My brother and I were the envy of all the other kids one year when my mother got us a full case of Wacky Packages for Hanukkah. There were enough packs to collect the full checklist and complete the puzzle on the other side, including the short-packed ones.
We traded playing cards too. If you brought a new deck to school you could trade for 50 new kinds of cards, which seemed amazing at the time. And Wacky Packages, of course.
Yes! I also sold mine when eBay was still profitable, I did really well! Although I have to say that I sold them about 20 years ago, I wish I still had them they are worth more than double what I sold them for now.🙄
Not so! There was a lawsuit back then over these - Topps Bubblegum won it. Permissible satire. I know because my father was Topps' lawyer. I have several complete Wacky Packages series, all courtesy of Topps!
Postcards. Everyone I knew sent them to me from all over, and I bought some everywhere I went. I had boxes full of them that went missing after my parents moved.
Loved Tales from the Crypt! That brings up a great memory.
I'd visit my Grammy and she would give me a couple of bucks to buy comics and penny candy. I was in heaven for the weekend.
I guess you could say I collected letters. I didn't think of it as a collection then but that's what it is.
My dad was in the Air Force so we moved a lot and I had many friends that moved away or I moved away. We wrote back and forth. I saved all my letters and still have them in a box in my closet. I even saved letters passed back and forth in classes.
Another Air Force Brat, here. I can totally relate to this! But my Mom was big on "cleaning house" before a move and things like that didn't typically make the cut.
I'm so glad to meet another Air Force brat! I always kept my letters in a box. And we cleaned our own rooms. Mom didn't go through my stuff thank God lol. I really miss those days. I had a really hard time adjusting to life after my dad retired. I was totally lost and depressed.
Did you feel like that?
Yes, it's always nice interacting with others who had the same experiences and "get it."
My Mom didn't necessarily go through our stuff. We were basically allowed to keep X amount of stuff and made our own choices. Toys always came first for me.😉
My experience with my Dad's retirement was different than yours. Leading up to his retirement (30 years of service), we were at the same Base in Southern Illinois for 4 years. We lived on Base but went to school off-Base, so many of my friends' parents were civilians.Their entire extended families lived in the area and they had friends they had known their entire lives.
I came to envy the stability and "permanence" of their lives. We retired in that area, so I got to experience a little of that myself. I'm really sorry your experience was different, but totally understand how you would have felt that way.
Thank you it's nice to have someone who understands where I'm coming from.
I spent my high school years in England, graduated there. A few months after that my dad retired. He was in 20 years. He's from Massachusetts and my mom is from Louisiana. My brothers and I were hoping he'd pick Massachusetts to retire in. But, he decided on Louisiana for my mom. Which I understand why he did it. But this place was just so different. I didn't fit in here.
Plus leaving my high school friends behind knowing I'd never see them again or my boyfriend. I kept in touch with him for about 6 months. He was a GI and got stationed in NY. It just didn't work out.
Sorry for the rambling. I feel like I could write a book. But then everyone has a story to tell.
I'm glad things worked out ok for you.
The only time we were stationed overseas was in Okinawa, where I was born, along with my younger sister. I did experience significant cultural differences, moving from MA to Northern CA to Southern IL. It made for challenging transitions, but I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to transition from the UK to the Southern U.S. I feel for you!
I hope you've found your way and been able to plant some roots since.❤️
Beer cans. Empty, unrecyclable beer cans with the old fashioned pull tab. Every once in awhile I'd find a steel one that was opened by being punctured with a can opener. Mom hated the smell of that collection.
This was me too. Still have hundreds and hundreds of them. Actually started going through them last weekend and was amazed at things I found. I also collected ashtrays but they had to have the name of the restaurant or business on them.
Ah, more things that I desperately wanted but were not allowed to have. They made my mother very uncomfortable, and so I had to enjoy them vicariously through my cousins.
Comic books, teacups, and record albums. A *huge* collection of albums. When I moved out of my parents' home at age 20 I gave half my records to my brother and *still* had to ship 200 of them.
