Australian Tazos facts for kids
Tazos were first released in Australia in 1995 with the Looney Tunes set, since then the Tazo series has grown with various themes which include various The Simpsons sets, Beyblades, Star Wars, Marvel Heroes and ended in 2008 with AFL and NRL footy sets.
Tazo identification
Tazos were released in Smith's Snackfood products and can be identified with the official Tazo logo in capitals on all packaging and back of each disc - the name Tazo with the "O" in Tazo hitting a stack of 3 Tazos. Discs without the branding on the back are not considered official Tazos; the only exception is the Simpsons Tazo Pickers (2002) set which was a joint venture between Smith's Snackfood Company and Australian company Hot Shots, all the Tazos released by Smith's Snackfood products have the Tazo logo. The Hot Shots discs were released as "Pickers" only.
Over the years there have been similar cards offered by other companies in packets of chips like Pokémon, Digimon and Lord Of The Rings, however, these have not been marketed under the Tazo brand in Australia and aren't considered an official Tazo product.
Tazo sets
Below is a list of official basic Australian Tazos and the year they were released.
| Series | Number Run | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Looney Tunes | 1-60 | 1995 |
| Cheetah | 61-100 | 1995 |
| Looney Tunes Techno | 101-140 | 1995 |
| The Simpsons | 141-180 | 1996 |
| Chester Cheetah Techno Tazo | 181-200 | 1996 |
| Time Warp Looney Tunes | 201-220 | 1996 |
| Space Jam | 1-80 | 1996 |
| Star Wars | 81-160 | 1997 |
| Batman & Robin | 1-40 | 1997 |
| The Simpsons Pickers | 1-120 | 2002 |
| Beyblades Tazo Topz | 1-54 | 2003 |
| Mega Tazo Topz | 1-65 | 2003 |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Metalix| 1-60 | 2004 | |
| Crush Gear Tazo | 1-40 | 2004 |
| The Simpsons Bowlarama | 1-50 | 2005 |
| Marvel Heroes | 1-50 | 2005 |
| The Simpsons TV Tazo | 1-50 | 2006 |
| AFL Hot Shot Tazo | 1-30 | 2006 |
| NRL Hot Shot Tazo | 1-30 | 2006 |
| Footy NRL Tazo Classic | 1-48 | 2007 |
| Footy NRL Tazo Gold | 1-64 | 2007 |
| Footy AFL Tazo Classic | 1-48 | 2007 |
| Footy AFL Tazo Gold | 1-64 | 2007 |
| Footy Legends NRL | 1-72 | 2008 |
| Footy Legends AFL | 1-64 | 2008 |
- The Yu-Gi-Oh! Metalix set did contain a couple bonus Tazos offered with a kids magazine K-Zone and at Shell petrol stations.
Products
Tazos are available through any marked Smith's Snackfood products which over the years have included:
- Burger Rings
- Cheese and Bacon Balls
- Doritos
- Lays
- Smith's Potato Chips
- Twisties
Storage
In most sets a folder to store to the Tazos have been offered either available at supermarkets, news agencies or online.
Completing incomplete sets
Usually at the end of the promotion, kids and collectors were able to obtain missing Tazos by sending in a list to the company with a cheque.
