The
Original United States
Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series |
| Introduction |
The
majority of Garbage Pail Kids fans had no idea that Topps
fully designed a United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series back in 1989.
Most likely, the declining Garbage Pail Kids sales and the lawsuit with
Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc. influenced Topps to not release the
series as planned. It was not until the rise in popularity of the
Internet that we began to gather more and more information about Garbage
Pail Kids. Eventually, John
Pound posted up artwork from the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th
Series on his website, and we got a glimpse of what some of the characters
looked like.
Then around November 2000, a collector contacted
me about a very unusual find. He had in his possession a separation
sheet from the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series. The
separation sheets are similar to large film negatives. There was
a separation sheet for each of the four colors (blue, magenta, yellow,
and black) that made up the image. Since the collector only had
one of the separation sheets, there was some information that was missing
(i.e. card numbers, character names, and the Garbage Pail Kids banner
text), but it gave us a preview of what the characters looked like.
In mid 2002, I was able to get Jay
Lynch to send me Xerox copies of the comic back artwork that was used
for the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series. Many of the
details about the series were now pieced together, and the interest in
the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series was on the rise.
Collectors began coming out of the woodwork
taking interest in what had been posted on the Internet about the United
States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series. They wrote to Topps asking
them to bring back the Garbage Pail Kids and to print up the unreleased
series. There were petitions signed by hundreds of collectors who
were sent to Topps that conveyed the same message. Topps' auction
sales of Garbage Pail Kids artwork were doing consistently well.
Eventually, Topps came across the designs of the unreleased series while
going through items for the auction sales. It was then that they
could finally print up the unreleased series. Topps cautiously went
forward to print up another Garbage Pail Kids release. Some of the
characters and comic backs were outdated, so changes had to be made.
But even with the slight facelift to the series, the product flew off
the shelves as soon as it hit the stores.
The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New
Series 1 is very different from the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th
Series. You can find lots of details and information about the unpublished
16th Series below so that you can compare the original design of the
series with the design Topps ended up using. |
| General
Information |
| Year
Originally Planned For Release |
1989 |
| Card
Numbers |
621a-661a
and 621b-661b |
| Number
of Cards to Make a Numerical Set |
82 |
| Number
of Variation Cards |
6 |
| Number
of Cards to Make a Complete Variation Set |
88 |
| Total
Number of Different Wrappers |
2 |
| Card
and Wrapper Variations |
| Card
Variations |
|
|
| Wrapper
Variations |
|
|
| Card
and Wrapper Variation Checklist |
|
Here
is the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series card and wrapper variation
checklist. I did not create a downloadable version of the United
States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series card and wrapper variation checklist
because I did not want collectors to mistakenly use it instead of the
United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 card and wrapper variation
checklist. |
| Proof
Sheets |
|
|
Shown
above are the basic plans for the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th
Series. Everything above, excluding the separation sheet, was auctioned
off by Topps around
November/December 2002. Unfortunately, the people who won the auctions
were unwilling to take the time to scan in the items for me. I even
offered to cover all of the copying expenses, but they still refused to
help. If I had the scans, I would have posted them up, so you could
see each character, each card back, and the wax box design all in full
color. It is very disappointing that I was unable to obtain the
scans, but I did the best I could with what I had.
At the top of the first image is a photo
of the separation sheet for the "a" card fronts, which is what
the one collector contacted me about (see Introduction above). There
was nothing printed on the back of the separation sheet. Along the
border of the separation sheet, it has "Topps 44 up grid © 1989
The Topps Company 4-490-05-03-8" printed on it.
At the bottom of the first image is a photo
of the acetate progressive proof film sheet for the "a" card
fronts. Each sheet in the set has a different color (black, blue,
magenta, white, and yellow), and all of them together comprise the full-color
image. The sheets measure approximately 16" x 30" and
are bound along the left side with black art tape. On the film sheet,
there are notations for what needs to be corrected. Topps auctioned
off the film sheet of the "a" card fronts, and it went for $1,375.00.
The artwork used in the United States Garbage
Pail Kids All-New Series 1 that was taken from the United States Garbage
Pail Kids 16th Series was scanned in from the acetate progressive proof
film sheets. Artists took these scans and airbrushed them to help
clean them up. Topps did not have the original paintings from the
United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series to work with. This is
why the characters taken from the acetate progressive proof film sheets
did not appear to be as vibrantly colored and sharp as the characters
from the new paintings created for the United States Garbage Pail Kids
All-New Series 1.
