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IntroductionGeneral InformationCard and Wrapper Variations
CreditsCards and StickersPuzzle Backs
Page 2
Puzzle Puke BacksGame CardsSketch Cards
Page 3
Packaging and ContentsErrors and Card DetailsReused IdeasPromotions
Page 4
Media and PublicationsArtworkClosing Comments
 
Packaging and Contents
Front, back, left side, right side, left inside flap, and right inside flap of the hobby box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Top and bottom of the hobby box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Front, back, left side, right side, left inside flap, and right inside flap of the retail box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Top and bottom of the retail box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Unopened hobby pack, unopened retail pack without 99¢, and unopened retail pack with 99¢ of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Back of hobby pack of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Back of retail pack of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Box insert poster of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Top side of shrink wrapped hobby box and top side of shrink wrapped retail box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4
Print sides of the 8-box case of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Print sides of the 16-box case of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Left side, front, right side, back, top, and bottom of the B6 bonus box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Left side, front, right side, back, top, and bottom of the B7 bonus box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Left side, front, right side, back, top, and bottom of the B8 bonus box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Shrink wrapped B6 bonus card of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Shrink wrapped B7 and B8 bonus cards of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Front side of shrink wrapped B6 bonus box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Front of shrink wrapped B7 and B8 bonus boxes of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4
Print sides of the B6 bonus box case box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Print sides of the B7 bonus box case box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Print sides of the B8 bonus box case box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Blister pack of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Front, back, left side, right side, and bottom of blister pack box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Print sides of the blister pack case box of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Excell Marketing, L.C. 4-pack rack pack of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Vintage Sports Cards 4-pack rack pack of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Vintage Sports Cards 4-pack single grouping rack pack of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 hobby boxes and retail boxes contained 36 packs.  All of the All-New Series 4 boxes came shrink-wrapped in plastic (see image above), and the shrink-wrap had Topps printed all over it in blue.  Stamped on the inside of the lid of each box was a 7-digit number, which was used for tracking and quality control.  The character featured on top of the retail and hobby boxes was the All-New Series 4 character 40a Adam Bomb / 40b Blasted Billy.
 
     The All-New Series 4 hobby boxes (see images above) were designed similarly to the All-New Series 3 boxes and the original United States Garbage Pail Kids wax boxes.  The center portion of the All-New Series 4 hobby box lids punched out and folded in.  This allowed the design on the lid of the box to stand up higher.
 
     The All-New Series 4 retail boxes (see images above) were designed differently than the hobby boxes.  The new design was supposed to help prevent the retail box lids from getting torn off when they were put on display.  The retail box lids did not have an area that was perforated, so the center portion could not be punched out like on the hobby boxes.  Instead, the retail box lids folded in half, which made them stick up less and take up less shelf space.  There was also a piece of Styrofoam at the bottom of the retail boxes, which was used to raise the height of the packs.  The packs had to be raised up because the retail boxes were made slightly taller, so the lids could be tucked in easier.  Even with the modifications to the boxes, the retail box lids were often torn off.  One problem with the retail box design was that the inner flaps were not rounded at the ends like on the hobby boxes' inner flaps.  Because the inner flaps were not rounded at the ends, the lids would often hook onto the inner flap.  Since the people putting out the boxes did not have time to fool around with unhooking the lids, they would just tear the lids off.  You can see an image of how the retail boxes were supposed to look when displayed properly under the Promotions section.
 
