Category Archives: Awards

After a down year for Garbage Pail Kids in 2024, there was some optimism going to 2025 that GPK would have a comeback in their 40th anniversary year. While there were more releases, 2025 will be seen as a letdown due to a lackluster 40th anniversary effort by Topps, and massive changes to everything GPK. Retail, or more realistic, “Hobby sets”, were the main focus in 2025 for GPK. Fanatics has now implemented many of the changes they have wanted to since purchasing the company more than three years ago. Gone are the usual yearly themed releases, and standard chrome releases. 2025 did see a Chrome release, allbeit with major structure changes. That was followed by the 40th anniversary release, which was popular, but with that ushered in a new distribution model that was followed by Sapphire and Green Day sets. For a lot of collectors, 2025 will also be seen as the year of the reprint. The majority of releases in 2025 featured reprints or reimagined artwork based on old characters. Only the controversial Green Day set saw fully new artwork. 2025 also saw a continued focus on GPKs being inserted into other brands. Three baseball releases saw the inclusion of GPK cards during the year. Collectors should expect much more of this in 2026.

Online sets saw a bit of a decrease in launches in 2025. Only one packed out release, two six week series, and a couple of standard releases this year. Licensed merchandise surprisingly saw an some new licensees in 2025. After trimming down the old licenses, it looks like the company has started to make new partnerships with companies like ThrillJoy, Homage, and Bull Airs. With some of the others still involved, 2025 was a solid year for licensed GPK merchandise.

There was still a lot to celebrate in 2025. Sketch card artwork may have had its best year ever due to changes in quality standards set by Topps. There was also the largest group of new artists in years to choose from. The following is the 9th annual 2025 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards. Winners have been selected by the editor of GPKNews.com in eight categories. Additionally, a Reader’s Choice winner was also named in each category. Readers of GPKNews were able to vote in a poll on GPKNews’ Facebook page in mid-December. On some awards there is agreement, while others vary in opinion. Let the debate begin! It’s time to celebrate the best in GPKs for 2025!

And the winners are…

2025 Hobby/Retail GPK Set of the Year
Winner: 2025 Worst of GPK 40th Anniversary Edition
Reader’s Choice: 2025 Worst of GPK 40th Anniversary Edition

This category was a letdown in 2025. The releases were mostly reprints. Chrome did have insert sets with new artwork, but the major one was reimagined artwork of OS cards. Sapphire and the 40th anniversary set were nearly all reprinted cards. The only set that fully featured new artwork was the controversial Green Day set that upset half of collectors before it was even released. So the winner this year is the set that was by far the most popular, 2025 Worst of GPK 40th Anniversary Edition. The new format, more focused on a breaker friendly product, along with popular reprinted characters like Adam Bomb and Nasty Nick, saw this product rise sharply in price with collectors and gave collectors that rush of finding product at GameStop stores around the country. We are in a new era for Hobby/Retails sets, 2026 will continue to see changes in this category. Honorable mention: 2024 Chrome 7, 2024 GPK Sapphire.

2025 Online GPK Set of the Year
Winner: 2025 Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Set (1-6)
Reader’s Choice: 2025 Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Set (1-6)

Some collectors on Facebook groups may be posting their proclamations that “GPK is dead”. However, that couldn’t be any further from the truth with online sales numbers in 2025. All online release did excellent sales results. Of course the leader was the ever popular 2025 Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Set (1-6). GPK collectors have proven over the years that horror is their favorite. There will surely be more horror in the future for collectors. Honorable mention: 2025 GPK Valentine’s Day, 2025 GPK InterGoolatic Mayhem (1-6), 2025 GPK Media Menace..

2025 Non-Traditional Set of the Year
Winner: Roxanne Toser Tribure Set
Reader’s Choice: Roxanne Toser Tribute

After passing away in late 2024, there was only one way to honor non-sports card hobby legend Roxanne Toser, a tribute set in her memory! Artists Joe Simko, David Gross, Neil Camera, and Joe McWilliams teamed up and all turned Roxanne into a GPK card that focused on some of the favorite things in her life. Promoters of the Philly Non-Sports card show gave away cards at their show and offered complete sets for a donation. GPK collectors were able to add great memories of Roxanne to their collections in 2025. Honorable mention: 2025 Bowman Chrome GPK x MLB, 2025 Dynamic Duels MLB

2025 Topps GPK Licensee of the Year
Winner: GetAGrip Skateboards
Reader’s Choice: GetAGrip Skateboards

For another year GetAGrip continues their strangle hold on the GPK Licensee of the Year award. The company continues to put out a large variety of GPK merchandise that ends up being a huge hit with collectors. This year’s large Art Prints set was a surprise that was very popular with collectors. From skateboard decks, to jewelry, to promos for next year’s Cheap Toy release, GetAGrip dominates the licensed GPK space. Honorable mention: ThrillJoy, Greenlight Collectibles, Atomic Toybox, Homage.

2025 Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: David Day
Reader’s Choice: Vincent Rappa

Up to this point in the awards there has been agreement with the readers of GPKNews on everything. Let’s change things up! 2025 was another banner year for new sketch artists to the GPK brand. There were 23 new artists to pick from this year. The 2025 Rookie Sketch Artist of the year is David Day. While he might be new to GPK, David has sketched for many different brands and companies over the years. He made his debut with the 40th anniversary set, and his sketch work for both pack inserted and artist returns was spectacular. There were a number of artists that could have easily won this category this year. GPK appears to be in good hands moving into 2026! Honorable mention: Vincent Rappa. Sandy Meeks, “Ghoulie” Julie Kuaniver, “Albino Ryno” Ryan Harris.

2025 Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: Mike Stephens
Reader’s Choice: David Acevedo

This is another category where there could have easily been multiple winners. With over 100 artists working on sketch cards in 2025, there was so much to choose from. New quality standards instituted by Topps resulted in maybe the best year, top to bottom, for sketch card work. Leading the way this year was the 2025 Sketch Artist of the year, Mike Stephens. Mike’s work has gained in popularity since he begin working on GPK sketches. Mike’s work on both Chrome 7 and the 40th set was superb. His sketches this year were some of the most sought after by collectors. He work has lead him to be added as a final card artist on some online sets this year. Collectors are spoiled with such high quality work being done. Honorable mention: David Acevedo, Mike Ritchey, Nik Muggli, Chris Meeks, Fox Layng.

