ANS vs. Old School

[JailOJohn]

Summer is ending, and I am shamelessly trying to drum up some Wacky discussion…Did people enjoy ANS or Old School more? They were marketed differently and it was different experiences opening the packs and boxes…

[roughwriter]

Both sets have a lot going for them, and I've contributed to both, so I'm not showing favoritism here, but I think the call boils down to orientation. What I mean is that one set focuses on the past, while the other is "In The Now". We all love our old cards, and the idea of "New" gags from back then suddenly surfacing is tantalizing, which is what the Old School designs basically amount to. The ANS sets, on the other hand, take the old idea and apply it to the world we live in today. So, do we look backwards or forwards? BOTH is the answer I'd choose, but if forced to pick I'd have to say modernizing the products spoofed is the best way to keep Wackys alive!

[Joe G.]

Ha, Pete you’re sounding like Edna Mole! “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.”

[roughwriter]

It is such a relief to meet other people who get and make references to animated staples of the last 50 years! I'm so used to blank stares when a reference like that slips out! I'm glad we have such a receptive audience here!

[FourRoses]

Both are great but I do miss retail availability.

[mikecho]

Ha, Pete you’re sounding like Edna Mole! “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.”

You'll forgive my ignorance, please, but which animated TV series did this character come from? I can't think of it for the life of me.

[Paul_Maul]

You'll forgive my ignorance, please, but which animated TV series did this character come from? I can't think of it for the life of me.

It’s Edna Mode, from the Incredibles.

[Joe G.]

It’s Edna Mode, from the Incredibles.

Dave, yes, Mode, I don’t know why I always think her name is Mole!  I’m glad Mike didn’t know because no doubt he would have corrected me!

[Corndog]

Personally I am torn...I love the OS sets to see the old titles become new and collect some of my favorites. However, I also love to see the creativity of the artist with new and exciting versions of new and renewed wacky titles.

The only thing I don't like is the prices of either sets. I understand there needs to be a profit made, but hyper-sucking the money out of us older wacky collectors...knowing we'll will....is getting sickening. I miss the moments of sitting with my pile of unopen packs and opening them in hopes of scoring it big...collecting complete sets....and finding random diamonds.

[JailOJohn]

I hear you. As i open full boxes of ANS, i tell my kid…”in my day, we had to beg our parents fir a dime, to get TWO PACKS, which contained 4 stickers! And we were happy to get it!”

[drono]

”in my day, we had to beg our parents fir a dime, to get TWO PACKS, which contained 4 stickers! And we were happy to get it!”

I remember saving up a whole dollar and talking my mom into stopping at the Tinee Giant to buy 16 packs of Wacky Packages.  They were selling them for 6 cents, a 20% markup! - even though the box clearly said 5 cents.  So my mathematical brain had figured out 16 packs x 6 cents plus 4 cents tax = one dollar.  To my horror, they were sold out when I got there.  I don't know why I clearly remember that, but I can't remember my grandchildren's birth dates.

[JailOJohn]

What did you spend the dollar on? Cuz there is no way a 1970s parent was going to drive you to another store!

[drono]

What did you spend the dollar on? Cuz there is no way a 1970s parent was going to drive you to another store!

That I don't remember - maybe baseball cards.  Tinee Giant was the only store in my area that had 1st or 2nd series Wacky Packages.  The 7-11 closer to my house got them starting with series 3.

[Swiski]

Speaking of Old School - wasn't the next series supposed to be coming this fall, or has it been pushed back?

[FourRoses]

Remember the days when each town or city had multiple corner stores, within walking distance, selling whatever it was popular at the time in terms of cards. We had Louden Hill which became Turkey Hill, Convient Marts, etc..., plus other small mom and pop stores.

[RawGoo]

Summer is ending, and I am shamelessly trying to drum up some Wacky discussion…Did people enjoy ANS or Old School more? They were marketed differently and it was different experiences opening the packs and boxes…

Well, ANS came first, and without them and their success, I doubt we would have gotten Old School (or Postcards or Wonky Ads, for that matter).  They both are Wackys, so I enjoy them both!!  When Old School came out, they were extra special because of the plain backs, no numbers, puzzles; that has ended now, so they aren't special like that, but they're still great Wackys!

[slamjim]

Speaking of Old School - wasn't the next series supposed to be coming this fall, or has it been pushed back?

