Fred has designed parody trading cards and stickers for several Topps entertainment brands:
Topps has published ten of his final paintings, and his concepts have been turned into finals by illustrators such as John Pound, David Gross, John Zeleznik, Brent Engstrom, Layron DeJarnette, Claude St. Aubin, Mark Sparacio, Fred Harper, and Hermann Meija. He has also drawn over 800 official sketch cards for Topps.
Fred began working with Topps on this series in February 2006. Fred's wife, Renee Davis, co-wrote many of the ideas that he turned into rough concept drawings. Eight of their concepts were included in the set, published July 2006.
| # | Title | Concept Writer/Artist | Painter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | The Da Vinci Cold (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Pound (painting) |
| 18 | Twigglers (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Claude St. Aubin (painting) |
| 24 | Hoggin' Dogz* (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Pound (painting) |
| 26 | Frogresso (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Pound (painting) |
| 28 | Elder's Glue (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 35 | Downer (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | David Gross (painting) |
| 42 | Maze-ola (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | Mark Sparacio (painting) |
| 47 | Tacky Packages (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | David Gross (painting) |
| B4 | St. Hives (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | Mark Sparacio (painting) |
* The "Hoggin' Dogz" design was turned into a 3-dimensional vinyl toy in 2007.
This series was published in March 2007, containing 11 of Fred's concepts.
| # | Title | Concept Writer/Artist | Painter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Cavemanwich (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 4 | Crush! (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 16 | Enlisterine* (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 17 | Doublemental (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 20 | Selsun Boo! (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 25 | Prestomb (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 37 | Sharkie (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 47 | Hivory (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Pound (pencil art, color rough, painting) |
| B1 | Blob Evans (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | David Gross (painting) |
| B4 | Vise (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Pound (color rough, painting) |
| B5 | Vulture Valley (printed card) | Renee Davis/Fred Wheaton (concept) | Brent Engstrom (painting) |
* Fred's "Enlisterine" sketch was pictured on the box vox blog on March 16, 2008
Fred designed 15 titles in the 80-card base set, and painted 3 of them. Published September 2007.
| # | Title | Concept Writer/Artist | Painter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajinx (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 3 | Oscar Mauler (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Richard Clark (painting) |
| 11 | Miracle Weep (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Fred Wheaton (pencils, painting) |
| 12 | Yo Playa (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 35 | Grad (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Richard Clark (painting) |
| 36 | Lorna Doom (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Fred Wheaton (pencils, painting) |
| 46 | Purelf (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 52 | Jelly Bully (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Fred Wheaton (pencils, painting) |
| 53 | Quiet Pupsi (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Pound (painting) |
| 54 | Froot Oops (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 55 | Y'All (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | John Zeleznik (painting) |
| 56 | Dissed Miss (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Richard Clark (painting) |
| 62 | Lubridirt (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Richard Clark (painting) |
| 72 | Sloth Scrub (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Richard Clark (painting) |
| 74 | Scorch Tape (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) | Richard Clark (painting) |
Released October 2009 in both limited and unlimited editions. Each limited edition included a hand-drawn sketch card by one of the postcard artists and a set of 5 artist bio cards.
In May 2010, the Topps Online Store debuted a Wacky Packages Postcard Collector's Kit which includes a binder and a set of souvenir stamps.
| # | Title | Concept Writer/Artist | Painter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Molten Crisp | Fred Wheaton | Fred Wheaton |
This set included four of Fred's designs. He painted one of them, "I-Clod Todd", which became his first published trading card painting. Series 6 was issued in February 2007.
| # | Title | Concept Writer/Artist | Painter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10a | Nested Ernesto (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) |
John Pound (painting) |
| 10b | Eliot Nest | ||
| 11a | Snakes in Dwayne | Fred Wheaton (concept) |
Layron Dejarnette (painting) |
| 11b | Tapeworm Tanner (printed card) |
||
| 17a | Scott Pocket (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) |
John Pound |
| 17b | Cal Zoned | ||
| 38a | I-Clod Todd | Fred Wheaton (concept, revision) |
Fred Wheaton (painting) |
| 38b | MP Trey (printed card) |
Fred designed 3 cards in this set, which was published in December 2007.
| # | Title | Concept Writer/Artist | Painter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14a | Coral Carson (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (thumbnail) |
Brent Engstrom (digital art) |
| 14b | Cora Reef (printed card) |
||
| 36a | Car Jack (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept, revision) |
Layron Dejarnette (digital art) |
| 36b | Scrap Heath (printed card) |
||
| 37a | Extra Christie* (printed card) | Fred Wheaton (concept) |
Fred Harper (painting in-progress, final painting) |
| 37b | Chick Ken* (printed card) |
Published June 2007. Fred did design and gag work on 14 of the published Zombies:
| # | Title | Painter |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Morguedonna | Gary Locke |
| 16 | Ghoulia Roberts | Richard Clark |
| 17 | Teri Hatchet | Richard Williams |
| 18 | Cameron Demise | Kei Acedera |
| 20 | Rachael Rot | Mark Sparacio |
| 21 | Gashlee Simpson | Hermann Meija |
| 24 | Janet Whackson | Richard Williams |
| 29 | Johnny Death | Hermann Meija |
| 34 | Halle Buried | Layron DeJarnette |
| 42 | Robert DeFearo | Layron DeJarnette |
| 45/B1/B2 | Britney Speared | Mark Frederickson |
| 54 | Samuel Hell Jackson | Layron DeJarnette |
| 67 | John Spewart & Stephen Ghoulbert | Drew Friedman |
| 68 | John Revolta | Richard Clark |
| (unused) | Groan and Maulissa Rivers | ? |
In 2010, the Hollywood Zombies art found new life as licensed wall graphics from LTL Prints. (The license expired in 2011.)
Fred submitted these ideas to Topps, but they (among many others) were not accepted.
| Title | Notes |
|---|---|
| Wacky Packages: Carbuncle Ben's | Rejected from series 4, at least in part because Topps believed that kids would not know the word "carbuncle." Uncle Ben's was parodied as "Uncle Bone's" in series 5. |
| Wacky Packages: Peepsi | A little too weird for series 4. Dave Gross's "Popsi" was used in series 5 to parody Pepsi, and Fred's later "Quiet Pupsi" design appeared in series 6. |
| Wacky Packages: Germy Pale Kids | "Germy" was in the running for a while, until Dave Gross's superior "Garbage Pail Geezers" was accepted for series 5. |
| Wacky Packages: Homely Bunches of Goats | Series 4 already contained a goat-themed cereal parody by the time this was proposed so it was, at least, redundant. Coincidentally another artist proposed the same title as a Honey Bunches of Oats parody. |
hipsteria © 1996-2011 Fred Wheaton
Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids, and Hollywood Zombies ® & © The Topps Company
E-mail Fred with comments or questions: pasteanyplace@hipsteria.com
