How Many 2022 Garbage Pail Kids OS 5 Chrome Cards Were Produced?

Oh boy! Where should we start? Loyal readers who are familiar with my production articles will find this one to be quite different than usual. Why? Well with the release of 2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5, Topps has finally made it impossible to determine actual production numbers. How you ask? Well let’s start with nearly all the odds printed on all packs types are incorrect. And not just a little off, like usual. No, I think Topps may have just picked numbers out of a hat for the pack odds. Topps also debuted a new box/pack type with the Hanger retail boxes. The lack of exclusive parallels in Hangers also throws a wrench into the equation. So is there a way to determine how much Topps printed of Chrome 5? I think we can get a number that’s at least in the ballpark. Poor yourself a beverage, sit back, and follow along as I try to solve this puzzle.

First my disclaimer! Production numbers are never an exact science, especially with this set. In order to attempt to solve this riddle we need to look very closely printed pack odds, Chrome 4 odds, and multiple real life case breaks. Some things to keep in mind for this post. We are going to make a lot of assumptions in this article. They will be based on past and current evidence, but the only way we will get to an answer here is to use what we know and project that out. Remember, while we will talk about multiple real life case breaks, more than ever before, there are always outliers. Some cases will be worst than others, some will be better. In the end though, a pattern starts to emerge of an average case. Likewise, it’s tough to use small sample sizes. Someone might have a hot 6 boxes of something, that doesn’t mean all boxes are hot. Also, keep in mind Topps historically holds back up to 5% of the print run to cover missing hits, damaged cards, and their No Purchase Necessary program. These numbers would include that 5%. With that being said, let’s get started…

First thing we need to do is figure out is how many packs of each box type were produced. We can do that by using any exclusive parallels and the pack odds. Let’s take a look at Hobby boxes first. There are 3 exclusive parallels in Hobby boxes; Black Wave, Orange, and Red Refractors.

  • Orange borders – 100 cards in set * 75 made per card = 7,500 total Orange borders * 141 odds = 1,057,500 total Hobby packs
  • Black Wave – 100 cards in set * 99 made per card = 9900 total BW borders * 107 odds =  1,059,300 total Hobby packs
  • Red borders – 100 cards in set * 5 made per card = 500 total Red borders * 2,095 odds = 1.047,500 total Hobby packs

All those numbers are pretty darn close, that’s good. However, let’s compare the C5 Hobby odds to the C4 hobby odds. C5’s printed odds are really close to C4 across the board, almost for everything. So, one would logically think there should be the same number of “hits” in C5 that were in C4. This is where Topps makes their first huge error. The printed odds say a case should yield on average 60 hits per case. However, when you look at actual Hobby case breaks from collectors, they are only pulling a little less than 1/2 the expected hits from Hobby boxes. GPKNews has been in contact with many large and small case breakers the last week+. Hobby case results have been reported from 24-30 hits per case. Somewhere in the middle of that seems to be the norm. As you might expect, collectors have been bitterly disappointed with Hobby boxes. It’s bad enough most boxes yield only 2 hits, but to add insult to injury Topps has completely screwed up the odds.

Where does that leave us? Not all odds are wrong on the Hobby pack. The odds, strangely, for non-numbered hits like regular Refractors and C Cards, seem to be accurate. More importantly, it also seems exclusive parallel odds appear to be either right, or really close. Collectors should get 2.6 Black Waves and 2 Oranges per case. Cases have pulled anywhere between 0-3 of each of these it seems, usually 2-3 each. We should trust what we see here, it appears there are a similar number of Hobby packs produced for C5 vs. C4. I’m going to use 1,050,000, a nice round number somewhere in the middle of the exclusive parallel calculations. Wait, production similar? How can that be if boxes are only giving 1/2 the number of hits? If that’s the case, then where did all the non-exclusive hits go? Keep reading to find out!

Let’s tackle Blaster boxes next. Blasters were suppose to have 3 exclusives again. Sadly, Topps made a change, only Black and Atomic Refractors are exclusive to Blaster boxes in C5. Atomics aren’t numbered, so we can only look at Black Refractors to get a pack count.

  • Black – 100 cards in set * 99 made per card = 9900 total BW borders * 186 odds =  1,841,400 total Hobby packs

Wow! That’s an amazing number of packs. Would be more than double of C4. Can it be right? Now let’s look at the printed odds. What kind of over inflated numbers are these?!? The printed odds on C5 Blaster packs are so far off it’s laughable. Based on the printed odds collectors should only expect 6 hits in a Blaster case, with 3 of those being C cards! Luckily for collectors, the printed odds are not correct. Real life case results have shown that C5 blasters are yielding about the same number of hits as C4 blasters. While there have been outlier cases in both directions reported, as low as 18 hits and as high as 30, it looks like the average Blaster case is yielding 24-25 hits. Somewhat surprisingly this is very similar to what C4 blaster cases had, maybe slightly more on average. Collectors busting blaster boxes will have a similar experience as they did to C4, and if you are talking pure value, when you consider Atomic Refractors, Blaster boxes are a better buy than Hobby boxes.

