I turned six in Feb of 1974, so I was fairly young for the Original 16. I didn't know of the theory of "Collect 'em all". I didn't really understand the concept of individual series. I just bought stuff on whims...Six Million Dollar Man, Odd Rods, Wacky Packs, Marvel Superhero Stickers, Planet of the Apes, Creature Features and such. But I had WP fever in 1974 and 75 and got various stickers from the 4th through the 9th series. Mainly the 4th through 7th series. I also got the tattoos at the time thinking they were pretty cool (plus I remember thinking that the gum was better in the tattoos than in the stickers). I just bought them as I found them in stores. The first real set I put together was the 1976 Superhero Stickers. I even thought to save the wrappers. Then came Star Wars in 1977 and trading cards became a serious obsession. That was when it all clicked and I realised that there could be multiple series released for a title. I put together that first Star Wars series and never looked back.
Which brings me to the summer of 1979, when I was 11. I was in Tallahassee for a month, visiting my grandparents. I had been there a week, when we went to the mall and I found the 1st reissue series. I believe it was in a Walgreen's. My mind reeled, as I had not seen WPs since early 1975. I bought 10 packs. I took them home, opened them and discovered that there were titles I recognised. Alot were new to me, but many were ones from back in the day. I didn't know it was a reissue set. I didn't know there was such a thing. A week later we went to the mall again and I bought 15 packs. I had been saving chore money and the money that grandparents will slip to you, just because. I'd have bought more, but I didn't want to blow all my money, in case I found other cool stuff. Back in the day, you could go to another town and find all new stuff that would never show up in your usual haunts. Now days, Target and WalMart all carry the same thing no matter where you go.
By this point, I had an almost complete set of 66 stickers, sure there were a bunch of duplicates, but I really was only about 15 stickers away from completing the set. About 3 days later, I was able to comvince gramdma to stop at the mall and I again invested in a bunch of packs. Now I was 2 stickers away from a full set. A few more days go by and we hit the mall again, I got a bunch more packs and was able to finish the set. WHOO HOO!!!! I had done it in about 2-3 weeks. Back in the day, it would take me months to complete a series. I was at the mercy of how much money I had and where my folks were driving to. Special trips to buy stickers were out of the question. To this day, that is the fastest I have put a set together in the wild. Buying a set off ebay or buying a whole box from Target is just not the same. It feels like cheating. I bought and put that series together the way a kid should put it together.
That set was really special as it reconnected me to Wacky Packs. I looked at that set over and over again. For me, it was something really special and I was proud to have it. I went home after a month with a whole set of stickers and other goodies that I found (KISS posters, comics, other cards, etc.). I looked for awhile when I returned home, but never saw any other Wackys on store shelves. I thought that one series was it. I never knew that there were 3 more reissue sets released, until around 2005, when I found Rusty's Lost Wacky site and read about them (and the aborted 5th reissue set for 1981). I have since gotten those sets too and enjoyed them as well. But, nothing will compare to the thrill of finding and collecting that first reissue set.
