1976 Time Capsule

[Paul_Maul]

13:45

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ytynVpbbk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ytynVpbbk</a>

[BRUTE_88]

That is too cool!  Just imagine how many other time capsules never get found, but very rarely would they have unopened Wacky packs.  That guy had some patience as to not open them as a kid, since most of us would just have put our doubles or triples in there instead.  Thanks for sharing that Dave.

[Swiski]

If he decided to sell that unopen pack on eBay, I hope he included it was covered in decayed sugar goo and buried underground for about 40 years.

[NationalSpittoon]

He had to have had that pack for a whole year unopened if he put it down there in 1976. That’s neat.

[Paul_Maul]

He had to have had that pack for a whole year unopened if he put it down there in 1976. That’s neat.

I was trying to see the back but could not. However, the shade of yellow makes it look like an early series yellow pack, not a 14th, so that would be an even longer time.

[RawGoo]

That is too cool!  Just imagine how many other time capsules never get found, but very rarely would they have unopened Wacky packs.  That guy had some patience as to not open them as a kid, since most of us would just have put our doubles or triples in there instead.  Thanks for sharing that Dave.

Wackys didn't stay unopened for me - they rarely made it into the house before the wrapper was off.

[MoldRush]

Wackys didn't stay unopened for me - they rarely made it into the house before the wrapper was off.

Same here.  It never crossed my mind to even save wrappers, let alone leave a pack sealed.  If I didn’t at least complete the set already (which never happened during OS 1-16), there’s no way I would have slept at night knowing that an unopened pack might be holding a sticker or puzzle piece I still needed.  I think the earliest cards I ever thought to keep sealed were some of the cello packs and rack packs from mid-80s sports sets.

[mikecho]

This brought back old memories of a time capsule that one of my elementary school classes in PA (I can't remember which grade, though) buried way, way, way back on the back edge of the school playground at about the same year (1976).

For all I know, it's probably still there, patiently waiting to be discovered, and I'm probably the only person who remembers it after all these years. I don't even know where any of my old classmates are, or even if any or all of them are alive or dead.

[RawGoo]

Same here.  It never crossed my mind to even save wrappers, let alone leave a pack sealed.  If I didn’t at least complete the set already (which never happened during OS 1-16), there’s no way I would have slept at night knowing that an unopened pack might be holding a sticker or puzzle piece I still needed.  I think the earliest cards I ever thought to keep sealed were some of the cello packs and rack packs from mid-80s sports sets.

I tossed all my Wacky wrappers, and even the Series 15 box from the time I had enough money to buy a full box.  For later card sets I generally kept at least one of every wrapper.  The earliest stuff I kept sealed would be full boxes of 1976 Star Trek and 1979 ST-TMP.  I've really GOT to find those...…….

[MoldRush]

The only tangential card-related thing my brothers and I kept from the 70’s was the Bazooka Joe comics and large-pack wrappers.  Not because we recognized the future collectible value of these items, but because they were currency for mail-away premiums, the ones they advertised on the comics themselves.  We got a good number of the offerings, including binoculars, mini tool kit, mini camera, 2-way radio, seashell collection, felt baseball pennants, and a few others.  The so-called two-way radio was only the primitive kind, two metal lollipop-looking gizmos connected by a string.  But if you kept tension in the string, they actually worked very well.  Of course only so much you can do at maximum 20 feet apart.

[RawGoo]

This was an accidental time capsule - I was working to clean out my mother's garage yesterday and came across an old bookbag stuffed with things from the 70s.  I KNEW I had a Jail-O plack!!!



It isn't perfect, but I love it anyway.  It will finally be next to Drowny again.  Along with it I found a '57 Nomad model kit I built with my cousin's help, some small ceramic items I painted, a bank with marbles in it, two Wizzzers and an instruction manual for tricks, a full size and a mini Slinky, and several Disney Bicentennial themed notebooks (will post some more pics later, but they're at the wrong house right now).

[Paul_Maul]

This was an accidental time capsule - I was working to clean out my mother's garage yesterday and came across an old bookbag stuffed with things from the 70s.  I KNEW I had a Jail-O plack!!!



It isn't perfect, but I love it anyway.  It will finally be next to Drowny again.  Along with it I found a '57 Nomad model kit I built with my cousin's help, some small ceramic items I painted, a bank with marbles in it, two Wizzzers and an instruction manual for tricks, a full size and a mini Slinky, and several Disney Bicentennial themed notebooks (will post some more pics later, but they're at the wrong house right now).

Awesome!

[RawGoo]

Awesome!

It was really fun opening it up.  Had to cut open the bookbag - the zipper was toast.



















The rocketry book cover is fantastic!!

[g.u.e.s.t.]

This was an accidental time capsule - I was working to clean out my mother's garage yesterday and came across an old bookbag stuffed with things from the 70s.  I KNEW I had a Jail-O plack!!!



