1967 Topps Wacky Packages “Die Cuts”

In 1967, Topps Chewing Gum released a set of 44 bubble gum cards parodying various familiar consumer products of the day. Many of these cards feature the fantastic work of pulp fiction painter Norm Saunders, who was nearing the end of his career. Although peel-off stickers had been invented in the 1930s, Topps used a more crude punch-out design for these “stickers”. Instructions to punch, lick and stick are printed on the wrapper. This debut series of Wacky Packages is known among collectors as the “Die Cuts”.

A few years later, in 1973, Topps reissued the series as peel-off stickers. This was an immediate success. The sticker set only had 30 of the original 44 titles due to cease-and-desist letters sent by the manufacturers during the 1967-68 die cut run. Riding the wave of popularity, Topps would release a total of 16 series of peel-off sticker Wacky Packages – approximately 500 titles in all – between 1973 and 1976. Norm Saunders was employed to paint characters and other details on more than half of the stickers across the entire catalog. His artistry, along with the accurate backgrounds and lettering, gave Wacky Packages their uniquely superb quality, often making them funny even when the gag lines missed the mark.

I first saw Wacky Packages in 1973, when my older brother collected the first four series. I was utterly captivated by those stickers, and I still have his collection today. I only discovered the 1967 die cuts as an adult. I love the die cuts as they are the “OG” Wacky set. They are like a cynical kid’s time capsule from the late 1960s, when I was born. A few of the parodied products, like Lavoris and Lucky Whip, I never saw.

Another facet of the die cut set is the presence of twelve “number variations” where existing titles assumed the number of a title pulled by a C&D letter, increasing the count of unique number/title combinations to 56. At the moment, I am not pursuing these variations for my collection.

Want to find out more about Wacky Packages? You can find out tons of information about both vintage and modern Wacky Packages (e.g., the number variations link in the preceding paragraph) at Greg Grant’s website here.

For your perusal, my die cut collection is scanned below. I am doubtful I will ever find #32 Ratz Crackers and #38 Cracked Animals, the two titles pulled out of the run at the earliest, which are still commanding four-figure prices.

Card Fronts

Card Backs