Philly Non-Sports Card Show Ready to Start Con Season

The largest non-sports card show in the country is ready for its 78th biannual show. The show is just two weeks away, taking place May 20th and 21st. Once again, the show will be held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. The show always has a huge Garbage Pail Kids presence, and this one is no exception. The featured artists at the show are GPK final card artists David Gross and Smokin Joe McWilliams, GPK sketch artist and GPK vs. Madballs artist Jason Crosby, and former GPK sketch artist John Cebollero. This is the perfect time to meet your favorite GPK artists and pickup some of their artwork as well.

There will once again be the traditional Saturday dinner held at the Hilton Garden Inn. Cost for the dinner is $40. The guest speaker will be Smokin Joe. Dinner attendees will receive an unofficial AI GPK themed card created by Smokin Joe. There will also be an unofficial Wacky card from Smokin Joe. To register for the dinner email Roxanne Toser. There will also be a Wacky Packages promo card given out to all attendees. The card’s concept is from Peter Zies and was painted by Neil Camera. There are two different backgrounds on the card, one handed out Saturday and the other Sunday. David Gross will have an official Topps GPK promo card at his booth, in addition to his own cards and prints available.

There will also be additional names GPK collectors are familiar at the show, Magic Marker Inc’s Mark Pingitore, sketch artist Ricky Kipfer, and George Wright will all have booths. There will also be booths to purchase plenty of GPK, headlined by Clint Coleman and GPK & Wacky Warehouse. According to the show promoter this is the most dealers they’ve ever had at the show.

The show will be open on Saturday 5/20 from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, and Sunday 5/22 from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Tickets for the show are $12 for one day or $20 for a two day pass. This show has a different vibe than your huge cons, and it a great place to hang out with artists and collectors alike to share your passion of GPKs!

Get Your GPK vs. Madballs for Free Comic Book Day

As GPKNews first shared with collectors last year, collectors will have the chance to get a free GPK vs. Madballs comic book this weekend! The reprinted book is part of the yearly national Free Comic Book Day. Many comic stores around the country will have this comic, along with many others available for free to customers tomorrow, May 6th. You can check if there is a participating store in your area at the Free Comic Book Day website.

Topps Launches Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV Expansion Set Week 3

Will you win this week’s rose? Today Topps launched Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV expansion set week 3. This week’s set contains 10 cards, 5 new pieces with a/b versions. All artwork for the set was done by artists David Gross and Brent Engstrom. Each set purchased comes with one sepia parallel card. One lucky collector will also receive one final artwork piece. This week’s final being given away is the Bachelor card done by David Gross. The set can be purchased for $19.99 or in a lot of 10 for $179.99. Shipping is free when choosing the Economy/SmartPost option. The set will be available for 7 days on Topps.com. Topps will reveal the print run at the end of the sale. Here are some pictures of the cards for this week’s set.

Updated GPK Retail Plans for 2023

When we last shared the Topps sales calendar, the company had big plans for four Garbage Pail Kids retail releases in 2023. They have since backed off a bit with an updated more “normal” GPK calendar. The company appears to now be back on track with GPK after three years of delays due to Covid, printer delays, and paper stock shortages. 2023S1 (2021S2) GPK Vacation was the first release of 2023 back in Feb. Since that release, things have been quiet from Topps, as no sets have been officially announced for the remainder of 2023.

That will change soon though. Originally, Topps had planned additional retail sets for May and Nov. of 2023. The May date has been removed from the calendar. The most updated Topps sales calendar, updated as of the last week of April, shows two additional GPK sets for 2023. First up will be Chrome OS 6, currently set for a 8/30/23 release date. Artwork has been already completed for the handful of new cards in the set. Following Chrome will be the next regular retail set, 2023S2, currently set for 11/22/23. Final card artwork for that set has been done for sometime. GPKNews has confirmed sketch card invites also went out recently for the set. Topps has worked a bit harder to keep the theme and sketch details quiet until the company officially announces the set.

It’s a bit of a mystery when Topps will officially announce the sets. So far in 2023, Topps has been announcing other sets just one month prior to release. There is then a short preorder window for distributors before the release date. Apparently, Topps is no longer printing sets based on preorder. Another thing collectors should keep their eye on is distribution. Topps changed the way 2023 Bowman Baseball was distributed, skipping most distributors and selling boxes direct to customers, including preorders on their website. This follows the plan Fanatics put forth when they purchased Topps two years ago. Collectors should expect to see these types of changes as the year goes on. Thanks to Jeff P. at the Garbage Pail Kids Superstore, for sending over the sales calendar! This info is just for retail sets and doesn’t include all the other various online and merchandise releases for the year. Release dates are just estimates and aren’t official until officially announced by Topps, expect delays!