It should be out in late November

[slamjim]

Both sets have a lot going for them, and I've contributed to both, so I'm not showing favoritism here, but I think the call boils down to orientation. What I mean is that one set focuses on the past, while the other is "In The Now". We all love our old cards, and the idea of "New" gags from back then suddenly surfacing is tantalizing, which is what the Old School designs basically amount to. The ANS sets, on the other hand, take the old idea and apply it to the world we live in today. So, do we look backwards or forwards? BOTH is the answer I'd choose, but if forced to pick I'd have to say modernizing the products spoofed is the best way to keep Wackys alive!

Right now the old collectors are the only thing keeping WPs alive so OLD SCHOOL all the way for me!

[RawGoo]

Right now the old collectors are the only thing keeping WPs alive so OLD SCHOOL all the way for me!

Long live Old School!!  I just killed a box of Series 1 and had a blast. 

[MoldRush]

It should be out in late November

Any word on what era the titles will span?  After a few series stretching into the 80’s, I’m curious what’s in store for the next set.

[faustxxx]

Any word on what era the titles will span?  After a few series stretching into the 80’s, I’m curious what’s in store for the next set.

     Hey Pat, how many are you having graded? Have you tried the comic/coin/currency etcetera company?

     Matt

[RawGoo]

     Hey Pat, how many are you having graded? Have you tried the comic/coin/currency etcetera company?

     Matt

I wasn't going to get them graded, I was just building sets.  And, I don't know what company you are referring to   

[BattleCaps]

Old School for me, preferably in packs.

I like the ANS stickers but just think they were overproduced in the past. I realize there are only a certain number of different products you can spoof, but now having multiple variations of the same product gets stale for me. Fewer sets per year makes me appreciate them more.

[mikecho]

Old School for me, preferably in packs.

I like the ANS stickers but just think they were overproduced in the past. I realize there are only a certain number of different products you can spoof, but now having multiple variations of the same product gets stale for me. Fewer sets per year makes me appreciate them more.

You want a perfect example of what you just mentioned? Go take a look at the post I started titled "What is the most parodied product among all Wackys?" and you'll be amazed at what's been done up to this point and is, in the words of the early entries in that series of commercials that got started in 1989, "still going"...

[slamjim]

Any word on what era the titles will span?  After a few series stretching into the 80’s, I’m curious what’s in store for the next set.

Back to the 70s!

[Scheres]

Back to the 70s!

YES!! Good news.

[JailOJohn]

Yay! There are tons of good 70s products that have not been parodied…

[mikecho]

Yay! There are tons of good 70s products that have not been parodied…

And a lot of those products have been mentioned on here in various threads, if any ideas are needed...

[Swiski]

Back to the 70s!

So thrilled to hear this! The 70s is mainly when the OS magic happened.

[dth1971]

Back to the 70s!

I was hoping for an Old School 1990's subset!

[crackedjerk]

Summer is ending, and I am shamelessly trying to drum up some Wacky discussion…Did people enjoy ANS or Old School more? They were marketed differently and it was different experiences opening the packs and boxes…

Great question!  My initial reaction is to say Old School, but perhaps I can break it down a bit.

I prefer buying at retail, so ANS is the winner in that category.

I like opening packs, so ANS again is the winner (at least compared to more recent OLDS sets).

The quality of the art in OLDS is far superior, so that's a huge win for OLDS.

I enjoy (most of) the subsets in card series, so that's a slight win for ANS.  That is, I like things like magnets, foils, lents, so that's a win for ANS, but the colored border stuff (also in ANS) is a big negative.

Even though sketch cards can be hit and miss and they're not as appealing as when the concept was new, I still like them and that's a win for OLDS (even though I know that ANS has them, they are too few and far between to really matter).

I enjoy the nostalgia of parodying old products, so that's a win for OLDS.

That's all I can come up with from a quick brain dump.  I do prefer OLDS over ANS, but would love to see both series more closely resemble how they were in their respective early days than how they evolved over time.  I understand there are reasons why they both evolved as they did, but do wish the early days of their incarnations more closely resembled how they are now (or have been recently).

[JasonLiebig]

Back to the 70s!

Excellent!

[dth1971]

It should be out in late November

Hope there's a preview for this after Halloween 2023!