     Every hobby box and retail box contained packs with 4 or 5 cards and 1 game card.  Every 1 out of 6 packs contained a scratch 'n stink card, and every 1 out of 4 packs contained a tattoo card.  Each pack that contained a scratch 'n stink card only contained 4 regular cards.  From a box, you should get 174 to 176 cards, 36 game cards, 6 scratch 'n stink cards, and 7 to 9 tattoo cards.  Each hobby box contained 1 sketch card, but it was possible to get anywhere from 0 to 2 sketch cards per hobby box.  Even thought it was mathematically possible to make two complete card sets from one box, that did not always happen.  It was not mathematically possible to complete the scratch 'n stink card set of 12 or tattoo card set of 10 from one box.  The game card set of 36 could not be made from one box because the odds of getting one gold foil game card were 1 out of 72 packs, and there were three gold foil game cards in the game card set.  To make a scratch 'n stink card set and a tattoo card set, you would most likely have to go through at least 2 or 3 boxes.  But to make a game card set, you may need to go through over 6 boxes, which could end up being very costly.  The front of the pack wrappers had "Gross Stickers" and "5 Stickers + 1 Game Card + Online Bonus Code" printed on them.  The next line of text on the front of the hobby wrappers had "Look For Scratch 'N Stink Stickers & Hand-Drawn Sketch Cards", and the next line of text on the front of the retail wrappers had "Look For Scratch 'N Stink Stickers & Tattoos".  The back of the hobby pack wrappers had information on how to enter a drawing to win a sketch card, scratch 'n stink card, or foil game card; and the back of the retail wrappers had information on how to enter a drawing to win a scratch 'n stink card, tattoo card, or foil game card.  Since the items to be given away through the drawings were different, different mailing addresses were listed on the hobby wrappers and retail wrappers.  In order for anyone from Canada to be eligible to win one of the insert cards, they had to answer a simple mathematical skill-testing question, which was necessary because of Canadian laws regarding to drawings.  I provide more information about this law on page 2 of the All-New Series 3 section under Packaging and Contents.  The back of the hobby pack wrappers and retail pack wrappers have information about the online bonus code, which was to be used on Topps' Garbage Pail Kids World website (the website is no longer up) for building a Virtual GPK Pal.
 
     There were 8-box cases and 16-box cases.  The 8-box hobby cases (see image above) roughly measure 9.825" x 5.825" x 9.375", and the 16-box cases (see image above) roughly measure 11.25" x 9.875" x 10.875".  The code 2-757-40-02-5, the code #757-4H, and the bar code 041116257575 were printed on the 8-box hobby cases.  The 16-box cases have the code 2-758-40-01-5 printed on them along with two sets of codes: code #757-4 (bar code 041116357572) and codes #758-4 and #758-4E (bar code 041116257582).  The case boxes with the code #757-4H or #757-4 contained the boxes that had the "On Sale Here!" posters and unpriced packs.  The case boxes with the code #758-4 contained the boxes that had the priced packs, and the posters were not included in the boxes.  The case boxes with the code #758-4E contained the boxes with the unpriced packs, and the posters were not included in the boxes.  Each 8-box case had a 5-digit number stamped on it, and each 16-box case had a date stamped on it.  The numbers and dates were used for tracking and quality control.
 
     There were three different box codes and pack codes (see images above).  The hobby shops received boxes with the 1-757-30-02-5 code (041116557576 bar code), which contained packs with the 0-757-89-02-5 code (041116457579 bar code).  These packs were unpriced and had an "H" with the words "Hobby Edition" printed on the front of the wrapper in the top right corner.  Each hobby box contained a 10.5" x 17" "On Sale Here!" poster featuring the All-New Series 4 character 40a Adam Bomb / 40b Blasted Billy (see image above).  The posters were placed at the top of the boxes.  There was no code printed on the posters.
 
     The boxes sold at Wal-Mart and similar chain stores had the box code 1-758-30-01-5 (041116157585 bar code).  The boxes did not come with insert posters.  The packs had the 0-758-89-01-5 code (041116057588 bar code) and were pre-priced 99¢.
 
     The boxes sold at Target and similar chain stores had the box code 1-758-30-02-5 (041116457586 bar code).  The boxes did not come with insert posters.  The packs had the 0-758-89-02-5 code (041116357589 bar code) and were unpriced.  It was possible to sometimes find these boxes being sold at Wal-Mart instead of the boxes with the 1-758-30-01-5 code.
 
     The packs in the boxes came in 2 horizontal stacks of 18.  It was a little more difficult to determine the location of the scratch 'n stink cards and tattoo cards because the items were not always found alternating every 3 packs like in the All-New Series 3 packs.
 
     There are instructions on page 2 of the All-New Series 1 section under Packaging and Contents if you are interested in trying to open up packs without tearing the wrappers.
 