Topps Reveals Print Run for GPK Prime Slime TV Week 1

After ending on Thursday, Topps has revealed the print run for Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV expansion set week 1. Collectors showed up for the first week of sales with the total coming in at 2,229 sets sold. This is higher than all the expansion sets from last year, and the highest online sales so far in 2023. The offer of a final painting giveaway surely helped to attract additional sales. Can the six week series keep the early momentum going?

John Pound Autos Part of GetAGrip Skateboard Release

In the GPK shocker of the year, GetAGrip Skateboards revealed John Pound as the last mystery artist as part of their Artist Signature Series Blind Bag skateboard decks. There are five total decks, limited to /50 each from five different artists. Each deck features past artwork from these artists, along with a matching autographed card from that artists. I’m not sure how the folks at GetAGrip got it done, but they somehow were able to get original GPK artist to sign 50 autos. Pound has refused to do any GPK work for years now. Pound’s last work for Topps was signing autos for the Chrome 2 set in 2014. Topps has since attempted to get him to sign autos for other Chrome sets to no avail. The skateboard decks went on sale at 1:00 PM EST for $189 each and quickly sold out. These are sure to be hot items on the secondary market once they ship.

Topps Launches Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV Expansion Set Week 2

On to week two of some of the most popular new and old TV shows ever! Today Topps launched Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV expansion set week 2. Once again, this week’s set features 10 cards, 5 new pieces with a/b versions. All the artwork for the cards was done by David Gross and Brent Engstrom. Each set also comes with one sepia parallel card. One lucky purchaser will also receive a piece of final artwork as part their order. This week’s painting giveaway is the Get Smart painting by Engstrom. Each set can be purchased for $19.99 or in a lot of 10 for $179.99. Shipping is free when choosing the Economy/SmartPost option. The set will be on sale for 7 days on Topps.com. Topps will reveal the print run at the end of the sale. Here are some pictures of this week’s cards.

GetAGrip Launching Artist Signature Series Blind Bag Skateboard

GetAGrip Slateboards has been teasing all week their upcoming Artist Signature Series Blind Bag Skateboard decks. In total there will be five new decks all featuring past Adam Bomb artwork by various artists. So far boards with artwork by Tom Bunk, David Gross, Brent Engstrom, and Joe Simko have been revealed. The company says it will reveal the fifth board at 12:55 PM EST tomorrow, 4/28. There will be 50 copies of each board made. Each board also comes with an autographed card of the same artwork by that board’s artist. The board will be sold blind bag style, so collectors won’t know which one they receive. The board will go on sale at 1:00 PM EST tomorrow, 4/28, at GetAGrip’s website. Pricing have not been revealed yet. GetAGrip says there will be a 5 board limit per customer. These should go quick, collectors will want to be on time tomorrow to purchase!

Topps Launches Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV Expansion Set Week 1

The GPK expansion sets are back for 2023. First up will be a six week series of sets expanding on the 2016S2 Trashy TV set. Today Topps launched Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV expansion set week 1. The set features 10 cards, 5 new pieces with a/b versions. All gags are based off of popular current and past TV shows. All the artwork for the set was done by artists David Gross and Brent Engstrom. Each set purchased also comes with one sepia parallel card. Additionally, for the first time Topps has acquired original artwork from the artists to give away to a lucky purchaser of each week’s set. For week 1, someone’s order will include Engstrom’s Wheel of Fortune piece. Each set can be purchased for $19.99 or in a lot of 10 for $179.99. Shipping is free when choosing the Economy/SmartPost option. The set will be available for sale on Topps.com for 7 days. Topps will reveal the print run at the end of the sale. Here are some pictures of the cards.

Topps Teases Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV Expansion Sets

Today the official GPK Facebook account shared a teaser for the next round of online expansion sets, Garbage Pail Kids Prime Slime Trashy TV. Much like the expansions sets last year, there will be six weeks of online sets offered by Topps for this series. The gags are a follow up to the 2016S2 retail set with the same name. Collectors can expect to see cards based on both newer popular shows and some past shows that weren’t included the first time around. David Gross and Brent Engstrom will be doing all the artwork for the sets. The sets will also again come with one parallel card per set. Topps has some other surprises in store for collectors. According to the teaser picture, the first set will launch next Thursday, 4/20/23.