So, what do the odds on Blasters tell us? Again, we have to focus on the exclusive Black Parallels. Based on the odds, collectors should expect to see 1.2 per case. Again, real life case results appear to prove that out. Cases have between 0-2 Black refractors reported for the most part. I think we have little choice here but to believe the Black Refractor odds, and go with 1,841,400 as the total Blaster pack count. As with Hobby odds, it appears the odds for the non-numbered cards are accurate. Regular Refractor, Atomic Refractor, and C Cards all appear to be falling at the appropriate rates. So how can we possibly explain the super inflated odds for most of the numbered parallels? Well we can’t, but I found something interesting when running numbers. If you compare the odds on C4 blasters to C5 blasters for Green (Wave), Yellow (Wave), Prism (Aqua), XFractor, and Rose Golds they are each 6.3x higher for C5 than C4. That’s interesting, and is going to come in useful for us coming up soon.

We’ve gone over Hobby and Blaster pack numbers. I think by using the exclusive parallel odds we have a good ballpark pack count for each. Hangers are going to be another story completely, and this is where we are going to have to take a few leaps of faith. It would have been easy to figure out Hanger production if there was an exclusive parallel, however there are no exclusives in Hanger packs. To complicate things the odds on Hanger packs are just as laughable as with Blasters. Let’s see if we can use both what we know and what we assume to reverse engineer the Hanger production. We need to figure out how many of a known numbered parallel is in each pack type. We need to know both the pack protection and accurate odds for the parallels. We’ve already figured out the pack production for Hobby and Blaster packs, but what about accurate odds? We know we can’t use the odds printed on the packs. For example take the Green Refractors. Hobby odds are listed at 1:42, while Blaster odds at 1:757. Here’s our first leap of faith. We know from multiple reports Hobby cases are actually only yielding about 1/2 the hits they should be. So let’s double the printed odds, and use 1:84 for Hobby Green Refractors. Now for leap of faith #2. For Blasters we’ve seen from multiple case breaks that they are yielding just about the same number of hits as a C4 blaster. So, let’s get crazy and use the odds from C4 blasters. But Jeff, you’re saying, that’s gone too far! There’s one thing Topps is consistent at, even in their incorrect odds. Their odds are usually pretty symmetrical. The odds go up in a logical mathematical way based on each parallel’s serial number. C4 is this way, and even the astronomical C5 numbers are that way. Remember, when I mentioned earlier that odds for many parallels for C5 blasters are 6.3x higher than their C4 counter parts? That’s why I’m comfortable using the C4 Blaster odds on the C5 production numbers. We can use this method for Green, Yellow, Prism, and Xfractor.

  • 100 cards in set * /299 = 29,900 total Greens in C5
  • 1,050,000 Hobby packs / 84 odds = 12,500 Greens in Hobby
  • 1,841,400 Blaster packs / 120 odds = 15,343 Greens in Blasters
  • 29,900 total greens – 12,500 Hobby greens – 15,343 blaster greens = 2,057 Greens in Hangers

Some observations on these numbers. If you look at C4, Hobby packs had 22,800+ greens, while Blasters had 6,900+ greens. So this right here shows where Topps robbed Peter (Hobby) to pay Paul (Retail) in C5. We can see the movement of hits from one pack type to the other two. So now we have an idea how many Green Refractors are in Hangers, we need to know the odds to figure out production. But the printed odds are very wrong. We know this again, because multiple real life examples show Hanger cases are yielding 24-28 hits. Time for leap of faith #3. Topps again is consistent with their odds being symmetrical. We saw this with Blasters, and we see this with Hangers. If you compare the odds on Hangers to C5 Blasters for Green, Yellow, Prism, and Xfractors you’ll see that the C5 Blasters are 65% of the C5 Hanger odds. For each one! Yes the odds are really wrong on both, but they are all wrong at the same rate! Let’s use this to our advantage. If Topps intended the Blaster odds to be 65% of the Hanger odds, let’s use the odds we are using and a little algebra to figure out Hanger pack production.

  • 120 Green Blaster Odds / x Hanger Green odds = .65
  • Solve for x: x = 184 Hanger Green Odds 1:184
  • x Hanger Packs / 184 Hanger Green odds = 2,057 Greens in Hangers
  • Solve for x: x = 378,488 Hanger packs

You can use this same exercise on Yellows, Prisms, and Xfractors. I did, and I’ll save you the math explanation. Here are the pack production numbers on Hangers using each eligible parallel type.

  • Green – 378,488 Hanger Packs
  • Yellow – 334,000 Hanger Packs
  • Prism – 332,028 Hanger Packs
  • XFractor – 315,492 Hanger Packs

While somewhere in the mid 350k is a much smaller number that Hobby and Blaster, it’s still a large pack number. The numbers also confirm something I had heard from multiple distributors. Hanger cases were allocated, and most people could only order a limited amount. Blasters however had no allocation, and were free game. The production numbers we came up with show why. Let’s use the 334,000 number for our Hanger production number.

