Oh my God! One day we will discuss the Monster Huge phenomenon called Cabbage Patch Kids, and I probably should have done that first, but alas, I did not and instead will be talking about another globally epic trend that took the world by its gruesome storm! It was a trend inspired by those Cabbage Patch kids, one that got its own movie, a movie that was more gag worthy than any of its collectable trading cards… The Garbage Pail Kids!
Let us go way back to the year 1985 and the Topps Trading Card company. Topps was considering pursuing a license for trading cards for Cabbage Patch Kids and had tapped Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman, with the task. According to Spielegman, the idea shifted one day when was in an office with Stan Hart (from Topps' product development department) and Len Brown (the company's creative director) discussing moving forward with the cards. It was Stan Hart who got the idea that maybe they should simply do a parody of them instead.
Spiegelman had previous created a series of parody cards called Wacky-Packages, that made fun of brands such as Jolly Mean Giant and Ratz Crackers. Wacky-Packages had been around since the late 60’s, and in 1985 a new spin was on them was in the works, a spin that would have had the cartoonist poking fun at the aforementioned Cabbage Patch Kids. Spiegelman intended to make them silly, gross and macabre, so, with Harts suggestion, the team set to work.
The line would include the likes of Slobby Robbie, Oozy Suzie, Art Apart, Cindy Lopper, Nerdy Norm, Electric Bill and so many more! Originally they were going to release as another Wacky-Package series but , management at Topps saw the new lean as its own thing and instead pushed for a new line of trading cards under their own name. Spiegelman got together with cartoonist Mark Newgarden manger, Len Brown and artist John Pound and The Garbage Pail Kids were born!
The cards were an instant hit! Kids everywhere rushed to buy the them, everyone wanting to collect the cards but also seeking out the character that embodied their name! In June 1985, the Series 1 cards were sold in five-card, 25-cent wax packs that included a stick of gum. The initial packs actually had 25-cents stamped on them, but later packs were released without the price so that retailers could charge whatever they wanted.
The first series was quickly selling out and those prices did begin to jump with some reporting the 25 cent price going all the way up to $10 a pack!
Series 1 cards are thought to have a smaller run than later series as Topps began mass producing them. Demand for the Series 1 grew when parents and teachers began to complain. It was the 80’s after all and what would a good line of toys be without parents getting anrgy? During the height of the cards' popularity, a number of schools actually tried banning them, but as we know, banning something kids love only helps to increase the popularity.
Then came the lawsuit. Coleco, the guys who were responsible for Cabbage Patch Kids, they didn’t like these cards making fun of their dolls. To me this seems odd as I would assume the popularity of the cards would help boost popularity in the Cabbage Patch Kids, boost them up a few notches on the noticed scale. Still Coleco did sue for trademark infringement. It was settled out of court and Topps agreed to modify the appearance of the cards. The changes didn’t go over too well and sales began to decline. Plus, it was a fad, much like the Cabbage Patch Kids themselves, and Fads fade.
Series 15 was released in Dec 0f 1988 and series 16 was planned but in the end, Topps decided to discontinue the line. Odd thing though, they discontinued during the middle of production on Original Series 16. Rough images for the stickers, card backs, box, and wrappers had all been developed, but never hit market. In 1989 an uncut sheet of series 16 cards was found in the trash behind the Topps building, and in 2002, the Topps Vault auctioned off some correction sheets and box proofs.
In 2003 Topps decided to go for the nostalgia ring and released an All New Series 1. Their target audience was now grownups who remembered the cards from their youth and now had a little disposable income. The re-release was a success. Today the line is still in production under artists Joe Simko, Brent Engstrom and David Gross.
So, let us discuss collectability and a few of the big hitters! For some reason, the first- and second-series cards were often off-center, some had slants on the border or a thicker top border. When original packs are opened now it is often found they have wax stains, or the gum is melted to the top card. Since these things effect value, and since back in 1985 Kids would often peel the stickers off the cards and slap them wherever, complete sets have become difficult to pull together. That means the earlier series are in higher demand and thus higher priced.
