ANS 7 Review

[Sue Mee]

Great job as always, Brent! Here are two different roughs, as this one had to go through changes before it was accepted.

Very cool! Thanks for posting this. I had to ask Brent what the original product was for this title. I think it's the only one I wasn't familiar with in ANS7.

[paste_anyplace]

Here's my "Baby Battle Pops" painting.
[expando]http://www.imagechicken.com/uploads/1284241533065047100.jpg[/expando]
And here's Dave Gross' original concept drawing.
[expando]http://www.imagechicken.com/uploads/1284241354044179900.jpg[/expando]

There was a lot of back-and-forth between Dave and I, and with Dave and Topps, in the development of Baby Battle Pop. I think the germ of the idea was Dave's. As I recall we originally talked about two babies fighting with broken baby bottles. It was Topps' notion to go with a military theme instead, and Dave came up with the camouflage flavor idea. I drew the first rough sketch (below) which was further refined by Dave, Topps, and finally by Brent in the painting.

[expando]http://www.hipsteria.com/images3/wackyans7/38_babybattlepop_rough_a.jpg[/expando]

[Brent Engstrom]

I love that slogan! "Goes to war on your teeth"

[Brent Engstrom]

Great job as always, Brent! Here are two different roughs, as this one had to go through changes before it was accepted.

This was one of my favorite ones to work on. Thanks for posting the original concept! Both are great in my opinion.

[Plan 9]

There was a lot of back-and-forth between Dave and I, and with Dave and Topps, in the development of Baby Battle Pop. I think the germ of the idea was Dave's. As I recall we originally talked about two babies fighting with broken baby bottles. It was Topps' notion to go with a military theme instead, and Dave came up with the camouflage flavor idea. I drew the first rough sketch (below) which was further refined by Dave, Topps, and finally by Brent in the painting.

[expando]http://www.hipsteria.com/images3/wackyans7/38_babybattlepop_rough_a.jpg[/expando]

The idea of fighting with broken baby bottles is funny. That's the kind of edgy stuff I've been talking about that Topps is incapable of doing today.

[slamjim]

The idea of fighting with broken baby bottles is funny. That's the kind of edgy stuff I've been talking about that Topps is incapable of doing today.

My thumb nail had two pissed off (and injured) babies in leather jackets circling each other holding broken bottles with milk dripping off them. I was thinking West Side Story. Instead of Message In A Bottle (the real slogan) it said Massacre In A Bottle. I'll see if I can find it in case there was something else on it.

[Duznt]

I love that slogan! "Goes to war on your teeth"

Yeah, that should definitely have been kept on the final version! To me, that's exactly what Wackys do: expose the manufacturer's marketing that tries to sell us something we either don't really need, or is bad for us, etc.

[Duznt]

Deathsavers: I originally submitted this for ANS6 but had Death breathing on the guy. It makes more sense and works better if the guy's breath is so strong it even overpowers Death.

The detail on this one blows me away (pun intended). Easily one of my top 10. LOVE those tiny skulls along the top!! I totally missed them on the tiny sticker. The skull faces had to have been painted with a single hair paint brush.

The only thing that could have been improved (not that this one really needs improvement), is making the bad breath look a little transparent. Otherwise to me it seems like a big long piece of chewing gum or something.    Love the foil rendering on the edges.

[Ducko]

Yeah, that should definitely have been kept on the final version! To me, that's exactly what Wackys do: expose the manufacturer's marketing that tries to sell us something we either don't really need, or is bad for us, etc.

Yes!



P.S.  Also only noticed the teeny skulls in the blow up. Brilliant! My wife thought those were really a nice touch.

[Gurgle]

It struck me how "Death Savers" works as a parody of either "Breath Savers" or "Life Savers."

[Ducko]

It struck me how "Death Savers" works as a parody of either "Breath Savers" or "Life Savers."

Wow! I didn't catch that! I was thinking Breath Savers only... but it really does work for both!

Dang, I wonder if that has ever happened before in Wacky History?

:: Consults the Wacky Arcanum ::

[slamjim]

It struck me how "Death Savers" works as a parody of either "Breath Savers" or "Life Savers."

Hey, good call. The thought never crossed my mind about that.

[Choke_Wagon]

It struck me how "Death Savers" works as a parody of either "Breath Savers" or "Life Savers."

But Life Servers from the original series works the best and hard to top that one with the inmate behind bars

[Ducko]

But Life Servers from the original series works the best and hard to top that one with the inmate behind bars

Yes, one of my all time favorites also. The way the "bars" of the mint separators interact with the character (having his hands wrapped around them) causing this amazing flip-flopping perspective thing. Brilliant.