Look if you’ve make it this far, you probably think this is nuts. But I think this puts us in the general ballpark for production. I spent hours trying to look at every possible angle, and I kept coming back to the things we know and keep seeing. Time and time again the real life case breaks proved the Black and Black Refractor odds looked to either be accurate, or pretty darn close. We also saw Hobby pulls were roughly 1/2 of what was expected, and Blaster cases were very similar to C4 Blaster cases. When you take those things into consideration, there are only so many places where all these finite hits can go.

Now that we have production numbers, let’s see how the C5 production compares to previous Chrome releases.

  • Total Production
    • Chrome OS 1 – 1,096,370
    • Chrome OS 2 – 513,260
    • Chrome OS 3 – 1,310,000
    • Chrome OS 4 – 1,812,500
    • Chrome OS 5 – 3,225,400
  • Hobby Pack Production
    • Chrome OS 1 – 407,000
    • Chrome OS 2 – 71,500
    • Chrome OS 3 – 560,000
    • Chrome OS 4 – 982,500
    • Chrome OS 5 – 1,050,000 or 43,750 boxes or 3,645 cases
  • Retail Pack Production
    • Chrome OS 1 – 689,370
    • Chrome OS 2 – 441,760
    • Chrome OS 3 – 750,000
    • Chrome OS 4 – 830,000
    • Chrome OS 5 – 2,175,400
    • (C5 Blaster 1,841,400 Packs or 306,900 Boxes or 7,672 Cases)
    • (C5 Hanger 334,000 Packs or 66,800 Boxes or 1,043 Cases)

Wow! What an increase in production! This is a 77% increase in production over C4. Needless to say this is the largest produced modern GPK set, going back as far as we can determine print runs with odds. What confuses me, is what would Topps have seen to increase production this much? C4 is still readily available at discount prices. There was no need to increase production. There will be C5 blasters on shelves and clearance bins for years. Distributors are going to have to heavily discount Hobby boxes to get them to sell.

Now that the hard part is over, we can get on to a discussion around the various parallels and inserts in the product. First a word about the numbered parallels I haven’t mentioned in this article so far. While we were able to use Green, Yellow, Prism, and Xfractor odds to help us in calculations, you might have wondered why I didn’t use Purple. For some reason on Blasters and Hangers the Purple odds are not symmetrical like the others are. It’s curious that Purples are the only ones listed in a completely different manner, I can’t explain it. Gold Refractors were moved from a C4 blaster exclusive to being in all pack types in C5. The Gold odds are wrong, but I have nothing to compared them to from C4. Finally, I spent more hours than I care to admit trying to use the odds for Superfractors, Autos, and Plates to determine production numbers. Quite often in previous sets the odds for these super rare cards don’t add up, and Topps will not distribute them at the same percentages of the other parallels. I suspect that’s the case here as the odds for all these are incorrect on all pack types.

That leaves us with the odds we do know are correct. It appears the odds for the non numbered parallels and inserts; Refractors, Atomics, C Cards, No Blue Ink(Maybe) are accurate. Let’s take a look how many of those we have.

  • C Name Variation – 3,225,400 total packs / 100 odds = 32,254 total C cards / 50 cards in set = 645 each C Name Variation.
  • Refractors – 3,225,400 total packs / 3 odds  = 1,075,133 Total Refractors / 100 cards in set = 10,751 each regular Refractor
  • Atomic Refractors – 1,841,400 total Blaster packs / 2 odds = 920,700 total Atomics / 100 cards in set = 9,207 each Atomic Refractor
  • No Blue Ink Inseet – 3,225,400 total packs / 1986 odds = 1,624 total No Blue Ink / 50 cards in set = 32 each No Blue Ink Insert

As you would expect, the numbers for Refractors, Atomics, and C Cards have increased in line with production. There are some questions so far on the No Blue Ink Inserts. To date six total No Blue Ink inserts have surfaced in collector groups and eBay. The odds say we should see one every 8 cases or so. We should probably have seen more by now, but the sample size on these ultra rare inserts is small right now. There’s a good chance there are around 30 each of the No Blue Ink cards.

After going through this exercise how confident am I in these numbers? Well, not nearly as confident as I usually am. We had to take a few leaps of faith and do some mathematical gymnastics, but I do believe we are in the ballpark here. I want to thank the numerous collectors who sent me their breakdowns of case breaks, and had discussions with me the last few days about production. It was all very helpful!

Where will Topps go from here? The increases in production of GPK certainly has a limit. Have we reached the limit yet? Chrome 5 is not going to dry up for quite some. Topps is going to see returns on product from retailers. (Trash boxes anyone?) This certainly seems like Chrome 1 all over again. There is a 2023 GPK Chrome set on Topps’ calendar. The question is, will the overproduction cause Topps to pump the breaks on GPK at all this year?

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! I feel safe using 3.5 base cards per pack as a good number. We used this same number for C4, and I believe it applies here as well.

Base Cards – 3,225,400 total packs * 3.5 base cards per pack = 11,288,900 Total Base Cards produced / 100 cards per set = 112,889 Total of each base card.

GPK has crossed the 10 million base card line!!! I’m exhausted, time for a nap.