2025 GPK Artist of the Year
Winner: David Gross
Reader’s Choice: Rory McQueen

2025 was a down year for new artwork and GPK gags. Topps focused more on reprint sets, and new styles. Perhaps it’s not surprising then that the hugely popular reimagining of the OS 7 artwork by Rory McQueen in the Chrome set lead him to winning the Reader’s Choice vote in this category. There is a large portion of the longtime collector base that has clamored for new art styles in GPK sets, and for the first time there were multiple examples of that throughout the year. However, so far these new styles have shined the most with reimagined artwork from older sets. Half of GPK is the gags, and that’s why the 2025 Artist of the Year is once again, David Gross. Gross remains the top gag writer in the hobby. David had the most new characters in 2025 with his highlights being 50 cards in the Bowman Chrome MLB set, multiple cards in InterGoolatic Mayhem and Oh the Horrorible, and the Green Day set. Topps certainly kept Gross busy in 2025! Honorable Mention: Rory McQueen, Joe Simko, Brent Engstrom, Joe McWilliams.

2025 GPK Card of the Year
Winner: Adam Boom Art by Rory (Chrome 7 #RA-AB Artist/Concept Rory McQueen) 
Reader’s Choice: Adam Boom Art by Rory (Chrome 7 #RA-AB Artist/Concept Rory McQueen)

More and more collectors are demanding different art styles with their GPK cards. In 2025 Topps obliged! Lowell Isaac’s Green Day Insert set, and the multiple artist Adam Bomb Homage insert in the 40th series were two examples of the company testing the waters with new styles. Perhaps the most popular example of this, was Rory Mcqueen’s reimagining of OS 7 artwork in Chrome 7’s Art By Rory insert set. Rory’s style has been used previously in online sets and GetAGrip artwork, but this was the first time it was featured in a retail set. The insert set proved to be one that was sought after by collectors. So much so, that the most popular card in the set, Adam Boom, proved to be the 2025 GPK Card of the Year. Topps is not slowing down with experimenting with various styles in future sets. Collectors can expect more of this is 2026. What will be interesting to see if new GPK gags can be translated to these new styles.  Honorable mention: Fightin Freddy, Ringo Leader, Rockin Roxanne, and Adam Bomb 40th Anniversary.

Welcome to the 9th annual GPKNews 2025 Best of GPK Awards. 2025 was a year of change for the GPK hobby, from distribution, to set structure, and more. Still, there were a number of hobby, online, and licensed releases during the year. What were your favorite things GPK in 2025? It’s your turn to help choose the Reader’s Choice awards!

Click here to vote now in the 2025 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards!

Read on for an explanation about how the categories and nominees were chosen, along with the fine print of voting.

Here are the categories to be voted on this year:

• 2025 Hobby/Retail Set of the Year – Due to massive distribution changes by Topps in 2025, this category is now the Hobby/Retail Set of the Year. Packed out products offered by both Topps directly and available to Hobby and/or Retail channels will appear here. Four set this year to choose from!
• 2025 Online Set of the Year – Fewer online sets than previous years in 2025. Still have some familiar choices alongside a couple of new products!
• 2025 Non-Traditional Set of the Year – A tribute set along with the various other brands that featured GPK in 2025. Which was your favorite?
• 2025 Licensee of the Year – A bit of a rebound in GPK merchandise in 2025. A couple of new licensees along with some old favorites to pick from!
• 2025 GPK Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year – A super sized total 23 artists made their debuts on GPK in 2025! Which was your favorite?
• 2025 GPK Sketch Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have had official Topps GPK sketch cards appear in a set in 2025. Two hobby and one online set had sketches this year! Over 100 sketch artists in 2025. Who was your favorite?
• 2025 GPK Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have painted an official Topps GPK final published card in 2025. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed sets are eligible. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!
• 2025 GPK Card of the Year – All GPKs published in 2025 are eligible. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed cards are eligible. For nomination purposes if a/b versions are available, only the “a” card is listed. Not as many new cards as usual in 2025 due to the over abundance of reprints. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!

Categories and nominees were chosen by the Editor of GPKNews.com. Any GPK releases after 12/17 will be eligible in next year’s (2026) awards. Categories such as best artist, sketch artist, and best card also contain a write-in option. Write-in votes will only be counted for a valid artist/card. Voting will be live from Wednesday 12/17 through Wednesday 12/24 @ 8:00 PM(PST). Voting will only be done through Facebook. Participants can only vote once. Vote totals or individual votes cast will not be made public. Winners will be revealed in a future article that will appear on GPKNews.com right around the 1st of January.

There’s really no other way to describe 2024, than a down year for the Garbage Pail Kids brand. Now more than two years since Fanatics purchased Topps, we are slowly starting to see the company make the changes they believe is best for Fanatics. Retail was a giant disappointment for collectors in 2024, only one set was released, early in the year, Kids At Play. Chrome 7 was initially planned for an Aug. release but has continued to be pushed back further and further, now into 2025. The reality is Fanatics has no licensor to answer to for GPK, unlike the various sports sets. Also, GPK just doesn’t do the sales many of the sports do. So GPK Chrome has to stand by while the popular Chrome sets cut in line at the printers. Management also made the decision early in 2024 to not do a series 2 set, while discussions within the company decided the future direction for the brand in 2025. Collectors will see multiple major changes to retail offerings in 2025. One of those major changes started in 2024 with the inclusion of GPK in a Bowman Chrome baseball set. The huge success of the cards will lead to GPKs popping up in other sports as soon as Fanatics can make those deals. In 2025 collectors should, at the very least, expect more MLB GPKs to come to life.

Online sets did see a steady release throughout the year. The total number of releases were slightly down, but sales soared as the year went on. Maybe it was the lack of retail sets, or just the subject matter for the sets, but as a whole, 2024 saw the highest online sales for GPK since sales started in 2016. Online GPK sets will continue with a full slate in 2025. Licensed merchandise however continues to be less and less. Fanatics decided in 2023 to stop issuing new GPK licenses, so what collectors are seeing are what’s left of previous deals Topps made with licensees. Collectors should expect less and less licensed merchandise in 2025.