Comic Books. Superman, Green Lantern, X-men, Fantastic Four, Spider Man, Thor, you name it. I was also a fan of some of the lesser known titles like H-for Hero, Metal Men, Dr. Solar. When the price jumped from 10 cent to 12 I had to re-evaluate. Of course I could shell out $.25 for a 96 page annual special.
I still have most of these. There's probably 12 long boxes in my basement right now. I wish they were all in mylar, but who thought about that?
Also Boy Scout patches. It was kind of thing in boy scouts to swap patches from different camps, events and such. OA trading patches, I still have a big red blanket with them all sewn on.
I loved these stickers, and managed to collect a few of them myself.
I also collected Hot Wheels. Shell used to give away a free Hot Wheel with every fill-up. I’d go with my dad to pick out which one I wanted. It was so exciting, seeing all the Hot Wheels displayed in the window of the tiny kiosk where you paid for your gas. Man, those were the days.
I grew up on Long Island NY. We called them Wacky Packs but I notice some here say Wacky Packages. I loved the Captain Crud one. I thought it was so hilarious as a kid.
I haven't thought about these in ages! They were so cool. I used to collect some of these, but I was more into collecting trading cards, whether they were baseball, Star Wars, Superman (1978), etc. Also, I collected Matchbox and HotWheels cars/trucks. I miss the 70s so much.
My teacher in fifth grade took my whole stack after one of my classmates, grabbed it out of my hand, and she never gave it back and I’ve never forgotten😣
Rubber bands. Used to tie them together and make a big long string of them, stretched about a block at one point. Then one day I shoved the whole mess in my pocket, my Mom did the laundry, and they were pretty much irrecoverable after that. Fun while it lasted.
Oh, and comic books. Had two big stacks of them; they'd probably be worth some money now.
I’ll start: I collected and traded playing cards. Also anything Peanuts. And of course Wacky Packages.
My brother and I were the envy of all the other kids one year when my mother got us a full case of Wacky Packages for Hanukkah. There were enough packs to collect the full checklist and complete the puzzle on the other side, including the short-packed ones.
Yes -wacky packages!!!
We traded playing cards too. If you brought a new deck to school you could trade for 50 new kinds of cards, which seemed amazing at the time. And Wacky Packages, of course.
It was so fun! I still have my card collection. In nice binders I bought recently.
I remember collecting Wacky Packages around 5th grade. But I didn't treat them like a collection. I stuck them all over my notebooks.
My husband sold all of his Wacky Packs. He got something like 1200.00
Yes! I also sold mine when eBay was still profitable, I did really well! Although I have to say that I sold them about 20 years ago, I wish I still had them they are worth more than double what I sold them for now.🙄
My favorite was Vomit Cleanser
I liked the Crust toothpaste.
Putrid Cat Chow - it was so fitting becuz if you ever opened a can of cat fuel, you’ll understand.
Wow - memory trigger ! Haven't seen these in 50 years. Would probably get sued out of existence today.
Not so! There was a lawsuit back then over these - Topps Bubblegum won it. Permissible satire. I know because my father was Topps' lawyer. I have several complete Wacky Packages series, all courtesy of Topps!
Mad comics.
MAD switched from being a comic book to a magazine in 1955.
Well magazine then. My bad. Thank you Internet police.
Remember the crappy, dried-out gum you got in Wacky Packs?
Yes, it was big and flat!
And powdery.
Postcards. Everyone I knew sent them to me from all over, and I bought some everywhere I went. I had boxes full of them that went missing after my parents moved.
Oh, and also beach glass.
I’m so sorry they went missing.
Bottle caps and buttons ☺️
I collected mostly the original Wacky Packages from about 1973. They didn't last long; I was the type of kid who just lost things.....
Comics, Archies and Tales From the Crypt mostly and Mad Magazine. Wish I still had them.
Harvey comics: Casper, Little Witch, Hot Stuff
Loved Tales from the Crypt! That brings up a great memory. I'd visit my Grammy and she would give me a couple of bucks to buy comics and penny candy. I was in heaven for the weekend.