The next image is of two acetate progressive
proof film sheets. One photo was of the "a" card backs
film sheet, and the other photo was of the "b" card backs film
sheet. They each form a set of three progressive overlay proof sheets.
The sheets measure approximately 16" x 30" and are bound along
the left side with black art tape. The sheets are both hand dated
1-18-89. On both of the film sheet sets, there are notations for
what needs to be corrected. None of these card backs were used in
the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1. Originally,
I was not sure which sheet was for the "a" card backs and which
sheet was for the "b" card backs. By looking at the sequence
in the Flick-It animation, it appeared that the sheet on the left was
for the "a" card backs, and the sheet on the right was for the
"b" card backs. The Flick-It animation is of 628a Double-Tex
/ 628b Howie Yowie (5a Crazy Casey / 5b Ridiculous Nicholas are the United
States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 character names). It appears
that in the Flick-It animation the character gets scared by a dog, the
character's eyes pop out, the dog swallows the character's eyes, the dog
starts to run and jumps off a cliff, the character jumps off the cliff
going after the dog, and then the character lands on the dog at the bottom
of the cliff. There are two different puzzles and nineteen different
comics for the series, which will all be discussed in more detail below
(see Comic Backs and Paired Card Fronts and Backs below). Topps
auctioned off the two film sheets of the card backs. The "a"
card back film sheet went for $775.00, and the "b" card back
film sheet went for $775.03.
The last image is of the acetate display
box progressive proof film sheet. It is a set of three progressive
overlay proof sheets. The sheets measure approximately 19"
x 28" and are bound along the right side with black art tape.
There is a note that came with the film sheets that says, "File These
Films - We Never Printed This Series - B". The sheet is dated
January 24, 1989. The featured character on the box was 626a Interracial
Rachel / 626b Stitched Stella, but the artwork was not used in the United
States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1. The character shown on
the sides of the box is 657a Crawly Raleigh / 657b Bugged Boyd (4a Cootie
Cody / 4b Buggin' Brandon are the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New
Series 1 character names). Topps auctioned off the display box film
sheet, and it went for $601.56. |
| Card
Fronts |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
There
were 12 paintings (24 characters) that were not used in the United States
Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1. They were excluded because they
were either outdated, too abstract, too violent, or inappropriate for
today's overly sensitive society. There was one painting that was
rejected for the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series because it
was too violent. Topps
wanted to make sure that there were no problems with the content of the
United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 as it seems people complain
about anything as well as sue others over anything these days. I
was sent scans of the separation sheet (see Introduction above), which
is why I was able to show the excluded characters to you. You can
also see some of these characters in color at John
Pound's website. Directly above is a listing of the United States
Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series characters that were not used in the United
States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 along with the name of the artist
who created the painting.
The first image shown above was used for
626a Interracial Rachel / 626b Stitched Stella. Many collectors were really
looking forward to seeing this image in the United States Garbage Pail
Kids All-New Series 1. It was most likely excluded to avoid conflict
with today's overly sensitive society. Using the term "interracial"
may have caused problems. The painting has a Frankenstein's monster-ish
look to it, and it probably could have been used for the series if the
name "Interracial Rachel" was changed to another name. Topps
ended up using the artwork for the 2010 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 1
cards 68a Stitched Stella and 68b Patchwork Paula (instead of Interracial Rachel).
The second image shown above was used for
636a Slammed Sloan / 636b Keith Out. I did not see any reason why
this character should have been excluded from the series. Topps ended
up using the artwork for the 2011 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 2 cards
66a Slammed Sloan and 66b Keith Out.
The third image shown above was used for
637a Raisin' Ella / 637b Grape Vi. This image was excluded because
the parody was of the California Raisins, which was popular back in the
1980s. They would definitely be unfamiliar to the younger collectors. Topps
ended up using the artwork for the 2010 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 1 cards
69a Raisin' Ella and 69b Grape Vi.
The fourth image shown above was used for
640a Finger-Paintin' Fifi / 640b Libby Stick. This image was excluded
because it was probably thought to have been too gruesome and morbid.
I felt it fit in well with the rest of the Garbage Pail Kids characters
and was disappointed not to see it used for the series. Topps ended
up using the artwork for the 2010 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 1 cards
70a Finger-Paintin' Fifi and 70b Libby Stick.
