Parody Comparison to the Real Products - Part 2!

[Swiski]

I'm going to attempt the revive a thread to discuss comparisons of Wacky Packages parodies to their real life products.

The original thread http://www.wackypackagesforum.com/index.php?topic=4739.0 celebrated the original vintage series in chronological checklist order from the Die-Cuts to the 16th Series.

This new thread will begin with unpublished Wacky Packages from the vintage series that were not included in the original thread. I will also show parodies from Wacky Ads and Wacky Posters that were not in the original series. Only finished (or near-finished) artwork. So no rough sketches....because there are too many out there.

After that I will move on to the 1985 series, and so on and so forth. There might be long breaks in between series based on my available time, and I will try to make new comparison posts every few days for each series.

So to start things off, here is an unpublished title that was intended for the 1967 die-cuts set where the base artwork was completed, but the lettering, coloring and inking were not. However, the artwork was finally completed for inclusion in a Topps official Lost Wackys subset.

Janitor In A Slum compared to Janitor In A Drum...



Janitor In A Slum was also included in the unofficial Lost Wacky sets. Anyone know if the artwork was completed before the official Topps set? Note the orange cap and overall coloring is different on these, plus the variant in yellow with yellow cap.

[MoldRush]

Awesome news Swiski, you are a truly inspired nostalgist!  (If that’s a proper form of the word)

I remember TV commercials very well for this product.  Kind of on the fence about the parody though, not sure why.  Title is clever enough, but maybe a different graphic would have worked better.  Maybe a skid row streetscape, or something similiar to how Virginia Slums was done?  Just seeing a slovenly chubby guy doesn’t quite convey the gag for me.

[bigtomi]

I always thought “Janitor is a bum” would have been a better title for the artwork and gags.

[MoldRush]

I always thought “Janitor is a bum” would have been a better title for the artwork and gags.

I was thinking the same thing!  Janitor in a Slum sounds funnier but Janitor is a Bum fits the artwork better.

[Swiski]

I updated my original post above to cover the unofficial Lost Wacky versions of the parody artwork.

[mikecho]

Swiski, are you sure this Wacky was intended for the Die-Cuts? I always thought it was, but when I suggested this info for the Spreadsheet, no one believed me.

[Swiski]

Swiski, are you sure this Wacky was intended for the Die-Cuts? I always thought it was, but when I suggested this info for the Spreadsheet, no one believed me.

I pulled the information from Rusty's Lost Wackys website. Maybe he was incorrect? It definitely is a very old Lost Wacky from the beginning.

Here is a screen grab from The Lost Wackys website...

[mikecho]

I pulled the information from Rusty's Lost Wackys website. Maybe he was incorrect? It definitely is a very old Lost Wacky from the beginning.

Here is a screen grab from The Lost Wackys website...

Actually, that's where I got the information from in the first place, and most everyone on here has constantly said to take statements from lostwackys.com with more than a shakerful of salt.

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

"we assume" says it all
Rusty's take is that those are flat-top beer cans depicted, so this must be from the 60's.
without more information to nail down a date for this, it's hard to say what it was for, but that's possible.
to me, the janitor is too normal looking for early series.

My biggest issue with this one is that LostWackys mocked it up as a metal can immediately after the unfinished art appeared.
Pasting in a can lid from another Wacky, and the red cap from Grass Wax.
Was JiaD ever sold in a metal can though? I've never seen anything other than plastic bottles.
And unfortunately that metal can image kept getting pushed out there, got into the Lost Wacky set, and eventually into the Flashback set.

Definitely prefer the unfinished art to the fake realizations.

[Swiski]

It's very possible the parody was from 1969 or maybe 1970.

I noticed several ebay auctions of ads or bottles from that timeframe.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154557375477?hash=item23fc5663f5:g:naUAAOSw8cphCwcB

https://www.ebay.com/itm/313550165210?hash=item49010bd4da%3Ag%3AIt8AAOSwdE9gtYJh&nma=true&si=Lw7Kjg9KEonIV17fux0eRMBli3g%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[Swiski]

Next up for vintage Lost Wackies is Buggies compared to Baggies. I believe it was meant for inclusion in the 3rd or 4th series?

