Author Topic: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging  (Read 640448 times)

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Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2030 on: May 06, 2020, 06:37:48 PM »
a TRUE Piece of comparative art!



I was very tempted to raise the Playskull vs Slayskool debate, but decided to hold off until we get to the 15th.  I think it’s also fantastic, but Playskull is the sentimental favorite.  It took me until 1997 just to see Slayskool for the first time.  One cool thing about both is that each has a dead-on real product match.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2031 on: May 07, 2020, 04:39:11 AM »
It is a great on, but I never understood the fangs on Frankenstein.....

That's his brother...Fangkenstein  :]

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2032 on: May 08, 2020, 04:25:03 PM »
Drainola and Granola...



Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2033 on: May 08, 2020, 07:40:45 PM »
Never saw this one back in ‘75, but I’ve always liked it.  Love it when cereal Wackys have all that detail along the box top and side panel (Betty Crooked is another good example), especially that little rectangular seal - not sure if it’s a General Mills thing, but it all enhances the illusion, makes the Wacky look like a real cereal box.  Also love the old-fashioned lettering in the Granola/Drainola name.

There’s another thing that strikes me about this Wacky - it may be the only example I can think of where a prominent character addition was painted to look like just a regular person - no exaggerated features, goofy expression, screwy eyes, eye shadow, etc.  Gives the parody an almost ‘mature’ quality in comparison with its peers.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2034 on: May 09, 2020, 04:09:00 AM »
Never saw this one back in ‘75, but I’ve always liked it.  Love it when cereal Wackys have all that detail along the box top and side panel (Betty Crooked is another good example), especially that little rectangular seal - not sure if it’s a General Mills thing, but it all enhances the illusion, makes the Wacky look like a real cereal box.  Also love the old-fashioned lettering in the Granola/Drainola name.

There’s another thing that strikes me about this Wacky - it may be the only example I can think of where a prominent character addition was painted to look like just a regular person - no exaggerated features, goofy expression, screwy eyes, eye shadow, etc.  Gives the parody an almost ‘mature’ quality in comparison with its peers.

Yeah, that vintage font makes me think the illustrator made the vintage illustration to match. That guy in the red sweater could be from a bygone era. Wondering if that sink was based on one of these...

« Last Edit: May 09, 2020, 04:17:43 AM by Swiski »

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2035 on: May 10, 2020, 04:51:44 AM »
Ale and All...



Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2036 on: May 10, 2020, 07:04:47 AM »
Nice overall Wacky, funny character and theme. Nice vibrant color and packaging design, good choice for parody. Has a little more pop than the last few box detergent products reviewed.

Offline drono

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2037 on: May 10, 2020, 07:12:33 AM »
We're lucky that we had artists who loved drawing "characters" to add to these boxes.  Imagine what most of the wackys would look like if Andy Warhol had done them.  Hey that's an idea for a subset the next time Topps puts out a nationwide set.

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2038 on: May 10, 2020, 08:40:02 AM »
We're lucky that we had artists who loved drawing "characters" to add to these boxes.  Imagine what most of the wackys would look like if Andy Warhol had done them.  Hey that's an idea for a subset the next time Topps puts out a nationwide set.
The only thing about Andy’s ‘pop art’ of the 1960’s that appeals to me today is that the associated packages he painted are now Wacky-era retro - Brillo & Campbell’s soup cans.  Not sure if he did more than those two.  I watched a documentary on his life and learned that when he lived in NYC he used to go to a corner bodega across the street from where he lived, and that’s where the idea to paint the products was hatched.  Not that different from Woody Gelman’s initial vision that led to Wacky Packages.

Offline drono

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2039 on: May 10, 2020, 10:06:33 AM »
The only thing about Andy’s ‘pop art’ of the 1960’s that appeals to me today is that the associated packages he painted are now Wacky-era retro - Brillo & Campbell’s soup cans.  Not sure if he did more than those two. 

When he painted people, he tended to paint them as portraits with 1960's and '70s psychedelic colors instead of changing their features like a caricature or character artist would.

