Wacky Packs in the Press and Media Return to the Wacky Packages main page
 

Wacky Pack appearances in the press and media
If you know of others, please contact me: greg@wackypackages.org
  1. No Date: Topps early promo letter highlighting several newspaper articles.
  2. Article in New York Magazine: Oct 1, 1973. Featured on front cover, with article and page of pictures (see scans)  (read the article)
  3. Article in The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, October 29, 1973
  4. Article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Nov 5th, 1973 (???). "A Smash Hit With Small Fry" by Susan Berman.
  5. Scholastic Newstime Vol 43, No 11, Dec 6, 1973. No article, picture of Wackys on cover. (see sales rep letter about this)
  6. Article in the Feb 22nd, 1974 Philadelphia Inquirer.   "The Wacky World of Bubble Gum" by Douglas S. Looney. (read the article)
  7. Article in The New York Times, March 4, 1974.   "Wacky Packs: For Many Children, It's Like Collecting Antiques" by Rita Reif. (read the article)
  8. Article in the Chicago Tribune, April 15, 1974. Article with several paragraphs on Wackys.
  9. April 25th, 1974. Article in the Minneapolis Star. (We only have this partial scan as of right now.)
  10. Article in Berkeley Barb, April 26-May 2, 1974. "They Can't Fool the Kids"
  11. Senior Weekly Reader: Summer Edition, Vol. 13, Issue 4, July 19, 1974. Two pages, pics and article.
  12. Dynamite #3, 1974. Mention of Wackys in article.
  13. Dynamite #4, October 1974. Page 14, chewing gum entry #2, and picture on page 15.
  14. 1974 - Novel Billions for Boris has a reference to Wackys on page 12. This book was the sequel to "Freaky Friday".
  15. Nov 27th, 1974. Wackys appear in a scene in the ABC Afterschool Special The Toothpaste Millionaire. (more info here)
  16. Dog Day Afternoon (feature film), 1975. At 49 minutes, 50 seconds into the film, there is a Camals poster on the wall of an apartment.
  17. Bad News Bears (feature film), 1976. Kid wearing a Kentucky Friend Fingers t-shirt at 20 minutes, 15 seconds into the film.
  18. The Goodbye Girl (feature film), 1978. Girl with Liptorn sweatshirt.
  19. Many articles on Wackys in old issues of "The Wrapper"
  20. Two mentions of Wacky Packages in the novel "The Accidental Tourst". Page 18, and Page 142. Copyright 1985.
  21. The Beat Goes On. Book by Roxanne Toser, 1985, 1997 (48 pages), two separate editions.
  22. Price guide 1986, "Wacky Packages Stickers, Current Value Guide 1967-1985" #1201 (c) Ladd Publications.
  23. Several articles in Non-Sport's Update magazine published by Roxanne Toser. Particularly the Non Warts Update Issue which has three articles on Wacky Packs.
  24. The Guernsey auction catalog. Pictures of original art, and article on Wackys.
  25. Mention in Sports Illustrated (article on the Guenrsey auction), October 9, 1989.
  26. Ten page article in Counter Media by Patrick Rosenkranz. Summer 1991.
  27. Dazed & Confused (feature film), 1993. Three Wacky Pack stickers stuck to the inside of a locker at 15 minutes, 30 seconds into the film.
  28. The Benjamin Guide, a 1" thick paper back price guide 1994/95. Contains information on Wackys. Complete title: "The Sport Americana PRICE GUIDE To The Non-Sports Cards" by Christoper Benjamin published by Edgewater.
  29. Sept 15, 1995. Article in New Brunswick, NJ newspaper Home News Tribune (it was the "Home News" at that time) about David Gross and his collection. The section was the "On The Go" insert.
  30. May 28, 1996. Wackys appear on a picture disk album by band Man is the Bastard.
  31. The Wacky Packages Handbook by Paul Argyropoulos and Phil Carpenter 1996 1st edition (56 pages), 1998 2nd edition (68 pages)
  32. TV interview with Paul Argyropoulos on KGET, the NBC affiliate in Bakersfield, Ca, around December 1996. Paul shows his collection and eats a stick of 20-year-old gum!
  33. "Where has the time gone?" 2 1/2 page article in "Entertainment" magazine by Kurt Samuels. Supplement to March 13, 1998 issue
  34. Two page article on Newcity - a chicago weekly newspaper, March 26, 1998. "Get stuck on the 25th anniversary of Wacky Packages." Also featured on cover.
  35. Republication of Newcity article in The Weekly Wire, APRIL 6, 1998.
  36. Wacky Packs (Still wacky after all these years). 1/2 page article in Stuff magazine by Keith Blanchard, issue #1, Nov/Dec 1998, page 160.
  37. Article in Freaky Magnet #9 - Cereal Box collectors magazine
  38. Detroit Rock City (feature film, 1999). Stickers, shirts, and a full box.
  39. Small article on page 122 of the premiere issue of eBay Magazine, 1999 (no month, vol 1, no 1)
  40. Around August, 1999 singer Alanis Morissette started posting Wacky Packages on her web site,, as part of her ongoing sequence of montages she put together for different concerts she was performing at the time. She posted Wacky Packs seven times in all, over a period of a couple of months.
  41. "Freaks and Geeks," t.v. show espisode "Beers and Weirs," aired October 2, 1999: (The show was set in 1980, during the reprint era.)
  42. Listed in Entertainment Weekly in their "Millenium List of the Week", in the December 3, 1999 issue (#515)
  43. The Wacky Packages Gallery by Paul Argyropoulos, published by Phil Carpenter (c) 2000
  44. 2000 (?) The Food Network show Unwrapped, the episode called "Bubble Gum Unwrapped", has a brief mention of Wacky Packs.
