WP Old School Box $14.99! Cases still $211.99?

[slamjim]

Pat, I couldn't agree more. The die cut (technically, called "kiss cut") HAS to be on the stickers. It's a huge part of the Wacky Packages appeal. Especially, in terms of the old school brand, which is supposed to mirror the  look and feel of the originals. If Topps wants to make OS6 and have it be successful, then they need to stick to the formula.

I agree as well. I was just curious what people would think if the actual cut (not the black border) was missing.

With regards to sketch cards, I know some of you are fans and some aren't. I think they definitely have a place, but it depends on the release. I never saw the practicality of adding them to the old school brand since there were never any chase cards in the original sets, but they fit well with ANS, postcards and wacky comics.  When the artists put on their A game, they're as enjoyable, creative and collectible as any other element in the sets. Besides, for some fans, sketch cards are the only chance to own an original piece of art.

Topps didn't add sketch cards to Old School as they were always part of the plan. I had contacted Jay to do them when I was going to self produce the series because at that point Wackys were dead. I thought it would be cool to have everyone get a real piece of Jay Lynch artwork. When I proposed the series to Topps it was just part of the overall design. I think they work great in Old School (especially when the majority were done by Jay and later adding in Bill Griffith and Bhob Stewart) and the Postcard series because they are collector based with small print runs and because all the collectors that are buying these series actually know who the artists actually are and care about the artwork and production stuff and all that other behind the scenes goodness. I think they work terrible in ANS. I have to think the majority of the sketches end up in a 5 year old kids hand who has no idea who any of us are and who doesn't really care about the sketch. Same reason Ludlows make no sense in ANS. ANS should be about the 5-10 crowd for the inserts. Old School and Postcards and the comics are for the old time collectors.

[Joe G.]

Dave, very cool, nice to know the origin of Olds.  Also, getting some original art by Jay Lynch was the reason I got back into collecting. 

It seems that everyone is saying that they love the formula for Olds, don't change anything but we still need to recognize that we're not supporting it enough to keep it going. 

Ps.  Obviously, no one wants to see the die cut go but if it's a question of losing the die cut or losing Wackys, what can you do.  It's kinda like a Zombie bite.  Sometimes you gotta lose a limb to keep going.

[koduck]

I think they work terrible in ANS. I have to think the majority of the sketches end up in a 5 year old kids hand who has no idea who any of us are and who doesn't really care about the sketch. Same reason Ludlows make no sense in ANS. ANS should be about the 5-10 crowd for the inserts. Old School and Postcards and the comics are for the old time collectors.

You're right:  the single pack buyers (ie, kids) likely don't care about the extras (such as sketch cards). But it's the hard core collectors (ie, the adults) who are spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on cases to get the extras. These are the people that are driving the ANS train...

[RawGoo]

Dave, very cool, nice to know the origin of Olds.  Also, getting some original art by Jay Lynch was the reason I got back into collecting. 

It seems that everyone is saying that they love the formula for Olds, don't change it but we still need to recognize that we're not supporting it enough to keep it going.

I've been spending a lot on Old School since the beginning, partly figuring that it's extra support so they don't stop producing it.  But, 10 boxes of Old School 5 with expensive shipping, and then tax on the price and shipping, and then a $20 binder, is apparently no longer enough.  And that's considering that they eliminated the cool wax wrappers that came with the early binders. 

If Topps had used Star Wreck as the puzzle in Old School 5,  I believe many Trek collectors would have wanted that, thus boosting box sales.  I put that on Topps as a wasted opportunity.

Of the Old School inserts we've seen so far, I loved the very first 5x7 stickers, and wish they had done the whole set.  I also really like the recent die-cut cards.  The tattoos were OK, but they don't display well, and I'd rather they drop them and just give us extra base stickers if that would drop the price enough to continue the series.

For the "base" stickers, I can do without the tan backs - my favorites are the white backs, with Ludlows second (although I don't ever again want to deal with camel feet varieties).  And, if they want resellers to keep supporting them, they should consider going back to where there are enough puzzle pieces to go with most sets. 

Topps has to also realize that they're seriously tapping into the older Wacky collectors' money with their ANS releases with the special collector boxes.  If ANS was like it was before, people would have more cash to spend on Old School.  When sketches started tanking, they could have used the patches and placks with Old School boxes instead of sketches, and instead of messing with ANS.  At least that way, you're linking the material with the older collectors.

