Topps Going All In in 2020 for Garbage Pail Kids 35th Anniversary

According to an article published yesterday in ICV2.com, Topps is planning a huge push next year for Garbage Pail Kids and their 35th anniversary. Topps has big plans with both licensees and promotions.

New licensees will include USAopoly, they will produce a GPK themed Monopoly board game. Abrams book publisher will be back, this time with middle-school themed books. Previously announced companies Chalkline and Just Funky will join a new name, Surreal Entertainment, in producing licensed merchandise. The previous licensees; Geeki Tikis, Super 7, Ripple Junction, Mondo, FYE Consumables, Creepy Co., Fright Rags, are also mentioned as coming out with new items in 2020.

For the first time in years, Topps will actually put some marketing power behind the brand. According to the article Topps will be sending GPK characters to trade shows and comic conventions next year. The article also mentioned they will be showcasing the art and the artists at those shows. Also Topps is planning on launching dedicated social media channels, and a new website.

Finally mentioned in the article, and confirmed by Jam Studios, Topps has agreed to partner with Jam Studios to being a “whole batch” of new animated GPK shorts. Strangely, there was no mention os plans for the actual card sets in 2020. Buckle in, next year is going to be busy…

Super7 Launches Universal Monsters X GPK Shirts at Hot Topic Online

Super7 is continuing to use their Topps Garbage Pail Kids license, this time with t-shirts. Four new shirts are being offered at the Hot Topic online store only using some of the same artwork used earlier in the year for the Universal Monsters x Garbage Pail Kids card set. All artwork was completed by GPK artist Joe Simko. Both Freaky Frank and Drag Zac are available with name plates on a black shirt. The Black Lagoon character is available on a light blue shirt, while the black and white ad card is featured on a black shirt. The shirts are available is sizes S-3x, a and retail for anywhere from $24.90-$28.90 depending on size. Of course Hot Topic has their usual buy one get one 50% off sale on t-shirts going on now as well. Get them now before they are gone!

Topps Reveals Print Run for Garbage Pail Kids X NYC Takeover Set

For the first time in quite a while the clock ran out on an online GPK set without selling out. Today Topps revealed the print run for On Demand #18 Garbage Pail Kids X GPK Takeover. The set ended up selling 1211 copies. No word from Topps if that includes the sets sold at this years New York Comic Con. While the set sold just higher than the last On Demand set, it becomes the first On Demand GPK offer with sketches to not sell out since the first GPK Classic set. Why didn’t it sell out? There are a number if possible reasons. Did offering it a week prior at NYCC with little marketing and not letting customers know it would be listing online after hurt sales? Word of the set did not leak prior to NYCC, the lack of marketing ahead of time is sure to hurt sales. Or maybe 1200 is the limit of what Topps can expect from a GPK online set. Regardless of reason there are roughly 400 sets, along with 200 sketches that will be destined for the shredders. It will be interesting to see how Topps handles the next On Demand set, as well as the next convention offering.

Greenlight Reveals First Images of Series 2 Garbage Pail Kids Diecast Cars

Greenlight Collectibles today revealed the flat artwork for their upcoming Series 2 Garbage Pail Kids Diecast cars. While the images don’t show the final artwork, it gives collectors a good idea of the color schemes and what the cars will look like. Also included in the pictures are the cards that will come with each car. The Unaware Aaron card from the Taxi is brand new artwork completed by GPK artist Joe Simko. The cars are expected to hit retailers in Feb. 2020. Here’s the checklist along with artwork.

• 54030-A: 1:64 Garbage Pail Kids Series 2 – Greaser Greg – 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air with Flames
• 54030-B: 1:64 Garbage Pail Kids Series 2 – Hippie Skippy – 1964 Volkswagen Samba Bus
• 54030-C: 1:64 Garbage Pail Kids Series 2 – Hitchhike Mike – 1965 Nissan Patrol
• 54030-D: 1:64 Garbage Pail Kids Series 2 – Frye Day – 1970 Jeep CJ-5
• 54030-E: 1:64 Garbage Pail Kids Series 2 – Travellin’ Travis – 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco
• 54030-F: 1:64 Garbage Pail Kids Series 2 – Unaware Aaron – 1970 Checker Motors Marathon A11 GPK Taxi Co.

