The more I look at the Creepy Co website, the more excited I get for possible cool Wacky items. They have a ton of GPK items I'd spring for in a heartbeat. As long as Topps isn't doing anything to get me excited about Wackys, I guess I need to count on outside companies to keep the fire going. I just sent a message to Creepy with some thoughts. Perhaps it would help encourage them to hear from more Wacky folks.
Here's what I wrote:
Hi, Creepy People!
I'm a long time Wacky Packages collector and was thrilled to hear you would be creating some Wacky items! To be honest, however, while I like the first three (I hope there's more) Wacky items you've conjured up, I don't know that I'll actually be ordering any. I appreciate your note about how you're the "company you keep", so I thought I'd give some feedback on what I would love to see as a Wacky Package collector.
First, though, here's why I'm not immediately sold on the three Wacky items you have so far. The t-shirts are indeed cool, but many companies have released Wacky t-shirts. I personally have dozens (in fact, I recently listed 17 to sell on ebay). Your designs are great, but in the end, it's still a t-shirt which leaves me on the fence. (For what it's worth, I can also be a bit wonky about buying clothes online as I am not confident how they'll fit). I love the idea of the pins and would be more inclined to purchase those. However, my slight disappointment is in the selection of images/titles you used. We long-time Wacky collectors (who bought them as kids in the 70s) have a huge fondness for the "original series" titles that came out back then. Norm Saunders, the artist who painted most of them, is a master and there would be so many monstrous images from which you could choose. I'd happily give you some suggestions if you'd like, but I know I would strongly prefer to focus on those rather than a sampling from the different eras of Wacky Packages.
In perusing your website, I saw lots of really cool Garbage Pail Kids items! I'm not a GPK collector, but I would love to see some of the GPK items you made done as Wacky Packages. Some of the ones that most stand out to me are the wax wrapper blanket, patch, plastic cups (though a pint glass would be similarly awesome), buttons, puffy stickers, zipper pulls, and pin set (amazing!). I also like the cushion and socks, though to a lesser extent. And while I know I previously said I'm a bit reluctant to buy more t-shirts, I do like many of the GPK shirts that AREN'T t-shirts, such as the polo and button-up shirt.
Again, I'm very pleased to hear that you are delving in the Wacky world! Your company sounds fun and I see a good deal of potential to create some incredible Wacky items. I wish you well and will keep my eyes peeled on your website.
Thanks for listening!
Tom Theisen
Madison, WI