouble keeping them in stock too. It was very hit-or-miss. And from October until at least late April, they were not making the rounds at all. That must have contributed to my having missed some series completely. I was able to get to stores sometimes, but never as consistently as the ice cream man.
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I started buying them at an Acme Supermarket in Syracuse, NY around the 4th series... Loved them and kept buying them up until around Series 13. Around 1994, I tried to get back into collecting, but it was very hard to find anything. So I started up my Wacky Packages website around 1995. That really helped get things moving, and over the next 5 years or so, I pretty much completed my collection by trading with all of the great friends I made through the internet, and going down to the big shows in Philly (although I still need an unpunched Ratz!)
I've been out of the hobby for many years now, but I still have my beloved collection!
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I started buying them at an Acme Supermarket in Syracuse, NY around the 4th series... Loved them and kept buying them up until around Series 13. Around 1994, I tried to get back into collecting, but it was very hard to find anything. So I started up my Wacky Packages website around 1995. That really helped get things moving, and over the next 5 years or so, I pretty much completed my collection by trading with all of the great friends I made through the internet, and going down to the big shows in Philly (although I still need an unpunched Ratz!)
I've been out of the hobby for many years now, but I still have my beloved collection!
Wow, you’re only of the early pioneers, many of whom have disappeared from the hobby, at least as far as participating in this forum or Greg’s old one. I’ve often wondered why - did they achieve all their collecting goals and get bored, did they tire of the bickering that was so prevalent years ago? But you still have your collection, which is cool. I’m kind of the opposite that way - I don’t actively pursue collecting like I used to, but I still enjoy discussing the recollections of the childhood Wacky experience, minutiae, the Wacky-ology, if you will.
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but the trucks that carried other brands like Hood and Hershey’s seemed to always have a variety of candy items including Wackys.
I also meant to mention, the Hood and Hershey’s trucks had a lot of counter space, both at about hip level (freezer top) and on another ledge along either side of the truck at about eye level. It was pretty much just standard layout for that type of truck, so they were tailor made for having a wide variety of candy, gum and cards as part of their standard offerings. This is the truck with a round hole in the side facing the sidewalk so that kids could dispose of their wrappers, empty drink cans and such.
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Wow, you’re only of the early pioneers, many of whom have disappeared from the hobby, at least as far as participating in this forum or Greg’s old one. I’ve often wondered why - did they achieve all their collecting goals and get bored, did they tire of the bickering that was so prevalent years ago? But you still have your collection, which is cool. I’m kind of the opposite that way - I don’t actively pursue collecting like I used to, but I still enjoy discussing the recollections of the childhood Wacky experience, minutiae, the Wacky-ology, if you will.
Yeah - I had pretty much accomplished my collecting goals, and got really annoyed at all of the bickering, so I moved on and focused on raising my kids, and my other hobbies. I just recently watched our old Wacky Reunion video from Oct ‘99. That was a really fun trip, and definitely one of the highlights of that era for many collectors! Thanks to Jeff Weiss and Greg Grant for organizing the party.
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I'm thinking that I was in the 2nd grade when my siblings and I discovered the original die cuts. We were fascinated and repulsed by them at the same time especially the drawings of people on the products with their horrified expressions! Skimpy stands out and the worms were memorable too. We were so young we didn't know half the products being satirized. Our mom surprised us by buying an entire box for us! We were pretty much dirt poor but a box cost about $1 at the candy wholesaler in Chinatown and divided among 3 kids it wasn't too expensive - she did the same thing with the Batman set. My younger brother and I remember the Ratz card but it's possible that's faulty as we lived on the west coast. Did not retain a single card or the box from this set! Years later in the 5th grade a classmate told me she and her brother had stacks of those cards and didn't know what to do with them! I never punched out the die cuts and didn't even know at the time that you could stick em on surfaces. We were young.
I have more clear memories of the Wacky Ads and we never got the good and empty card. My first pull was Poopsi cola. I recalled the images reprinted on the cards that had 4 original diecut images. I thought the ads were great. I found a small stack of these about 20 years back in my old desk.