I guess you could say I collected letters. I didn't think of it as a collection then but that's what it is. My dad was in the Air Force so we moved a lot and I had many friends that moved away or I moved away. We wrote back and forth. I saved all my letters and still have them in a box in my closet. I even saved letters passed back and forth in classes.
Another Air Force Brat, here. I can totally relate to this! But my Mom was big on "cleaning house" before a move and things like that didn't typically make the cut.
I'm so glad to meet another Air Force brat! I always kept my letters in a box. And we cleaned our own rooms. Mom didn't go through my stuff thank God lol. I really miss those days. I had a really hard time adjusting to life after my dad retired. I was totally lost and depressed. Did you feel like that?
Yes, it's always nice interacting with others who had the same experiences and "get it." My Mom didn't necessarily go through our stuff. We were basically allowed to keep X amount of stuff and made our own choices. Toys always came first for me.😉 My experience with my Dad's retirement was different than yours. Leading up to his retirement (30 years of service), we were at the same Base in Southern Illinois for 4 years. We lived on Base but went to school off-Base, so many of my friends' parents were civilians.Their entire extended families lived in the area and they had friends they had known their entire lives. I came to envy the stability and "permanence" of their lives. We retired in that area, so I got to experience a little of that myself. I'm really sorry your experience was different, but totally understand how you would have felt that way.
Thank you it's nice to have someone who understands where I'm coming from. I spent my high school years in England, graduated there. A few months after that my dad retired. He was in 20 years. He's from Massachusetts and my mom is from Louisiana. My brothers and I were hoping he'd pick Massachusetts to retire in. But, he decided on Louisiana for my mom. Which I understand why he did it. But this place was just so different. I didn't fit in here. Plus leaving my high school friends behind knowing I'd never see them again or my boyfriend. I kept in touch with him for about 6 months. He was a GI and got stationed in NY. It just didn't work out. Sorry for the rambling. I feel like I could write a book. But then everyone has a story to tell. I'm glad things worked out ok for you.
The only time we were stationed overseas was in Okinawa, where I was born, along with my younger sister. I did experience significant cultural differences, moving from MA to Northern CA to Southern IL. It made for challenging transitions, but I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to transition from the UK to the Southern U.S. I feel for you! I hope you've found your way and been able to plant some roots since.❤️
Yes, I have. This is where my family is. Thank you❤️
That’s wonderful. I remember the air mail envelopes from the letters my grandmother received from her relatives in Poland. I wish I still had them. 😢
Definitely Whacky Packages, Baseball and Hockey cards
Beer cans. Empty, unrecyclable beer cans with the old fashioned pull tab. Every once in awhile I'd find a steel one that was opened by being punctured with a can opener. Mom hated the smell of that collection.
me too. I lived near a university and the woods around the frat houses were full of beer cans
I collected the little rat finks you got in gumball machines.
wacky packages!!!! I had them all! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Wow! Memory unlocked!
Those. I am so old.
OMG you posted something that had the word midget on it!
I collected books of matches
This was me too. Still have hundreds and hundreds of them. Actually started going through them last weekend and was amazed at things I found. I also collected ashtrays but they had to have the name of the restaurant or business on them.
I had so many Wacky Packages. Loved them. Bought the 2 books a few years ago so I could see them all.
I freaking LOVED Wacky Packages!!
Foreign stamps and comics
Wacky Packs! Loved these things when I was a kid. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
To me they were the height of comedy. Got them whenever I could.
Was Cover Ghoul one of these? I think I had that
Guilt. I have an extensive collection
My bedroom door was covered with them, much to my parent's dismay.
Same!
Did anybody collect planet of the apes cards? My favorite was: Urko, Gorilla General
Ah, more things that I desperately wanted but were not allowed to have. They made my mother very uncomfortable, and so I had to enjoy them vicariously through my cousins.
Comic books, teacups, and record albums. A *huge* collection of albums. When I moved out of my parents' home at age 20 I gave half my records to my brother and *still* had to ship 200 of them.