Anyway, I feel like I've been doing my best to support Wackys.  I'll keep trying, but I really prefer the postcards and Old School sets, and if they want the deeper pockets to keep spending, they might need to reconsider some of their marketing practices.  I sincerely hope that they will do this instead of just writing off the brand.

[quas]

I've been spending a lot on Old School since the beginning, partly figuring that it's extra support so they don't stop producing it.  But, 10 boxes of Old School 5 with expensive shipping, and then tax on the price and shipping, and then a $20 binder, is apparently no longer enough.  And that's considering that they eliminated the cool wax wrappers that came with the early binders. 

If Topps had used Star Wreck as the puzzle in Old School 5,  I believe many Trek collectors would have wanted that, thus boosting box sales.  I put that on Topps as a wasted opportunity.

Of the Old School inserts we've seen so far, I loved the very first 5x7 stickers, and wish they had done the whole set.  I also really like the recent die-cut cards.  The tattoos were OK, but they don't display well, and I'd rather they drop them and just give us extra base stickers if that would drop the price enough to continue the series.

For the "base" stickers, I can do without the tan backs - my favorites are the white backs, with Ludlows second (although I don't ever again want to deal with camel feet varieties).  And, if they want resellers to keep supporting them, they should consider going back to where there are enough puzzle pieces to go with most sets. 

Topps has to also realize that they're seriously tapping into the older Wacky collectors' money with their ANS releases with the special collector boxes.  If ANS was like it was before, people would have more cash to spend on Old School.  When sketches started tanking, they could have used the patches and placks with Old School boxes instead of sketches, and instead of messing with ANS.  At least that way, you're linking the material with the older collectors.

Anyway, I feel like I've been doing my best to support Wackys.  I'll keep trying, but I really prefer the postcards and Old School sets, and if they want the deeper pockets to keep spending, they might need to reconsider some of their marketing practices.  I sincerely hope that they will do this instead of just writing off the brand.

Topps should arrange a conference call with 10 "key" Forum members to find out what their customers most want, instead of guessing, or whatever means they are using currently.

[Joe G.]

Pat, I think your call about doing patches and placks in Olds instead of sketches is an excellent one.  In fact, if they had one full size Wacky Plack (like the ones in the 70s) per 8 boxes of Olds that would have been a chase item that might have gotten a fair amount of fan support.

For myself, I really dug the Tattoos and thought they were a great addition to Olds.

[BlunderBreadGirl]

Cases are now $199.99. Such a deal If there's an OLDS 6 I'll wait for the $14.99 box price. I paid the initial full price and still haven't opened the box. Lesson learned!

I vote to keep the black borders for OLDS series.

I enjoy the one sketch card I get in a box. Not interested in the sketch card madness...

BBG

[quas]

Cases are now $199.99. Such a deal If there's an OLDS 6 I'll wait for the $14.99 box price. I paid the initial full price and still haven't opened the box. Lesson learned!

I vote to keep the black borders for OLDS series.

I enjoy the one sketch card I get in a box. Not interested in the sketch card madness...

BBG

Cases are actually $119.99.  The $199.99 per Topps' email from late last week was an error.  Typical Topps quality control on their communications, post-Jaspersen.  If they need an outside, nitpicky reviewer to look at all their communications before they go out, I'll be happy to take the job...

[bigtomi]

I vote to keep the black borders for OLDS series.

Don't think it's about the black border. It's whether the stickers are die-cut (kiss cut) or not.

[FourRoses]

Clearly everyone here is a WP enthusiast which is why we should realize market saturation might be taking its toll.

Speaking of the line itself rather than a particular segment, I believe many people are frustrated by seeing stock languishing on shelves or not having a viable outlet to get what you want.

[Mashbox]

Dropping in from my usual lurking to add my two cents.

I'm of the belief that the OLDS series need to focus more on the adult collector who is just wanting to build a couple of sets but is interested in unique collectibles alongside the sets. This means the wrong idea is parallels, because most collectors really don't care about them in non-sports series. They work for sports cards to an extent, because people collect cards of a favorite player, but they don't work as well for non-sports when it comes to older collectors. Can't speak to younger collectors, though.

What does work are unique items that get the older collector to say that they want more. I look at the 5x7 cards that cam with previous OLDS and those are really cool -- the type of collectible I can pull out and enjoy every time I look at it. I can understand what they tried to do with the tattoos, making them like the ones from the days of the original series, but I don't think they work as well for older collectors these days. A better idea might be to produce posters, similar to those from the days of the originals.

