1988 Topps Pee Wee’s Playhouse Fun Paks fully captures the spirit of the iconic Saturday morning show. It’s also one of the most frustrating sets to put together thanks to horrible collation issues.
The product reaches well beyond the basic cards and stickers standard for Topps sets in the 1980s. There are several cards in each pack that add a level of interactivity — although today you’re probably not going to wear tattoos or put together the activity cards.
1988 Topps Pee Wee’s Playhouse Fun Paks Checklist Details
The main part of the product has just 33 cards. Base cards take stills from the show and add captions, usually with bad jokes even for Pee Wee’s Playhouse.
Adding a bit of a twist to the base set, each card has two variations based on the layout and positioning of the border. Having a run of 33 cards is generally considered a full set in most eyes, however some may want the added challenge for a master set.
On the surface, the one-per-pack Stickers look perfectly normal and simple. Not much in 1988 Topps Pee Wee’s Playhouse is simple. If you only go by the sticker fronts (the actual stickers), there are only eight. However, the full set actually has 44 cards. Backs go together to form a short bit of flip animation. Further complicating things is the fact that Stickers are numbered differently on both the front and back. So the fronts have a set of numbers and so do the backs.
Tattoos are over-sized like Activity Cards. Each sheet has 12 different illustrations, most of which are cartoon versions of the show’s characters.
A dozen Wiggle cards are about half the size of regular cards. Each is lenticular and switches between a pair of images.
Activity Cards and Why They’re Difficult to Finish
Activity Cards are inserted one per pack and come in a few different forms. They use stylized artwork to give people the chance to make finger puppets, masks and things that fly. And while their set structure is straightforward (with a checklist so you know what to look for), this is where the set’s ultimate frustration sets in.
Within a box of 36 packs, you’re lucky to get more than a handful different Activity Cards. Collation is horrendous. Some boxes only have a couple of different cards with the rest being doubles. These distribution problems do not carry over to other parts of the product, though.
1988 Topps Pee Wee’s Playhouse Fun Paks Checklist
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Cards per pack: 6
Packs per box: 36
Boxes per case: 24
Shop for 1988 Topps Pee Wee’s Playhouse Fun Paks packs and boxes on eBay.
Base Set
33 cards. All can be found with two slightly different borders.
1 Second Floor, Appliances
2 Time to Put Away My Toys
3 Gotcha, Pee Wee!
4 You Sure Got Here Fast Cowntess!
5 Hole in One!
6 I Was Trying So Hard to Be Good
7 Hey Magic Screen
8 Miss Yvonne, You’re So Beautiful
9 Who Could Ask for Anything More?
10 I Don’t Care What You Say
11 I’m Looking for a Swinging Party
12 What Position Are You Going to Play
13 Mekka Lekka Hi, Mekka Hiney Ho!
14 My Breakfast Is Ruined
15 Pee Wee, Randy Called Me a Baby!
16 You’re Only As Beautiful as You Feel
17 Cool Cat’s Pounding Out the Beat
18 You Know, Billy Baloney…
19 R-R-Ready t-to Ass-ssist Y-You
20 I Just Can’t Remember that Number
21 Let’s See How Big My Rubber Band Ball Is Today!
22 It’s Dance Time!
23 Why Don’t We Stroll Over to My Toy Box?
24 Did I Say the Secret Word
25 What Is the Secret Word Today
26 Ladies & Gentlement, Boys and Girls
27 A Cartoon a Day Keeps the Dr. Away!
28 Can You Tell Me What Time It Is
29 What Does “Cha-Cha” Mean
30 Snack Time’s My Favorite Time
31 This Seed Is Going to Grow
32 Why Don’t You Read Me a Story
33 Breakfast Is the Most Important Meal
Activity Cards
25 cards, 1 per pack.
Activity cards come in five different types. Each is highlighted below. Measure 3 1/8″ by 5 1/4″.
Disguise Cards
Although there are three different disguise cards, each has a regular and inverted image for a total of six.
1 Skull
2 Green Monster
3 Three-Eyed Monster
Finger Puppets
1 Pee Wee, Dirty Dog
2 Miss Yvonne
3 Pee Wee, Chairry
4 Roger
5 Jambi
Flying Things
1 Flying Pterri
2 Flyin’ Randy
3 Flying Pee Wee
4 Pee Wee Copter
Opening Doors
1 Fridge
2 Randy on Shelf
3 Front Door
4 Floory
5 Dirty Dog
Playhouse Foldees
1 Penny the Chatterbox
2 Conky Robot
3 Randy Puppet
4 Pee-Wee Herman
5 Jambi Genie
Stickers
44 cards, 1 per pack.
Cards are numbered differently on the front and back. Checklist refers to the back numbers as they complete the flipbook animation and have all the different backs. If you go by the front, each sticker is repeated. They come in one of three styles: characters, cartoons and silly letters. Each sticker also has a number on the front that corresponds with the subset (noted in brackets below).
1 Pee Wee with Weights (4)
2 Pee Wee with Weights (4)
3 Pee Wee Cartoon Face (3)
4 Pee Wee Cartoon Face (3)
5 Flower Power (2)
6 Flower Power (2)
7 Today’s Secret Word Is Fun (1)
8 Today’s Secret Word Is Fun (1)
9 Miss Yvonne (3)
10 Miss Yvonne (3)
11 Pee-Wee (2)
12 Pee-Wee (2)
13 Dirty Dog (1)
14 Dirty Dog (1)
15 AOW? (4)
16 AOW? (4)
17 MCJQ (3)
18 MCJQ (3)
19 UIHE (2)
20 UIHE (2)
21 AXDG (1)
22 AXDG (1)
23 Made You Look! (8)
24 Made You Look (8)
25 I Love that Story (7)
26 I Love that Story (7)
27 Fishy (6)
28 Fishy (6)
29 Let the Cartoon Begin (5)
30 Let the Cartoon Begin (5)
31 Randy (6)
32 Randy (6)
33 Pterri (5)
34 Pterri (5)
35 Jambi (4)
36 Jambi (4)
37 SEOT (8)
38 SEOT (8)
39 YP&N (7)
40 YP&N (7)
41 IFBZ (6)
42 IFBZ (6)
43 VLKR (5)
44 VLKR (5)
Tattoos
12 sheets, 1 per pack.
Each sheet has nine tattoos and measures 3 3/16″ by 5 1/4″.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Wiggle Toys
12 cards, 1 per pack.
Lenticular cards have two images. Measure 1 3/4″ by 2″.
1 Miss Yvonne, Cowboy Curtis
2 Pee Wee, Miss Renee
3 Conky, Reba
4 Pterri, Randy
5 Roger, Pee Wee and Miss Yvonne
6 Cool Cat, Pee Wee with Bike
7 Jambi, Cartoon Pee Wee
8 Randy, Miss Yvonne
9 Penny, Pee Wee
10 Chairry, Globey
11 Cartoon Jambi, Chairry
12 Pee Wee, Cowntess