     Topps created three new Garbage Pail Kids bonus boxes for the All-New Series 4.  The bonus boxes could only be found at specific chain stores.  Two of the bonus boxes were pre-priced at $9.99, and the other bonus box was to be priced by the retailers.  Each bonus box contained 11 packs and a unique bonus card.  The All-New Series 4 bonus cards continued the numbering sequence, which ended at B5 in the All-New Series 3.  Wal-Mart, K B Toys, Meijer stores carried the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B6 Doug Sledding, the price tags on the boxes were put on by the store, and the boxes had the code 1-939-30-03-5 (bar code 041116459399).  K-Mart and Toys R Us stores carried the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B7 Propelled Miguel, the price tags on the boxes were yellow squares, and the boxes had the code 1-939-30-02-5 (bar code 041116359392) along with the code 3714 in a separate yellow rectangle.  Target and Shopko stores carried the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B8 Swarmed Norm, the price tags on the boxes were yellow ovals, and the boxes had the code 1-939-30-01-5 (bar code 041116159398).  The designs of the three types of bonus boxes (see images above) were slightly different, so you could easily tell them apart.  The B6 and B8 bonus boxes had the items packaged at the bottom of the box, and the space at the top of the box was filled with one long piece of Styrofoam.  The B7 bonus boxes had items packaged in the middle of the box between two pieces of Styrofoam, and the boxes had a pull tab to make opening the box easier.  Unlike the bonus boxes from the All-New Series 3, the type of Styrofoam (1 piece or 2 pieces) used to fill the empty space in the boxes did not make a difference, and the bonus cards did not end up getting bent in the packaging process.  The bonus boxes came shrink-wrapped in plastic (see image above), and the shrink-wrap had Topps printed all over it in blue.  The bonus cards were packaged in cellophane (see image above) and are probably worth slightly more if they are kept that way.  The bonus boxes measure approximately 7.00" x 4.25" x 2.75".  The lids at the top of the bonus boxes were sometimes glued on crooked, which would slightly distort the shape of the box.  Stamped on the inside of the lid of each bonus box was a 7-digit number, which was used for tracking and quality control.  Even though the bonus box packs were not supposed to be sold individually, they were pre-priced 99¢.  The packs that came in the bonus boxes had the code 0-939-89-01-5 (bar code 041116059391), which was different than all of the packs that came in the regular boxes.  However, the contents of the packs that came in bonus boxes were exactly the same as the packs that came in the retail boxes.
 
     There were three different bonus box cases boxes (see images above).  Each case box measured approximately 17.875" x 11.875" x 7.875".  There were 16 bonus boxes per case box.  The codes 2-939-40-03-5 and #939-4WAL were printed on the B6 bonus box case boxes.  The codes 2-939-40-02-5, #939-4VIN, and 3714 were printed on the B7 bonus box case boxes.  The codes 2-939-40-01-5 and #939-4EEA (bar code 041116259395) were printed on the B8 bonus box case boxes.  Each bonus box case box had a 5-digit number stamped on it, which was used for tracking and quality control.
 
     Topps created a brand new Garbage Pail Kids item for Wal-Mart and Meijer stores.  This new item was a blister pack.  The blister packs each contained 2 regular packs and bonus card B9 Dancin' Dominic.  The bonus cards found in the blister packs did not come wrapped in cellophane like the bonus cards found in the bonus boxes.  The packs inside of the blister pack were the same as the unpriced retail packs, and they had the code 0-758-89-02-5 (041116357589 bar code).  The blister packs had the code 5-759-30-01-5 (041116057595 bar code).  The blister packs were significantly better than the bonus boxes because the blister packs were much cheaper (usually $1.99) than the bonus boxes (usually $9.99), which meant it cost less to obtain the bonus card in the blister pack.  Also, the blister packs use less packaging materials, and they do not contain any Styrofoam.  The blister packs had a hole at the top, so they could be hung up at the stores.  They could also be left in the blister pack display box, so they could be placed on top of a shelf.
 
     The blister packs came inside of boxes (see image above), which could be used for displaying the blister packs on a shelf.  There were 20 blister packs per box.  The empty blister pack boxes measure approximately 7.75" x 4.5" x 8.125".  The blister pack boxes were shrink-wrapped in plastic, and the shrink-wrap had Topps printed all over it in blue.  The blister pack boxes had the code 1-759-30-01-5 and bar code 041116157592 printed on the bottom.  Each blister pack box had a 5-digit number stamped on it, which was used for tracking and quality control.
 
