The 2024 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Award Winners

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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.

The 2024 GPKNews.com Best of GPK Awards, Vote Now!!!

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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.

Topps Reveals Print Run for 2024 GPK Media Menace Cards #5-10

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After the final cards ended over the weekend, Topps has revealed the remaining print runs for 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace #5-#10. Final sales numbers were; 5a Snotty Charli (1,318), 6a Tricky Timothee (1,374), 7a Cheap Charlie (1,382), 8a Block Brock (1,356), 9a Mouthy Moo (1,902), and 10a Eclipsed Eva (1,473). The baby hippo proved to be more popular, the third highest selling card of the week. The remaining cards still had solid sales. Online GPK sales finished the year on a hot streak. Collectors will get a little break, and they will see what February may bring.

Non-Sports Card Legend Roxanne Toser Passes Away

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It’s impossible to put in a few words how important Roxanne Toser was to the non-sports card community the past six decades. Roxanne was a legendary non-sports card dealer, publisher, promoter, collector, and friend to everyone in the industry. Her work with non-sports cards during these years made her prominent in the GPK hobby from its beginnings until today. Roxanne Toser passed away Friday, as was announced by her son, Harris, in a beautiful tribute to his mother on Facebook.

Roxanne ran the preeminent non-sports card mail order business from the mid 1970’s through the end of the 1980’s. It was during her time as a dealer when she was introduced to Garbage Pail Kids. She told the GPK Boys podcast in 2021, “Mark Macaluso was the one who told me about Garbage Pail Kids. And my first reaction was you have got to be kidding me. Has Topps lost their minds completely? But it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with them, I loved the artwork.” GPKs became a huge part of her business that would continue for decades. In 1991 Roxanne started Non-Sport Update Magazine. The magazine became the main source of information for non-sports card collectors. There would occasionally be articles, including cover features on GPKs in the magazines. The Tosers sold NSU to Beckett in 2016.

Perhaps what most collectors know Roxanne from today is the bi-annual Philly Non-Sports Card shows. In 1984 Roxanne was the first dealer asked to exhibit at the show. In 2007 Roxanne took over promoting the shows. She has been a fixture at the shows since the beginning, becoming a friend to dealers, artists, and collectors. GPKs were prominently featured at the shows. Roxanne would routinely bring in artists to headline the shows and Saturday dinner talks. Through the years, despite many management changes at Topps, Roxanne was always able to get approval for official GPK promo cards for the shows. Roxanne treated the artists at the show just like family. Longtime Wacky Packages and GPK artist Smokin’ Joe McWilliams shared what it was like to be invited to a show, “My experience receiving an invitation from Roxanne to be a guest artist at the Philly show seemed more like an invite to a family gathering than a card show or convention. We would share a family dinner together with Marlon, Harris, Barry and all their closest friends, as well with all the other guest artists. Roxanne would always sweeten the deal with the promise of a butterscotch sundae. Although we love our ice cream, we were all there for Roxanne and I was always ready to accept her invitation, whenever it came.” Roxanne was also instrumental in bringing in new dealers to the shows. Longtime owners of GPK & Wacky Warehouse, Clint and Sandy Coleman shred how Roxanne helped them out early on, “Our family started going to the Philly Non-Sports Show back in 2005/06 when it was held back at Merchant Square Mall. It was then that we met Roxanne and family. She was so welcoming and knowledgeable about cards, we obviously hit it off, an instant friendship! We continued to attend her show twice a year looking forward to each one. It was like a family reunion at each show! Eventually, Roxanne had encouraged us to set up at one show. We had a great time and enjoyed it! If it wasn’t for her, we might not have ever branched out to try, and well, the rest is In GPK history. Roxanne was the Queen of GPK! She loved the hobby, artists, and all of the collectors that she friended along the way. Our family is grateful to have known her! She will be greatly missed.”

Since the announcement of her passing, tributes have been aplenty in remembering Roxanne. AJ Booton, owner and operator of GPKWorld.com, has known Roxanne for years and attended many a Philly show, “Roxanne is trading-card royalty. A non-sport card legend. At the forefront of the hobby for decades with her mail-order business, NSU publication, PNS show. She was non-stop. Although her true hobbies were bobbleheads and Wacky Packages, she had such a soft spot for GPK and the community. Her shows were like returning home to friends, which felt like family. I will miss her stories, her GPK attire, her laugh, her emails, but especially her friendship over so many years.” Longtime GPK collector and Adam Bomb himself, Sam Gras shared his experiences with Roxanne, “I met Roxanne at the Philly Non-sports card show like so many other GPK collectors. I was just starting to take the hobby more serious and struck up a conversation with Roxanne. She was so sweet and kind with the warmest smile. We talked for a longtime, and I felt like we had been friends for years. After a little “Jewish Geography”, I found out she knows my parents and lives down the street from them. Roxanne invited me into her home to share stories and show off some of her prized possessions. She even helped me complete my OS1 set.” Stories like this are abundant as she was truly a friend to so many collectors.