There was still plenty to celebrate in 2024! Majors online releases, some top notch sketch and card art, and some new fresh merchandise offerings. The following is the 8th annual 2024 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards. Winners have been selected by the editor of GPKNews.com in seven categories. Additionally, a Reader’s Choice winner was also named in each category. Readers of GPKNews were able to vote in a poll on GPKNews’ Facebook page in mid-December. On some awards there is agreement, while others vary in opinion. Let the debate begin! It’s time to celebrate the best in GPKs for 2024!

And the winners are…

2024 Online GPK Set of the Year
Winner: 2024 Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Set (1-6)
Reader’s Choice: Dressed to Grotesque

GPK collectors love their horror. This was true in 2024 more than any year. This is why 2024 Oh the Horror-ible (1-6) is the winner for Online Set of the Year. Sales for all six sets were very successful, ranging in the mid 2000’s to over 3000. Sales like this are very rare for online GPKs, and have never seen sales this high for a six week series. Sales were double of 2023’s horror set, and were higher than any other online sets in 2024. The Readers Choice award was close between four different sets, with the new themed Dressed to Grotesque taking the nod in voting. Honorable mention: Dressed to Grotesque, GPK Game Over (1-6), GPK x MLB 3, and Putrid Poetry.

2024 Non-Traditional Set of the Year
Winner: 2024 GPK x Bowman Chrome Baseball
Reader’s Choice: Madballs vs. GPK pack

Traditional GPK collectors might not have been huge fans of GPKs finding their way into baseball sets. But the huge success and giant popularity of these cards make the 2024 GPK x Bowman Chrome Baseball mashup the winner for Non-Traditional Set of the Year. These cards were rare inserts in packs, and in turn saw them fetch large amounts on the secondary market. Many of the rare parallels went for over $1000. These were sought after case hits that Bowman Chrome breakers were looking for. Perhaps this was the best promotion for GPK all year. These cards found their way primarily into the hands of non-GPK collectors, helping to expand the brand. The success of this set alone is going to lead to a major shift in how some GPKs will be found in the future. Plans are already underway for more MLB cards in 2025, with the company also wanting to do GPKs in other sports sets in the future. Honorable mention: GPK x Madballs pack, 2024 ITCD

2024 Topps GPK Licensee of the Year
Winner: GetAGrip Skateboards
Reader’s Choice: GetAGrip Skateboards

In the eight years of readers voting for these awards there has not been a bigger landslide winner in any category than GetAGrip in 2024 as the GPK Licensee of the Year. It’s almost unfair as most of the other nominees only had one product release. GetAGrip however, did not win this award by default. The company went full steam ahead in 2024 with multiple skateboard decks, different Discraft Buzzz lines, John Pound autos, Deadwoodz series 2, among many other GPK themed products. High quality products, experimental art, and large variation of products continues to make GetAGrip collectors favorite GPK licensee. Honorable mention: Greenlight Collectibles, Polyphony, and Certified Gross.

2024 Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: Mike Ritchey
Reader’s Choice: Mike Ritchey

2024 was another great year for new GPK sketch artists. While there were only three sets that offered sketches, there were still 9 new artists to choose from this year. Once again deciding the winner of this one was tough. Mike Ritchey may have had cards in just the final set of 2024, but the quality of art was so great that Mike is the 2024 Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year. As always, many artists received a good number of votes for the award, but one name kept getting mentioned more than others. Collectors are excited to see what Mike has in store in 2025! Honorable mention: Carmen Santa Ferrara, Cesar Lopez, Anthony Pietszak, and Kasey O’Rourke.

2024 Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: David Acevedo
Reader’s Choice: Kimber Grobman

The reign of Meeks is over! 2024 was such a hard year to evaluate sketch artists for GPK, despite there being over 75 different sketch artists this year, many of them only worked on one set in 2024. Many of the previous favorites just did not have quality volume of cards in 2024. David Acevedo however, not only worked on all three sets, but his work on both pack inserted sketches and artists returns was so strong from start to finish this year. Now a six year veteran to GPK sketch work, David’s work keeps getting better and better year after year. David attends numerous card conventions every year, and is so easy to work with when commissioning a return card. He’s been a favorite of collectors for a few years and is now the 2024 GPK Sketch Artist of the Year. Honorable mention: Kimber Grobman, Mike Stephens, Greg “13” Trieze, Chris Meeks, and Jasmine Contois.

2024 GPK Artist of the Year
Winner: David Gross
Reader’s Choice: David Gross

For five years in a row David Gross is the GPKNews Artist of the Year. In a vote that wasn’t close, Gross also won the Reader’s Choice award. As always, all the artists did really good work this year. Gross however stood out for his work on the six week online sets Game Over and Oh the Horror-ible, and doing all the artwork on not only the MLB x GPK Series 3 set, but also the GPK x Bowman Chrome MLB cards. 2024 saw Gross have a number of cards that stood out for collectors. Honorable Mention: Rory McQueen, Joe Simko, Brent Engstrom, and Joe McWilliams.

2024 GPK Card of the Year
Winner: Finger Knife Freddy (Horror-ible 11a Artist/Concept Brent Engstrom
Reader’s Choice: Finger Knife Freddy (Horror-ible 11a Artist/Concept Brent Engstrom

GPK collectors prove over and over that above all else they like their horror themed cards, especially ones of the mainstream horror icons. This was true more than ever as Brent Engatrom’s Finger Knife Freddy from the Oh the Horror-ible set is this year’s GPKNews Card of the Year. There were a ton of great cards to choose from this year, even varying art styles. But give collectors a great rendition of a classic horror villain, and you have a winner! Honorable mention: Chase Invaders, Wind Up Troy, Adam-Nick-Lindsay, and Adam Bomb.

Welcome to the 8th annual GPKNews 2024 Best of GPK Awards. This year was a down year for GPK, only one retail release, less online releases and less merchandise. However, there was still a lot that stood out this year! What were your favorite things GPK in 2024? It’s your turn to help choose the Reader’s Choice awards!

Click here to vote now in the 2024 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards!

Read on for an explanation about how the categories and nominees were chosen, along with the fine print of voting.

