Category Archives: 2018 Series 1

How Many 2017S2 GPK Battle of the Bands Cards Were Produced? Part 1

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This is Part 1 of a two part series on the production of 2017 Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands. To read Part 2 click here.

Topps started out 2017 with a retail Garbage Pail Kids set that was well received by collectors. Collectors enjoyed both the art and gags of the Adam-Geddon set. Then Topps took a long 9 month break before the next retail set. The last 9 months were filled with various online exclusives. Collectors however, tired of the daily presidential cards, and Topps discontinued those in early summer. Topps kept up with regular small online sets in the remaining months, celebrating awards shows and holidays. Topps took a different direction with the second set of 2017. This time doing a set based entirely on musical acts. Would this new theme affect production? Or does the long 9 month absence make a GPK collector’s heart grow fonder? I’m going to attempt to answer those questions in a two part series on GPK Battle of the Bands production. And I’m going to try to do it despite Topps printing incorrect odds on the packages. The easy part? Topps stuck with nearly the same exact format as Adam-Geddon. The hard part? Topps doesn’t make it easy and has shared less and less info with each passing set. Let’s do some math!

First my disclaimer! Production numbers are never an exact science, and Topps makes it tough on us. In order to attempt to solve this riddle we need to look very closely at the clues in both the odds and the sell sheets. Some things to keep in mind for this post. 1) Topps doesn’t want the public to know exactly how much of each card was made. Why? No idea really, I think its dumb, but historically Topps only provides enough information to get close. 2) We need to make some assumptions. Those assumptions will be based on the clues we have, but still some guessing has to happen. 3) The odds never quite seem to come out completely equal. However we can round and get pretty close to how much was produced. 4) Topps changes what is printed from what the sell sheet says all the time. This will throw off all our numbers. 5) Keep in mind Topps historically holds back 5% of the print run to cover missing hits, damaged cards, and their No Purchase Necessary program. These numbers would include that 5%. With all that in mind let’s get started…(Warning lots of math coming up. If you don’t want to read about the process, skip to the bottom for the answer sheet!)

To start we need to determine how many packs were made for the entire print run. In order to do that we need a card type where all the odds are exactly the same in Collector and Retail/Hobby packs. This time around there are actually two types of cards this works for, Fools Gold borders and Artist Autographs. Which is great, so we can double check our numbers. Let’s look at the Gold borders first. The odds state that Gold borders fall at 1:98 packs.

Wait just a second….1:98?!? That’s about double of the last set! Did Topps really produce twice the amount of cards for Battle of the Bands? The answer is, no. As you will see throughout this article, I believe Topps has overstated all the odds on the parallels by double. (GPKNews has contacted Topps for comment on the incorrect odds, but Topps has not responded to that request.) How do I know? Three reasons, and they support each other. 1) The numbers don’t match up. The odds appear to be correct for all other card types like patches, sketches, etc. You can’t have parallel odds be double, and all the other inserts be half. 2) Every break from my personal experience and speaking to collectors large and small show the parallels are falling a twice the stated rate. 3) There is no way Topps doubled production, there isn’t the support for that many cards. Therefore, throughout this article and Part 2, I will be cutting the odds in half to do my calculations.

Let’s try this again, the real life odds for Gold borders is 1:49 packs. There are 180 base cards in the set, and Gold borders are /50 on the backs. Therefore, 180 cards X 50 number of golds per card = 9000 total Gold borders X 49 odds = 441,000 total packs made for release. The number of packs is very close to last series.

Are we sure about 441,000 packs being correct? Let’s check, this time using Artist Autographs. Because autos aren’t a parallel card, the stated odds on the packs appear to be correct. There are 90 different autos in the set X 25 autos per card = 2250 total autos in the print run X 192 odds – 432,000. That is really close to the number we are up with using Gold borders. So why is it different? Its Topps, who knows! Really though I’ve noticed Topps rounds the odds, so the real odds might be slightly higher or lower. One other note on total packs. After changing things up for Adam-Geddon, Topps has returned to Jumbo Retail pack odds being exactly 1/2 of a retail pack. This makes our calculations a lot easier. Just keep in mind that Jumbo packs count as 2 regular packs within our totals. I’m going to use 441,000 as our number going forward. Its going to make the calculations easier, and gives Topps the benefit of the doubt on production.