Say, each OLDS box contains three 5x7 cards, one poster and one sketch card. The packs contain the base set stickers, puzzle pieces, and maybe a Wacky-related item that replaces a puzzle piece, but allows collectors to build one set of each (one puzzle piece set, one other-Wacky item set). Sketch cards would be unique and would try to focus on the artists from the original series. There would be nine total 5x7 cards and nine total posters, so older collectors would have some incentive to buy more boxes, but with the idea that they are pursuing a collectible that would hold more appeal to them.

Anyway, the idea for OLDS was supposed to be a set to have greater appeal to those who loved the original series, so make sure the extras you include are ones that an older collector might be interested in, and would encourage those collectors to think about buying multiple boxes. I just don't see strong interest in parallels, so those should be scrapped.

[DrDeal]

Clearly everyone here is a WP enthusiast which is why we should realize market saturation might be taking its toll.

Speaking of the line itself rather than a particular segment, I believe many people are frustrated by seeing stock languishing on shelves or not having a viable outlet to get what you want.

Speaking of stock laguishing on shelve; I was in a pretty large Target the other day and they had zero Wakckies, no ANS or Chrome. It was sad not to see the logo anywhere on the card shelf. I lool fforward to seeing ANS hit retail in a few months.

[drono]

Say, each OLDS box contains three 5x7 cards, one poster and one sketch card. The packs contain the base set stickers, puzzle pieces, and maybe a Wacky-related item that replaces a puzzle piece, but allows collectors to build one set of each (one puzzle piece set, one other-Wacky item set). Sketch cards would be unique and would try to focus on the artists from the original series. There would be nine total 5x7 cards and nine total posters, so older collectors would have some incentive to buy more boxes, but with the idea that they are pursuing a collectible that would hold more appeal to them.

That's a very interesting perspective. 

I think what's missing for me is the thrill of having to save up my allowance, get my parents to take me up to the 7/11 (only place in town that sold them) so I could purchase a few packs -- then opening each one (not caring about ripping the wrapper) to see if I got one I didn't have.  Being able to buy an entire case or even one box with the guarantee of getting one complete set removes most of that thrill. 

At the same time, having to spend exorbitant amounts of money with a credit card to buy an entire case (or more) to get one of each sketch or a Ludlow-backed set, doesn't work either because I look back at what I SHOULD have done with that money.  As an adult, I have real-world problems.  Money becomes important because I have to pay bills and prepare for retirement (hopefully earlier than 65), and be responsible, so making me spend more on what really just amounts to some eye-catching stickers and some hand-drawn masterpieces causes a guilt complex.  These days, I'm far too busy to open all those packs, package them up and shop them back to eBay to recoup my spending, and that's why I now resort to buying a set from eBay and maybe one box that I keep sealed. 

I just don't enjoy them like I did when I was nine years old, but the collector in me keeps me buying the latest set.  I seldom really even look at them except when I put them in the plastic sleeves.  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

[FourRoses]

The ANS "whatever" series sat on Target shelves because kids aren't buying this product. Those who are interested in the line know when a box or pack looks to be molested and will allow it to gather dust. Who can blame them. Weeks ago my Target had plenty of those bonus packs along with the gravity feed but they were completely gone over so they sat and sat and sat then one day they were all gone. Did someone come and buy them? No way.

What also bothers me is how the Topps website will have a picture of the collector boxes even though they are unavailable through the site. It doesn't take much to piss people off and I doubt that doesn't especially when Target sells other lines with sealed collectors editions on the shelves such as sports cards.

A few simple approaches could work wonders.

[Joe G.]

Speaking of stock laguishing on shelve; I was in a pretty large Target the other day and they had zero Wakckies, no ANS or Chrome. It was sad not to see the logo anywhere on the card shelf. I lool fforward to seeing ANS hit retail in a few months.

Andrew, I'm with you.  Regardless of the series (ANS, Chrome, erasers et) it's always cool to see the Wacky logo in the wild.  We're at 4 1/2 weeks till WP 2015 and I can't wait.

[DrDeal]

Andrew, I'm with you.  Regardless of the series (ANS, Chrome, erasers et) it's always cool to see the Wacky logo in the wild.  We're at 4 1/2 weeks till WP 2015 and I can't wait.

I recall scoring a Coming Soon Shelf Display Insert From a Target a few years back promoting AN7 I think. Maybe they will do that again this time around.
I will keep my eyes open.

[Joe G.]

I recall scoring a Coming Soon Shelf Display Insert From a Target a few years back promoting AN7 I think. Maybe they will do that again this time around.
I will keep my eyes open.

Andrew, I remember seeing those and not grabbing one.  If they show up I won't make that mistake again.