     The blister pack boxes came inside of case boxes (see image above).  The blister pack case boxes measure approximately 18.875" x 16.375" x 8.875".  There were 8 blister pack boxes per case box.  The codes 2-759-40-01-5 and #759-4E (bar code 041116257599) were printed on the blister pack case boxes.  Each blister pack case box had a date stamped on it, which was used for tracking and quality control.
 
     There was one consistently made All-New Series 4 rack pack (see image above).  At Target, you could find rack packs titled "4 Pack Garbage Pail Kids Trading Cards" (bar code 097712507989) with 4 packs for $3.99 (~$1.00 per pack) from Excell Marketing, L.C.  These rack packs had a bright red design with a mushroom cloud in the background, which was very eye-catching.  Unfortunately, these rack packs seemed to be dented and smashed along the left edge, which was probably because of the way Excell Marketing, L.C. had packaged them together in the case boxes.
 
     There were rack packs put together by Vintage Sports Cards that contained a mixture of All-New Series packs (see image above).  At Sears, you could find 4-pack rack packs (bar code 730828702274) for $2.99 (~$0.75 per pack).  The example rack pack shown above contained 1 priced All-New Series 2 retail pack, and 1 unpriced All-New Series 2 retail pack, 1 priced All-New Series 3 retail pack, and 1 priced All-New Series 4 retail pack.  The design for the header card for the rack pack was based on the free desktop wallpaper that is available at the Garbage Pail Kids World website.  In 2008, Vintage Sports Cards produced another rack pack that contained a mixture of All-New Series packs.  These 4-pack rack packs (bar code 730828708825) could be found at some of the Sears stores, and they were priced at $2.99 (~$0.75 per pack).  These rack packs typically contained 1 All-New Series 2 pack, 2 All-New Series 3 packs, and 1 All-New Series 4 pack.  The order that the packs inside of the rack packs were arranged had varied slightly.  The header card for these rack packs was very generic and could be used for other rack packs besides Garbage Pail Kids rack packs.
 
     There were a few different rack packs that were put together by Legends, L. P. that contained a mixture of All-New Series 4 packs and other All-New Series packs.  These rack packs could usually be found at K B Toys and Wal-Mart.  Typically, K B Toys carried the 3-pack rack packs, and Wal-Mart carried the 6-pack rack packs.  These rack packs were not consistent like the previous All-New Series rack packs put together by Legends, L. P., which is why I did not put together a list providing specific details about the All-New Series unopened pack combinations that they contained.  Legends, L. P. filled the rack packs with any of the leftover and returned All-New Series unopened packs they had.  The header cards on the rack packs varied, but they were the same header cards used in the previous All-New Series rack packs.
 
     Just as with the previous All-New Series, there were severe distribution problems with the blister packs, rack packs, boxes, and bonus boxes for the All-New Series 4.  The items arrived in different stores as much as a month apart if they even arrived at all.  The items were poorly displayed in the stores, and many of the stores did not keep all of the items in stock.  The regular boxes were not easy to find in stores, and the bonus boxes; rack pack; and blister packs did not seem to get reordered when they were sold out.
 
Errors and Card Details
Card number color comparison and background detail enlargement of cards 17a and 17b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Card number color comparison of cards 21a and 21b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Card number color comparison of cards 23a and 23b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Card number color comparison of cards 24a and 24b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Card number color comparison of cards 26a and 26b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4
Background detail enlargements of cards 30a and 30b from the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 3 and of cards 29a, 29b, 36a, and 36b from the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Background detail enlargement of bonus card B7 of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Inner border comparison and background detail enlargement of cards 33a and 33b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Enlargement of error on card 5a of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Enlargement of error on card 27a of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Die-cut comparisons of scratch 'n stink card S5a fronts of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4
     There were no error cards consistently found in the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4.  None of the error cards from the All-New Series 4 are considered variations.  Most of the errors were just ink smudges or printing problems.  Some of the card, scratch 'n stink card, and bonus card backgrounds had unusual details, and I will provide more information on them in this section, also.
 
     There were five card pairs that were colored differently on the "a" card number compared to the "b" card number (see images above).  The number for card 17a Walter Cooler was white, and the number for card 17b Wizzin' Will was black.  The number for card 21a Blown Away Ray was white, and the number for card 21b Breezy Brady was black.  The number for card 22b Charming Charlie was white, and the number for card 23a Blastin' Sebastian was black.  The number for card 24a Cleaved Steve was white, and the number for card 24b Tandem Randy was black.  The number for card 26a Wishful Wes was black, and the number for card 26b Al Addin' Fumes was white.
 
