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.