  45. An article in Liddle Kiddles Knewsletter Volume 1 Number 3 February 2001
  46. Article in the Sunday Star Ledger, New Jersey newspaper. "Isn't it Ironic: A sensation in the 70's, irreverant Wacky Package stickers are among today's hottest collectibles." May 20, 2001. Featured on the front page of the "ACCENT" section, and also page two.   Read the article. Has pictures of Wackys, of collector Ernie de la Fuentes, and some of his collection. (this article was picked up by some other papers in the country, I don't have any names, if you saw it please let me know)
  47. Book published May, 2001. "The Collectible 70's: A Price Guide to the Polyester Decade," by Michael Jay Goldberg - Krause Publications. Has small section on Wackys.
  48. A two page article in Volume 52 Number 42 of May 25-31 2001. Childhood playthings supply excellent material for books, by L. Wayne Hicks (see the article as it appears on their web site)
  49. Wacky Packages appeared in one of the questions on the game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", Aug 15, 2001. The question was: "what did Wacky package stickers parody in the 1970's?" The correct choice was "household products" (of course). Another choice was "politicians" (nobody can remember the other two, if you saw this and remember, please let me know)
  50. A book review article of the Wacky Packages Gallery in Razorcake magazine Aug/Sept. 2001, by Designated Dale.
  51. Wacky Packages was the answer to one of the questions on the game show "Weakest Link", Sept 3, 2001. Question was: "What collectible trading cards issued by the Topps company parodied common household products, like Footsie Roll and Liptorn?"
  52. Entertainment Weekly, Sept 28, 2001. In a book review article (on page 65, if memory serves), the reviewer comments that the book being reviewed was similar, if not as well done as, Wacky Packages and Mad magazine.
  53. Ellen (t.v. show)...character mentions giving all his Wacky Packs away. (not sure which episode, if you can give any info on this, please write me)
  54. Article in Lifestyles section of USA Today: June 4, 2002, and on their web page.
  55. Wacky Packs mentioned on an episode of "Unwrapped".  (Food Network t.v. show) (not sure which episode, if you can give any info on this, please write me)
  56. Mention of Wacky Packages in the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper (Alabama), July 28, 2002.
  57. www.wackypackages.org was Yahoo! Pick of the day: August 16, 2002.
  58. Small piece on Wacky Packs in the kids section of the Cumberland Times-News, a Maryland newspaper. January 21, 2003.
  59. Stuff Magazine, May 2003, has picture of a 1979 Wacky Pack sheet in a clothing ad on page 127.
  60. Web article at ComputerUser.com. July 21, 2003.
  61. February 13, 2004. ICV2 News announcement of the new series
  62. March 9th, 2004. Story aired on CNN Headline News about the new 2004 series. click here for the video in mpeg format (approx 20 seconds and approx 6 megabytes - for best results right click to save to your disk and play after completely downloaded).
  63. March 9th-11th. Associated Press article appeared in many places. Here are a few
  64. March 11th, 2004. Story aired on FOX News about the new 2004 series. click here for the video in mpeg format (approx 30 seconds and approx 8 megabytes - for best results right click to save to your disk and play after completely downloaded).
  65. March 18th, 2004. Article in the NY Sun.
  66. March 24th, 2004. This web site www.wackypackages.org was featured on show "Entertainment Weekly - Digital Review" on cable news channel NY1. Click here for the story on their website. And click here for the video in mpeg format (approx 3 minutes and approx 28 megabytes - for best results right click to save to your disk and play after completely downloaded).
  67. May 6th, 2004. On the T.V. show "Extreme Home Makeover" - a 1979 sheet of Wackys appear on the kitchen wall of a New York Firefighters make over.
  68. June 1st, 2004. Article in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. See the on-line version  See the printed version
  69. June 24, 2004. Albany Schenectady-Troy WNYT News Channel 13 Live at 5. 60 second bit on the Crust Auction.
  70. June 24, 2004. Davenport KWQC TV6 News at 5. 60 second bit on the Crust Auction.
  71. June 24, 2004. Salt Lake City KSL Eyewitness News at 12. 60 second bit on the Crust Auction.
  72. June 25th, 2004. The Chicago Reader. Four page cover story article.    Read the text   See scans.
  73. June 28th, 2004. Article in "The Enquirer" (Cincinnati) about the new 2004 Wackys.
  74. July 11th, 2004. Article in The Daily Telegraph.
  75. July 21st, 2004. Article in USA Today.
  76. July 21st, 2004. Comic by Mark Parisi - appeared in over 100 papers.
  77. July 25th, 2004. Article in The Philadelphia Inquirer with mention of Wackys
  78. July 28th, 2004. The Bridgeville Area News (Pennsylvania) article about the people collecting the 70's Wackys.
  79. Summer 2004 issue of the Vancouver Review contains article about Wackys.
  80. Sept/Oct 2004. Topps running 15 second t.v. commercial for the new series.
  81. Dec 26, 2004. The Food Network show Unwrapped featured a four minute segment on Wacky Packages. The episode is called "Eater-tainment". (right-click this link and save to your local disk, file is 57 Mb, will take a long time on dial-up). Replays regularly, also on March 8th, 2005 7:30PM EST/PST.
  82. January 10th, 2005. Article in the Daily Southtown. Cook County, Chicago.
  83. Yes Man (feature film) 2008. Scene with uncut sheet on wall.
  84. Retro Fan Magazine article March, 2022
  85. FOX News The Five, October 14th, 2022