Next we need to try to figure out how many of each pack type was created for the set. Collector packs are always easier to figure out because they have the cards that are exclusive to the set. We need card types that are only in Collector packs, and we know already how many were made. Once again there are three types, Patches, Bloody Red borders, and Spit Blue borders. Here’s what the math looks like on those:

  • Patch Cards – 20 cards in set X 50 made per card = 1000 total patches x 41 odds = 41,000 Collector packs made
  • Bloody Red borders – 180 cards in set X 75 made per card = 13,500 total Red borders X 3 odds = 40,5000 Collector packs made
  • Spit Blue borders – 180 cards in set X 99 made per card = 17,820 total Blue borders X 2 odds = 35,640 Collector packs made

As we can see the numbers for Patch cards and Red borders are really close. However, the Blue borders seem to be off a bit. Why is that? Remember, I mentioned above that Topps rounds the odds on the packs. When it comes to Red borders collectors are pulling exactly 8 per box which is 1:3. Blue borders however are seeing 11 per box for most boxes. That makes the real odds slightly higher than 1:2, and the pack total would therefore be higher. I am confident in using 41,000 as the number for total Collector packs produced.

How about other pack types? Once again Hobby boxes are nonexistent, and exist in name only. Starting with Adam-Geddon Topps has made Hobby boxes the same as Regular Retail boxes. There are no longer any marks on the packs or boxes that distinguish a Hobby box vs. a Retail box. Also, the odds are exactly the same. Since all cards types are the same there is no way to tell how many Hobby/Retail boxes were produced. Sadly the same holds true for retail packs. In order to determine how many different types of retail packs were made, we would need a card type that is only in one type of retail pack, and we know how many were made. The only cards types that are individual to retail packs are Loaded Sketches and Panoramic Sketches. Topps no longer releases how many sketches are inserted into each pack type. So just like with Adam-Geddon the rest of our discussion will combine all Hobby/Retail pack types into one number. Keep in mind a Jumbo Retail packs counts as 2 packs in our numbers.

We know there are 41,000 Collector packs. How many Retail/Hobby packs to we have? 441,000 total packs – 41,000 Collector packs = 400,000 Retail/Hobby packs. That sounds like a whole lot of packs, but in reality, Battle of the Bands is the lowest produced GPK set in the last two years.

Here’s what I believe the total production numbers to be for Adam-Geddon:

  • Total Production – 441,000 Packs
  • Collector – 41,000 Collector Packs or about 1700 Hobby Boxes or about 213 Collector Cases
  • Retail/Hobby – 400,000 Retail/Hobby Packs

(Once again my numbers could be off. We had to make some assumptions, trust the sell sheet, all while ignoring the printed odds. But I’m confident these numbers are really close.)

So what does this all mean? Production is down compared to the previous set, Adam-Geddon. However, the numbers are really close to what was produced with the Adam-Geddon set. In looking at the numbers, production of Collector boxes is actually up, while retail is down. Take a look at the last four sets and the production numbers:

  • Total Pack Production
    • Apple Pie – 484,000
    • Trashy TV – 638,000
    • Adam-Geddon – 459,000
    • Battle of the Bands – 441,000 (4% decrease in total overall production vs. Adam-Geddon)
  • Collector Pack Production
    • Apple Pie – 36,500
    • Trashy TV – 35,000
    • Adam-Geddon – 36,000
    • Battle of the Bands – 41,000 (12% increase vs. Adam-Geddon)
  • Retail Pack Production
    • Apple Pie – 408,500
    • Trashy TV – 550,000
    • Adam-Geddon (Includes Hobby packs) – 423,000
    • Battle of the Bands (Includes Hobby packs) – 400,000 (6% decrease vs. Adam-Geddon)

Topps prints to order their product. Which means based on distributor pre-orders, Topps decides how much product to produce. The numbers show for the most part this set was printed in very similar quantities as Adam-Geddon. Collectors continue to gravitate to purchasing Collector boxes. More than likely collectors have stop purchasing “Hobby” boxes, since they have figured out now they are the same as Retail. In sticking to the same formula you will see similar results in Part 2 to Adam-Geddon. I expect Topps to stick to this formula for the first set of 2018, We Hate the 80’s.