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2040 on: May 10, 2020, 10:30:36 AM »
Yes, arguably in that sense he wasn’t what I would consider a true artist, at least not as far as what we’re talking about.  Creating repeating patterns, changing colors, etc but without a single freehand brushstroke.  But I don’t know his broader body of work enough that I could say this was all he did.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2041 on: May 11, 2020, 03:28:42 PM »
Doomed and Diamond matches? In this case, the real product image is a match! ;D



Offline sco(o)t

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2042 on: May 11, 2020, 03:51:43 PM »
Although this one is a favorite of my friends and I, this is one of the few that our cluster of 11 year old critics thought we could make better in terms of wording. Instead I’m doomed brand we would have preferred demon brand of matches for burning witches ( closer wordplay to matches than monsters, and diamond then doomed) and in our minds, we associated witches with being burned. But who can fault the artwork, even though it’s not a witch.



aka Scot Leibacher (no trademark)

Offline Fanatical_and_Sickly

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2043 on: May 11, 2020, 04:10:43 PM »
Doomed and Diamond matches? In this case, the real product image is a match! ;D
So punny!
A great one for its imagery, although all the jokes don't quite mesh, such as the baseball count.
Doomed works perfectly to mimic the double-d's pointing out of the top of the diamond logo
but otherwise I'll go with sco(o)t on the 'witches' vs 'monsters'

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2044 on: May 11, 2020, 06:11:31 PM »
Some good points here, probably right the jokes would have meshed better with a demonic / witch concept, especially considering that a Frankenstein theme was used on two different parodies.

That aside, always liked this one, at least visually.  I don’t get the baseball reference either.  Completely out of synch with the theme of the parody, and not even remotely funny.  What did the real product have printed in that location on the box?  “Strike here”?

Offline bigtomi

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2045 on: May 11, 2020, 06:30:40 PM »
What did the real product have printed in that location on the box?  “Strike here”?
Likely the same phrase as on the opposite side: "Strike-On-Box-Only".

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2046 on: May 13, 2020, 05:43:05 AM »
Rowdy Gelatine and Royal Gelatin. Is Gelatine how they spill it in Europe? The real product has Gelatin on the box.


« Last Edit: May 13, 2020, 05:45:36 AM by Swiski »

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2047 on: May 13, 2020, 06:01:39 AM »
I'm wondering what the fire hydrant would have looked like if it was given a subtle transparent look, like real gelatin. I'm no illustrator, but adding a few dark lines improves it a little bit...



Offline sco(o)t

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2048 on: May 13, 2020, 06:35:07 AM »
How about a redo of this one named LOYAL...  dessert for man's best friend. Keep the fire hydrant of course, because dogs.
aka Scot Leibacher (no trademark)

Offline drono

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2049 on: May 13, 2020, 07:01:18 AM »
How about a redo of this one named LOYAL...  dessert for man's best friend. Keep the fire hydrant of course, because dogs.

And add a dog peeing on the hydrant.  That's much better than a snot gag!

In some parts of the country, where there's been a drought, I've heard that trees will actually fight over dogs.  We've only ever owned one male dog, and every morning he used to walk the entire fence line, marking his territory.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2020, 07:04:42 AM by drono »

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2050 on: May 13, 2020, 07:13:07 PM »
I like the visual and the hydrant is well-rendered, but the jokes/theme are a bit off - is it suggesting that the hot pepper flavor is so hot that you’ll need to call the local fire dept. to put out the fire in your mouth, hence the hydrant?  Ok I guess....but what about that scenario would be described as ‘rowdy’?  Makes me wonder if this one was rushed to get the required sticker count for the series.

Offline DrSushi

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2051 on: May 13, 2020, 07:48:31 PM »
I seem to recall that this one of Jay Lynch's gags and Rowdy was his dog's name.