The fifth image shown above was used for
641a Ticked-Off Tucker / 641b Quittin' Time Quinn. This image was
excluded because it was too violent, and Topps was no longer (at least
for this series) going to allow guns on Garbage Pail Kids cards. Topps
ended up using the artwork for the bonus cards included with their 2012
United States Garbage Pail Kids book published by Abrams ComicArts for card 2 Ticked-Off Tucker.
The sixth image shown above was used for
642a Scrawled Saul / 642b Bad Art. This image was excluded because
it was too abstract, and Topps wanted to (at least for this series) stick
to having kids as the characters and not anthropomorphic characters (inanimate
objects taking on human characteristics). There are collectors who
do not like the very abstract Garbage Pail Kids characters, so there probably
were not many collectors who were disappointed that the image was not
used in the series. Topps ended up using the artwork for the 2011 United States Garbage
Pail Kids Flashback Series 2 cards 67a Scrawled Saul and 67b Bad Art.
The seventh image shown above was used for
644a Noah Parking / 644b Peter Meter. I did not see any reason why
this character should have been excluded from the series, but Topps excluded
it because of the use of anthropomorphism. Topps ended up using the
artwork for the 2011 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 2 cards 68a Noah
Parking and 68b Peter Meter.
The eighth image shown above was used for
645a Busy Bea / 645b Handy Mandy. This was the only painting from
the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series that was created by James
Warhola. The image was excluded because it was too violent.
I thought it was a humorous concept and was disappointed to not see it
used in the series. Topps ended up using the artwork for the bonus
cards included with their 2012 United States Garbage Pail Kids book published by Abrams
ComicArtsfor card 3 Busy Bea.
The ninth image shown above was used for
650a Dead Flora / 650b Fetid Fern. I did not see any reason why
this character should have been excluded from the series, but Topps excluded
it because of the use of anthropomorphism. Topps ended up using the
artwork for the 2011 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 2 cards 69a Dead
Flora and 69b Fetid Fern.
The tenth image shown above was used for
651a Dunkin' Duncan / 651b Will Hung. This image was excluded because
it is too morbid and dealt with suicide. The United
States Garbage Pail Kids 14th Series character 545a Artie Party /
545b Driftin' Clifton came across as being no different to me, so I did
not understand why the 16th Series character was excluded. Topps ended
up using the artwork for the 2011 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 3 cards
70a Dunkin' Duncan and 70b Will Hung.
The eleventh image shown above was used
for 658a Trim Jim / 658b Groomin' Truman. This image was excluded
because it was too violent. There is a small possibility that a
child would try to mimic the Garbage Pail Kids character by shoving a
pair of scissors up his nose. The modified version of the United
States Garbage Pail Kids 8th Series character 293a Explorin' Norman
/ 293b Drillin' Dylan was used for the United States Garbage Pail Kids
All-New Series 1 box, wrapper, foil card set, and bubble gum wrap around
sticker set. And, I have yet to hear of any incidents where a child
tried to stick their finger up their nose and through their head (sounds
ridiculous to me). The potential for kids to do just about any of
the activities the Garbage Pail Kids characters are doing is there, so
I did not see why this character was excluded. But, Topps did not
want to take any chances. Topps ended up using the artwork for the
bonus cards included with their 2012 United States Garbage Pail Kids book published by
Abrams ComicArts for card 4 Trim Jim.
The twelfth image shown above was used for
659a Idol Ira / 659b Ken Tiki. I did not see any reason why this
character should have been excluded from the series. Topps ended up
using the artwork for the 2011 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 2 cards
70a Idol Ira and 70b Ken Tiki.
The thirteenth image shown above is a painting
that was rejected by Topps for use in the United States Garbage Pail Kids
16th Series and may have also been rejected for use in the United States
Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1. The painting was titled "Mirror".