Philly Non-Sports Show Set for Next Weekend

Every year October is a huge month for Garbage Pail Kids. Not only is there a new retail set, but with New York Comic Con, and the Philly Non-Sports shows, collectors are busy all month! Now that NYCC is over its time to focus on next week’s Philly Non-Sports Card Show. Collectors from around the world will once again descend on the Merchants Square Mall in Allentown, PA for the bi-annual card show. Now this show isn’t like the hustle and bustle of  NYCC show. This show is a more intimate setting, that allows collectors time to chat with their favorite artists and collectors alike. Plus the entire show is non-sports cards. Like usual there will be a heavy focus on GPK.

Two of the current GPK artists Brent Engstrom and Joe Simko will be guests at the show. You can have a chance to meet your favorite artists, buy some art, and get some autographs. The duo have painted an exclusive card for the show. Collectors attending the Meet & Greet on Saturday night will have the option to purchase the two Topps licensed cards for $20. The cost of the cards helps to offset the cost for the artists to attend the show. As a special bonus attendees to the Meet & Greet will receive a metal version of the card for free! There will be plenty of prizes at the Meet & Greet. GPK collectors could win one of the Chalkline GPK jackets.

GPK collectors will also enjoy a Saturday evening auction after the show, which many rare items. Roxanne Toser will also have a number of items from Jay Lynch’s personal collection for sale at the show. She also found a number of old 1980’s GPKNews merchandise items that will only be offered at the show.

While not GPK, collectors can also pick up two promo cards for two new sets that will be hitting Kickstarter soon. Both Mars Attacks and Weird Wheels are making a comeback, and there will be promo cards available at the show. There will be a number of other promos available as well.

The show takes place at the Merchants Square Mall in Allentown, PA on Saturday October 19th from 10:00-5:00 and Sunday October 20th from 10:00 – 3:00. Tickets are $8 per day, or a weekend pass for $14. All collectors i the area should make it a point to stop by the show next weekend!

How Many 2019S2 GPK Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible Were Produced? Part 2

This is Part 2 of a two part series on the production of 2019S2 GPK Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible. If you missed Part 1 you can go here to catch up.

In the first post we looked at how many packs/boxes/cases were produced of 2019S2 Garbage Pail Kids Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible. Here’s a review of what we came up with.

  • Total Production – 748,000 Packs
  • Collector – 69,000 Collector Packs or about 2,875 Hobby Boxes or about 360 Collector Cases
  • Blaster – 264,000 Blaster Packs or 32,800 Blaster boxes or 1,320 Blaster Cases
  • Fat Packs – 130,000 Fat Packs or 1203 Fat Pack cases
  • Retail Display – 24,000 Retail Display Packs or 1000 Retail Display boxes or 125 Retail Display Cases

I’ll be using these numbers to try to come up with an idea how many of each type of parallel and insert were created for the set. This will give you a good idea how rare a set is and how quickly you need to snap up that card for your rainbow! I’ll also compare some of this info to the previous sets for reference. As a reminder, in addition to using the sell sheet and odds, we will also have to make some assumptions and flat out guesses when trying to figure some of these out.

So how many of each type of card was made? We can’t figure it out for every type of insert or parallel. Some card types we don’t have enough information. Other times however, Topps is nice enough to tell us exactly how many of a card was produced. Like previous sets, Topps has continued to number many card types. This means we already know most of the parallel and insert numbers already! Makes this post a lot easier! We know Blue /99, Red /75, and Gold /50 for the parallels, and Relics /100 and Autos /25 for the insert sets!

Like with last series because we’ve figured out roughly what the individual pack production is of the various retail packs types we can try to figure out the production of the retail parallels. We can also figure out the Blacklight production.

First let’s figure out production for the various parallels.

  • Blacklight – 69,000 Collector packs / 1 Odds (doh) = 69,000 total Blacklight cards / 200 cards in set = 345 per card.
  • Green Borders – 264,000 Blaster packs + 130,000 Fat Packs + 24,000 Retail Display Packs / 1 Odds (doh) = 418,000 total Green borders / 200 cards in set = 2090 per card.
  • Purple Borders – 130,000 Fat Packs * 2 Per pack = 260,000 total Purple borders / 200 cards in set = 1300 per card
  • Yellow Borders – 24,000 Retail Display packs / 4 Odds = 6000 total Yellow borders / 200 cards in set = 30 per card

Some notes on changes to the parallels this series. Topps messed up on the Fat packs this time. In the past they came with 2 green borders and 1 purple border. This series it was swapped, 2 purples per fat pack, and only 1 green border. So despite production being way up on the set overall the Green parallel production is only slightly up vs. the last set. Conversely, the packet issue with purples in fat packs, coupled with increased production means Purple production is almost triple the previous set. Blacklight cards are up 100 more then Bruised due to production increases as well. With the yellow borders we see a different story. Because there appears to be a decrease in Retail Display boxes the yellows might be as low as only 30 of each card produced. Except this to be up sharply as yellows more to Value boxes for 2020S1.

