Parody Comparison to the Real Products - Part 2!

[ToadallyDude]

I wonder who has the original art for this one, and what their selling price is...

Duane use to have the art to Fool-Aid, and I would have liked to buy it as well.  But it was just always referred to as "not for sale".  And that usually meant there was no trade or offer that would work.  But that's a lot of years ago.  And my waning brain seems to remember that it finally jumped ship at some point.  I had predicted all the art would be in one place by now.  But I know much of it still isn't.  Although, the best titles are.  I still can't believe that BumChex and Shotwheels were unearthed literally a couple miles from where I lived at the time.  I'd sure like to know if every 1-16 piece has finally been accounted for now.  When I got out, there was still at least 100 pieces I didn't know the definite location of.

[Swiski]

Another Lost Wacky that was printed for the first time in the 1980 reprint set. It made another appearance later on in Flashback.
Brrr Frosted Ice Krunkles compared to Post Frosted Rice Krinkles

[MadMike]

I wonder why it was put into that set. I wouldn’t be asking if there were other lost wackys that were selected for the set also. Just seems weird that there is only one that is not a reprint.

[RawGoo]

I wonder why it was put into that set. I wouldn’t be asking if there were other lost wackys that were selected for the set also. Just seems weird that there is only one that is not a reprint.

I wonder that myself 

[mikecho]

I wonder that myself 

I know what you mean; I just thought of something myself: if Topps could do one out of three lost Wackys from the 12th Series, why couldn't they have done the other two and finished the job instead of waiting a few decades and well into the next century to do it?

[roughwriter]

The short answer is that there is no institutional memory. They have a very steady turnover at Topps, and "Continuity" has never been a high priority. I would be surprised if most of the staff even had any idea about this issue. Most were probably born after the artwork was painted, and it isn't even on their radar. To them, it is "ancient history".

[RawGoo]

The short answer is that there is no institutional memory. They have a very steady turnover at Topps, and "Continuity" has never been a high priority. I would be surprised if most of the staff even had any idea about this issue. Most were probably born after the artwork was painted, and it isn't even on their radar. To them, it is "ancient history".

At work we call things like this "institutional knowledge."  It can vanish very quickly!

[JasonLiebig]

At work we call things like this "institutional knowledge."  It can vanish very quickly!

Topps actually does pretty well in a lot of cases, since they're somewhat of a publisher, but boy you should see how most consumer product companies do on this front. Badly.

In my expertise of food and candy and so forth, institutional knowledge is non-existent. I recently debunked the internet's widely spread assertion of when Skittles first came to market, and even the Mars website was wrong on this. For the record, dates varied on the history, but the earliest anyone (including Mars) had was 1974. It was 1971. 

And look at the story around Flamin' Hot Cheetos origins. An employee has apparently been taking credit for their invention the last dozen years (they came out in 1990-91) and someone finally did an investigation into it and found his claims lacking and likely not terribly valid.  And that's just from 1990 - that's how quick things drop off the map.  It is, most days, still shocking to me.

[MoldRush]

Topps actually does pretty well in a lot of cases, since they're somewhat of a publisher, but boy you should see how most consumer product companies do on this front. Badly.

In my expertise of food and candy and so forth, institutional knowledge is non-existent. I recently debunked the internet's widely spread assertion of when Skittles first came to market, and even the Mars website was wrong on this. For the record, dates varied on the history, but the earliest anyone (including Mars) had was 1974. It was 1971. 

And look at the story around Flamin' Hot Cheetos origins. An employee has apparently been taking credit for their invention the last dozen years (they came out in 1990-91) and someone finally did an investigation into it and found his claims lacking and likely not terribly valid.  And that's just from 1990 - that's how quick things drop off the map.  It is, most days, still shocking to me.

I’m a bit of a true crime buff, and I consistently find that when I first read a book on a case I already know a lot about, the writers get so much of the basic information wrong - dates, locations, crime scene details and such.  The margin of error is never that great, but how hard is it to do some basic fact-checking once you’ve made the commitment to writing a 300-page book?  Just kind of cheapens the reading experience.  If they couldn’t be bothered to confirm easily verifiable information, how can you trust the accuracy of the rest of their story?