The image is violent and had an implied suicide theme, which is probably
why the painting was rejected. Topps auctioned off the painting
late in 2003, and it went for $589.99. |
| Character
Name Comparison |
|
|
| Above
is a list comparing the character names used in the United States Garbage
Pail Kids All-New Series 1 and the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th
Series. The United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 character
names are shown first, and the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series
character names are shown next. I noted the characters that were
"New Artwork" used in the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New
Series 1. I also noted the characters that were used in the 2010 United States
Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 1 (FB1), 2011 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback
Series 2 (FB2), 2011 United States Garbage Pail Kids Flashback Series 3 (FB3), and 2012 United
States Garbage Pail Kids book published by Abrams ComicArts (GPK Book). This list
will allow you to see that the majority of the original character names
were modified or discarded. The new names were chosen because many
of the original names were obscure or outdated (e.g. Boyd, Judd, Link,
Minnie, Tex, etc.). |
| Comic
Backs |
|
|
| Comic
Information |
|
|
There
were 19 different comics used for the United States Garbage Pail Kids
16th Series. Jay
Lynch was kind enough to send me Xerox copies of all 19 comics, which
is why I was able to show them to you. The comics were ordered using
letters A through S. Comic S was used twice for the "a"
card backs and twice for the "b" card backs. The comics
were not used for the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1
because they were too dated, and the storyline of the comics was about
commemorating the last Garbage Pail Kids series by finding the "grossest
human being in the world". Since Topps planned on making another
Garbage Pail Kids series after the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New
Series 1, the storyline did not fit in with their plans. Above is
a listing of the letter of the comic, the title of the comic, and the
Garbage Pail Kids characters that appeared in the comic.
Comic A - Looking for Mr. Goodbarf! - The
title of the comic is a parody of the 1977 movie title "Looking for
Mr. Goodbar". The comic has a few of the people from the original
Garbage Pail Kids design team in it: Len Brown, Mark Newgarden, and Art
Spiegelman.
Comic B - Gross Busters! - The title of
the comic is a parody of the 1984 movie title "Ghostbusters".
The comic also has the same Garbage Pail Kids creators mentioned in it
as Comic A.
Comic C - Heaving On A Jet Plane! - The
title of the comic is a parody of the 1967 John Denver song title "Leaving
on a Jet Plane". The comic did not have anything in it that
was outdated or unsuitable for use in the United States Garbage Pail Kids
All-New Series 1.
Comic D - Show-Biz Pizza-Face! - The title
of the comic is a parody of the name Showbiz Pizza Place, which was a
chain of family pizza restaurants that were very popular in the 1980s.
The comic did not have anything in it that was outdated or unsuitable
for use in the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1.
Comic E - Heavy Metal Heave! - The title
of the comic does not seem to parody anything. The comic has characters
from a band named "Twisted Blister", which is a parody of the
popular 1980s heavy metal band Twister Sister.
Comic F - Boob-Tube Beauty! - The comic
has a character named "Elvirus", which is a parody of the television
and movie star Elvira. In the title of the comic, the term "boob-tube"
(another name for television) was used, but in this case it is more of
a reference to Elvira's chest since she always wore a skimpy black dress.
Comic G - Obscure Object of Repulsion! -
The title of the comic is parody of two titles that were combined.
The first part of the title is from the 1977 movie title "That Obscure
Object of Desire". The "object of desire" from the
movie title is swapped out with the phrase "object of obsession"
leaving "That Obscure Object of Obsession". The word "that"
was dropped, and the word obsession was changed to repulsion, which leaves
"Obscure Object of Repulsion".
Comic H - Pabulum Pukers in Pursuit! - The
title of the comic does not seem to parody anything. The comic has
a character named Moron Frowney Junior, which is a parody of the loud,
obnoxious, chain-smoking, 1980s talk show host Morton Downey Junior.
The comic also mentions an actress named Jane Fondu in a movie called
"In Golden Pond", which is parody of the 1981 movie "On
Golden Pond" starring Jane Fonda.
Comic I - No Pain, No Gain, No Brain! -
The title of the comic is a parody of the phrase "no pain, no gain"
usually said by body builders and athletes. The comic has a character
named Arnold Steakanegger, which is a parody of the body builder turned
actor turned governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Comic J - Butt Steak! - I am not certain
what the official title of the comic was. Jay Lynch wrote "Butt
Steak" above the copy of the comic he sent to me, but it is possible
there was a different name used for the comic in the United States Garbage
Pail Kids 16th Series. The joke in the comic does match up with
"Butt Steak" as the title.
Comic K - Purple Acid-Rain! - I am not certain
what the official name of the comic was. Jay Lynch wrote "Purple
Acid-Rain" on one of the comic copies he sent to me, but it is possible
there was a different name used for the comic in the United States Garbage
Pail Kids 16th Series. The comic has a character named Prance, which
is a parody of the musician Prince. In 1984, Price starred in a
movie titled "Purple Rain", which is what was being parodied
in the title of the comic (if "Purple Acid-Rain" was the title
Topps used). Prince wrote the soundtrack for the movie, and one
of the songs on the soundtrack was also titled "Purple Rain".
