This is a nicely done set by Topps, they pulled out all the stops with retro backs for the stickers (tan, white, and Ludlow backs), retro 1967 die-cut stickers, all packaged in an old school style display box with a huge poster with spaces to mount all 30 new stickers. Here are the sketches I pulled along with the three different backs for each sticker:

Looking forward to Old School 4!

Here's are my sketches from artists Mark Parisi, Brent Engstrom, Neil Camera, and Joe Simko.



I actually got 5 boxes and thus 5 sketches, but one of the sketches I didn't even scan because I don't even want to be tempted to trade or sell it as it's by Bill Griffith, one of my favorite cartoonists for many years as creator of "Zippy the Pinhead" and the man who actually coined the now ubiquitous phrase "Are We Having Fun Yet?".

The stickers themselves are fantasic, this is one of the best Wacky sets ever. There's a 33 sticker base set, a 9 card puzzle checklist set, an 11 card "Wacky 67" insert set, a 3 color logo set, a different logo sticker showing the box art, and a promo sticker for Series 4, making 58 stickers/cards in all.

As Batman showed above, there are 3 different backs so a master set of all 58 with all three backs adds up to 174 cards in all. With my 5 boxes, I'm came pretty close to one, but am still a few cards short, mainly the Logo and Promo stickers with the Ludlow backs. I don't know if those are made in lesser quantity or if that was just my luck.

The stickers are very specifically packed, quantity wise. There are 24 packs per box with 4 stickers and 1 puzzle card in each pack. 2 of the stickers have tan backs, and there is one of each of the Ludlow and White backs in each pack, so there are only half as many of the Ludlow and White sets to be made in relation to sets of the tan backs. It takes more than one box to make even a 58 sticker tanback set, and there are 5,000 boxes of this produced, I believe.

That would mean only 4,500 or so complete Tan back sets can ever be assembled and only about 2,000 of each of the White and Ludlow back sets. Of course, since the stickers will be scattered around the world, there will be somewhat less than even those numbers available when all is said and done, particularly the white and ludlow backed sets. With that in mind, those two versions would pretty much have to be the most limited Wacky's ever made.

Also, there was a special bonus for a few very lucky purchaseres of this series. The Sketch card is found in an envelope on top of the packs, which indeed usually contains a hand drawn sketch from one of a variety of artists as in the examples above. However, there very rarely can be found a different card in its place. This is one with a Gold Foil border on front and a hologram sticker on back. These are (hand written) redemption cards that can be sent in to Topps in exchange for an original "rough" of one of the base set stickers. I do not know if there is a redemption card for all 33 of the stickers, but several have surfaced already, so there are at least a few to be had.

Finally, every display box additionally contains a giant fold out poster desgined especially for this series by artist Brent Engstrom. It depicts a grocery store with the Wacky products from this set on the shelves. If you like, you can stick the entire set in spaces made for them, to simultaneously beautifully display them while ruining a set of the stickers and a poster at the same time! But seriously, the poster is a thing of beauty and a very cool new innovation for a product that has been going for well over 40 years.

Hopefully, they will make a similar poster for every series from now on, and I hope there are many more Old School releases yet to be made.
These Old School sets really do capture the feeling of the original 1970's Wackys and are also quite reasonably priced, so I hope others will take a chance on them. The sooner this Series 3 is sold out (as the previous 2 series did), the sooner we'll be on to series 4: The 1980's!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,

I have opened 5 boxes and believe you are correct in your thoughts on the Ludlow backed promo stickers, as I only found 2 out of the 5 boxes I opened. I also found a 2010 Old School 2 box top/grocery bag promo in the one box of Old School 3, and was wondering if anyone else had come across one?