 

2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5 Explained

There was once a time GPK collectors had to wait six years in between Chrome releases. Topps has that down to 4 months now. After releasing Chrome OS 4 in August, collectors now get 2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5 as a Christmas present. This puts Topps back on their regular schedule for GPK chrome releases, after seeing delays the last couple of years due to Covid, paper, and printer shortages. This Chrome release highlights the original series 5 release back in 1986. The base set contains 100 cards. All 80 original cards, 167a/b-206a/b appear in the set. The original release contained puzzle back variations, that do not appear in the Chrome release. There are also 20 all new cards done by artists David Gross, Joe Simko, Brent Engstrom, Joe McWilliams, and Neil Camera. Topps however, in a major shift from before, did not number the new cards with the AN# format. Instead, the new cards continue with the regular set numbers 207a/b-216a/b. Topps currently has another GPK Chrome set on the calendar for 2023. If that set is OS 6 then the numbering scheme will turn out to be very confusing for collectors.

The main selling point for a lot of collectors are the parallel cards. This release contains the same chrome parallels found in Chrome 4. Topps however did make changes to the exclusive parallels they advertised on the Chrome 5 sell sheets. Hobby box exclusive parallels are Red, Orange, and Black Wave Refractors. Blaster boxes appear to just have Black and Atomic Refractors as exclusive. Gold refractors were moved from being blaster exclusives to being available in all pack types. It appears there are a number of regular Refractors that were not stamped with “Refractor” on the back. So far, numerous examples of unstamped Refractors exist with cards 179a, 193a, 193b, 204a, 204b, and 209a. There are 22 autos in the set. Tom Bunk signed all 12 cards he painting in the OS 5 set, while all 10 new cards were signed by their respective artists. For Chrome 5 autos there is no a or b number, just one card number for each one. However, some of the artists have reported they signed cards with different puzzle backs for their cards. So there may be variation auto cards in packs. There are also No Blue Ink short print variations listed on packs, however as of this writing none have surfaced. **Update: Hours after this article went live the first No Blue Ink short print surfaced.**

Perhaps the biggest error Topps made with this release was on the pack wrappers. Nearly all the odds on all pack types appear to be incorrect. What is printed on the packs and what is actually coming out are drastically different. For Hobby odds, parallels are dropping at about 1/2 the rate of the odds. Case break examples are averaging 2-3 parallels per box, where the pack odds say there should be 4-5 per box. Blaster boxes are the exactly opposite. The odds printed on the packs are so inflated that collectors should only be pulling 2-3 total parallels for a 40 box case. Thankfully, that isn’t the case as real life examples show 20+ parallels per case. Hanger odds are also equally inflated, although more real life examples are needed to confirm. Odds for the exclusive parallels, refractors, Atomics, and C cards are the only ones that seem to have a chance at being correct for all pack types.

So, what does this mean for production? It appears production is up quite a bit from the already inflated Chrome 4, but by just how much? This set is going to be the toughest to try to determine productions numbers. There will need to be multiple real life case break examples to see trends before production assumptions can be made. GPKNews will dig into this with a production article once enough examples exist. To see the official Topps checklist click here. For now here is what you can find and where you can find it in 2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5.

(Note: I will continue to update this post as new information comes to light and any new parallels/inserts are found.)

(Note #2: Most of the odds listed below are incorrect.)

  • Base Set –  (100 Cards).
    • OS 5 167a/b – 206a/b (80 Cards)
    • New Art 207a/b-216a/b (20 Cards)
  • Parallel Sets – Same exact cards from the Base set, except with a different color border or background pattern.
    • Refractor – 1:3 Hobby/Blaster/Hanger (100 Cards)
    • Atomic Refractor – 1:2 Blaster (100)
    • Green Refractor /299 – 1:757 – Blaster Pack, 1:1,152 – Hanger, 1:42 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Green Wave Refractor /299 – 1:757 – Blaster Pack, 1:1,152 – Hanger, 1:42 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Yellow Refractor /275 – 1:824 – Blaster Pack, 1:1,253 – Hanger,1:45 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Yellow Wave Refractor /275 – 1:824 – Blaster Pack, 1,1253 – Hanger, 1:45 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Purple Refractor /250 – 1:1,268 – Blaster Pack, 1:808 – Hanger, 1:49 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Purple Wave Refractor /250 – 1:1,268 – Blaster Pack, 1:808 Hanger, 1:49 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Prism Refractor /199 – 1:1,139 – Blaster Pack, 1:1,731 – Hanger, 1:62 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Prism Aqua Refractor /199 – 1:1,139 – Blaster Pack, 1:1,731 – Hanger, 1:62 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • X-Fractor /150 – 1:1,511 – Blaster Pack, 1:2,297 – Hanger, 1:82 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Black Refractor /99 – 1:186 – Blaster (100 Cards)
    • Black Wave Refractor /99 – 1:107 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Gold Refractor /50 – 1:6,374 – Blaster Pack, 1:4,024 – Hanger, 1:248 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Rose Gold Refractor /25 –1:9,082 – Blaster Pack, 1:13,735 – Hanger, 1:496 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Orange Refractor /75 – 1:141 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Red Refractor /5 – 1:2,095 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Superfractor 1/1 – 1:78,947 – Blaster Pack, 1:35,917 – Hanger, 1:12,406 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Printing Plates – 1:1,382 – Blaster Pack, 1:52,653 – Hanger, 1:3,101 – Hobby (800 Total Plates – 4 per card A & B)
  • Insert Sets – All the various insert subsets that can be found in packs.
    • C Name Variations – 1:100 Hobby/Blaster/Hanger (50 Cards)
    • No Blue Ink Short Print – 1:1,986 Hobby/Blaster/Hanger (50 Cards)
    • Artist Autograph /50 – 1: 457 – Blaster Pack, 1:1,391 Hanger, 1:1,392 Hobby (22 Cards – 167a, 174a, 175a, 178a, 180a, 181a, 183a, 184a, 185a, 187a, 189a, 206a, 207a, 208a, 209a, 210a, 211a, 212a, 213a, 214a, 215a, 216a)