It isn't perfect, but I love it anyway.  It will finally be next to Drowny again.  Along with it I found a '57 Nomad model kit I built with my cousin's help, some small ceramic items I painted, a bank with marbles in it, two Wizzzers and an instruction manual for tricks, a full size and a mini Slinky, and several Disney Bicentennial themed notebooks (will post some more pics later, but they're at the wrong house right now).

Too cool! What a find!

[sco(o)t]

This was an accidental time capsule - I was working to clean out my mother's garage yesterday and came across an old bookbag stuffed with things from the 70s.  I KNEW I had a Jail-O plack!!!



It isn't perfect, but I love it anyway.  It will finally be next to Drowny again.  Along with it I found a '57 Nomad model kit I built with my cousin's help, some small ceramic items I painted, a bank with marbles in it, two Wizzzers and an instruction manual for tricks, a full size and a mini Slinky, and several Disney Bicentennial themed notebooks (will post some more pics later, but they're at the wrong house right now).

The pics are cool. My sister and I spend many hours battling our Whizzers until they would finally get entangled in enough carpet fibers it was no longer humanly possible for our Dad to free them. You didn't mention the secret rocket plans you had concealed away. 

[ToadallyDude]

I remember building that '57 Chevy Nomad model, too.  Lucky for me, I opened my Wacky Packages "time-capsule" in 1997 (which wasn't really a time-capsule... it was just big shoebox I thankfully kept & stashed at my folks during the years I might have thought they were stupid & sold them.)  When I found John Mann's site in Jan '97, I went & retrieved it to find all my sets in plastic bags (2,5, and 7-15 all complete, with most of the 6th and 16th, and partial 1,3,4), as well as a complete Phoney's Funnies, Crazy Covers 1 & 2, and a near-complete Wacky Ads set.  Much of it needed upgrading of course.  Who cared about condition back then? ... but it was fun to identify all the cool variations in there from John's site.  I think I was up until 5:AM that night digesting it all & transforming into one of the many burgeoning, late-90's, Wacky Pack fanatics.

Because the fam also knew not to toss anything without asking me (as I know happened to a ton of collectors unfortunately), I've also still got all my old Tonka's, Legos, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, and Star Wars stuff.

Desperately missing from my kid collection, though, were my bucket-full of Hotwheels (red-lines included), and marbles... which I sold to some kid down the street for next to nothing when I was 12 and moving on.

[RawGoo]

The pics are cool. My sister and I spend many hours battling our Whizzers until they would finally get entangled in enough carpet fibers it was no longer humanly possible for our Dad to free them. You didn't mention the secret rocket plans you had concealed away. 

I think I said the rocketry book cover was fantastic, and I meant it.  I'm going to try to get a good scan.  Maybe we can get some reprints, but they won't be the old fashioned brown paper bag material.

[MoldRush]

It was really fun opening it up.  Had to cut open the bookbag - the zipper was toast.



















The rocketry book cover is fantastic!!

Pat, I had both those LEGO kits too!  The forklift is particularly memorable, because I distinctly remember thinking I’d lost the little operator man, and I was so upset about it that I scratched together enough pocket change to buy another one, only to have the missing minifig turn up later.  The scooter set was interesting with the larger, articulated figures.  Serious evolution from one set to the next.  Both very simple overall though.

[drono]

The pics are cool. My sister and I spend many hours battling our Whizzers until they would finally get entangled in enough carpet fibers it was no longer humanly possible for our Dad to free them.

I remember the Wizzzer.  I got in trouble in the 1st grade when the teacher said that there were no words with more than two of the same consecutive letter, and I asked her about the Wizzzer.  That's probably why I stopped asking questions in school.

[RawGoo]

Pat, I had both those LEGO kits too!  The forklift is particularly memorable, because I distinctly remember thinking I’d lost the little operator man, and I was so upset about it that I scratched together enough pocket change to buy another one, only to have the missing minifig turn up later.  The scooter set was interesting with the larger, articulated figures.  Serious evolution from one set to the next.  Both very simple overall though.

Too funny!  I remember choosing these specific sets because I'd be able to drive them around, and the forklift could actually pick up the extra brick.  Both sets are still complete and work fine.  The forklift set says 1975, and the scooter says 1976.

[BustedFinger]

What exactly is the Rocket book cover?

[RawGoo]

What exactly is the Rocket book cover?

Check out the third pic from the bottom - back when I was a kid, we were supposed to cover our textbooks, and we used to buy these in packs.  They feel like brown paper grocery bag material, but they had stuff printed on them, and areas to write your name, class schedules, etc.  The rocket one is really nice!!  I hope to get a good scan soon, but want to try to flatten it out a bit first.

[RawGoo]

I remember the Wizzzer.  I got in trouble in the 1st grade when the teacher said that there were no words with more than two of the same consecutive letter, and I asked her about the Wizzzer.  That's probably why I stopped asking questions in school.

I'm hoping to find the plastic trays and paper tops that went with the Wizzzers.  There's still a large toy chest buried in that garage.  For now, I'm having fun with them as they are.  They really do spin for a while!