Here are the categories to be voted on this year:

• 2024 Retail Set of the Year – Sadly there was only one retail release in 2024, Kids At Play. Because of this there is no Retail Set of the Year voting this year. Let’s hope that changes in 2025.
• 2024 Online Set of the Year – Another year with plenty of online offers! Everything from expansion sets, MLB, packed out sets, and sets with sketches! What was your favorite online release of the year?
• 2024 Non-Traditional Set of the Year – A controversial release, free cards from stores, or inserts in a baseball set. Which one was your favorite?
• 2024 Licensee of the Year – Lowest number of licensee nominees in years. Which company represented GPK best this year?
• 2024 GPK Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year – There are 9 first time GPK artists in 2024 across three sets to choose from!
• 2024 GPK Sketch Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have had official Topps GPK sketch cards appear in a set in 2024. One retail and two online sets featured sketches this year! Over 75 sketch artists in 2024. Who was your favorite?
• 2024 GPK Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have painted an official Topps GPK final published card in 2024. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed sets are eligible. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!
• 2024 GPK Card of the Year – All GPKs published in 2024 are eligible. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed cards are eligible. For nomination purposes if a/b versions are available, only the “a” card is listed. There are hundreds to pick from! Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!

Categories and nominees were chosen by the Editor of GPKNews.com. Any GPK releases after 12/17 will be eligible in next year’s (2025) awards. Categories such as best artist, sketch artist, and best card also contain a write-in option. Write-in votes will only be counted for a valid artist/card. Voting will be live from Tuesday 12/17 through Tuesday 12/24 @ 8:00 PM(PST). Voting will only be done through Facebook. Participants can only vote once. Vote totals or individual votes cast will not be made public. Winners will be revealed in a future article that will appear on GPKNews.com right around the 1st of January.

If GPK in 2022 was known for set delays and giant print runs, 2023 quite possibly will be known for getting back to normalcy. After years of set delays, Topps returned to more of a normal schedule by the end of 2023. Collectors finally got the long delayed GPK Vacation set in early 2023, saw Chrome 6 in the middle of the year, and ended with InterGoolatic in the fall. Additionally, the giant unrealistic print runs from 2022 returned to a more realistic number in 2023. In the online realm, there were once again a number of 6 week sets, as well as the usual releases celebrating different events. Online sales remained strong through the year, but started to slow as the year ended. With lower print runs and lower online sales, GPK’s popularity may be softening in the new year.

GPK merchandise begin to see a transition. Products long in the pipeline and delayed from Covid were finally released. However, Fanatics begin to limit new licensed products as the company transitioned from old Topps management to Fanatics. Collectors still got a number of different products from GetAGrip, multiple comic releases from Dynamite, and a number of individual products from longtime licensees Abrams, Insight Editions, GPKNation, Super Impulse, and License 2 Play. One new comer, Flix Candy, debuted with a popular candy item.

2023 was another strong year with multiple retail, online, and merchandise releases. It’s time to take a look back at what stood out in 2023. The following is the 7th annual 2023 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards. Winners have been selected by the editor of GPKNews.com in eight categories. Additionally, a Reader’s Choice winner was also named in each category. Readers of GPKNews were able to vote in a poll on GPKNews’ Facebook page in mid-December. On some awards there is agreement, while others vary in opinion. Let the debate begin! It’s time to celebrate the best in GPKs for 2023!

And the winners are…

2023 GPK Retail Set of the Year
Winner: 2023S2 InterGoolatic Mayhem
Reader’s Choice: 2023 InterGoolatic Mayhem

Due to the late 2022 release of Chrome 5, collectors had 4 retail sets to vote on in this category for the first time. It didn’t matter, in the biggest squash of the Reader’s Choice awards, 2023S2 InterGoolatic Mayhem was the easy winner. We agree as the set is the 2023 Retail Set of the Year winner. Feedback from collectors on the set’s release was nearly unanimously positive. Collectors enjoyed the sci-fi theme, gags, and artwork in the set. Additionally, the quality control for Topps on the set, while not perfect, was a marked improvement over previous releases. This all added up to easily the set of the year. Honorable mention: 2023S1 Vacation, 2023 Chrome 6, 2022 Chrome 5.

2023 Online GPK Set of the Year
Winner: GPK x View Askew
Reader’s Choice: 2023 Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Set (1-6)

Topps decided to run back many of the online releases in 2023. There was another Ermsy Entertainment Blend, another MLB x GPK set by Alex Pardee, more six week expansion sets, and the usual Valentine’s, Krashers, and award winner sets. There was one new theme this year, and it’s this year’s 2023 Online GPK Set of the Year. The GPK x View Askew set was sold simultaneously at SDCC and on Topps.com. The cards celebrated the films of director Kevin Smith. The set saw some positive publicity for the GPK brand. Both GPK collectors and Kevin Smith fans chased parallels of the key cards in the set throughout the year. In the Reader’s Choice voting, collectors chose this year’s Oh the Horror-ible set just barely over the View Askew set. Surprisingly, Sapphire dropped in popularity for the first time, finishing third in voting. Honorable mention: 2023 Oh the Horror-ible Expansion (1-6), Sapphire 3, Valentine’s Day is Cancelled, and GPK x MLB 2.

2023 Non-Traditional Set of the Year
Winner: 2023 Topps International Trading Card Day
Reader’s Choice: 2023 Topps International Trading Card Day

Who doesn’t like free cards? Well, no one! This year’s 2023 International Trading Card Day GPK set is this year’s winner for Non-Traditional Set. For the second year in a row, collectors around the country burned gallons of gas as they drove from store to store to claim their free GPK pack. A wide selection of base cards and auto inserts had collectors trading and selling for weeks to complete their sets. Honorable mention: 2023 NYCC Set, Fanatics Executive Set.

2023 Topps GPK Licensee of the Year
Winner: GetAGrip Skateboards
Reader’s Choice: GetAGrip Skateboards

The company that somehow got original GPK artist John Pound to sign cards, is easily this year’s GPK Licensee of the Year. GetAGrip shocked the collecting world by releasing two blind bag skateboard releases this year that were highlighted by autographs from John Pound. Pound had refused for years to be involved with anything GPK. That wasn’t all GetAGrip did this year. The company also released a wooden toy product, Deadwoodz, and some high end GPK themed neon lights. No company released a wider variety of GPK merchandise this year. Honorable mention: Dynamite Entertainment, GPK Nation, Super Impulse, and Flix Candy.