2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5 Retail Odds

Fresh off the Hobby odds surfacing today, we now also are starting to see the retail odds for 2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5. Thanks to Clint Coleman from GPK and Wacky Warehouse for the pictures of the Blaster odds! While the Hobby odds were very close to Chrome 4, the Blaster odds are way off, and almost all of them don’t make sense. For most of the non-exclusive parallels the odds are 8x-9x higher compared to Chrome 4. The odds equate to only a couple of parallels per case. So far, based on the first case Clint is opening, the odds don’t appear to be accurate. Odds for the exclusive Black refractors, autos, plates, C cards, and No Blue Ink short print cards appear to be more reasonable. Gold parallels, which were suppose to be exclusive to retail products as listed on both Hobby and Blaster packs. GPKNews will have much more on the odds and production in the coming days once people bust blaster cases.

Card Giants has Hanger boxes posted on their website for sale. The odds are very high on those as well, even higher than Blaster packs. Hopefully the odds are incorrect like they are on Blasters too. As expected there are no exclusive parallels available in Hanger packs. Here are the Retail odds for Chrome OS 5.

2022 GPK Chrome OS 5 Blaster Pack Odds

  • Refractor 1:3
  • Atomic Refractor 1:2
  • Green Refractor 1:757
  • Green Wave Refractor 1:757
  • Yellow Refractor 1:824
  • Yellow Wave Refractor 1:824
  • Purple Refractor 1:1,268
  • Purple Wave Refractor 1:1,268
  • Prism Refractor 1:1,139
  • Prism Aqua Refractor 1:1,139
  • X-Fractor 1:1,511
  • Black Refractor 1:186
  • Gold Refractor 1:6,374
  • Rose Gold Refractor 1:9,082
  • Superfractor 1:78,947
  • Printing Plate 1:1,382
  • Artist Autograph 1:457
  • C Name Variation 1:100
  • No Blue Ink Short Print 1:1,986

2022 GPK Chrome OS 5 Hanger Pack Odds

  • Refractor 1:3
  • Green Refractor 1:1,152
  • Green Wave Refractor 1:1,152
  • Yellow Refractor 1:1,253
  • Yellow Wave Refractor 1:1.253
  • Purple Refractor 1:808
  • Purple Wave Refractor 1:808
  • Prism Refractor 1:1,731
  • Prism Aqua Refractor 1:1,731
  • X-Fractor 1:2,297
  • Gold Refractor 1:4.024
  • Rose Gold Refractor 1:13,735
  • Superfractor 1:35,917
  • Printing Plate 1:52,653
  • Artist Autograph 1:1,391
  • C Name Variation 1:100
  • No Blue Ink Short Print 1:1,986

2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5 Hobby Odds

It’s a Christmas miracle! Despite the release of GPK Chrome 5 still being two days away, boxes started showing up in collectors hands today. Thanks to collector Kyle Ber for sending along pictures of the Hobby odds. In a surprise, odds for Gold Refractors appear on the hobby wrappers. Golds were announced as a retail exclusive, so it will be interesting to see if Golds are indeed found in Hobby Packs. With three types different types of SKUs being offered this time, we will need to wait for retail odds before knowing the full production numbers. However, the numbers line up very similar to the odds for Chrome 4 Hobby. I’ll have much more with a details production article in the coming days. Here are the Hobby pack odds for 2022 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 5.

2022 GPK Chrome OS 5 Hobby Pack Odds

  • Refractor 1:3
  • Green Refractor 1:42
  • Green Wave Refractor 1:42
  • Yellow Refractor 1:45
  • Yellow Wave Refractor 1:45
  • Purple Refractor 1:49
  • Purple Wave Refractor 1:49
  • Prism Refractor 1:62
  • Prism Aqua Refractor 1:62
  • X-Fractor 1:82
  • Black Wave Refractor 1:107
  • Orange Refractor 1:141
  • Gold Refractor 1:248
  • Rose Gold Refractor 1:496
  • Red Refractor 1:2,095
  • Superfractor 1:12,406
  • Printing Plate 1:3,101
  • Artist Autograph 1:1,392
  • C Name Variation 1:100
  • No Blue Ink Short Print 1:1,986

