As a kid, I left the sports-card collecting to my athletically-inclined younger brother. But I didn’t grow up totally untainted by Topps; no, I spent my quarters on the company’s screwball pairing of consumerism and humor: Wacky Packages. These gross, stupid, and downright hilarious parodies of familiar products never failed to delight.

Crust Toothpaste. Neveready Batteries. Footsie Roll. First produced by Topps in 1967, Wacky Packages really took off in 1973. For two years, the sticker series sold more than Topps’ celebrated baseball cards!

I discovered Wacky Packages while in second or third grade and was instantly determined to collect them all. Every week, I’d stop at the neighborhood card/candy store and pick up a pack or two (if my mom allowed). Alphabetized into a small plastic file box, I’d thumb through my favorites nearly nightly. I even bartered with a friend’s older brother who had quite the stash (Jennifer graciously acted as go-between). Five years later, thinking myself completely free of Wacky madness, said sibling donated a stack of stickers to our school’s white elephant sale. Manning the table, I could barely contain my excitement; I’d lucked into capturing the holy grail (and at a ridiculously reasonable price).

When I was collecting in the early ’80s, I had no idea that Wacky Packages had been around longer than I’d been alive. Topps was simply reissuing some of the classic stickers from the previous decade. Had I known, the thrill would still have been the same, though I probably would have driven my family even more crazy with my kid-like desire to have every single one. (But someone really should have told me not to mark the checklists!)

Topps attempted to revive Wacky Packages a couple of times, issuing all-new series in 1985 and 1991. They tried again in 2004, which is when I happened to stumble upon them in Target. The stickers have since stuck around for a total of seven new collections, including 2008’s Flashback series featuring some old favorites.

Now there’s Wacky Packages, a book chronicling the seven series issued from 1973-1974. And while it’s certainly fun to see larger-than-life images of these pop-culture works of art (many of which I’d never seen), it was even cooler to discover Pulitzer-Prize winning author/graphic artist Art Spiegelman (Maus) had created the series while working at Topps. I’d never dug that deeply into the history of what merely seemed a kid’s passing novelty.

Never stop learning, kids. Another Topps series, Garbage Pail Kids, which I didn’t collect, were inspired by a never-published 1985 Wacky Packages design.

Purchase Wacky Packages (the book) via Amazon, which also offers sets of the more recent cards. Or order an autographed copy from the Wacky Packages fansite.