All fun stuff to think about as you bust into those new packs! Let me know your thoughts on the numbers in the comments!

This is Part 1 of a two part series on the production of 2017S2 Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands. In Part 2 we will look at production numbers for all parallel and insert sets. To read Part 2 click here.

2018S1 GPK We Hate the 80’s to Include The Goldbergs Autos

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Blowout Buzz was first to reveal earlier today that 2018S1 Garbage Pail Kids We Hate the 80’s will include autos from the cast of The Goldbergs TV show. Creator Adam Goldberg previously was featured in the 30th anniversary set. Now a large part of the cast will be included with autos. Here is the list of autos you can expect to find.

  • — Adam F. Goldberg, series creator, writer and executive producer
  • — Sean Giambrone as Adam F. Goldberg
  • — Patton Oswalt as the voice of adult Adam F. Goldberg
  • — Troy Gentile as Barry Goldberg
  • — Hayley Orrantia as Erica Goldberg
  • — Wendi McLendon-Covey as Beverly Goldberg
  • — Jeff Garlin as Murray Goldberg
  • — George Segal as Albert “Pops” Solomon
  • — Bryan Callen as Coach Rick Mellor

2018 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids We Hate the 80’s Retail Sell Sheet

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Earlier this week Topps released the information for Hobby/Collector packs of 2018 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids We Hate the 80’s retail set. The setup for 2018’s first set appears to be very similar to the sets from 2017. The base set will consist of 90 new pieces of artwork available in a/b names for a 180 card set. As Topps has done the last couple of years, the set will be broken into various themed subsets, all focused on parodies from the 1980’s.

Both 24 pack Retail display boxes, and 36 pack Gravity Feed boxes are slated to return. Parallels remain the same, as one Green Puke parallel card will come with each Retail and Hobby pack. Gold parallels will be randomly inserted throughout all pack types in the set. While Yellow Pee borders should once again be found in Gravity Feed packs. All pack types will also have the chance at hitting an Artist Autograph card to a Printing Plate. Regular sized sketch cards can also be found in Retail and Hobby pack types.

Blaster Boxes (Value Box) will once again be sold in two versions. Gross Bears bonus cards can be found in the “SE Value Box”, while Bathroom Buddies ca be found in the “EA Value Box”. This will mark the fifth straight release that has featured the Gross Bears and Bathroom Buddies as Blaster Box bonus cards. Blasters will continue to be sold with five, (8) card packs in each box. Each Blaster case will contain 16 boxes. Also returning to Blaster boxes are the very popular Loaded Puzzle Sketch cards.

Fat Packs will also return to the pack lineup. These packs are more than double the size of a retail pack. Each pack contains 20 base cards, two Puke parallels, and two Classic 80’s Stickers. The Classic 80’s Stickers subset features previously released GPKs that parodied things from the 80’s in a redesign. On the sell sheet the Classic 80’s cards have a yellow background on the banner matching the sketch cards. Panoramic Sketch cards can also be found randomly inserted in Fat Packs for this release.

To view the Retail Sell Sheet as a PDF click here, or check out the pictures below. 2018 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids We Hate the 80’s is set to release on Jan. 17, 2018.

Topps Announces 2018 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids We Hate the 80’s

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After being expected for a few weeks now, Topps confirmed rumors by announcing the first Garbage Pail Kids retail set for 2018. Today Topps announced 2018 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids We Hate the 80’s. The set will focus on parodies of everything from the 1980’s, the decade GPKs were born. The setup looks to be identical to the next GPK set, Battle of the Bands.

Once again there will be 180 base cards, consisting of 90 new pieces of artwork available in a/b names. The set will be broken up into various subsets, all themed with 80’s references. Parallels remain the same. Hobby and Retail packs will contain one green Puke parallel per pack. Gold parallels will once again be numbered /50, and are available in all pack types. Also, Bruised, Spit /99, and Bloody Nose /75 parallels will only appear in Collector packs. Collector packs will also contain an insert set called 80’s Wax Pack Parodies. These are Wacky Packages style cards that are parodies of various Topps products from the 80’s. Most like these will fall one per Collector Box.