Odds for 2021 Garbage Pail Kids Sapphire

2021 Garbage Pail Kids Sapphire are starting to show up on collector’s doorsteps. Thanks to Twitter user SpaceCityPulls for posting the box odds. While Topps didn’t promise two hits per box in the listing, it does appear they are sticking to that based on the odds. Sadly Topps’ odds are not all the same when running the numbers. That could be due to rounding of the odds before printing. Regardless, based on the odds there are anywhere from a high of 23,141 boxes, based on Teal odds, to a low of 21,292, based on Pad odds. So right around 22,000 boxes of 2021 GPK Sapphire out there. Almost all boxes should have 2 hits, with some having 3. The box busted by this collector had 3 hits. Here are the odds:

2021 Garbage Pail Kids Sapphire Odds

Aqua 1:11
Fuchsia 1:14
Green 1:21
Orange 1:41
Gold 1:68
Purple 1:102
Red 1:203
Padparadscha 1:1002

2021 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 4 Explained

After months of delays GPK Chrome fanatics finally get their wish with the release of 2021 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 4. Sure collectors didn’t have to wait as long as they did between Chrome 2 and Chrome 3, but a 20 month wait between releases was tough for some! The newest Chrome release highlights the Original Series 4 set from 1986. The complete base set features 100 cards. All 84 original cards, (125a/b – 166a/b), appear in the set. Topps also included the four original name changes they made half way through printing. The four are additional “b” cards for cards 125b, 149a, 158b, and 164b. (Even though 149a was the replaced card, Topps numbered it 149b in this Chrome series.) The name changes were made to try to avoid potential lawsuits from companies and celebrities who weren’t pleased with being a GPK. There are also 12 all new cards, 6 new paintings with a/b versions, (AN1a/b – AN6a/b). Artists David Gross, Brent Engstrom, and Joe Simko all did two paintings each for the set. In a welcomed change from Chrome 3, Topps used the original back card art for this set. Engstrom did the back art for the new cards. Once again, the the base cards feature a silver border.

It wouldn’t be chrome without a whole lot of parallels. This set continues that tradition. There are 19 different parallel versions collectors can chase for this release. Each box type has three exclusive parallels. Hobby exclusive parallels are Black Wave, Orange, and Red, while Blaster box exclusive parallels are Black, Gold, and Atomic. Once again, there are also not many inserts to collect, only “C” name and Artist Autographs. It also wouldn’t be Topps if there wasn’t a slew of errors made within the set. In addition to the weird numbering choice on the 149b name variation, Topps also decided to add an e to the end of the name of card #137a. What is suppose to be Max Axe, is instead Maxe Axe. The error looks to be uncorrected as all versions are the same. Topps also left out an “l” on card 127a. Travellin’ Travis is instead Travelin’ Travis. Artist Autographs also were the victim of a printing error. All New cards done by David Gross and Joe Simko are not autographed, only Engstrom autos made the cut for the set. Topps was also only able to get former artist Tom Bunk to sign cards for the set. Finally, the odds on both Hobby and Blaster packs for autos, and Blaster packs for Printing Plates are incorrect. Based on production numbers the odds don’t work for the actual number of autos and plates inserted into the set. I’ll have more on this in a production article in the coming days.

Based on an early look at the odds, production is up quite a bit from Chrome 3. The odds on some parallels and autos will make for some very tough pulls for collectors. I will have articles in the coming days going over production numbers. To see the official Topps checklist click here. For now here is what you can find and where you can find it in 2021 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 4.

(Note: I will continue to update this post as new information comes to light and any new parallels/inserts are found.)

  • Base Set –  (100 Cards).
    • OS 4 125a/b – 165a/b (84 Cards)
    • Name Change Variations 125b, 149b, 158b, and 164b (4 Cards)
    • New Art AN1a/b – AN6a/b (12 Cards)
  • Parallel Sets – Same exact cards from the Base set, except with a different color border or background pattern.
    • Refractor – 1:3 Hobby/Blaster (100 Cards)
    • Atomic Refractor – 1:2 Blaster (100)
    • Green Refractor /299 – 1:120 – Blaster Pack, 1:43 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Green Wave Refractor /299 – 1:120 – Blaster Pack, 1:43 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Yellow Refractor /275 – 1:130 – Blaster Pack, 1:47 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Yellow Wave Refractor /275 – 1:130 – Blaster Pack, 1:47 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Purple Refractor /250 – 1:143 – Blaster Pack, 1:52 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Purple Wave Refractor /250 – 1:143 – Blaster Pack, 1:52 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Prism Refractor /199 – 1:180 – Blaster Pack, 1:65 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Prism Aqua Refractor /199 – 1:180 – Blaster Pack, 1:65 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • X-Fractor /150 – 1:238 – Blaster Pack, 1:86 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Black Refractor /99 – 1:84 – Blaster (100 Cards)
    • Black Wave Refractor /99 – 1:100 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Gold Refractor /50 – 1:166 – Blaster (100 Cards)
    • Rose Gold Refractor /25 –1:1,430 – Blaster Pack, 1:512 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Orange Refractor /75 – 1:131 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Red Refractor /5 – 1:1,951 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Superfractor 1/1 – 1:40,165 – Blaster Pack, 1:12,834 – Hobby (100 Cards)
    • Printing Plates – 1:915(Incorrect) – Blaster Pack, 1:3,201 – Hobby (400 Total Plates – 4 per card A & B)
  • Insert Sets – All the various insert subsets that can be found in packs.
    • C Name Variations – 1:100 Hobby/Blaster (48 Cards)
    • Artist Autograph /50 – 1:915(Incorrect) Hobby/Blaster (23 Cards – 141a/b, 148a/b, 150a/b, 151a/b, 152a/b, 154a/b, 155a/b, 156a/b, 158a/b/b, AN1a/b, AN2a/b)