     Artist Luis Diaz had put a significant amount of detail into the backgrounds of his Garbage Pail Kids paintings.  Enlargements of Luis Diaz's original All-New Series 4 paintings can be seen under the Artwork section.  Some of the details described in this section can only be seen on the original paintings.
 
     Luis had painted some of the same items in the backgrounds of his paintings (see images above).  He put a water spray bottle in the background of the All-New Series 3 painting for 30a Chopper Chad / 30b Hurlin' Harley and in the All-New Series 4 painting for 36a Noah's Barf / 36b High-Water Mark.  He put a surfing cockroach in the background of the All-New Series 3 painting for 30a Chopper Chad / 30b Hurlin' Harley and in the All-New Series 4 painting for 29a Scuba Doo Lou / 29b Harpoonin' Hunter.  There were plenty of other details put into the backgrounds of his paintings such as a Starbucks' coffee cup on the All-New Series 4 painting for 36a Noah's Barf / 36b High-Water Mark.
 
     Luis also put a tremendous amount of detail on the bulletin board in the background of the painting used for 17a Walter Cooler / 17b Wizzin' Will.  Unfortunately, Topps had cut off some of the edge on the print version, and that was where the majority of the additional details were painted.  The print version was also so small that you could not clearly see all of the details, which is why it is best to look at the original paintings in order to look at all of the details.  Starting at the top of the bulletin board, you can see a note that says "Don't Be A Bully", which Luis put in because he was bullied as a kid.  Also on the bulletin board you can see Garbage Pail Kids stickers 53b Live Mike (from the Series 2), 68a Oliver Twisted (from Series 2), and 87b Roy Bot (from Series 3).  The next note on the bulletin board says "Carnies Wanted Call Rick", which Luis put in because there was a comic book called Carnies that he had worked on.  He painted in a note that had "Have You Seen Me?" with a blue monster next to it, and the bottom part of the note had "Boogers Found".  Luis had done several pieces of artwork of the same blue monster previous to the Garbage Pail Kids card.  The last note on the bulletin board had "GPK 4 Sale - Contact Luis".
 
     On the painting used for B7 Propelled Miguel, Luis put a few Garbage Pail Kids cards in the background on the floor.  He had painted in the Series 4 cards 131a Stuffed Stephen / 131b Rutherford B. Hay, 157a Larry Lips / 157b Distortin' Morton, and 159a Catty Kathy / 159b Kitty Litter; but 159a Catty Kathy / 159b Kitty Litter was covered up by the name oval on the print version.  The clock painted in the background had the time set at approximately five minutes to nine.  The character's pencil was heavily gnawed on.  There was gum stuck on all of the desks.  There was an "Out To Lunch" sign on the empty desk in back of the character.  The character in the background was reading a book on dinosaurs, which was put in since Luis liked dinosaurs as a kid.  The character's paper reads "Name - Date / F++ / Hi Teacher / Bye".  The character was also wearing an Adam Bomb / Blasted Billy T-shirt.
 
     On the painting used for 33a Hollow Wayne / 33b Jacqueline Lantern, Luis painted in a page from the Miami Herald newspaper into the background.  The page number that he had used in the painting was 6WR, and the newspaper was from the March 23, 2003 edition.  The page from the actual newspaper can be seen under the Artwork section.  You can see that he painted in just about every last detail including the newspaper article's title "Soldiers pack carefully before heading into battle", the article's subtitle "Bible, photos, ammo stowed", and the actual photo used for the article.  While the details of the newspaper and the woman's reflection in the knife were not part of the original sketch for the character, they added a tremendous amount of appeal to the painting, which is why cards 33a Hollow Wayne and 33b Jacqueline Lantern were among collectors' favorites from the All-New Series 4.
 
     There was a printing error on all of the 33b Jacqueline Lantern cards (see image above).  There was a blue inner border that was printed on the card.  The 33a Hollow Wayne cards did not have the blue inner border.
 
