Saturday, August 10, 2024

Know When To Fold 'Em

Some more Topps Fold-A-Roo scans have emerged since I last took a look at this uber-scarce set in 2014 and also 2018.  A complete opposite-fashioned ripoff of Al Jaffee's MAD Magazine Fold-Ins, which debuted in 1964 (and which would repeatedly be ripped off by Topps as time passed) Fold-A-Roos were tested around 1966-67 (I suspect the latter year is more correct than the former), with only 24 of the advertised 36 subjects issued.  I'm trying to document as many subjects as I can and this is the latest batch.

This was number 1:


Folding the bottom flap over revealed a punchline:


OK, not the best joke.  Might as well show the reverse, as my last attempt was in grainy B&W:


No. 2 continues the meh-like trend:


As does no. 3:

One we get to no. 9, things pick up a bit:

See?

I dunno, the whole thing seems pretty lackluster overall:

No. 35 really doesn't improve upon things:


See what I mean?


Toting up the images seen in my (now three posts) on the set this is what's identified so far:

1,2,3,6,9,20,24,30,35,36

Plus there are two or three known in proof form but because of how they were laid out, each proof only contains one part or the other of the setup and gag.

My impression is that the set just wasn't smart-alecky enough and that the gimmick was pretty lame. The fragile nature of this test makes them a very difficult quarry these days though. They can't all be winners, right?

1 comment:

John Bateman said...

Definitely a MAD Magazine rip off - You are a Blast - Mushroom Cloud - for the early 1960s - maybe a little more shocking than funny.