Now let’s take a look at the various insert sets.

  • Horror Film Posters – 69,000 Collector packs / 24 odds = 2,875 total Horror Film Posters / 9 cards in set = 319 per card
  • Classic Monsters – 130,000 Fat packs * 2 per pack = 260,000 total Classic Monsters / 20 cards in set = 13,000 per card
  • Horror Victims – 52,800 Blaster Boxes * 3 per box = 158,400 total Horror Victims / 10 cards in set = 15,840 per card
  • Trick or Treat – 24,000 Retail Display packs / 3 odds = 8,000 total Trick or Treat / 10 cards in set = 800 per card
  • Tombstone Figures – 2,875 Collector boxes / 1 odds – 2,875  total Tombstone figures / 12 figures in set = 240 per figure

While production was way up, some of the insert set changes helped keep production runs for the inserts only slightly higher than previous sets. Set sizes for Posters, Horror Victims, and Trick or Treats kept the numbers in line with previous releases. While I know it doesn’t seem like it for some of the Tombstone figurines, there are a good number of each available. Topps choosing to pack each case with the same figures certainly doesn’t help collectors in making the set.

One thing I like taking a look at each set is where all the printing plates are hiding. Historically, retail has the majority of the printing plates because it accounts for over 80% of the print run. One other thing these numbers will tell us is how close we are to having correct retail pack production numbers. We know Topps inserted 440 plates into production. Here is the breakdown of how many can be found in each pack type.

  • Collector Plates – 69,000 packs / 462 odds = 149 plates in Collector packs
  • Fat Pack Plates – 130,000 packs / 870 odds = 149 plates in Fat Pack packs
  • Blaster Plates – 264,000 packs / 2615 odds = 100 plates in Blaster packs
  • Retail Display Plates – 24,000 packs / 2653 odds = 9 plates in Retail Display packs

Once again if you want a plate Collector packs are the easiest option. Although a large amount of plates are in retail packs, you just have to open a bunch. The total we get on plates is 407. Which is not bad considering as I mentioned in the last article the packs numbers are probably slightly off on Fat packs and Retail Display packs. Still we are in the ballpark of 440. Which makes me feel good that we are close on production numbers.

Topps is seeing popularity for the GPK brand at its highest it’s been in years. A new Brand Manager has started making some long overdue changes to set and card makeup. There will be many more changes coming in the 2020S1 set. The art is better than its even been now that the final card artists have been paired down. There are more merchandise items than ever before with GPK characters on them. The trick going forward for Topps will be to try to balance popularity of the sets, while keeping collectors happy with insertion rates. A huge complaint with this series was around how tough the hits were to pull for collectors. It will be interesting to see how Topps handles that in the next retail set.

Finally, can we figure out how many base cards were produced? Not really, but we can use what we know and give it our best guess! We know Collector packs have 6 or 7 base cards per pack now, except for packs containing patches, but that number is so small we will go with 6. Retail/Hobby packs 7 base cards per pack this time around, except for packs containing gold dust, autos, sketches, and plates, but again that number is so small I’m going to go with 7 per pack.

Base Cards – (69,000 Collector packs X 6 cards per pack) + (679,000 Retail packs X 7 cards per pack) = 5,167,000 Total Base Cards produced / 200 cards per set = 25,835 Total of each base card.

The smaller set size, coupled with high production increases means there are over 10,000 more base sets than the last release. Take your time with this one, there will be base sets of this one around for years to come.

This is Part 2 of a two part series on the production of 2019S2 GPK Revenge of Oh the Horror-ibleIf you missed Part 1 you can go here to catch up.