1985 Garbage Pail Kids 1a Nasty Nick: Estimated Mint Value: $7,500
"Nasty Nick", is the very first card of the very first series. Sometimes this card found itself positioned in the upper left of the printing sheet which meant it was often cut in a way that the centering would be off from left to right so finding this guy in top grade can be difficult.
On the card we see Nick, dressed as a vampire, ready to bite the neck of a doll that resembles another popular toy from the 80’s.
Right on the heels of that we have 1985 Garbage Pail Kids 1b Evil Eddie: Estimated Mint Value: $2,200
Evil Eddie card is the exact same as Nasty Nick card. This is because for the first series, there are 41 "a" and "b" cards, for a total of 82 cards where the only difference between the "a" and "b" cards is the name of the character that was portrayed.
At least that's the case concerning the fronts of the cards as there are some "a" and "b" cards that do have variations on their reverse sides where some will display a mock "award" while the others will contain a checklist.
1985 Garbage Pail Kids 49b Schizo Fran: Estimated Mint Value: $1,000
Part of the second series release, 49b Schizo Fran depicts a girl doll with two heads that appear to be fighting with each other.
The name "Schizo Fran" is a pun on schizophrenia.
The card's counterpart, 49a Double Heather, is a pun on "double header".
Obviously, the theme with these cards is poking fun at mental disorder and likely wouldn’t fly today, but even Topps thought that poking fun might be too controversial and so they later printed this card with the name "Fran Fran" . As a result, card #49b can actually be found with two names but the "Schizo Fran" card carries a premium.
1985 Garbage Pail Kids 6a Adam Bomb: Estimated Mint Value: $4,000
When people think of the Garbage Pail Kids franchise, this is usually the first image that pops into their heads.
Why?
Because this was the image that was used on the original boxes and packs in which the cards were distributed for the first five series.
It's a similar effect seen with how Charizard was elevated to be one of the most expensive first edition Pokémon cards in part because it was on the cover art of one of the original video games.
With Adam Bomb's increased exposure on boxes, this card is enormously popular, and collectors are willing to pay big bucks for a copy in high grade. Adam is pictured pressing a detonator as a mushroom cloud (remember how prevalent the threat of nuclear war was during the 1980s) explodes from his head.
1985 Garbage Pail Kids 22a Junky Jeff: Estimated Mint Value: $1,000
Card 22a Junky Jeff features a boy having his garbage-riddled head raided by a starving alley cat. The likely messaging here is that many kids' heads can be filled with "garbage". It’s a funny notion when you consider this entire series of trading cards was only working to further support this very thought.
Now my personal favorite,
1985 Garbage Pail Kids 5b Jay Decay: Estimated Mint Value: $900
Jay Decay is one of those cards whose back can be found with one of two variations: either a checklist or a mock award/certificate. The checklist backs appear to get a bump in value, especially if the checklist is in its original, unchecked form.
On the front, a zombie kid is shown rising from the grave while a full moon shines brightly in the background.
Garbage Pail Kids are great, and easy to collect as cards don’t take up much space! The downside is series 1 runs aren’t cheap. You can find complete runs on eBay, but they typically go in the mid thousands and are not always in mint condition.
If the art or the fun is all you are after, then later runs are easier to get your hands on.
Either way the Garbage Pail Tradition still reigns on!
I mentioned a movie. No, we are not going to discuss that creepy, really bad film that made little sense and featured disgusting characters one of which wanted to eat people’s feet and one who used snot to add flair to clothing… It was not good my friends. Stick with the trading cards!
You can find Garbage Pail Kids online and in toy stores if you really look for them, and why wouldn’t you? After all, when it comes to Rewind Toys, the hunt is half the fun!
I’m Jason Emmitt, signing off.
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