     One collector found card 5a Allie Oops printed with what looked like an audience member with a red head (see image above).  This was most likely just an ink smudge error that coincidently looked like part of the painting.  The error was probably one of a kind.  Cards with inking problems such as a smudge or a dot are somewhat common.  Most of these types of errors were not consistently done.
 
     One collector found card 27a Wolver-Ian printed with a large white dot next to the Garbage Pail Kids banner (see image above).  This error was probably one of a kind.  However, there was a minor printing error that appears on all of the 27a Wolver-Ian cards.  All of the 27a Wolver-Ian cards have a small white dot printed on them just below the Garbage Pail Kids banner.  The small white dot printing error does not appear on any of the 27b Pokin' Logan cards.
 
     On some of the scratch 'n stink cards, there were problems with the alignment of the die-cuts.  Sometimes, the die-cuts would be at the top and bottom of the card instead of in the center.  An example of this error can be seen above for card S5a Stink Blot Stephanie.  The image provided shows a correctly die-cut card and an off-center die-cut card.  This error occurred on other scratch 'n stink cards besides S5a Stink Blot Stephanie.
 
Reused Ideas
Comparison of cards 6a and 6b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to The Sloppy Slobs sticker 53 Comparison of cards 7a and 7b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to Carnage Crew card 23 Comparison of cards 18a and 18b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to The Sloppy Slobs sticker 20 Comparison of cards 19a and 19b of United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to the United States Garbage Pail Kids Giant Stickers card 8 and an unpublished Garbage Pail Kids painting Comparison of cards 25a and 25b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to United States Garbage Pail Kids 3rd Series cards 107a and 107b Comparison of cards 20a and 20b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to Bathroom Buddies cards 19a and 19b Comparison of cards 34a and 34b of United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to United States Garbage Pail Kids 13th Series cards 507a and 507b and The Sloppy Slobs sticker 54 Comparison of cards 35a and 35b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to United States Garbage Pail Kids 9th Series cards 347a and 347b Comparison of scratch 'n stink cards S1a and S1b of the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 to United States Garbage Pail Kids 5th Series cards 185a and 185b
     Some of the concepts from the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 were based on characters from other non-sports sets, and there were concepts used in the All-New Series 4 that were coincidently the same as concepts used in other non-sports sets.  This section provides descriptions of the similarities between these All-New Series 4 characters and other non-sports sets.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 7a Nin Jack / 7b Marshall Artless was designed similar to the Carnage Crew character 23 Mc Dagger (see image above).  The Carnage Crew set was designed by Garbage Pail Kids fan Ben Granados.  The Carnage Crew cards were copyrighted 1999 by the Carnage Crew Co.  Luis Diaz was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 19a Tom Turkey / 19b Thanks Gavin was designed similar to the United States Garbage Pail Kids Giant Stickers character on card 8 "Take A Garbage Pail Kid To Lunch!" and an unpublished Garbage Pail Kids painting featuring a kid cooked like a turkey (the name suggestion for the character was Francis Bakin') (see image above).  John Pound was the artist who painted the Giant Stickers character, Tom Bunk was the artist who painted the unpublished character, and James Warhola was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 25a Totem Tim / 25b High Man Dan was designed similar to the United States Garbage Pail Kids Series 3 character 107a Totem Paula / 107b Tatum Pole (see image above).  John Pound was the artist who painted the Series 3 character, and Dave Gross was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 29a Scuba Doo Lou / 29b Harpoonin' Hunter was designed similar to the Bathroom Buddies character 19a Undersea Lee / 19b Scuba Sam (see image above).  The Bathroom Buddies set was produced by Topps in 1996.  John Pound was the artist who painted the Bathroom Buddies character, and Luis Diaz was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 35a Floodgate Nate / 35b Levee Levi was designed similar to the United States Garbage Pail Kids Series 9 character 347a Dam Dan / 347b Mike Dike (see image above).  Tom Bunk was the artist who painted the Series 9 character, and John Pound was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character S1a Frank N. Wiener / S1b Oscar Mire was designed similar to the United States Garbage Pail Kids Series 5 character 185a Fran Furter / 185b Hot Doug (see image above).  Tom Bunk was the artist who painted the Series 5 character, and Ray Lago was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     Back in 1993, there was a European sticker set created by Merlin Publishing Limited called "The Sloppy Slobs".  At the time The Sloppy Slobs were released, Topps and Merlin Publishing Limited were two separate companies in competition with one another.  In 1995, Topps purchased Merlin Publishing Limited and formed Topps Europe Limited, which gave Topps a larger European presence.  The Sloppy Slobs were Merlin Publishing Limited's version of the Garbage Pail Kids.  The Sloppy Slobs were not as good artistically as Garbage Pail Kids, and there were characters created for The Sloppy Slobs that were direct copies of some of the original Garbage Pail Kids characters.  A little over 10 years after The Sloppy Slobs were released, Topps released the All-New Series 4.  What I found interesting was that there were some concepts used in The Sloppy Slobs that were the same as some of the concepts used in the All-New Series 4, but the artists at Topps came up with the All-New Series 4 concepts without ever seeing The Sloppy Slobs.  The concepts were similar just by coincidence.  I do not have the information on what artist(s) created The Sloppy Slobs characters.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 6a Paul Vault / 6b Impaled Dale was designed similar to The Sloppy Slobs character 53 Paul Vault (see image above).  It is interesting that the name "Paul Vault" was used for The Sloppy Slobs character and one of the All-New Series 4 characters.  Tom Bunk was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 18a Harry Who Didn't / 18b Noel Escape was designed similar to The Sloppy Slobs character 20 Hoo Danny (see image above).  Both the names "Harry Who Didn't" and "Hoo Danny" reference the escape artist Harry Houdini.  Tom Bunk was the artist that painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
     The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 character 34a Zitty Zak / 34b Acne Andy was designed similar to United States Garbage Pail Kids Series 13 character 507a Target Prentice / 507b Blow Hardy and The Sloppy Slobs character 54 Shooting Newton (see image above).  Tom Bunk was the artist who painted the All-New Series 4 character.
 