2023 Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: Marion Carole Miller
Reader’s Choice: Marion Carole Miller

2023 was a banner year for new GPK sketch artists. A record 19 artists made their GPK debut this year. They ranged from first time sketch artists to veterans of other Topps sets. The result was a number of excellent sketch cards in the final set of the year, InterGoolatic Mayhem. This was such a hard category to choose a winner in, there could have easily been any of 10 different winners. However, despite all the online promotion, reader’s agreed with GPKNews that Marion Carole Miller is the GPK Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year. The artist brought his unique style to both returns and pack inserted sketches that has already found a large fan base. Collectors will hope to chase his sketches for years to come. Honorable mention: Eddie Rhodes, Eric Lassen, Steve Martin, Fox Layng, and Julia McKenzie.

2023 Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: Chris Meeks
Reader’s Choice: Bekki Sharp

We have three-peat! This year’s GPK Sketch Artist of the Year is once again Chris Meeks. Chris Meeks has set himself apart from his peers when it comes to GPK sketch cards. His GPK returns routinely fetch the highest figures in the secondary market. He continues to contribute to all GPK sets, with his pack inserted cards also being high quality. There are a lot of great GPK sketch artists, but right now Meeks stands out. The Reader’s Choice award once again saw heavy promotion by multiple artists. This year Bekki Sharp came out on top after a close vote. Honorable mention: Bekki Sharp, David Acevedo, Eric Medina, Mike Stephens, and Gavin Williams.

2023 GPK Artist of the Year
Winner: David Gross
Reader’s Choice: David Gross

It’s now four years in a row, as David Gross is the GPKNews Artist of the Year. Gross also won the Reader’s vote in a landslide once again. All the artists do a fantastic job on the artwork for the sets throughout the year. However, it’s the gag writing that puts Gross’ cards a cut above. From the obvious to the small details, he makes sure the gags are just as important as the art. Another banner year for new GPK artwork!  Honorable mention: Joe Simko, Brent Engstrom, and Rory McQueen.

2023 GPK Card of the Year
Winner: Marty Mayhem (Trashy TV Philly Promo 1a Artist/Concept David Gross)
Reader’s Choice: Ghost Buster (InterGoolatic 74a Artist/Concept Brent Engstrom)

In the Reader’s Choice voting it was neck and neck between the Marty Mayhem and Ghost Buster for Card of the Year. Ghost Buster was the most popular card from the most popular set of the year. So why then was Marry Mayhem chosen as the Card of the Year? This card helped to advance that ever so rare Disney GPK card. There haven’t yet been any main stream Disney or Star Wars cards, but with the help of Adam F Goldberg, the card was able to be approved and used as a promo card at the Philly Non-Sport card show. The card expertly depicts Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem in GPK form. A popular card that helps to make inroads to Disney properties makes it the Card of the Year. Honorable mention: Ghost Buster, Spacin Jason, Night Mary, Silent Bobby, AI Adam, and Sleepy Faye.

Welcome to the 7th annual GPKNews 2023 Best of GPK Awards. This year saw Topps get back on schedule post pandemic, a good number of retail and online sets, and another round of GPK merchandise. What were your favorite things GPK in 2023? It’s your turn to help choose the Reader’s Choice awards!

Click here to vote now in the 2023 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards!

Read on for an explanation about how the categories and nominees were chosen, along with the fine print of voting.

Here are the categories to be voted on this year:

• 2023 Retail Set of the Year – With Chrome 5 coming out after last year’s awards, there are four retail sets to choose from in 2023!
• 2023 Online Set of the Year – Another full year of online offers! Everything from expansion sets, MLB, packed out sets, and sets with sketches! What was your favorite online release of the year?
• 2023 Non-Traditional Set of the Year – Second year for this award! Do you like sets from stores, sets from cons, or maybe you’re a Fanatics executive? Which one was your favorite?
• 2023 Licensee of the Year – Always a hotly contested category. Which company represented GPK best this year?
• 2023 GPK Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year – The rookie sketch artist award is back! A whopping 17 first time GPK artists in 2023 to choose from!
• 2023 GPK Sketch Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have had official Topps GPK sketch cards appear in a set in 2023. Two retail and two online sets featured sketches this year! Over xx sketch artists in 2023. Who was your favorite?
• 2023 GPK Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have painted an official Topps GPK final published card in 2023. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed sets are eligible. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!
• 2023 GPK Card of the Year – All GPKs published in 2023 are eligible. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed cards are eligible. For nomination purposes if a/b versions are available, only the “a” card is listed. There are hundreds to pick from! Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!

Categories and nominees were chosen by the Editor of GPKNews.com. Any GPK releases after 12/17 will be eligible in next year’s (2024) awards. Categories such as best artist, sketch artist, and best card also contain a write-in option. Write-in votes will only be counted for a valid artist/card. Voting will be live from Sunday 12/17 through Sunday 12/24 @ 8:00 PM(PST). Voting will only be done through Facebook. Participants can only vote once. Vote totals or individual votes cast will not be made public. Winners will be revealed in a future article that will appear on GPKNews.com right around the 1st of January.

When future collectors look back at 2022 perhaps what will be most remembered are the giant increases in production for Garbage Pail Kids sets. Or maybe collectors are going to remember continued delays, followed by multiple releases at a fast and furious pace. Regardless, 2022 was another eventful year in GPK. Retail sets continued to see delays throughout the first half of 2022. Once again 2021 Vacation did not see production during the year, frustrating many collectors. Topps did release 2022 Book Worms and 2021 Chrome 4 in the second half of the year, (2022 Chrome 5 was also released on 12/23, but was too late to be included in the awards ballot.) When Topps finally released the sets, the result was an increase in production unlike anything seen in the GPK world in the last decade plus. Online sets saw a steady stream of releases during the year, that only increased in number in the last quarter of the year. Sales overall remained strong for online sets, with average print runs higher than ever before. Its clear demand and popularity of the GPK brand continues to increase year of year.

GPK licensed merchandise started returning to normal after more delays in 2021. Many products still saw delays in 2022, but it’s clear companies have gotten a better handle on production delays and release dates. The highlight of GPK merchandise was a GPK video game from iam8bit. The 8-bit old school video game showed collectors what should have been back in the mid-1980’s. GetAGrip continued a year full of very popular skateboard releases. While dolls of all types from plush, to bag clips, to vinyl all saw releases with original GPK classic figures the focus for licensees. Book publisher’s also had highlights with Abrams calendar and cookbook, and Simon & Schuster GPK tarot book, and Dynamite comics being popular items.

