We are just two weeks away from the largest gathering of Garbage Pail Kids artists and collectors. This year’s Gross Card Con is set to be a part of the Silver State Toys, Comics, and Sports Expo. The show takes place in the World Market Center in Las Vegas on 3/16 & 3/17. As always there are a ton of artists, exclusive merchandise, and events planned for the show. Read on to find about all that collectors will encounter!
Artists
The show is always highlighted by the artists. Set to attended are Original Series artist James Warhola, GPK artists David Gross and Joe McWilliams, GPK & GetAGrip artist Rory McQueen, Magic Marker Inc. artist Mark Pingitore, Dynamite Comic and GPK sketch artist Jason Crosby, and GPK sketch artists Chad Scheres and David Acevedo. Additionally, while not highlighted, GPK sketch artists Eddie Rhodes III, Marion Carole Miller, and Adam “Ad Rock” Dobrzeniecki will have tables at the show. Each artist will have a table displaying a number of their original paintings, sketch cards, prints, stickers, cards, and more! Check out these highlights for many of the artists…
David Gross – David will have 6 official Topps GPK promo cards, (3 previously unused paintings with a/b versions), all autographed, available for sale at his table. He will also be debuting his first four Rejected Gross cards, cards featuring previously rejected final paintings. He will have new 11 x 14 glossy prints with personal GPK themed artwork, and previously released GPKs. He will also have a number of official roughs and final paintings from recent sets for sale. In addition he will debut a a new version of his popular Thanos Bomb card, a baseball themed card, and have a variety of official cards from previous conventions.
Joe McWilliams – Smokin Joe also created an official Topps promo card for the show. The card comes with a/b versions and will come free with the purchase of a GCC show set, info on set further down in article. Joe will also have pre drawn sketch cards, giant sized stickers, and 8 x 10 prints of previous GPK artwork.
Mark Pingitore – Mark will have his popular 6 card sampler pack available for sale at his table. The pack features 6 promo cards highlighting future releases from his Magic Marker Inc. company. He will also have other Magic Marker merchandise to purchase at the show.
Rory McQueen – Rory will be at the show along with GetAGrip Skateboards. In addition to the GetAGrip merchandise, Rory will be bringing with him pre drawn official return sketches along with other Rory artwork.
Chad Scheres – Chad will be selling sets of his own Freaks of Nature cards. He also will have plenty of monster stickers and prints. Additionally, he will have some sketch covers and sketch cards available.
David Acevedo – David will have a number of Gross Card Con sketches available at his table for $75 each. Examples are below.
GetAGrip
Official GPK licensee, GetAGrip, will be making their second straight appearance at GCC. The company will be debuting their “GPK Mart”. Collectors will be able to collect their Grossery Bags that they have pre purchased. Bags go on sale via the GetAGrip website on 3/1. The only way to get these bags is to purchase ahead of time and pickup in person! Bags will contain all kinds of GPK goodness. So far the company has announced bags will contain sunglasses, socks, Ouchies bandages, digital watch, and more to come! The company is bound to have other surprises on hand!
GPK & Wacky Warehouse
Clint Coleman and family will once again be on hand with plenty of GPK for collectors to purchase. They will once again be offering the GCC show set for sale at their table. The 10 card set, done by the attending artists, will sell for $25. Each set comes with the two card a/b Topps promo done by Joe McWilliams. They also will have vintage GCC sketch shirts for sale. There are even brand new GCC dad caps available for $25. The new GPK & Wacky Warehouse prize wheel will make its debut. Prizes will change throughout the day, including the high roller wheel Saturday night.
Saturday during the show will also mark the launch of gpkandwackywarehouse.com. This will be the new go to destination for collectors wanting to purchase. They describe their new website as, “Introducing gakpndwackywarehouse.com, your new go-to destination for never-before-seen items and exclusive deals! By making this transition, we can offer a unique shopping experience where we can showcase products that have never been seen before and save you money by beating eBay fees. We are also offering a consignment program for those looking to sell their GPK treasures. We invite you to explore our website and discover the hidden gems waiting for you!”
Clint is also sponsoring a special dinner after the show Saturday night at Evel Pie. You can join the artists for a great evening of pizza! Cost is $50 per person. To reserve your spot, contact Clint Coleman through Facebook. There will be a card done by James Warhola available for purchase at the dinner.
GPK Websites
For the first time GCC has officially invited the major Garbage Pail Kids website owners. This is your chance to personally thank Aaron and Matt for their years of hard work helping the community. You can even slap me around a little!
GPKWorld.com – AJ Booton will have his own table at the show. AJ will have have poster prints from Tom Bunk available for purchase. He will also have 8 x 10 prints by Tom Bunk and Brent Engstrom, signed by the artists. They are limited to 50 each and will be sold as a pair. The prints also come with a Mark Pingitore card that came be signed during the show. All sales go to the respective artists. He also will have Director’s Cut DVDs of the fabulous 30 Years of Garbage documentary. Each DVD comes with a 5×7 Joe Simko print, signed by Simko, June Gonzales, and Booton.
Geepeekay.com – Matt Oldweiler will also have his own table at the show. Matt will have a number of exclusive products at the show. He will have a Geep acrylic pin /w card for $5, Geep’s Cavity Stones (candy & promo card) for $10, miniDRiPS bag of 2 for $20, and Geeky Magazine w/ cards for $30.
GPKNews.com – While I won’t have a table at the show, I will be at the show moderating the Artist Q&A chat. The chat is scheduled to take place on the stage at 1:00 PM Saturday during the show! Come listen and learn from the artists and maybe catch a couple of sneak peaks!
There’s no better place to get to hang out, chat with your favorite artists, meet fellow collectors you’ve only talked to online, all while spending a ton of money on GPK! Tickets for the show can be repurchased at Silver State’s website. The show will be open Saturday 3/16 from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, and Sunday 3/17 from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM. There is no host hotel, but the majority of collectors stay in downtown Vegas near Fremont Street. There’s still time to book your Vegas vacation!
Baseball season kicks off for most teams this week. As part of that celebration, Topps today launched 2023 MLB x Garbage Pail Kids Series 3. This, now yearly, mashup of GPK with MLB players is the third series with all artwork for the set done by longtime GPK artist David Gross. The first two series were done by GPK first timers, Keith Shore and Alex Pardee. The large base set contains 50 cards, 25 new pieces with a/b versions. Each 7-card pack contains one insert card and one parallel card. Parallels for the set include Baseball stitching /199, Pink /99, Green /75, Orange /50, Blue /25, Purple /10, Red /5, Gold 1/1 . While inserts can be C Name (25), Wrapper cards 1:4 (25), artist card a/b 1:3, or Artist auto a/b 1:30. Three pack boxes are available for $54.99 or as a 10 box case for $524.99. Shipping is free when choosing the economy option. There is no time limit on the sale. The checklist can be found here. Here are pictures of some of the cards.