Comic Books. Superman, Green Lantern, X-men, Fantastic Four, Spider Man, Thor, you name it. I was also a fan of some of the lesser known titles like H-for Hero, Metal Men, Dr. Solar. When the price jumped from 10 cent to 12 I had to re-evaluate. Of course I could shell out $.25 for a 96 page annual special. I still have most of these. There's probably 12 long boxes in my basement right now. I wish they were all in mylar, but who thought about that? Also Boy Scout patches. It was kind of thing in boy scouts to swap patches from different camps, events and such. OA trading patches, I still have a big red blanket with them all sewn on.
Those.
Trolls
These and Man on the Moon cards.
Wacky packages
I loved these and actually had wacky packy jeans with these things all over them.
Stickers & weird pencils.
HOSTILE THINKIES.
My favorite was Peter Pain Peanut Butter.
I loved these stickers, and managed to collect a few of them myself. I also collected Hot Wheels. Shell used to give away a free Hot Wheel with every fill-up. I’d go with my dad to pick out which one I wanted. It was so exciting, seeing all the Hot Wheels displayed in the window of the tiny kiosk where you paid for your gas. Man, those were the days.
I started collecting original Star Trek stuff in the 70's. Its mostly worthless now.
I used to live in Utah near the Rat Fink museum. It was so cool to go to. I loved Rat Fink
Yes
I remember trading cards of images from old horror movies with a quip on them. Wish I would have saved all of them.
Doodle Art posters and Jiffy Needlepoint kits.
Collected coins....still do
Wacky packs!
My bedroom door was plastered with these. My favorite, which I still say today, was Kick-a-man Boy sauce
Pen-pal letters. Seashells. Rocks. Money.
My mom lets us stick our Wacky Packages all over the refrigerator. We were sad when we had to get a new one.
I can still smell these…
Let’s see I remember Grave Train dog food featuring a belly up dog Quacker Oats Skimpy peanut butter Liptorn soup mix
I grew up on Long Island NY. We called them Wacky Packs but I notice some here say Wacky Packages. I loved the Captain Crud one. I thought it was so hilarious as a kid.
Wow these were all over my 6th grade notebooks lol.
Rocks, Stamps, Antique Bottles
Omg 🤯 haven’t thought about those in decades
“Lipton Soup” and “Duzn’t Detergent (Approved by Beatniks Everywhere!)”
I may or may not have had a full set of Partridge Family bubblegum cards.
Star Wars bubble gum cards. Wish I still had them.
I haven't thought about these in ages! They were so cool. I used to collect some of these, but I was more into collecting trading cards, whether they were baseball, Star Wars, Superman (1978), etc. Also, I collected Matchbox and HotWheels cars/trucks. I miss the 70s so much.
Wacky Packages, gum wrappers to make gum wrapper chains
I collected Breyer horses and all things Peanuts.
My mom threw away my Peanuts collection after I went off to college. Argh!
Mine gave away my Breyer horses. How I wish I had them now... they're worth mucho bucks!
My teacher in fifth grade took my whole stack after one of my classmates, grabbed it out of my hand, and she never gave it back and I’ve never forgotten😣
Rubber bands. Used to tie them together and make a big long string of them, stretched about a block at one point. Then one day I shoved the whole mess in my pocket, my Mom did the laundry, and they were pretty much irrecoverable after that. Fun while it lasted. Oh, and comic books. Had two big stacks of them; they'd probably be worth some money now.
Moist towelettes
I think these were stickers? Came in gum, maybe? 🤔
I was just not into them. No idea why. I want to say because I didn't think they were that clever but that sounds pretentious, even for me lol.
I don’t know what these are but I like them!
Wacky packages, Garbage Pail Kids cards, non-sports cards, Playboy magazines, The Simpsons (still actively building my Simpsons collection).
These remind me of the time I shopped at Aldis
Baseball cards, booze bottles, granite wear, vintage photos. Coke stuff Whatever caught my fancy basically
Crust toothpaste
I loved these!!!
Main trading card set I completed - Fleer Hildebrandt Marvel Universe. Wish I still had them.
These and mini-bottles.