Odd Rods
Encyclopedia
Odd Rods was a group of non-sports trading card
/sticker series created by the Donruss
company beginning in 1969. The original series, entitled Odd Rods, introduced the theme of the series in 44 stickers: Monsters in cars. Done by cartoonist/illustrator/writer B.K. Taylor
in a style clearly influenced by the work of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth
http://www.oddrods.com/history.html, the series proved very popular with schoolchildren of the time, resulting in a string of sequel series:
A related sticker series put out by Donruss in this era was Silly Cycles (66 stickers) with monsters on motorcycles. Another series was Fiends and Machines (66 stickers) which had a mix-and-match theme: 33 cards with monsters on top, and 33 with cars on the bottom, allowing the collector to put the 33 monsters on any of the 33 cars.
In 1980, Topps
made a series similar to Odd Rods titled Weird Wheels.
In 2006, the Odd Rods trademark and artwork was acquired and the mark registered with the US Trademark Office. The official Odd Rods website is now active.
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
/sticker series created by the Donruss
Donruss
Donruss, currently known as Panini America and owned by Panini Group, manufactures sports cards. The company started in the 1950s, producing confectionery, evolved into Donruss and started producing trading cards. During the 1960s and 1970s Donruss produced entertainment-themed trading cards...
company beginning in 1969. The original series, entitled Odd Rods, introduced the theme of the series in 44 stickers: Monsters in cars. Done by cartoonist/illustrator/writer B.K. Taylor
B. K. Taylor
B. K. Taylor is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer, production designer, costume designer, puppeteer, and musician known for his work on the Odd Rods collector stickers of the late 1960s, his covers for Sick magazine, his comics in National Lampoon, and for his work as a staff writer on...
in a style clearly influenced by the work of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth
Ed Roth
"Big Daddy" Ed Roth was an artist, cartoonist, custom car painter, and pinstriper who created the hot-rod icon Rat Fink and other extreme characters. As a custom car builder, Roth was a key figure in Southern California's Kustom Kulture and hot-rod movement of the late 50's and 1960's...
http://www.oddrods.com/history.html, the series proved very popular with schoolchildren of the time, resulting in a string of sequel series:
- Odder Odd Rods (1970 - 66 stickers)
- Oddest Odd Rods (1970 - 66 stickers, numbered 67-132)
- Odd Rod All Stars (1971 - 66 stickers reprinted from the previous 3 series)
- Fabulous Odd Rods (1973 - a reprint of Odder Odd Rods)
- Fantastic Odd Rods series 1 (1973 - a reprint of Oddest Odd Rods, retaining the 67-132 numbering)
- Fantastic Odd Rods series 2 (66 new stickers numbered 1-66).
A related sticker series put out by Donruss in this era was Silly Cycles (66 stickers) with monsters on motorcycles. Another series was Fiends and Machines (66 stickers) which had a mix-and-match theme: 33 cards with monsters on top, and 33 with cars on the bottom, allowing the collector to put the 33 monsters on any of the 33 cars.
In 1980, Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
made a series similar to Odd Rods titled Weird Wheels.
In 2006, the Odd Rods trademark and artwork was acquired and the mark registered with the US Trademark Office. The official Odd Rods website is now active.