2021 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 4 Hobby Odds

GPK Chrome collectors just can’t wait for release day, as hobby box odds have begin showing up for 2021 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 4. Thanks to collector Castdown Jenkins for sending along pictures of the hobby pack odds. There isn’t a lot of mystery with this release as Topps is limiting it to only two box types. While retail Blaster production was up slight over Chrome 3, an early look at the Hobby shows double the hobby packs over Chrome 3. In fact it appears there are more Hobby packs than Blaster packs. Like with the Blaster odds, it appears the odds listed for Artist Autographs are incorrect. Based on initial production the odds don’t work for the number of autos inserted into packs. I’ll have much more with a details production article in the coming days. Here are the Hobby pack odds for 2021 Garbage Pail Kids Chrome OS 4.

2021 GPK Chrome OS 4 Hobby Pack Odds

  • Refractor 1:3
  • Green Refractor 1:43
  • Green Wave Refractor 1:43
  • Yellow Refractor 1:47
  • Yellow Wave Refractor 1:47
  • Purple Refractor 1:52
  • Purple Wave Refractor 1:52
  • Prism Refractor 1:65
  • Prism Aqua Refractor 1:65
  • X-Fractor 1:86
  • Black Wave Refractor 1:100
  • Orange Refractor 1:131
  • Rose Gold Refractor 1:512
  • Red Refractor 1:1,951
  • Superfractor 1:12,834
  • Printing Plate 1:3,201
  • Artist Autograph 1:915 (Incorrect)
  • C Name Variation 1:100

2022 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids Book Worms Explained

It’s been 519 days between releases of a retail Garbage Pail Kids set. During Covid the popularity of trading cards exploded, causing printer and card stock shortages. After months and months of waiting, Collectors finally get a new set to bust, just not the one they were expecting. Perhaps GPK collectors wouldn’t even have a product to bust if it wasn’t for a contract Topps signed with Walmart for a new type of exclusive Mega Box. Topps had to hit the release date of Book Worms to meet the contract. This caused two sets, 2021S2 Vacation and 2021 Chrome 4, to be temporarily skipped for the first set of 2022. It also caused Topps to cancel the popular Value “Blaster” boxes due to what they said was a shortage of sticker stock. The set itself is the first under new GPK Brand Manager Mark Cruz. Returning are the familiar final card artists; David Gross, Joe Simko, Brent Engstrom, and Joe McWilliams. The familiar 200 card base set formula returns, 100 new pieces with a/b names. In another Topps long tradition, is the return of “Topps math”. Once again the odds on the parallels are overstated by double. Despite reported sticker shortages by Topps, production has increased significantly over the previous 2021S1 Food Fight set. I’ll have articles in the coming days going over productions numbers.

There were of course plenty of changes in the newest set. Since Topps cancelled Blaster boxes, the GPK Gets Graphic insert set and yellow parallels were also cancelled. Also scraped were Loaded Puzzle and Panoramic sketches, that previously were only found in Blaster boxes. The new kid of the block is the Walmart exclusive Mega boxes. Based on the checklist Topps released for the set, there are two different types of Mega boxes, one found in the card section and one found in the toy aisle. Each contain different Gross Adaptations insert cards. Topps does have an error on Gross Adaptations cards #16-25, those were accidentally printed with an added “a” after the card number. “B” cards do not exist for the Gross Adaptations insert set. Sadly, the new 17 pack boxes are lacking sketches or exclusive parallels. Another big change is the increase in print run of some of the hits. Due to huge increases in production, Topps had to find a way to still have hits in the boxes. Autos are now unnumbered, and artists signed 160 of each card to be inserted into packs. Topps also included for the first time patch cards parallels.

I will have articles in the coming days looking at production numbers in more detail. To see the official Topps checklist click here. (Note: Topps left off B names, Iron-On patches, and sketch artists from the official checklist.) For now, here is what you can find, and where you can find it in 2022 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids Book Worms.

(Note: I will continue to update this post as new information comes to light and any new parallels/inserts are found.)