[slamjim]

Yes, one of my all time favorites also. The way the "bars" of the mint separators interact with the character (having his hands wrapped around them) causing this amazing flip-flopping perspective thing. Brilliant.

I never even noticed on the Life Servers sticker you can see the inmate's clothes. It looks so shadowy until you look at the Abrams book and see the original art.

[crackedjerk]

With the busy start to the new school year and my getting my wackys pretty late in the game, I haven't gotten around to posting my thoughts on the new stickers.  Thought I'd post a Top 10 list.  As usual, it's hard to pick which ten, and if I did this a week from now, there would likely be a change or two.  That being said, here's my current Top 10 (in numerical sticker order):

1.  Thing Mints - love the girl's face, the red wagon with the hand in it, and the Bride of Frankenstein profile at the top of the box.  Even though the series is heavy on monsters, this one stands out from the rest.

3.  Just For Wolfmen - probably my fave of the entire series.  Love the look on Wolfie's face!  Reminds me of Bloodweiser in that I like the gags that are actually for a product someone (or, in those two cases, some creature) would actually want to buy.  The title alone makes this one a winner.

16.  Stupid Pretzel - probably doesn't hurt that I actually eat these, but the image of the pretzel cracks me up.  The guy's face is also classic Wacky.


17.  Kreepy Kreme - Simple, but the donuts are so well-rendered that this one's a winner based on that alone.

18.  Mtn Dude - Love the cork in the can top and the look of the dude!

28.  Grape Newts - Fantastic witch!  Simple, consistent supporting gags, and a nice color scheme help.

42.  Armor Maul - Love the crazed/crazy Viking!  Another one that the supporting gags make a strong title even stronger.

43.  Log Coffin - Initially I liked Mrs Blubberworths better.  However, as I looked more closely, this one rose above the other syrup parody.  The bottle is so well-rendered and the creepy guy as well.

53.  Sno Saps - Another one that looks like it could have been done by Norm back in the day.  Classic all the way!  For some reason, the brown (not normally a color I would like) looks really sharp.  The look on the snowman's face is perfect!

55.  KissKat - Not really a Kiss fan, but I thought this one was very well done.  The look on Kitty's face is terific and the gags are excellent.

[crackedjerk]

As long as I'm at it, a few other thoughts on ANS7:

*I didn't include any Wackomercials in my Top 10.  Partly that is because I didn't think the quality of the subset was as good as the regular 55 base cards.  The one exception that might have made my Top 10 would be Pre-K.   The other reason is that I don't like the idea of a 20 card subset that isn't really any different than the base 55.  The backs being different is no big thing, IMO.  I would have liked it better to have a larger base set or, better still, take the best 55 and make that the base set and leave the rest for a future Lost Wacky series.

*I don't care for the various colored borders.  That being said, I'm glad there were really only two of those.  The silvers were kind of cool.  The golds were really a non-factor given their scarcity.

*I love the cereal boxes!  I'd love to see them again some time.  Even if some of the cereal parodies from ANS were used, I'd be happy with that.

*I like having original series stickers used for the foils.  That being said, I do think this lineup wasn't exactly stellar.  Even though titles like Ratz have been used as inserts before (as clings and magnets), I'm fine with them coming back as foils.  Even better, I wish Topps would improve the quality of the foils so they would be like the vending machine wackys.

*I was glad there was just one bonus box this time.  One's enough in my opinion.

*Even though I have Jay Lynch's auto on a number of things, it seems Topps could have at least improved the odds on those.  Can't cost much for them to get Jay to sign one and it would be cool to have one with decent odds.

*Alright, enough out of me for now.

[RonZombie]

As long as I'm at it, a few other thoughts on ANS7:

*I didn't include any Wackomercials in my Top 10.  Partly that is because I didn't think the quality of the subset was as good as the regular 55 base cards.  The one exception that might have made my Top 10 would be Pre-K.   The other reason is that I don't like the idea of a 20 card subset that isn't really any different than the base 55.  The backs being different is no big thing, IMO.  I would have liked it better to have a larger base set or, better still, take the best 55 and make that the base set and leave the rest for a future Lost Wacky series.

*I don't care for the various colored borders.  That being said, I'm glad there were really only two of those.  The silvers were kind of cool.  The golds were really a non-factor given their scarcity.

*I love the cereal boxes!  I'd love to see them again some time.  Even if some of the cereal parodies from ANS were used, I'd be happy with that.

