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.