  • Base Set – 100a/b (200 Cards).
  • Parallel Sets – Same exact cards from the Base set, except with a different speckled color border. (Note: Odds on parallels are overstated by double.)
    • Inkwell Black Border (Collector) – 1:1 (200 Cards)
    • Sleep Drool Blue Border /99 (Retail Display) – 1:57 (200 Cards)
    • Red Herring Border /75 (Collector) – 1:54 (200 Cards)
    • Fool’s Gold Scratch n Sniff Border /50 – 1:726 (Collector), 1:727 (Retail Display/Mega) (200 Cards)
    • Booger Green Border (Retail) – 1:1 (200 Cards)
    • Moby Dick Gray (Collector/Retail/Mega) – 1:183 – (200 Cards)
    • Printing Plates – 1:1,480 (Collector), 1:16,834 (Retail Display), 1:29,166 (Mega) – (400 Total Plates – 4 per card artwork)
  • Insert Sets – All the various insert subsets that can be found in packs.
    • Wacky Packages Prose – 1:24 – Collector (8 cards)
    • Book Marked! – 1:24 – Collector (5 Cards)
    • Author’s of Their Own Misfortune – 1:3 – Retail Display (5a/b – 10 Cards))
    • Gross Adaptations – 1:2 – Mega Box (1-15 of 25)
    • Gross Adaptations Exclusive – 1:6 – Card Section Mega Box (16a-20a of 25)
    • Gross Adaptations Exclusive – 1:6 – Toy Aisle Mega Box (21a-25a of 25)
    • GPK Patch Card /199 – 1:203 – Collector (10 Total Cards)
    • Blue Patch Parallel /99 – 1:406 – Collector (10 Total Cards)
    • Red Patch Parallel /75 – 1:536 – Collector (10 Total Cards)
    • Gold Patch Parallel /50 – 1:804 – Collector (10 Total Cards)
    • FoilFractor Patch Parallel 1/1 – 1:38,475 (10 Total Cards)
    • Iron-On Patch – 1 Per Collector Box (6)
    • Artist Autograph – 1:35 Collector, 1:228 Retail Display, 1:1,055 Mega,  (100 Total Cards – 1 per card artwork)
    • Sketch Card – 1:186 Retail Display (59 Artists)
    • Shaped Sketch – 1:356 – Collector (59 Artists)
    • Triptych Sketch – 1:2,654 – Collector (59 Artists)

Retail Odds for 2022 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids Book Worms

It’s happening, Topps is releasing new GPKs! Fresh off of today’s checklist release from Topps, the first cards from 2022 Series 1 Book Worms have surfaced. Thanks to GPK breaker Scott Calvert for sending along pictures of the Retail Display odds. Be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel Calvert’s Cards. The first bit of good news is there are “B” name cards. Topps left those off the checklist as an error. At fist glance the odds look to be all over the place. Odds for plates and especially the Gold parallels seem to be very long. However, auto and sketch odds are much better. Odds for Green parallels don’t appear on the pack, but do fall 1 per pack. Without seeing odds for all pack types it’s not known yet what print run numbers could be. It’s also not clear yet if parallel odds are overstated by double as is usual for GPK, more info to come. Odds for Mega Boxes will be added to this post once available.

Update: Mega boxes have just started surfacing it appears. Thanks to GPK Collector Michael Zigon for sending the heads up to a listing on the Mercari marketplace. Not much is known yet on the contents, but the back of the box does have odds. The exclusive insert set Gross Adaptations does have two different odds, one for regular cards 1:2 and another for exclusive 1:6. The checklist supplied by Topps lists two different Gross Adaptations exclusives, one Mega Box and one Mega Box toy aisle. The box listed on Mercari doesn’t seem have any distinguishing characteristics. More info on GPKNews as it’s available. Odds for Mega Boxes is below.

2022S1 GPK Book Worms Mega Box Odds

  • Moby Dick Gray 1:183
  • Fool’s Gold Scratch n Sniff 1:727
  • Printing Plate 1:29,166
  • Artist Autograph 1:1055
  • Gross Adaptations Insert 1:2
  • Exclusive 1:6

2022S1 GPK Book Worms Retail Display Odds

  • Moby Dick Gray 1:183
  • Sleep Drool Blue 1:57
  • Fool’s Gold Scratch n Sniff 1:727
  • Printing Plate 1:16,834
  • Artist Autograph 1:228
  • Authors of Their Own Misfortune 1:3
  • Regular Sketch 1:186


Collector Box Odds for 2022 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids Book Worms

We are still a couple of days from the official release of 2022 Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids Book Worms, but boxes are starting to show up in collector’s hands. Thanks to collector Kayla Caratachea for sending along the odds for the Collector pack. Despite reports of smaller production for this set, the odds say otherwise. Black borders do appear 1 per pack as advertised, and do not show on the odds. Odds for reds, golds, patch cards and shaped sketches are significantly higher than Food Fight. It’s too hard to tell yet if parallel odds are overstated by double as not enough boxes have been busted to tell trends. The advertised Iron On patches do come as one per Box Toppers, despite Topps leaving those off the checklist. Once Mega boxes odds are located I’ll have articles going over production numbers in the days ahead.

2022S1 GPK Book Worms Collector Pack Odds

  • Moby Dick Gray 1:183
  • Red Herring 1:54
  • Fool’s Gold Scratch n Sniff 1:726
  • Printing Plate 1:1,480
  • Artist Autograph 1:36
  • Wacky Packages Prose 1:24
  • GPK Patch Card 1:203
  • Blue Patch Parallel 1:406
  • Red Patch Parallel 1:536
  • Gold Patch Parallel 1:804
  • FoilFractor 1:38,475
  • Shaped Sketch 1:366
  • Tryptych Sketch 1:2,654
  • Iron-On Patch 1:24
  • Book Marked! 1:24