*I like having original series stickers used for the foils.  That being said, I do think this lineup wasn't exactly stellar.  Even though titles like Ratz have been used as inserts before (as clings and magnets), I'm fine with them coming back as foils.  Even better, I wish Topps would improve the quality of the foils so they would be like the vending machine wackys.

*I was glad there was just one bonus box this time.  One's enough in my opinion.

*Even though I have Jay Lynch's auto on a number of things, it seems Topps could have at least improved the odds on those.  Can't cost much for them to get Jay to sign one and it would be cool to have one with decent odds.

*Alright, enough out of me for now.

That was a fantastic analysis I agree on most points, however I did like the "Wack-O-Mercails" other than that we're in almost 100% agreement!

[slamjim]

Cutz Potato Chips (& rough):

I had to remove all the blood splatter and not show her injured hand and change the bottom blood gag. I did sneak back in the band-aids...

[Gurgle]

Cutz Potato Chips (& rough):
I had to remove all the blood splatter and not show her injured hand and change the bottom blood gag. I did sneak back in the band-aids...

Too bad. I love the injured hand!

[Ducko]

Too bad. I love the injured hand!

I second that. It's funny, I thought it almost felt like her left arm was actually missing in the final painting. Maybe they were THAT sharp. Must be good to keep going after them!

[slamjim]

I second that. It's funny, I thought it almost felt like her left arm was actually missing in the final painting. Maybe they were THAT sharp. Must be good to keep going after them!

I prefer the second image so I'm glad they turned the first one down. I just like that she's sticking her hand in the bag and get's a big painful surprise. If you look at the pic of the real bag they do not show her left arm. I hunched her back a bit and lurched her face forward. I told Jeff it was like the horse from Animal House!

[Ducko]

I hunched her back a bit and lurched her face forward. I told Jeff it was like the horse from Animal House!

lol!

[Brent Engstrom]

Here's my meowsporin painting.

[wackyone]

Wow guys this is a super set!
The sharp artwork with vivid colors and great gags just blew me away,everybody did a great job making this a the best set of the ANS in my opinion.
To soon for me to pick a fav as i only have the bonus box so far and came up a little shy of a full set but i have more stuff on the way.
The purple wrappers are really nice and the binder is top notch as well,huge thumbs up to ALL you guys involved  

[Ducko]

Here's my meowsporin painting.

Very nice. This one is high on my list for ANS7. I like how the cat has an expression on his face along the lines of: "heh, just another cat fight - but I won!" -- it's not grim or tormented. Kudos.

With the help of some others on this forum I'll be able to get a couple more of these. Really wish the blister packs were available where I live. Seems insane not to have them when they have 10,000 Pokemon blisters in every store.

[Gurgle]

Here are a few more roughs with originals. Tom Bunk painted Ruffleds and Stealthy Choice, Neil Camera painted Simian Toes Crunch. I'm very impressed.

[DrSushi]

Here are a few more roughs with originals. Tom Bunk painted Ruffleds and Stealthy Choice, Neil Camera painted Simian Toes Crunch. I'm very impressed.

Those are impressive. I hadn't noticed the "prime 8 ounces" line before - that's Gr8!

[Ducko]

Those are impressive. I hadn't noticed the "prime 8 ounces" line before - that's Gr8!

Doh! Missed that one - lol!

I still think "Simian Toes Crunch" is one of the best gag titles ever. Amazing to come from Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

[ratchet007]

I've looked over most of the base set and I have to say that Raven Bran is my favorite. I am also liking Ghoul Scouts, Just for Wolfmen, Sno Saps and Kiss Kat.

[Jean Nutty]

I did sneak back in the band-aids...

That a WP artist snuck an idea onto a WP design makes me chuckle!

Sneaking stuff past the Topps editing board is appropriate, considering the rebellious subject.   

[slamjim]

Honey Tomb:

Fred did the rough for this one. My only add-on's were the spoon in the skeleton's hand and the hieroglyphics on the box side otherwise it's pretty much dead on from the rough.


Fred's rough and product pic:

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

Honey Tomb:

Fred did the rough for this one. My only add-on's were the spoon in the skeleton's hand and the hieroglyphics on the box side otherwise it's pretty much dead on from the rough.

thanks for the images.
Ha! "dead on". I see what you did there

[Ducko]

"Tut Wait: 3000 Years" !

[Playbug]

It struck me how "Death Savers" works as a parody of either "Breath Savers" or "Life Savers."

Wow, I missed that. I just thought of Life Savers as the parody. The artist should get double for that one !