Oh, and Drowny looks much better with Jail-O plack next to it 

[ToadallyDude]

Giving "The Hobby" the finger since 1999!

I just now noticed your cool signature line.  But I can't remember which collector your handle belongs to, having been absent for so long.  I'm so curious now.  I like the line & your description about no books & no arguments, too.  Man, if the forums could have had that motto all along!  Although, I suppose I'm probably considered at least one of the fringe contributors to "The Hobby", "The Books", and maybe some of "The Arguments" historically... always on the side of keeping it fun & cheap & non-confrontational, though.  Seems like everyone's either mellowed out now (or left entirely).  But so cool to see so many of the old-timers still on here keepin' it alive.

[MoldRush]

Too funny!  I remember choosing these specific sets because I'd be able to drive them around, and the forklift could actually pick up the extra brick.  Both sets are still complete and work fine.  The forklift set says 1975, and the scooter says 1976.

The forklift appealed to me because it was the first set I ever saw containing a mini figure (of course much larger sets followed which had multiple figures), and also because it was the least expensive set I’d ever seen - $1.50, something like that, so I was able to buy a replacement with my own money.   The scooter was a birthday gift I think.  While I too liked the various vehicular sets back then, they tended to be the smaller ones, whereas the larger sets were usually buildings - hospital, police station, etc.  I think LEGO has gotten away from that too much in the modern era - massive trucks, construction rigs, RVs, space ships, etc.  The only building sets I see now are the special “architecture” line.  And the cross-marketing with licensed characters has also changed things a lot.  Too many diorama-type action scene sets with specialized pieces that limit creativity.

[BustedFinger]

I just now noticed your cool signature line.  But I can't remember which collector your handle belongs to, having been absent for so long.  I'm so curious now.  I like the line & your description about no books & no arguments, too.  Man, if the forums could have had that motto all along!  Although, I suppose I'm probably considered at least one of the fringe contributors to "The Hobby", "The Books", and maybe some of "The Arguments" historically... always on the side of keeping it fun & cheap & non-confrontational, though.  Seems like everyone's either mellowed out now (or left entirely).  But so cool to see so many of the old-timers still on here keepin' it alive.

My name is Loren.  I "re-discovered" Wackys back in 1999 when I found John Mann's site.  I quickly got deeply immersed in it, joining the Delphi forum and eBay.  I remember my very first eBay purchase was an 8th series puzzle set!  I think within about 2 years I "sealed the deal" with a 1-16 run, all variations.  If I recall correctly, I bought a 16th series set from you back then!  I think I paid you $350 for that set and I was a little nervous about sending that much money to someone I had only met through an online forum.  When I got the set, you had also thrown in a couple of Wacky Ads and a UK sticker!

Do you remember when everyone was mailing around a big stack of stickers?  There was probably about a 100 or so stickers and you put your name on a list and when your turn came up, the person who currently had them would mail them to you.  The idea was that you would take some from the stack for your collection and put some extras that you had back into the bunch and then mail them on to the next person.  Ah, those were the days my friend.....

[ToadallyDude]

My name is Loren...  If I recall correctly, I bought a 16th series set from you back then!  I think I paid you $350 for that set and I was a little nervous about sending that much money to someone I had only met through an online forum.  When I got the set, you had also thrown in a couple of Wacky Ads and a UK sticker!...

...Do you remember when everyone was mailing around a big stack of stickers?

Loren... hey what's up?  I definitely remember you, but of course we were all trading so much back then that all the details blur.  I remember the 16th being such a big deal back then since so few collectors even saw it as kids, but who could have seen the price it's getting NOW!  It's gotten a bit insane & I'm considering getting mine graded finally.  I wish I could say it's all 9s & 10s, but I tended not to care about condition at the very high end back then, so I let people upgrade from my 1-16 run sometimes.  To me, an EX+ looks just as nice as NM/MT in a sleeve page.  I opened a 16th box or two at some point.  But that was when you could pick one up for a couple hundred bucks.  I don't want to think about what a full box goes for now...  But one of the lessons I learned very late in Wackys (and poker) is that you always have to think 'ahead' of the ever-rising blinds & pay a little more than stuff is currently worth when it's on the way up (especially when it's ultra-rare).  I missed out on some stellar stuff trying to collect within my means rather than going all-in.  But hey, if I erase time and list every Wacky Pack item I 'have owned' collectively at some point, it's not a bad-looking collection.  Just don't have much anymore.

Unfortunately, I wasn't on the "list" of people who received the big 'stack of stickers', though.  I don't remember even hearing about it.  Cool idea, though.  It's like those open libraries.  Although, there's always going to be the one bad apple who takes 10 NM stickers & replaces them with 5 bent, re-stucks.  Someone should start that up again.  The one thing I always wanted to do was play a poker tournament for Wackys.  Everyone put a high-end item worth the same amount in the pot, and the last one with chips wins it all.  We talked about each putting a piece of art in once, but it never happened.  Too high-stakes.