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2052 on: May 13, 2020, 09:06:08 PM »
If there’s an inside joke or story behind it, that would make sense.  Kind of like the Harvey Kurtzman likeness on Generally Demented Soft-Head Bulbs.  If you didn’t know that that was a tribute to someone specific, you’d be left wondering (as I was) how they ever came up with that mug.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2053 on: May 14, 2020, 04:14:02 AM »
If there’s an inside joke or story behind it, that would make sense.  Kind of like the Harvey Kurtzman likeness on Generally Demented Soft-Head Bulbs.  If you didn’t know that that was a tribute to someone specific, you’d be left wondering (as I was) how they ever came up with that mug.
I always thought that likeness was Gene Wilder, since he played off-kilter "demented" characters in his movies (Willy Wonka, Young Frankenstein, the Producers)
« Last Edit: May 14, 2020, 12:12:25 PM by Swiski »

Online mikecho

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2054 on: May 14, 2020, 08:44:04 AM »
I seem to recall that this one of Jay Lynch's gags and Rowdy was his dog's name.
Yes, that's exactly what I heard. I think it might've been in the second Abrams Wacky Packages book where Jay wrote the introduction, but I'm not sure.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2055 on: May 14, 2020, 12:19:03 PM »
Battle Ball and Paddle Ball...



Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2056 on: May 14, 2020, 12:22:36 PM »
Although I like the guy on the horse, I'm confused as to how they both tie in on the Wacky - and the original package, for that matter.  A knight, perhaps, might have been better, to go along with the flail (battle ball.)
« Last Edit: May 14, 2020, 12:27:54 PM by Baked Bears »

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2057 on: May 14, 2020, 12:44:42 PM »
Battle Ball and Paddle Ball...


When my original 1973-75 childhood acquisitions were long gone but I still had a few checklists including a 13th, for years I wondered what Battle Ball was a parody of.  I figured a pack of Topps basketball cards.  It would be unusual to see a second Topps parody in the same series, but not unprecedented.  When Battle Ball was finally revealed to me in 1997, I realized that I had seen it before, must have had one from a pack in 1975.  I remembered the image with the red and blue circles, but not the name.  Not the most exciting anecdote I’m sure, but it’s what I think of now whenever I look at it.  A seeming mystery that really wasn’t a mystery at all.

Agree with the previous post that a jousting knight in armor would have made better sense thematically.  A cute little Wacky nonetheless.

Offline drono

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2058 on: May 14, 2020, 01:16:22 PM »
Agree with the previous post that a jousting knight in armor would have made better sense thematically.  A cute little Wacky nonetheless.

Logistically it would have been difficult for someone in a full suit of armor to use it, and if he had on his helmet, he wouldn't get a bump on his head.

Online mikecho

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2059 on: May 14, 2020, 01:24:26 PM »
Battle Ball and Paddle Ball...


As I stated on the Master Spreadsheet post, I've been trying to find this one's name for ages! Thanks, Swiski!

I have to admit, though, I never even saw, nor heard of, that product when I was a kid.

Online mikecho

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2060 on: May 14, 2020, 01:26:47 PM »
That's his brother...Fangkenstein  :]
Or, if you watched The Milton the Monster Show on UHF, Fangenstein!

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2061 on: May 14, 2020, 02:05:54 PM »
As I stated on the Master Spreadsheet post, I've been trying to find this one's name for ages! Thanks, Swiski!

I have to admit, though, I never even saw, nor heard of, that product when I was a kid.

Glad I can help fill in the missing info on the spreadsheet!

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2062 on: May 15, 2020, 07:48:08 AM »
Scream Sicle and Cream Sicle.

1970s-era wrapper photos or samples are very hard to locate, but the older wrappers I found are close in style. The design didn't change too much.



Offline Zenergizer

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2063 on: May 15, 2020, 09:33:20 AM »
I always liked these ones, and I could go for a cool orange Creamsicle right now!

Offline All-Brain

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Re: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging
« Reply #2064 on: May 15, 2020, 05:57:11 PM »
I always liked these ones, and I could go for a cool orange Creamsicle right now!

Oh my gosh that brings back memories ! Send one my way!!