2022 started out slow, but by the end of the year collector’s wallets were left empty with numerous retail, online, and merchandise releases. Let’s take a look back at what stood out in 2022 for Garbage Pail Kids. It’s time for the 6th annual 2022 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards! Winners have been selected by the editor of GPKNews.com in seven categories, (NFT Set of the year and Rookie Sketch Artist was not awarded in 2022 due to limited options). Additionally, a Reader’s Choice winner was also named in each category. Readers of GPKNews were able to vote in a poll on GPKNews’ Facebook page in mid-December. On some awards there is agreement, while others vary in opinion. Let the debate begin! It’s time to celebrate the best in GPKs for 2022!

And the winners are…

2022 GPK Retail Set of the Year
Winner: 2022S1 GPK Book Worms
Reader’s Choice: 2021 GPK Chrome OS 4

There were two retail sets for collectors to collect in 2022. Most collectors like their shiny cards, and that was still the case as Chrome 4 won the Reader’s Choice voting. However, Chrome 4 was marked by multiple spelling and editing errors throughout the set. This is one of the reasons why 2022S1 GPK Book Worms is the Retail Set of the Year. Collectors had been waiting nearly a year and a half for a retail release. The artists delivered with one of the better sets top to bottom for artwork and gags. Even if you weren’t an avid reader, the subject matter was easy to understand and the new artwork was once again top notch. (Note: Chrome 5 was released too late in the year to be considered in this year’s awards.) Honorable mention: 2021 Chrome OS 4.

2022 Online GPK Set of the Year
Winner: Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Set (1-6)
Reader’s Choice: 2022 GPK Sapphire (OS3 & OS4)

Topps took some new chances in 2022 with online offerings. The sets that sold the most were the sets that were not favored by GPK collectors, but instead resonated with other groups of collectors. Ermsy Entertainment Blend, GPK x MLB, and Taste Buds all set high sales marks, but were preferred by either fans of the artists involved, baseball collectors, or family members of breweries. Once again collectors choose shiny cards, and went with 2022 Sapphire for the Reader’s Choice winner. GPKNews however is picking the Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Set (1-6) for Online Set of the Year. Horror themed cards will forever be a favorite of GPK collectors. The artists once again nailed the artwork and gags with the sets being some of the most popular of the year.  Honorable mention: 2022 GPK Sapphire (OS3 & OS4), Complexland Skateboard Deck Stickers, We Hate the 80’s Expansion Set (1-6), Valentine’s Day Disgusting Dating.

2022 Non-Traditional Set of the Year
Winner: Topps International Trading Card Day
Reader’s Choice: Topps International Trading Card Day

2022 also saw Topps take some chances with the brand and offer sets in different scenarios other than traditional stores or online. That’s why we have this new category this year. There were a number of sets only available at Cons or in hobby stores this year. Some were free, others could be purchased. None saw collectors spend more money on gas this year than the Non-Traditional Set of the Year Winner, Topps International Trading Card Day. For the first time, GPK was included in this yearly event. Collectors visiting their local hobby store could score a free pack of GPK cards. This set caught the imagination of collectors as prices initially soared for unopened packs and cards, before the realization of the production set in. It was a fun few weeks, as collectors traded to complete their sets. Honorable mention: ComplexCon California Takeover, Adam Bomb Mis-Fortune Telling Machine, SDCC Scavenger Hunt. 
2022 Topps GPK Licensee of the Year
Winner: iam8bit
Reader’s Choice: GetAGrip Skateboards

Another hotly contested vote this year for Licensee of the Year. iam8bit is this year’s winner for their 8-bit GPK Video Game, Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum. From the teaser video, to the game play, and even selling an actually NES cartridge of the game, iam8bit excelled at how to promote a brand and make a high quality product. Collectors were immediately brought back to the mid-80’s in what should have been created then. Meanwhile Reader’s Choice winner, GetAGrip continued to be popular with collectors for their skateboard decks, wheels, and general GPK merchandise. Honorable mention: GetAGrip, Dynamite Entertainment, GPK Nation, Abrams Books, Simon & Schuster.

2022 Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: Chris Meeks
Reader’s Choice: David Acevedo

For the first time there is a back to back winner. This year’s GPK Sketch Artist of the Year is once again Chris Meeks. There were not a lot of chances for artists to shine this year. With only one retail set, and three online sets some artists saw more opportunities than others. When it’s all said and done though, Chris Meeks really dominated this category this year. His level of detail in pack inserted, online, and returns really made his work stand out. Some Meeks returns sold at prices only previously seen in final card artwork. With Pat Chaimuang not doing GPK sketches in 2022, it opened up the Reader’s Choice award. After a lot of online promotion, David Acevedo beat out a number of other talented artists in a close vote for the reader’s favorite.  Honorable mention: David Acevedo, Eric Medina, Mike Stephens, Jasmine Contois, and Greg “13” Treize.

2022 GPK Artist of the Year
Winner: David Gross
Reader’s Choice: David Gross

For the third straight year, David Gross is the GPKNews Artist of the Year. Gross also won the Reader’s vote in a landslide. Once again his gag writing really is where he shines year after year. There were nearly two dozen gags in Book Worms and the online expansion sets that could have been considered for card of the year. Another great year for new GPK artwork!  Honorable mention: Rory McQueen, Joe Simko, Brent Engstrom.

2022 GPK Card of the Year
Winner: Adam Book (Book Worms 72a Artist/Concept Brent Engstrom)
Reader’s Choice: Adam Book (Book Worms 72a Artist/Concept Brent Engstrom)

Every year there are so many great choices for Card of the Year. 2022 was no exception, and the voting by readers showed. There were three cards that fought neck and neck all week in readers’ voting. Adam Book barely edged out Jabbed Jack and Adam Bomb Skateboard Sticker to win. We agree, as the card of the Year goes to Brent Engstrom’s Adam Book card from Book Worms. Collector’s may complain they are tired of seeing Adam Bomb, but that’s just not the case in voting or popularity of cards. Jabbed Jack was strongly considered as well, as the gag, (How did a Disney gag get approved!?), and art were excellent. Honorable mention: Jabbed Jack, Adam Bomb Skateboard Sticker, Beetle Julie, Joking Jack, Sapphire Steve.

Welcome to the 6th annual GPKNews 2022 Best of GPK Awards. This year in GPK saw more delays, huge production numbers, and lots of merchandise. So what were your favorite things GPK in 2022? It’s your turn to help choose the Reader’s Choice awards!