Artist autographs and printing plates will continue to be found in all pack types. Hobby and Retail packs will have regular sketches inserted in them. Collector boxes are once again guaranteed one hit per box either a shaped sketch, auto, printing plate, or patch card. Also returning to collector packs will be dual artist panoramic sketch cards.

The setup appears to match the 2017S2 set exactly. Once we get retail sell sheet info, I will pass it along. For now you can see the sell sheet here in PDF form, or check out the pictures below. There is also a gallery of examples of the cards for the new set. 2018S1 GPK We Hate the 80’s is set to hit stores in Jan. 17, 2018.

2017S2 & 2018S1 GPK Sketch Card Lineups Take Shape

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Updated 9/14 to add Derrin Pepe.

Updated 9/8 to change Jon Gregory and Simon Jacobsohn to 2018S1 only.

Updated 9/7 to add Josh Ginter, Bobby Blakey, Quinton Baker, and Pat Chaimuang.

Updated 8/11 to remove Dennis Gortakowski.

Updated 8/9 to add new artist Dave Gacey.

Updated 8/8 to add new artist Simon Jacobsohn.

Updated 8/7 to add new artist Mike Arnold.

Two months after announcing the next GPK set, 2017 Series 2 Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands, Topps began sending out invites this week to perspective sketch card artists. In a bit of a surprise the invites were not just for 2017S2, but also for 2018S1. Artists accepting will be shipped sketch cards for both sets at once. This will give the artists more time to complete the sketches for the 2018S1 set. With just over 3 months between sets, Topps is trying to stay ahead with the GPK brand so 2018S1 isn’t rushed.

For 2017S1 GPK Adam-Geddon, released back in January, Topps had 38 sketch artists take part in the set. Of those 38 it appears only 28 are confirmed to return for 2017S2, while 31 are confirmed for 2018S1. The following artists from 2017S1 Adam-Geddon will return for both 2017S2 and 2018S1; Simone Arena, Michael Barnard, Neil Camera, Daniel Contois, Jasmine Contois, Sobot Cortez, Jason Crosby, “GPK” Dave Dabila (2018S1 Only), Vincenzo “Chenduz” D’Ippolito, Patrick Giles, Cecilia Granata, Jon Gregory (2018S1 Only), Kelly Greider, Jason Heil, Marisol Henriquez, Lowell Isaac, Robert Jimenez, Matthew Kirsch, “Smokin” Joe McWilliams, Chris Meeks (2018S1 Only), Lily Mercado, Rich Molinelli, JM Monserrat, Barry Nygma, Steve Potter, Cathy Razim, Chad Scheres, Anthony Skubis, Matt Steffens, Magnus Von Robotsoon, and Dan Burn Webster. Six artists who worked on the last series are not returning for various reasons. Mainstay GPK artists Brent Engstrom and Joe Simko will continue to paint numerous base cards from in the upcoming series, but will not be working on sketch cards. Longtime GPK sketch artists and fan favorites Dustin Graham, Dennis Gortakowski, Ryan Moffet, and Sean Norvet all decided for various reasons to no longer create sketch cards. Finally Denis St. John is undecided.

Topps isn’t stopping there. As with the last few sets, there are many artists making their GPK debuts. The following artists have confirmed accepting the invites; Bryan Abston, Mike Arnold, Ro Garcia Astorga, Quinton Baker (2018S1 Only), Bobby Blakey, Sean Bolger, John Brewer, Pat Chaimuang, Dave Gacey, Josh Ginter, Joseph Grotesque, Simon Jacobsohn (2018S1 Only), Kevin Lea, Paul Mangione, Mike McHugh, Rory McQueen, Ande Moores (2018S1 Only), Victor Moreno, Darrin Pepe, Brent Scotchmer, Floyd Sumner, Gregory Tilson, Matthew White, and Gavin Williams. While a couple of these artists will be making their Topps sketch debut, the majority have worked on other Topps properties in the past. In most cases these artists have also been GPK collectors for a long time. The total of new artists for 2017S2 is 21, while 24 artists will work on 2018S1. The largest group of new artists in some time brings a record 49 artists working on 2017S2, while 2018S1 will break that mark with 55 artists.