[Swiski]

Next Lost Wacky is The Clodfather compared to The Godfather novelization. I searched everywhere to find this particular printing of the book with tilted yellow lettering on the cover. Maybe the artwork was completed at a later time and inspired by the Godfather Part II movie poster?

[ToadallyDude]

Next Lost Wacky is The Clodfather compared to The Godfather novelization. I searched everywhere to find this particular printing of the book with tilted yellow lettering on the cover. Maybe the artwork was completed at a later time and inspired by the Godfather Part II movie poster?

Oh man... I miss that one.  It was the only black piece I ever had.  Always thought it would look really cool next to Famous Mobsters.  But that was definitely wasn't available.  Gums would make a nice companion piece too.

[Swiski]

This next Lost Wacky was believed to be a reject from the 16th series, but used later in the 1985 series - Dr. Schnozz's Snoot Powder compared to Dr. Scholl's Foot Powder.

[Swiski]

Here's a great Lost Wacky that was sadly never printed in any official Topps sets (at least not to my knowledge) - Fanatik compared to Fantastik

[MoldRush]

Here's a great Lost Wacky that was sadly never printed in any official Topps sets (at least not to my knowledge) - Fanatik compared to Fantastik

It’s a shame that really nice artwork like this never got published while some comparatively mediocre lost Wackys were issued.  Fantastik was a household mainstay growing up, so that familiarity increases my appreciation of the parody.  Most importantly, it looks like a Saunders piece.

[RawGoo]

Fanatik is my favorite of the Lost titles.  I so wish that had been issued when I was a kid - I would have gotten great laughs from my grandmother.  She was such a cleaning nut that she could very well have been the origin of the term "Grandma Clean"   

[Swiski]

Fanatik is my favorite of the Lost titles.  I so wish that had been issued when I was a kid - I would have gotten great laughs from my grandmother.  She was such a cleaning nut that she could very well have been the origin of the term "Grandma Clean"   

Thanks for the story! "Grandma Clean" should be used as a chemical name in household cleaners - Ajax....Now with Gramacline!"

[Swiski]

This next Lost Wacky was never officially used by Topps in any of their sets. The joke is medicore, so I understand why it was rejected at the time.

Irvings compared to Ivory soap

[Swiski]

This next Lost Wacky was meant to be used in the 8th Series, but the parody found a second life later in the Wacky Posters set! Toadal compared to Total cereal.

So was finished artwork completed for the sticker version? The artwork for the poster is a newer illustration in higher detail and stretched just like the other titles.

I found an image of the Toadal from the unofficial Lost Wackys set, but it have been photoshopped using the poster art. Anyone have an image of the original unused Toadal artwork from the 8th Series, if it even exists?

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

This next Lost Wacky was meant to be used in the 8th Series, but the parody found a second life later in the Wacky Posters set! Toadal compared to Total cereal.

So was finished artwork completed for the sticker version? The artwork for the poster is a newer illustration in higher detail and stretched just like the other titles.

I found an image of the Toadal from the unofficial Lost Wackys set, but it have been photoshopped using the poster art. Anyone have an image of the original unused Toadal artwork from the 8th Series, if it even exists?

interesting thoughts.

My take is that the poster art was completed before the 8th series and released with the 1973 wrapper. Then all the GM cereals and images got stripped out by the C&D in early 1974. Very likely before a version was ever painted for the card set, which would have been its second life.

[MadMike]

I think the line on Fanatik where it says “It even cleans soap” is one of the best lines ever.

[RawGoo]

I think the line on Fanatik where it says “It even cleans soap” is one of the best lines ever.

I just LOVE that line!!

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

I think the line on Fanatik where it says “It even cleans soap” is one of the best lines ever.

Concur.
A great line, for sure!
Would have made for another great cleaning product

Interesting that both Fanatik and Janitor are Texize products, and both unreleased

[mikecho]

This next Lost Wacky was meant to be used in the 8th Series, but the parody found a second life later in the Wacky Posters set! Toadal compared to Total cereal.

So was finished artwork completed for the sticker version? The artwork for the poster is a newer illustration in higher detail and stretched just like the other titles.

I found an image of the Toadal from the unofficial Lost Wackys set, but it has been photoshopped using the poster art. Anyone have an image of the original unused Toadal artwork from the 8th Series, if it even exists?

I was always under the impression that the Toadal poster came first, then it was planned for the 8th Series. Am I right or wrong here?