[mikecho]

"we assume" says it all
Rusty's take is that those are flat-top beer cans depicted, so this must be from the 60's.
without more information to nail down a date for this, it's hard to say what it was for, but that's possible.
to me, the janitor is too normal looking for early series.

My biggest issue with this one is that LostWackys mocked it up as a metal can immediately after the unfinished art appeared.
Pasting in a can lid from another Wacky, and the red cap from Grass Wax.
Was JiaD ever sold in a metal can though? I've never seen anything other than plastic bottles.
And unfortunately that metal can image kept getting pushed out there, got into the Lost Wacky set, and eventually into the Flashback set.

Definitely prefer the unfinished art to the fake realizations.

Well, I don't know about the metal bottle, but I did see an image on Google of a yellow plastic bottle with a red lid labeled "New Formula". Does that help at all?

[Paul_Maul]

Next up for vintage Lost Wackies is Buggies compared to Baggies. I believe it was meant for inclusion in the 3rd or 4th series?

I don’t think Buggies was intended for a particular series. It was part of a group of potential replacements shown on the second series proof sheet. Most of these were subsequently used in the 4th series, when they were presumably no longer needed as replacements. They had earlier been considered as replacements for pulled 1st series titles, but were never ultimately used for that.

[Swiski]

Thanks for the information on the proof sheet! Buggies is older than I thought. Moving forward, I will avoid exact vintage series references where the parody art was pulled from.

[Swiski]

The next Lost Wacky is Winsome, along with Windstun (which did make the cut later in Series 9) compared to real product Winston.

[RawGoo]

The next Lost Wacky is Winsome, along with Windstun (which did make the cut later in Series 9) compared to real product Winston.

Winsome does nothing for me.  Windstun is a decent Wacky, but the writing on the side of the package seems to me to be upside down.

[MoldRush]

Not sure if I ever scrutinized Winsome closely before now, but from a pure art perspective I think it’s OS caliber.  Great little Saunders character, complete with green eye shadow.  The gag is weak though - is the fallen character the ‘lose some’ (I.e., croaking from smoking this risky cigarette brand) of ‘win some, lose some’?  Not sure what the ‘X’ is all about either.

For some reason I always mistakenly associate Windstun from an earlier series, like maybe 5th.  Is Muleburro a 5th title?  Maybe I’m just confusing cigarette parodies.

[freetoes]

Not sure if I ever scrutinized Winsome closely before now, but from a pure art perspective I think it’s OS caliber.  Great little Saunders character, complete with green eye shadow.  The gag is weak though - is the fallen character the ‘lose some’ (I.e., croaking from smoking this risky cigarette brand) of ‘win some, lose some’?  Not sure what the ‘X’ is all about either.

For some reason I always mistakenly associate Windstun from an earlier series, like maybe 5th.  Is Muleburro a 5th title?  Maybe I’m just confusing cigarette parodies.

Muleburro is from Series 5. Both have red packs.

Another reason Winsome might not have made the cut is that it is a real word apart from its intended meaning here--a favorable adjective, though one not likely to be used by those in the target demographic. (Side note: during the Wacky era, Winston was listed in Guinness as the world's top-selling cigarette brand.)

[bigtomi]

Not sure what the ‘X’ is all about either.

It appears to be tied to an “X marks the spot” thing, but not sure beyond that or why it’s there. Maybe a “here’s where you lose (die)”?

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

Losing Winsome was part the death nell of anti-smoking wackys.
Topps struck Winsome and neutered Bent Cigarettes in the 4th series, and Wackys never again had parodies stating that smoking was bad for your health. Wonder if Big Tobacco had a 'talk' with Topps?

[mikecho]

Losing Winsome was part of the death-nell of anti-smoking Wackys.
Topps struck Winsome and neutered Bent Cigarettes in the 4th series, and Wackys never again had parodies stating that smoking was bad for your health. Wonder if Big Tobacco had a 'talk' with Topps?

Patrick, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if they did.

[roughwriter]

You all should see the Red Man Chewing Tobacco/Dead Man parody I drew! Big Tobacco would have sent a hit team after me if it ever got published!

[Swiski]

Next Lost Wacky is Kong Size Nastee Crush compared to King Size Nestle's Crunch

[mikecho]

You all should see the Red Man Chewing Tobacco/Dead Man parody I drew! Big Tobacco would have sent a hit team after me if it ever got published!