Comic L - Dump Street Dreamboat! - The title
of the comic is a parody of the 1980s television show "21 Jump Street".
The comic has a character named Johnny Dipp, which is a parody of the
actor Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp was one of the main stars on the
television show.
Comic M - Gameshow Gross-Out! - The title
of the comic does not seem to parody anything. The comic has a character
named Hannah Blight, which is a parody of the Wheel of Fortune game show
star Vanna White.
Comic N - Desperately Reeking Susan! - The
title is a parody of the 1985 movie title "Desperately Seeking Susan".
The comic has characters named Mud-Donna and Shawn Pig-Pen, which are
parodies of Madonna and Shawn Penn. Madonna and Shawn Penn were
a couple back in the 1980s, but they are no longer together.
Comic O - Great Expectorations! - The title
is a parody of the Charles Dickens book title "Great Expectations".
The comic has a character named Bulk Bogen, which is a parody of the wrestler
Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan's popularity in professional wrestling was
at its peak in the 1980s, but his career has ran decades past then.
Comic P - Jury Doody! - The title is a parody
of the phrase "jury duty". The comic did not have anything
in it that was outdated or unsuitable for use in the United States Garbage
Pail Kids All-New Series 1.
Comic Q - Euro-Plop! - The title is a parody
of the name of the music style "Euro Pop" (European Pop music
- dance music that is played in discos in countries such as France and
Italy). The comic did not have anything in it that was outdated
or unsuitable for use in the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series
1.
Comic R - Penultimate Pandemonium! - The
title of the comic does not seem to parody anything. The comic also
has the same Garbage Pail Kids creators mentioned in it as Comic A.
Comic S - The Final Word! - I am not certain
what the official name of the comic was. Jay Lynch said it may be
something like"The Final Word", which is why I put that down
as the title of the comic. The comic also has the same Garbage Pail
Kids creators mentioned in it as Comic A. |
| Paired
Card Fronts and Backs |
|
|
|
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
| 4 |
5 |
6 |
| 7 |
8 |
9 |
| 10 |
11 |
12 |
| 13 |
14 |
15 |
| 16 |
17 |
18 |
| 19 |
20 |
21 |
|
|
Above
is a listing of all of the cards (including variations) in the United
States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series. Next to each card number is
what was on the back of the card. On the list, I included the puzzle
letters, puzzle piece locations, Flick-It numbers, and checklists.
I pieced together this information by looking at what was on the acetate
progressive proof film sheets for the card fronts and card backs (see
Proof Sheets above).
There were 2 different puzzles in the United
States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series. Each puzzle consisted of 21
puzzle pieces turned on the horizontal (3 pieces across and 7 pieces down).
The Puzzle X was on the "a" card backs, and it and was of card
number 624a Rod Rodent / 624b Pat Rat (18a Rodent Rob / 18b Pat Rat are
the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 character names).
The Puzzle W was on the "b" card backs, and it was of card number
654a Kyle Tile / 654b Bathroom Tyler (12a Kyle Tile / 12b Bathroom Tyler
are the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 character names).
You can use the listing above and the diagram above to find out where
each of the 21 puzzle pieces per puzzle should go.
As previously mentioned, there were a total
of 19 different comic backs, and Comic S was used twice for the "a"
card backs and twice for the "b" card backs. The Flick-It
animation is numbered 1 through 40. The "a" cards had
the odd numbered Flick-Its, and the "b" cards had the even numbered
Flick-Its. Flick-It number 1 is on card number 637a Raisin' Ella
and is paired with Comic A. Flick-It number 37 is on card number
660a Tad Ill and is paired with Comic S. Flick-It number 38 is on
card number 660b Spillin' Gus and paired with Comic S. Flick-It
number 39 is on card number 649a Throat Payne and paired with Comic S.
Flick-It number 40 is on card number 649b Punchin' Jody and is paired
with Comic S. |
| Comparison
Summary |
| It
is clear from the information above that the United States Garbage Pail
Kids 16th Series is very different from the United States Garbage Pail
Kids All-New Series 1. The Flick-It animation and comics were not
used in the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1. The
display boxes, the pack wrappers, the pack contents, and the chewing gum
were all different. There were 12 new characters created for the
United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1, and there were 12 characters
originally designed for the United States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series
that were excluded. Since the design of the two series is completely
different, the 2003 Garbage Pail Kids release should be referred to as
the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 1 and not the United
States Garbage Pail Kids 16th Series. |
