The
United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 5 hobby boxes and retail
boxes contained 36 packs. All of the All-New Series 5 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 and sides of the retail and
hobby boxes was the All-New Series 5 character 34a Eye-Candy Mandy / 34b
Molly Pop, and the All-New Series 5 card 36a Christina Barfarina was featured
on the front and back of the box. In order to fill up some more
of the space on the top of the box, Topps modified the Garbage Pail Kids
banner, so the text would span two lines. In my opinion, it was
a mistake to make the banner fatter. The banner had spanned one
line since the original Garbage Pail Kids series, and there was no need
to change it.
The All-New Series 5 hobby boxes and retail
boxes (see images above) were designed similarly to the All-New
Series 4 retail boxes. The box lids did not have an area that
was perforated, so the center portion could not be punched out like the
hobby boxes from the previous All-New Series. The box lids folded
in half, which made them stick up less and take up less shelf space.
The design was supposed to help prevent the box lids from getting torn
off when they were put on display. There was also a piece of Styrofoam
at the bottom of the boxes, which was used to raise the height of the
packs. The packs had to be raised up because the boxes were made
slightly taller, so the lids could be tucked in easier. Just as
with the All-New Series 4 retail boxes, the modifications to the boxes
did not prevent the box lids from being torn off, which was a common occurrence.
Every hobby box and retail box contained
packs with 5 or 6 cards, which was 1 more card per pack than the previous
All-New Series. Every 1 out of 2 packs contained an alphabet card,
and every 1 out of 6 packs contained a magnet card. Each pack that
contained an alphabet card or magnet card only contained 5 regular cards.
From one box, you should get approximately 192 cards, 18 alphabet cards,
and 6 magnet cards. Even thought it was mathematically possible
to make two complete card sets from one box, that did not always happen.
It was mathematically possible to complete an alphabet card set of 15
from one box. It was not mathematically possible to complete the
magnet card set of 9 from one box. To make a magnet card set, you
would most likely have to go through at least 2 or 3 boxes. The
front of the pack wrappers had "Gross Stickers" and "6
Stickers" printed on them. The next line of text on the front
of the wrappers had "Look For: Alphabet Stickers & Magnets".
The back of the pack wrappers had information on how to enter a drawing
to win an alphabet card or magnet card. 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
pack wrappers also had the URL to Topps' official Garbage
Pail Kids website (the website is no longer up) printed on them.
There were 8-box cases and 16-box cases.
The 8-box hobby cases (see image above) roughly measure 11.25" x
9.825" x 5.875", and the 16-box cases (see image above) roughly
measure 11.25" x 9.875" x 10.875". The code 2-757-40-01-6,
the code #757-065H, and the bar code 041116267574 were printed on the
8-box hobby cases. The 16-box cases have the code 2-758-40-01-6
printed on them along with two sets of codes: code #757-065 (bar code
041116367571) and codes #758-065 and #758-065E (bar code 041116267581).
The case boxes with the code #757-065H or #757-065 contained the boxes
that had the "On Sale Here!" posters and unpriced packs.
The case boxes with the code #758-065 contained the boxes that had the
priced packs, and the posters were not included in the boxes. The
case boxes with the code #758-065E contained the boxes with the unpriced
packs, and the posters were not included in the boxes. Each 8-box
case and 16-box case had a date stamped on it. The 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 1-757-30-02-6 code (041116567575 bar code), which contained packs
with the 0-757-89-02-6 code (041116467578 bar code). These packs
were unpriced. Each hobby box contained a 10.5" x 17"
"On Sale Here!" poster featuring the All-New Series 5 character
34a Eye-Candy Mandy / 34b Molly Pop and cards 2b Cole Hands (which was
changed to 2b Multi-Taskin' Ashton for the print version of the cards),
4b Batty Brad, 6a Matrix Miguel, 11a Slam-Dunk Dylan, and 14a Regurgita-Ted
(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 1-758-30-01-6 (041116167584
bar code). The boxes did not come with insert posters. The
packs had the 0-758-89-01-6 code (041116067587 bar code) and were pre-priced
99¢.
The boxes sold at Target
and similar chain stores had the box code 1-758-30-02-6 (041116467585
bar code). The boxes did not come with insert posters. The
packs had the 0-758-89-02-6 code (041116367588 bar code) and were unpriced.
It was common to find these boxes being sold at Wal-Mart instead of the
boxes with the 1-758-30-01-6 code.
The packs in the boxes came in 2 horizontal
stacks of 18. It was not too difficult to determine the location
of the alphabet cards and magnet cards because the items were usually
found alternating every 2 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 two new Garbage Pail Kids bonus boxes for the All-New Series 5.
The bonus boxes could only be found at specific chain stores. One
of the bonus boxes was 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 5 bonus cards continued
the numbering sequence, which ended at B9 in the All-New Series 4.
Wal-Mart, K B Toys,
Meijer stores carried
the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B10 Bruce Brush, the price tags
on the boxes were put on by the store, and the boxes had the code 1-939-30-03-6
(bar code 041116469398). Target and Shopko
stores carried the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B11 Opera Ursula,
the price tags on the boxes were yellow ovals, and the boxes had the code
1-939-30-01-6 (bar code 041116169397). The designs of the two types
of bonus boxes (see images above) were slightly different, so you could
easily tell them apart. The 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 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". 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 0-939-89-01-6 (bar code 041116069390), which was different
from the packs that came in the various regular boxes. However,
the contents of the packs that came in bonus boxes were exactly the same
as the packs that came in the regular boxes. The front of the bonus
boxes had the All-New Series 5 character 34a Eye-Candy Mandy / 34b Molly
Pop. The left and right sides of the bonus boxes had the card 5a
George Mucous, but the print version of the card was actually 5a Marty
Mucous.