Imagine my surprise in jr high when the die cut series were reprinted as stickers! They were available everywhere it seemed and they kept coming out every few months! I bought boxes of these, series 1 to about 5 and collected with a neighbor who was slightly younger and had far more disposable income (I've always wondered if he still has his stash!). Didn't keep the boxes alas, but some of the cards. Noticed the Spit and Spill variation -favorites were Hawaiian Punks, Monotony and Czechlets. In the 90s I traded a stack of the stickers for a bunch of die cuts just because they brought back fond memories. Didn't know about Ludlow backs until I found some at a yard sale - they went for good money on ebay! Stopped at a certain point right before high school so I was fascinated by an old fridge that had a large collection of post series 5 stickers stuck on its surfaces at a 2nd hand store many years later! No enough to buy the fridge though. Had mail correspondence with Phil Carpenter in the 90s and learned about cloth stickers that could separate from their backing - the amount and range of vintage product was much extensive than I had thought, and this before the ANS series.
Alex
PS - Die cuts and Wacky Ads - local mom and pop candy stores including the 2 close to my grammar school and the newsstand and shop next to the movie theater that did not have a concession stand. OS stickers - same places plus the various local Woolworths. We didn't have ice cream trucks in Chinatown!
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I also meant to mention, the Hood and Hershey’s trucks had a lot of counter space, both at about hip level (freezer top) and on another ledge along either side of the truck at about eye level. It was pretty much just standard layout for that type of truck, so they were tailor made for having a wide variety of candy, gum and cards as part of their standard offerings. This is the truck with a round hole in the side facing the sidewalk so that kids could dispose of their wrappers, empty drink cans and such.
We never had a truck like that as a kid. All I seem to remember is that it had pictures of the 10 ice creams you could get on the side (bomb pop, ice cream sandwich, nutty buddy, etc.), and the truck had a freezer door on the back that the driver had to open up to get your selection. There was inside to the truck and no counter , so no wacky packages.
Yeah - I had pretty much accomplished my collecting goals, and got really annoyed at all of the bickering, so I moved on and focused on raising my kids, and my other hobbies. I just recently watched our old Wacky Reunion video from Oct ‘99. That was a really fun trip, and definitely one of the highlights of that era for many collectors! Thanks to Jeff Weiss and Greg Grant for organizing the party.
I was into collecting before that and left I guess just before the bickering started. I only heard about it years later. I was doing a lot of traveling for my job at the time and missed the reunion. I remember Ernie sending me an email about it asking if I was coming, but I couldn't. It's one of my few regrets.
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We never had a truck like that as a kid. All I seem to remember is that it had pictures of the 10 ice creams you could get on the side (bomb pop, ice cream sandwich, nutty buddy, etc.), and the truck had a freezer door on the back that the driver had to open up to get your selection. There was inside to the truck and no counter , so no wacky packages.
The Good Humor trucks were like you describe here - the driver sat in a front cab like that of a pickup truck, and the box behind the cab was one giant freezer, with a small square hatch on the side or back. Had a latch handle like an old refrigerator door. The opening was small and the driver really had to reach in there. It always looked like a challenge to find what the customer asked for.
The trucks with the Wackys were just one-piece box trucks, like a postal or Fedex truck, and the freezers were only hip-high with top slider doors, so the space around those plus the wall ledges made all the difference.
The Mister Softee trucks looked similar to the box trucks, but they had soft-serve machines, shake mixers, etc for all their specialty items. That equipment probably took up a lot of extra space, so they were strictly ice cream and related items.
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The Good Humor trucks were like you describe here - the driver sat in a front cab like that of a pickup truck, and the box behind the cab was one giant freezer, with a small square hatch on the side or back. Had a latch handle like an old refrigerator door. The opening was small and the driver really had to reach in there. It always looked like a challenge to find what the customer asked for.
The trucks with the Wackys were just one-piece box trucks, like a postal or Fedex truck, and the freezers were only hip-high with top slider doors, so the space around those plus the wall ledges made all the difference.
The Mister Softee trucks looked similar to the box trucks, but they had soft-serve machines, shake mixers, etc for all their specialty items. That equipment probably took up a lot of extra space, so they were strictly ice cream and related items.
We had a similar ice cream truck in my old neighborhood in Plymouth Meeting (then Norristown), PA, only the company was called Jack and Jill. Only had ice cream, though; no Wackys.
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I guess different parts of the country distributed or marketed Wackys in completely different ways. Some here have mentioned supermarkets and chain convenience stores, which was not part of my experience at all. Ice cream trucks in spring and summer, candy stores/newsstands and the occasional deli the rest of the year. In fact, I only remember one candy store as a steady reliable source around the time of the 4th and 5th, and then I think they went out of business not long after that. Not that I got around much at age 7-8 to try and scout out other potential sources.