While the number of sketch artists is increasing, their workload is getting smaller. Artists will be shipped the same number of sketch blanks for both sets. While Loaded, Panoramic, and Dual Artist Panoramic sketch numbers appear consistent with previous sets, the amount of regular and die-cut sketches has dropped versus 2017S1 Adam-Geddon. This can mean a couple of things. Most likely, sketch cards will be tougher to come by in the next two sets. Of course this is also all based on production numbers. While Topps has pre-order info for 2017S2, they have not solicited yet for 2018S1. There is no way to know at this point how much product gets ordered. If the products are popular and prove to sell well, then sketches will be very hard to pull. This will be especially true with the Shaped sketches which are now only found in Collector boxes. Topps has cut back by up to 66% on the amount issued to artists. We saw this with Adam-Geddon. Despite production being lower, sketch odds were longer than previous sets. Bottom line is, it keeps getting harder and harder to pull a sketch card in packs.

One improvement this time around compared to Adam-Geddon is the deadlines the artists have to complete sketches. Artists will have nearly two months to complete 2017S2 sketches, with a deadline in mid-Sept. The 2018S1 sketches are not due until early Dec., giving artists ample time to work on sketches. Artists had just over a month to complete sketches for Adam-Geddon, so the slightly longer deadlines should help the artists. Besides the deadlines, not much else appears to have changed with sketch card rules. Artist Return sketches still must be completed prior to the set’s release. Approval via scan by the Art Director must happen before they can be mailed to customers on the release date. The “banned sketch” list continues to be the same. Artists are not allowed to sketch cards featuring Stan Lee, Gene Simmons, the Hundreds set, Riot Fest set, and all Disney properties including Star Wars and Marvel. Expect sketch previews to start showing up just prior to release after approval towards the end of Sept. 2017 Series 2 Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands is set to hit stores on Oct. 18th, 2017.

Sketch Artists Begin Work on 2017S2 & 2018S1 Sketches

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GPK artists began receiving their blank sketch cards in the mail this past weekend for the next two sets. The 48 artists who have accepted invites for either both or one of the next sets can now begin the long nights of sketching.

The sketch blanks for 2017 Series 2 Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands features the Live Mike character from OS 2 on the back of the regular and panoramic sized sketches. The backs of the sketches are light blue, while the front of the regular sized sketch has a yellow name plate. The usual red banner returns to the fronts.

While not much is known about 2018 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids, we have our first clue. The backs of the 2018S1 sketches feature the character Reuben Cube, card #277a, from OS 7. Rumors online have been the 2018S1 set will be 80’s themed. If that’s the case a character parodying a Rubik’s Cube certainly fits. The color on the backs is the same as the 2017S2 light blue. However one big change is to the banner. Instead of a white background with the red banner, it is a yellow background. The name plate on the regular sized sketch is pink for this series.

The rules around sketching look to have remained the same. Artists are not allowed to sketch cards featuring Stan Lee, Gene Simmons, the Hundreds set, Riot Fest set, and all Disney properties including Star Wars and Marvel. Sketch artists will have to get busy quickly as Dual Artist Panoramic are due back Aug. 1. Artists will have much more time to complete the other cards of both sets. 2017S2 GPK Battle of the bands is set to launch on 10/18/17, while 2018 S1 GPK will launch sometime in Jan. 2018.

2018 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids Set for January

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The ink hasn’t dried on 2017 Series 2 GPK Battle of the Bands yet, but Topps is already fast at work on the first retail series of 2018. Nothing has been publicly announced by Topps yet, but with Battle of the Bands cards already complete the focus has shifted to getting a head start on the next set. Topps also begin soliciting artist sketch card invites today for not only 2017S2, but also 2018S1 sets. Not much else is known about the 2018S1 set. Topps seems to be following the same release schedule as the previous sets. Based on timelines for when sketches are due, it appears Topps is shooting for a mid-Jan 2018 release. This will make only 4 months between retail sets. However unlike last year when sketch card deadlines were extremely tight for 2017S1, artists will have much more time to complete the cards for 2018S1. We are still probably a couple of months away from seeing sell sheets for the 2018S1 set, as Topps usually gives a 6 month window on those. Stay tuned to GPKNews as more info comes out.