Click here to vote now in the 2022 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards!

Read on for an explanation about how the categories and nominees were chosen, along with the fine print of voting.

Here are the categories to be voted on this year:

• 2022- Retail Set of the Year – This category returns in 2022, after 2021 saw only one set released. 2022 had both Book Worms and Chrome 4! What was your favorite set of the year?
• 2022 Online Set of the Year – Topps kicked it into overdrive with online sets in 2022. There are a lot to choose from! What was your favorite online release of the year?
• 2022 Non-Traditional Set of the Year – New category for 2022! Topps expanded their distribution methods in 2022. To collect these sets you had to visit a Convention or hobby store. Which one was your favorite?
• 2022 Digital NFT Set of the Year – There is no award category for NFT set of the year. After taking many months off, Topps only released one NFT set this year. Topps is poised to offer more GPK NFTs in 2023!
• 2022 Licensee of the Year – So much licensed GPK merchandise in 2022! Which company did it best this year?
• 2022 GPK Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year – The rookie sketch artist award is taking 2022 off. There were only two artist debuts in 2022. Let’s see if Topps adds more new talent in 2023!
• 2022 GPK Sketch Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have had official Topps GPK sketch cards appear in a set in 2022. There were only one retail, two online, and one con set to feature sketches this year. There are over 60 artists to choose from! Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!
• 2022 GPK Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have painted an official Topps GPK final published card in 2022. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed sets are eligible. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!
• 2022 GPK Card of the Year – All GPKs published in 2022 are eligible. Retail, Online, Convention, and Licensed cards are eligible. For nomination purposes if a/b versions are available, only the “a” card is listed. There are hundreds to pick from! Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!

Categories and nominees were chosen by the Editor of GPKNews.com. Any GPK releases after 12/16, including Chrome 5 and future online releases, will be eligible in next year’s (2023) awards. Categories such as best artist, sketch artist, and best card also contain a write-in option. Write-in votes will only be counted for a valid artist/card. Voting will be live from Friday 12/16 through Saturday 12/24 @ 8:00 PM(PST). Voting will only be done through Facebook. Participants can only vote once. Vote totals or individual votes cast will not be made public. Winners will be revealed in a future article that will appear on GPKNews.com right around the 1st of January.

2021 is going to be remembered in the Garbage Pail Kids community as the year of the delay. Topps had big plans to followup on a hugely successful 2020, with a 2021 filled with cards sets, merchandise, video games, and licensed deals. However, it quickly became clear that GPK collectors would have to exercise patience. Most of the delays were caused by printing delays and shipping issues. Only one retail set made it to market in 2021, as both 2021S2 Vacation and Chrome 4 were pushed to 2022. The huge demand industry wide for trading cards meant only so many printing slots available to card manufacturers. GPK sadly is taking a backseat to other, more profitable brands in the Topps hierarchy, leaving collectors yearning to bust packs. Online releases saw its own multi-month delay as well. After a backlash from fans of the K-pop band BTS to a proposed card in the Shammy’s set, online GPKs went on hiatus for four months. GPK collectors were once again left without an explanation from Topps and no online sets.

Officially licensed GPK products were not immune to delays either. Manufacturers, especially of toys, saw product announcements and shipping dates continue to get delayed. Merchandise sat, and continues to sit on ships in the ocean as manufacturing in China and port delays in the US has wreaked havoc on the entire industry. The early 2021 announcement of a mashup with Madballs and GPK only resulted in a few clothing items as the toys and cards have yet to materialize. Toy figures from Super Impulse and The Loyal Subjects saw delays of months. GetAGrip Skateboards released Series 3 wheels, while Series 2 sits on a ship in the Pacific. There were also numerous plans Topps announced they were working on at the end of 2020 that have yet to be launched, such as video games, and foreign card releases.

Despite the delays, there was still a lot for collectors to collect from online sets, to books, die-cast cars, figures, skateboards, coins, pins, and clothing. Let’s take a look back at what stood out in 2021 for Garbage Pail Kids. It’s time for the 5th annual 2021 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards! Winners have been selected by the editor of GPKNews.com in seven categories, (Retail Set of the Year was not awarded in 2021 since there was only one set released). Additionally, a Reader’s Choice winner was also named in each category. Readers of GPKNews were able to vote in a poll on GPKNews’ Facebook page in mid-December. On some awards there is agreement, while others vary in opinion. Let the debate begin! Its time to celebrate the best in GPKs for 2021!

And the winners are…

2021 Online GPK Set of the Year
Winner: GameStonk
Reader’s Choice: Oh the Horror-ible Expansion Sets 1-2

Not quite as many online offerings from Topps this year. Online sets were put on hiatus by Topps after a proposed BTS card in the Shammy set caused controversy online. Sets that were offered were diverse. Two On Demand sets, con sets, horror, holiday and award sets all were among the available sets in 2021. Sales exploded for online sales with the majority of sets selling over 1000 copies. Rarely does a GPK set catch fire and bring in sales from outside the community. But that happened early in 2021 with this year’s Online Set of the Year, GameStonk. The set was based on the real life revolt against Wall Street with the Reddit/GameStop scandal. Sales of the set exploded to just over 13,000 copies, making it the highest selling online GPK set ever, a record that may never be broken. Honorable mention: Oh the Horrible-ible Expansion (1-2), Krashers 2, Funny Valentine, and GPK Collector Club (Intro-Set 3).

2021 NFT Digital Set of the Year
Winner: Food Fight
Reader’s Choice: Food Fight

The NFT space is much like the Wild West, and with Topps in 2021, NFTs were certainly a wild experience. The year started with Topps continuing to focus on a number of NFT GPK offers, including this year’s NFT Set of the Year, Food Fight. The set saw Topps try a number of new things in the NFT space to bring in new collectors. The set was a companion product to the retail physical 2021S1 Food Fight set. Packs of the physical product contained redemption cards for collectors to claim a free Food Fight NFT pack. This allowed for long time collectors who were skeptical of NFTs to give the technology a try. Sadly, after Food Fight, Topps abandoned the Wax platform to start their own website to offer the company’s other NFT brands. Only a contract with Wax keeps GPK NFTs only on their platform for now, with Topps not empathizing the product. Honorable mention: GameStonk, GPK Nifty Kids, Bernventures. 