Promotions
Letter that came with the hobby version of the 2-page foldout promotional ad for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Product specification sheet that came with the hobby version of the 2-page foldout promotional ad for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Letter that came with the retail version of the 2-page foldout promotional ad for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Checklist that came with the 2-page foldout promotional ads for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Outside of the 2-page foldout promotional ads for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Inside of the hobby version of the 2-page foldout promotional ad for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Inside of the retail version of the 2-page foldout promotional ad for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Dealer ad for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 Excell Marketing, L.C. chain store display sheets for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4
     Topps produced similar promotional material for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 4 as they did for the pervious All-New Series.
 
     On January 24th of 2005, there were two types of promotional kits sent out.  One kit was sent out to wholesale hobby distributors, and the other kit was sent out to retail distributors.  Topps needed to produce two different promotional kits because only the hobby boxes contained sketch cards, and the scheduled delivery dates were different for the wholesale hobby distributors and retail distributors.  Both kits contained a promotional letter, checklist, and 2-page foldout.
 
     The promotional letter for the wholesale hobby distributors (see image above) mentions the 20th anniversary of Garbage Pail Kids, the Garbage Pail Kids card game, the sketch cards, and the listing in the June issue of Diamond Previews.  The scheduled delivery date printed on the promotional letter is the week of April 11, 2005.
 
     The wholesale hobby distributors also received a preliminary product specification sheet (see image above).  The sheet provides details on the weight and dimensions of the cases and boxes, the price per case ($187.20); box ($23.40); and pack ($0.65), what the pack contents are, the product bar codes for the cases (041116257575); the boxes (041116557576); and the packs (041116457579), the suggested retail price ($1.00), and the scheduled delivery date (week of April 11, 2005).
 
     The promotional letter for the retail distributors (see image above) mentions the 20th anniversary of Garbage Pail Kids, the Garbage Pail Kids card game, the tattoo cards, and the scratch 'n stink cards.  The scheduled delivery date printed on the promotional letter is the week of April 18, 2005.
 
