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In 2002, Topps released a set of Simpsons
Stickers (along with gum). Actually, they released 3 sets of "stickers". I use
quotes here because only 2 of the 3 were really stickers. Topps
distributed packs contained three (3) regular stickers, one (1) foil sticker
along with
The first set (Regular Stickers) consisted of 50 different stickers that were the same size as regular trading cards. Unfortunately, almost all of the stickers (40 out of 50) were either Bart or Homer and much of the artwork was recycled from earlier Simpsons releases. As it turns out, the back of each sticker was much more interesting. Topps inserted 5 different six card puzzles in the set. There were "puzzles" of all five Simpsons dispersed amongst the cards. In between the puzzles, there were two cards. One was a "prank phone call to Moe" and the other was one of Bart's blackboard sayings. The rest of the cards were various Springfield establishments.
Don't ask me why but for some reason, Topps does not like to put the puzzles on cards that go together. See the picture below to see what I mean.
2002
Topps Simpsons Sticker Series
Back of Cards #1-9 (???)
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What you are looking at is cards 1-9 from the back as they would go when placed in an album. You can see the Homer puzzle but obviously, it is out of order. You would think that they would put the various pieces on the cards in such a way that when you viewed the cards from the back, the completed puzzle would show. But no....
Anyway, here is what the completed puzzles look like:
2002
Topps Simpsons Sticker Series
Back of Cards #1-6 (Homer)
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2002
Topps Simpsons Sticker Series
Back of Cards #9-14 (Marge)
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2002
Topps Simpsons Sticker Series
Back of Cards #17-22 (Bart)
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2002
Topps Simpsons Sticker Series
Back of Cards #25-30 (Lisa)
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2002
Topps Simpsons Sticker Series
Back of Cards #31-36 (Maggie)
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The second set of stickers was a foil set of the regular set. They were almost identical but there were a few differences. Each sticker had the same artwork on the front and the back but the actual sticker was a shiny foil as opposed to a dull matte finish. The foil sticker was also slightly darker than the regular one. (Not as dark as the scan below indicates but slightly darker, nonetheless). The second difference was that in the regular set, you could see the actual sticker on the card. In other words, they were shaped to match the artwork and you could easily peel away the sticker leaving the background. The foil set did not have any "cutout" and the entire card was the sticker. As a result, it is almost impossible to peel the sticker part from the card without damaging the card. It can be done however. I was able to eventually peel one off after ruining the card so I know they were stickers. Here is a picture of both side by side so you can see what I mean. The back of both sets of stickers were identical. Look carefully at the sticker on the left (regular one) to see the edges of the sticker around the picture. The one on the right (foil one) does not have any lines.
2002
Topps Simpsons Sticker Series
Regular vs Foil
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Finally, the last set of 50 stickers were totally different. These were more like the comics you would find in Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum. They measured 2 3/4" x 1 1/4" and were more like wax paper than stickers. Each sticker was a different Character from the show. This set has proven particularly difficult to complete since the distribution was so poor. I am not sure if this was intentional or by accident but either way, you had to open a lot of gum to complete the entire 50 piece set. In addition, the alignment was very poor on many of these and it is common for the sticker to be half on and half off the piece of wax paper. Some even have half of one and half of another. Yikes!
VALUES:
Regular 50 sticker set ($5-$10)
Foil 50 sticker set ($10-$15)
Small 50 "sticker" set ($20)
Sealed Box ($25)
Sealed Pack ($4)
Sealed Bag of Gum ($3)
Piece of Gum (.25)