Topps Now Offering On Demand #18 2019 Garbage Pail Kids X NYC Takeover

Update 10/9/19: In trying to figure out a production run I asked around to the various sketch artists. Here’s how many sketches each completed for the set; Brewer (52), Jasmine Contois (52), Dan Contois (52), Crosby (52), Cortez (52), Grotesque (50), Fitchett (52), Garvey (52), Gortakowski (51), Jimenez (52), Molinelli (52), Scubas (50), Nygma (25), Sumner (50). and Williams (50). As of this writing only Neil Camera hasn’t responded. But it can be assumed he was asked to do between 50-52. Based on the ones we know about it comes to 744 sketches. If you add in 52 for Camera we get 796. Its right up there very close to 800 sketches for the set. If there were 800 sketches, that means 1600 base sets. This would be the highest produced of the On Demand online sets to date. For the C sets, 1600 sets / 10 cards in set = 160 “C” name sets. Green sets, 1600 sets * 3 greens per set = 4800 green cards / 20 in set = 240 green sets. Pink sets, 1600 set * 2 pinks per set = 3200 pink cards / 20 in set = 160 pinks sets. So to recap:

  • Base sets: 1600
  • Green Sets: 240
  • Pink Sets: 160
  • C Sets: 160
  • Sketches: 800

Fresh off this year’s New York Comic Con, Topps is now selling their On Demand #18 2019 Garbage Pail Kids X NYC Takeover set online. The set is exactly like what was sold at NYCC, without the promo card. The 20 card set features 10 new pieces (with a/b versions) of artwork completed by Joe Simko. In addition to the base set, collectors also receive 3 green parallels, 2 pink parallels, 1 C name card, and a 1:2 chance at a sketch card. The set sells for the same price as NYCC at $40. Shipping is free when choosing the SmartPost option. Purchases are limited to 50 sets. The sets are available on topps.com for 7 days or until sold out.

Topps had sold out of sets pretty quickly at NYCC according to collectors attending the event. Topps only brought a limited number of sets to the con, while holding back the rest for online sales. As part of the online listing Topps did reveal the names of the 16 artists that did sketches for the set. Sketch artists are; John Brewer, Neil Camera, Jasmine Contois, Dan Contois, Sebastian Cortez, Jason Crosby, Joe Grotesque, Joey Fitchett, K GRiMM, Dennis Gortakowski, Robert Jimenez, Rich Molinelli, Anthony Skubis, B. Nygma, Floydman, and Gavin Williams. Artists were asked to complete 52 sketches, but some completed less. I’ll update this article with more details when available.

Here is a checklist for the set in addition to some pictures of the cards.

1. New Wave DAVE/Graffiti PETEY
2. Smelly SALLY/Fishy PHYLLIS
3. KIM Kong/ANNA Banana
4. Spilt KIT/Mixed-Up MITCH
5. Slobby ROBBIE/Fat MATT
6. Ashley Can/GRETA GARBAGE
7. Greaser GREG/CHRIS Hiss
8. Travelin’ TRAVIS/Flat TYLER
9. Up CHUCK/Heavin’ STEVEN
10. MATT Rat/RACHEL Rodent

FYE NYCC Garbage Pail Kids Promo Surfaces

Not to be left out, FYE themselves issues yet another Garbage Pail Kids promo today at their booth. Using the art from their cereal boxes released earlier in the year, the promo features Crispy Christy. The back of the card identifies it as a NYCC 2019 promo card. The card is being handed out at the FYE booth today during Joe Simko’s autograph signing. There continues to be surprises at NYCC for GPK collectors.

Third Exclusive NYCC Garbage Pail Kids Promo Card

Another day, another NYCC Garbage Pail Kids Promo card. Topps continues to surprise GPK collectors at this weekend’s New York Comic Con as they are passing out another new promo card today at their booth. Today’s card features artwork from this year’s 2019S2 Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible set. The front has the Villiage of the Adamed poster card. The back identifies the card a NYCC promo card. This card appears to be the Saturday GPK promo that was announced. While the Jam Studios Promo, and the Simko auto we’re both unannounced by Topps. Topps has gone all out at this year’s show. Could there be anything more on Sunday?

Another Garbage Pail Kids Promo At NYCC

Another day, another new Garbage Pail Kids promo card. Collectors attending the Joe Simko signing at the Topps booth today were treated to a new promo card based off of the new 2019S2 Revenge of Oh the Horror-ible set. The card is a reprint of the Slasher #7a Meditating Michael card. The back tells collectors they’ve received an exclusive New York Comic Con autograph card. One has been posted on eBay with the seller claiming only 50 copies of the card were passed out. Who knows, maybe more will surface this weekend at Topps’ booth. After two days of surprises what will this weekend bring at NYCC?