     Both promotional kits contained a preliminary checklist (see image above).  The checklist provided the names for some of the characters from the regular cards, scratch 'n stink cards, tattoo cards, game cards, and bonus cards.  It also gives the names of the characters used for the puzzle backs for the series.  There were quite a few names that still were to be determined (TBD) at the time the checklist was sent out.  And since the checklist was created in a hurry, there were a few errors that occurred such as the lower-case "in" in the name Nin Jack (under the tattoo card listing) (the other names were all in upper-case).  The following cards were changed: 2b Maris Wiltlin' was changed to 2b Maris Wiltin', 20b Raphin' Ryan was changed to 20b Ralphin' Ryan, 22b Charmin' Charlie was changed to 22b Charming Charlie, 25b Low Man Dan was changed to 25b High Man Dan, 27a Wolve Irving was changed to 27a Wolver-Ian, 36b High-Water Mark was changed to 36b High Water Mark, 40a Adam Da Bomb was changed to 40a Adam Bomb, and 40b Nuked Luke was changed to 40b Blasted Billy.  The following scratch 'n stink cards were changed: S4a (name to be announced) ended up becoming S4a Forrest Sump, S4b Wasted Warren was changed to S4b Wastin' Jason, S5a (name to be announced) ended up becoming S5a Stink Blot Stephanie, S5b Must See Lee was changed to S5b Rorschach Tessa, S6a (name to be announced) ended up becoming S6a Vinnie Vomit, and S6b Up N' Away Jay was changed to S6b Barf Bag Brad.  Tattoo card 9 Scuba Doo Lou was changed to 9 Adam Bomb.  Game card 8 Dead Tedd was changed to 8 Dead Ted, and game card 18 Johnny One Note was changed to 18 Johnny One-Note.  The following bonus cards were changed: 1 Freezen' Eian was changed to B6 Doug Sledding, 2 Propelled Miguel was changed to B7 Propelled Miguel, 3 (to be announced) ended up becoming B8 Swarmed Norm, and 4 (to be announced) ended up becoming B9 Dancin' Dominic.
 
     The outside of the hobby and the retail 2-page foldouts (see image above) were the same.  The 2-page foldouts measured 17" x 11".  The front of the 2-page foldout featured the new rendition of Adam Bomb.  The back of the foldout has "Commemorating 20 years of fantastic foul fun!  Backed by a huge promotional campaign!" printed on it.  The main features of the promotional campaign were: "Publicity: National press & TV coverage (including regular exposure on VH1's "I Love The 80's Strikes Back!")", "Sampling: Extensive grassroots sampling campaign target areas", "Advertising: Print ads in Nickelodeon magazine, Diamond Previews, Non-Sport Update", "Newsletters: Regular email updates sent to dealers & fans", and "Merchandising: Blister Packs, PDQ Displays, Counter Units - all in attention-grabbing Day-Glow colors!".  There was also a website listing to www.garbagepailkids.com instead of www.garbagepailkidsworld.com.  All of the previous All-New Series had listed www.garbagepailkidsworld.com.
 
     The inside of the hobby and the retail 2-page foldouts (see images above) were very similar except the hobby version shows an example of a sketch card, and the retail version shows an example of a tattoo card.  Both 2-page foldouts show the same examples for the regular cards, game cards, and scratch 'n stink cards.  There was a mistake on the 2-page foldout.  The character used as a scratch 'n stink card example, 4a Jimmy Dean, was actually part of the regular card set.  The character that should have been used for the scratch 'n stink card example was S1a Frank N. Wiener or S1b Oscar Mire.
 
     The dealer advertisement (see image above) showed sample card and game card images, and it mentioned the 80 new characters; game cards; tattoo cards; and scratch 'n stink cards.
 
     Excell Marketing, L.C., the distributor trading card products for chain stores such as Target, uses display sheets for many of the products they supply, and they created a display sheet for the All-New Series 4 (see image above).  But, there was a problem with the original display sheet Excell Marketing, L.C. had created for the All-New Series 4.  Instead of printing a Topps logo, they printed an Upper Deck Entertainment logo on the display sheet.  Because of this problem, they had to reprint the display sheets with the correction.  Most of the Target stores did not have the corrected display sheets until late June 2005.  The display sheets with the incorrect logo were not supposed to be displayed at all, but some Target stores did have them out until the corrected versions were provided.  These display sheets slide into specially designed slots so that potential customers would only see the date of availability and the picture showing how the boxes were to be displayed.  The sign number, the exact location and section of where the display sheet goes, the display after date, the remove after date, and the title of the product being replaced are hidden from view when the sheet is in the slot.  I did not find any All-New Series 4 products at Target until the beginning of June 2005, which was different than the May 2005 date that the sheets had printed on them.
 
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