Was that during the OS run or the ANS run?

[roughwriter]

I drew it back in 2012, and submitted it to both OS and ANS, but legal turned it down cold. It is only an unpublished rough, not an official card.

[mikecho]

I drew it back in 2012, and submitted it to both OS and ANS, but legal turned it down cold. It is only an unpublished rough, not an official card.

Can I see a picture of it if you have it?

UPDATE: I saw it and I loved it! Now I can understand why legal turned it down both times, especially in this day and age.

[MoldRush]

Next Lost Wacky is Kong Size Nastee Crush compared to King Size Nestle's Crunch

This one strikes me in an odd way, because I can’t remember the ‘S’ looking like a ‘Z’ like it does on this wrapper.  Makes it look like a fake Nestle Crunch bar.  I’m sure it’s done right for the period, I just cant remember the graphic ever looking like that.  Hard to believe that this parody is the blank space on 5th checklists.  I’ll always wonder how it would have meshed with the rest of Series 5 had it been included, as opposed to seeing it for the first time some 40+ years after the fact.

[Alexeirex]

I miss the nestle's crunch bar - back in the day it was 5c vs 10c for some of the other candy bars, like the $100,000 bar ( was it $50K originally?) and was my favorite.
The last time I saw this was in the miniature form, in the halloween bags of candy.
A

[JasonLiebig]

This one strikes me in an odd way, because I can’t remember the ‘S’ looking like a ‘Z’ like it does on this wrapper.  Makes it look like a fake Nestle Crunch bar.  I’m sure it’s done right for the period, I just cant remember the graphic ever looking like that.  Hard to believe that this parody is the blank space on 5th checklists.  I’ll always wonder how it would have meshed with the rest of Series 5 had it been included, as opposed to seeing it for the first time some 40+ years after the fact.

Well, I can certainly confirm that it looked that way, as that is my wrapper.  Here's the whole thing:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonliebigstuff/8388301707/

Nestle's Crunch - King Size - Giant Poster offer - chocolate candy bar wrapper - early 1970's by Jason Liebig, on Flickr

Not long after that though, they got rid of the plural "Nestle's": 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonliebigstuff/3620581454/

Nestle Crunch bar wrapper - More Fun to Munch - 1970's by Jason Liebig, on Flickr

[Swiski]

Here is another completed Lost Wacky parody art - Monsterettes compared to real product Oysterettes

[mikecho]

Well, I can certainly confirm that it looked that way, as that is my wrapper.  Here's the whole thing:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonliebigstuff/8388301707/

Nestle's Crunch - King Size - Giant Poster offer - chocolate candy bar wrapper - early 1970's by Jason Liebig, on Flickr

Not long after that though, they got rid of the plural "Nestle's": 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonliebigstuff/3620581454/

Nestle Crunch bar wrapper - More Fun to Munch - 1970's by Jason Liebig, on Flickr

I know what you mean, Jason; I remember the second name, but not the first. Now, I think I saw it's just called "Crunch".

Also, I remember the slogan "More Fun to Munch." They even had a jingle for it (boy, do I miss jingles!).

[freetoes]

I know what you mean, Jason; I remember the second name, but not the first. Now, I think I saw it's just called "Crunch".

Also, I remember the slogan "More Fun to Munch." They even had a jingle for it (boy, do I miss jingles!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thZ0poky5Oc

[Swiski]

Here is another completed Lost Wacky parody art - Monsterettes compared to real product Oysterettes

Anyone have a larger image of the Oysterettes box?

[Swiski]

This Lost Wacky from the Vintage line finally saw the light of day in the early 1980s sticker album set - Schnozmopolitan compared to Cosmopolitan

The colors were adjusted, and it was reprinted years later in the Flashback set, then a few years later as a Foil chase title where it lost the joke "10 Things You Can Do To Please Him"

[JasonLiebig]

Anyone have a larger image of the Oysterettes box?

Yeah, I think someone pulled that Oysterettes image from my Flickr.  It was one of the reasons I was keen to buy and publish that Nabisco Showcase, so many years ago:


Nabisco Showcase - Page 05 - Late 1960's by Jason Liebig, on Flickr

As such, I probably have the thing scanned at higher resolution somewhere...