2021 Topps GPK Licensee of the Year
Winner: GetAGrip Skateboards
Reader’s Choice: GetAGrip Skateboards

Want to know how your website has made it? Someone creates a bot to cheat an online poll! This year’s reader’s choice award was a hotly contested affair between two companies whose main focus is GPK. It’s not surprising these two were at the top of the poll. Collectors who vote on this award always vote for the company who’s main focus is GPK products. After the removal of thousands of bot votes, new comer GetAGrip Skateboards edged out last year’s winner, GPK Nation, for this year’s GPK Licensee of the Year. Collectors flocked to GetAGrip in 2021, crashing their website with each launch to claim Rory McQueen’s exceptional artwork on skateboards and wheels. Accompanying promo cards with the same artwork on each product has vaulted GetAGrips products to the top of most collector’s wantlists. Honorable mention: GPK Nation, Funko, The Loyal Subjects, Abrams Books.

2021 GPK Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: Andrew Artz
Reader’s Choice: Adam Dobrzeniecki 

Topps started off 2021 using a new crop of first time GPK sketch artists in the 2021S1 Food Fight set. Those eight newbies were the extent of the new blood this year. This category is always a tough one, and the award could have gone to any of the talented artists. The Facebook campaigns are always strongest with this award, and this year was no exception. This ended up being a two horse race for collectors. Reader’s choose Adam Dobrzeniecki for his wonderful full color sketches from Food Fight. GPKNews however, choose Andrew Artz as the Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year. Both his full color and B&W sketch work was among the best in the Food Fight set. Andrew also did the artwork on a number of licensed coins for GPK Nation in 2021. Who does Topps plan on adding to the lineup in 2022? Honorable mention: Adam Dobrzeniecki, Nik Muggli, Robert Ball.

2021 Sketch Artist of the Year
Winner: Chris Meeks
Reader’s Choice: Pat Chaimuang

Pat Chaimuamg and Jasmine Contois have had a strangle hold on this award for the past few years. This year for the first time some new faces moved to the top of the list. The GPKNews Sketch Artist of the Year is Chris Meeks. Chris shined throughout the year with exceptional work in Food Fight and both On Demand sets. His work in Krashers 2 was a giant highlight, form his postage stamp sketches to full color sketches. His official Artist Proof cards were a highlight both among collectors and eBay bidders. The reader’s choice award for the first time in a while was a six artist race with Pat Chaimuang edging out Greg Treize to win. Another great year of sketches for collectors! Honorable mention: Pat Chaimuang, Greg Treize, David Acevedo, Rory McQueen, Jasmine Contois.

2021 GPK Artist of the Year
Winner: David Gross
Reader’s Choice: David Gross

For the second year in a row, David Gross is the GPK Artist of the Year. David had another great year both from a gag and painting standpoint. He remains collectors favorite gag writer, from his Wax Max Food Fight card to an as yet unreleased Collector’s Club card from set 4, the time spent on understanding what both experienced and casual collectors want stands out. David also had a number of stand out paintings. Joe Blow from Collector’s Club Set 3, and Mid Summer from Oh the Horror-ible Expansion 2, both highlight some of the his intricate painting. He also introduced a new medium to GPKs with the use of linocut on his Beth Death card from Bizarre Holidays. Another year full of highlights for collectors! Honorable mention: Joe Simko, Rory McQueen, Brent Engstrom.

2021 GPK Card of the Year
Winner: Joe Blow (Collector’s Club Set 3 #1a Artist/Concept David Gross)
Reader’s Choice: Semi Colin (GetAGrip Skateboard Promo Artist/Concert Rory McQueen)

The choice for Card of the Year could have come from any number of options in 2021. Remakes of classic cards, innovative art styles, and collecting parodies were just some of the highlights for collectors this year. This year’s GPKNews Card of the Year goes to the Joe Blow remake in the Collector Club Set 3. This year long club might be controversial among collectors, but the Joe Blow card painted by David Gross is a standout. The bright pink exploding gum on the black background, while Joe skates, is an eye popping example for collectors. Honorable mention: Semi Colin, Jim Mint 10, Beth Death, Wax Max.

Welcome to the 5th annual GPKNews 2021 Best of GPK Awards. This year GPK was marked by highs, lulls, and delays. So what were your favorite things GPK in 2021? It’s your turn to help choose the Reader’s Choice awards!

https://poll.app.do/2021-gpknews-com-best-of-gpks

Read on for an explanation about how the categories and nominees were chosen, along with the fine print of voting.

Here are the categories to be voted on this year:

• 2021- Retail Set of the Year – Sadly there is no category this year for retail set of the year. Due to printing delays, Topps only released 2021S1 Food Fight. There could be as many as six nominees in 2022!
• 2021 Online Set of the Year – Topps took a few months off from online sets in the middle of the year, but there’s still plenty to choose from the beginning and end of 2021!
• 2021 Digital NFT Set of the Year – Are you an NFT wizard? Choose your favorite set of 2021!
• 2021 Licensee of the Year – Merchandise a plenty in 2021. Which company did it best this year?
• 2021 GPK Rookie Sketch Artist of the Year – Eight artists made their GPK debuts in 2021. Who was your favorite?
• 2021 GPK Sketch Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have had official Topps GPK sketch cards appear in a set in 2021. One retail, and two On Demand sets contained sketches in 2021. This year there were 61 sketch artists that did sketches! Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!
• 2021 GPK Artist of the Year – To be eligible an artist must have painted an official Topps GPK final published card in 2021. Retail, Online, and Licensed sets are eligible. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!
• 2021 GPK Card of the Year – All GPKs published in 2021 are eligible. Retail, Online, and Licensed cards are eligible. For nomination purposes if a/b versions are available, only the “a” card is listed. There are hundreds to pick from! Don’t see your favorite on the list? Feel free to choose the write-in option and vote for them!

Categories and nominees were chosen by the Editor of GPKNews.com. Categories such as best artist, sketch artist, and best card also contain a write-in option. Write-in votes will only be counted for a valid artist/card. Voting will be live from Friday 12/17 through Friday 12/24 @ 8:00 PM(PST). Voting will only be done through Facebook. Participants can only vote once. Vote totals or individual votes cast will not be made public. Winners will be revealed in a future article that will appear on GPKNews.com right around the 1st of January.