I first met Roxanne and Marlin at the first Gross Card Con in Las Vegas in 2016. They were so kind and great to talk with at the show. Through the years I corresponded with Roxanne to help promote the Philly show to the GPK community. She would always bug me to come out and attend one of the shows. It’s a huge regret I was never able to make it to a show before she passed. Roxanne leaves behind her husband of 68 years, Marlin, three sons, and numerous other family members and friends. She also leaves behind hundreds of GPK dealers, artists, and collectors who all thought of her as a friend and whose hobby lives have been forever changed by the mark she left on the collecting world.

Topps Reveals Print Run for 2024 GPK Media Menace Cards #1-#4

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Garbage Pail Kids collectors apparently are all about the menace! Topps today revealed the print run for 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace cards #1-#4. Collectors started the week by showing up in full force for the first two cards. Card 1a, the card that parodies the very popular Olympic basketball triple auto Topps Now card, sold a massive 5,828 copies! That number makes it the second highest selling online GPK card ever, behind the GPK GameStonk set. While the next three cards wasn’t nearly as high, ithey still saw big sales Card 2a Junkfood John, sold a total of 2,284 copies, 3a Cookong Carmy sold 1,551, and 4a Call Out Kar sold 1,690. A great start for sales of the final set of 2024.

Topps Launches 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace Cards #9-#10

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The menace is over! Today marks the final day as Topps launched the last two cards of 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace. Both of today’s cards were done by artist Joe McWilliams. Card 9a, Mouthy Moo, celebrates the baby hippo that took over the internet a few months ago. Card 10a, Eclipsed Eva, parodies the complete solar eclipse and craze that occurred last April. Collectors have the chance of receiving a B name insert (1:5), or a Gold Foil parallel /25 in their order. Cards can be purchased for $8.99 or in a lot of 10 for $54.99. Cards will be available for 48 hours on Topps.com. Topps will reveal the print run at the end of the sale. Here are pictures of today’s cards.

Topps Launches 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace Cards #7-#8

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Today is the second to last day for this year’s set celebrating the top stories in popular media. Today Topps launched 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace cards #7-#8. Both of today’s cards were done by artist Neil Camera. Card 7a, Cheap Charlie, parodies the fake Charlie and the Chocolate Factory experience in Scotland. Meanwhile card 8a, Cell Block Brock, parodies the huge Lego theft busts during the year. Each card purchased has a chance of also receiving a B name card (1:5), or a Gold Foil parallel /25. Cards can be purchased for $8.99 or in a lot of 10 for $54.99. Cards are available for 48 hours on Topps.com. Topps will reveal the print run at the end of the sale. Here are pictures of today’s cards.

Topps Launches 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace Cards #5-#6

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The menace continues today as Topps launched 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace cards #5-#6. Both of today’s cards were done by artist Brent Engstrom. Card #5, Snotty Charlie, celebrates Charlie XCX and her Brat Summer. Meanwhile card #6, features Tricky Timothee crashing his own look alike contest. Collectors also have the chance of recording a B name parallel (1:5), or Gold Foil parallel /25 with each card purchased. Cards can be bought for $8.99 or in a lot of 10 for $54.99. Cards are available for 48 hours on Topps.com. Topps will reveal the print run at the end of the sale. Here are pictures of today’s cards.

Topps Launches 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace Cards #3-#4

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It’s Tuesday, so it’s time for two more cards of GPKs being a menace! Today Topps launched 2024 Garbage Pail Kids Media Menace cards #3-#4. Card #3a, Cooking Carmy, was done by Neil Camera and depicts actor Jeremy Allen White from the Bear eating his Emmy award. Card #4a, Call Out Kat, done by Joe Simko, shows comedian Kat Williams with his list of GPKs he has an issue with. Collectors purchasing a card have a chance at also receiving a B name version (1:5), or a Gold Foil version /25. Each card can be purchased for $8.99 or in a lot of 10 for $54.99. Cards are available for 48 hours on Topps.com. Topps will reveal the print run at the end of the sale. Here are pictures of today’s cards.