Vintage was the trading card distributor
for K-Mart and Toys
R Us stores, but Vintage was having significant problems. The
All-New Series 5 Garbage Pail Kids were not carried in the stores Vintage
had been distributing trading cards to, and Topps did not create a unique
All-New Series 5 bonus box for them. Topps did plan for the additional
bonus box, which would have probably carried bonus card B11. If
there was an additional bonus box, the B12 bonus boxes would have been
created for Target, and the blister packs would have contained bonus cards
B13, B14, and B15. If the K-Mart and Toys R Us bonus boxes were
produced, the price tags on the boxes were yellow squares, and the boxes
had the code 1-939-30-02-6 (bar code 041116369391) along with the code
3714 in a separate yellow rectangle. I am speculating based on the
checklist of artists who Topps had sent to me, but the concept of the
other bonus card would probably have been a clown throwing-up into pies,
which was a concept created by Mark Pingitore and a final painting done
by Brent Engstrom. I am also speculating based on the promotional
checklist (see the Promotions section for
the checklist) that the character name for the bonus card would have been
Happy-Meal Neil or Bozo Bob. It is possible that the artwork will
be used for another Garbage Pail Kids series.
There were two 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 2-939-40-03-6 and #939-065WA were printed on the
B10 bonus box case boxes. The codes 2-939-40-01-6 and #939-065EA
(bar code 041116269394) were printed on the B11 bonus box case boxes.
The B10 bonus box case boxes had a 5-digit number stamped on them, and
the B11 bonus box case boxes had a date stamped on them. The numbers
and dates were used for tracking and quality control.
Topps created Garbage Pail Kids blister
packs for Target and Wal-Mart stores. The blister packs each contained
4 regular packs and a bonus card. The bonus card inside of each
blister pack could be B12 Patrick Piñata, B13 Blake Quake, or B14
Pete Heat. While the bonus cards were supposedly inserted into the
blister packs at random, they actually were inserted in numerical sequence.
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 0-758-89-02-6 (041116367588 bar code). The blister
packs had the code 5-759-30-01-6 (041116067594 bar code). The blister
packs were significantly better than the bonus boxes because the blister
packs were much cheaper (usually $3.99) than the bonus boxes (usually
$9.99), which meant it cost less to obtain the bonus cards in the blister
packs. 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. At the beginning of the release, Target stores had incorrectly
priced the blister packs at $1.99, and some collectors ran out to get
the blister packs at the lower rate. Eventually, Target did correct
the pricing problem.
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 12.6875" 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 1-759-30-01-6 and bar code 041116167591 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 had the
All-New Series 5 character 34a Eye-Candy Mandy / 34b Molly Pop and card
14a Regurgita-Ted printed on the sides.
The blister pack boxes came inside of case
boxes (see image above). The blister pack case boxes measure approximately
19.25" x 13.25" x 17.25". There were 8 blister pack
boxes per case box. The codes 2-759-40-01-6 and #759-065E (bar code
041116267598) 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 were a few different rack packs that
were put together by Legends, L. P. that contained a mixture of All-New
Series 5 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.
Topps created a brand new product display
for the All-New Series 5. This display was called a gravity feed
(see image above). The gravity feed carried 48 individual packs.
The purpose of the gravity feed was to hold more packs and take up less
shelf space. While the idea of the gravity feed was good, the packs
would always be bunched together at the bottom, which made them slightly
difficult to remove. Since all the packs were bunched at the bottom
of the gravity feed, nearly three-quarters of the display was filled with
empty space. Anyone getting too many packs at the opening at the
bottom or refilling the gravity feed was to insert the packs at the slot
near the top, which meant the packs would be dropped down and could possibly
damage the cards. The gravity feeds were hung up on plastic hooks.
The All-New Series 5 character 34a Eye-Candy Mandy / 34b Molly Pop was
featured on the front of the gravity feed. The All-New Series 5
cards 10a Headless Heather, 11a Slam-Dunk Dylan, 14a Regurgita-Ted, and
40a Chopper-Chopped Chris were featured on the left and right sides of
the box. When the gravity feeds were displayed next to other gravity
feeds, the sides were blocked from view. The back of the gravity
feed had the code 2-741-03-01-6. The gravity feed contained unpriced
packs, and the packs had the code 0-741-89-01-6 (bar code 041116067419).
While the gravity feeds were supposed to be an improvement over the regular
boxes, the only positive thing I saw about them was that they were slightly
more visible than the regular boxes.
ToppsVault
had auctioned off some uncut sheets of the cards and bonus cards from
the All-New Series 5 (see images above). The uncut sheets measure
approximately 26" x 30". The card sheets have the code
4-757-31-01-6 and feature all of the cards 1a/1b to 40a/40b. The
bonus card sheets have the code 4-757-31-02-6 and feature the bonus cards
B10 to B14. The uncut sheets were typically selling on auction between
$60 and $100.
Just as with the previous All-New Series,
there were distribution problems with the blister packs, boxes, and bonus
boxes for the All-New Series 5. 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 and blister packs did not seem to get reordered
when they were sold out. |
