The
United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 6 had hobby boxes and
retail boxes that contained 36 packs, and there also were
"special market" boxes (i.e., I was not sure where these boxes were
to be sold at) that contained just 24 packs. The 24-pack boxes
were the same size and design as the 36-pack boxes except the 24-pack
boxes contained a piece of Styrofoam to take up the space of the
12 excluded packs. All of the All-New Series 6 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 All-New Series 6 boxes was 29a Rasta Roni Tony / 29b Spaghetti
Eddy. The card
featured on the left and right sides of the All-New Series 6 boxes was
3a Me Too Lou. The
card featured on the front and back of the All-New Series 6 boxes
was 27a Lemon Ned. Just like the All-New Series 5
boxes, Topps modified the Garbage Pail Kids banner on the top of
the All-New Series 6 boxes, so the text would span two lines.
The All-New Series 6 boxes (see images
above) were designed similarly to the All-New
Series 5 boxes. The box lids did not have an area that
was perforated, so the center portion could not be punched out like some
of the 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. Just as
with all of the previous All-New Series boxes, the modifications
to the All-New Series 6 boxes did not prevent the box lids from being
torn off.
Every box contained
packs with 4 or 5 cards. Every 1 out of 3 packs contained an activity
card, and every 1 out of 6 packs contained a magnet card. Each
pack that contained an activity card or magnet card only contained 5
regular cards.
From one 36-pack box, you should get approximately 162 cards, 12 activity
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 activity card set of 12
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 "Super-Gross Stickers" and "5
Stickers + 1 Stick of Gum " printed on them. The next line
of text on the front of the wrappers had "Look For: Action Punch-Outs & Magnets".
The back of the pack wrappers had the bubble gum nutrition and ingredient
information, and the back of the pack wrappers also had information on
how to enter a drawing to win an activity 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.
Every pack from the All-New Series 6 contained
a shrink-wrapped, pink piece of bubble gum (see image above). Topps
removed the bubble gum from the packs after the overkill of bubble gum
in the All-New
Series 1 packs. Topps decided to put bubble gum back into the
packs in order to make the product more appealing to children, and the
inclusion of bubble gum in the packs also tied it back to Topps' history
with trading cards and candy products. The
bubble gum was made and packaged in Mexico, shipped to the United States,
and then inserted into the packs with the rest of the items. Unfortunately,
the bubble gum from the All-New Series 6 was poorly done. The bubble
gum was not very elastic, which made it difficult to make bubble gum
bubbles with. The flavor of the bubble gum from the All-New Series
6 was not as good as the flavor of the bubble gum from the All-New
Series 1. The
ingredients for the bubble gum were somewhat of a chemistry set. The
biggest problem with the bubble gum was that it contained Sorbitol, which
can aggravate the digestive system and cause fructose malabsorption. The
shrink-wrap around the bubble gum was sometimes overheated, and that
caused it to melt onto the bubble gum. Some collectors have come
across sticks of the bubble gum that were a much darker shade of pink
compared to the more common sticks of bubble gum found in the All-New
Series 6 packs.
There were 8-box cases and 16-box cases.
The 8-box hobby cases (image not shown above) roughly measure 11.25" x
9.825" x 6.875", and the 16-box cases (see image above) roughly
measure 11.25" x 9.875" x 12.875". The code 2-757-40-01-7
and the code #757-076H were printed on
the 8-box hobby cases. I do not have the bar code information
that was printed on the 8-box hobby cases. The
code 2-757-40-02-7, the code #757-076, and the bar code 041116377570
were printed on the 16-box cases for the 24-pack boxes. The code
2-758-40-01-7, the code #758-076, the code #758-076E, and the bar code
041116277580 were printed on the 16-box cases for the 36-pack boxes. The
case boxes with the code #757-076H contained the boxes that
had the "On Sale Here!" posters
and unpriced packs.
The case boxes with the code #758-076 contained the boxes that had the
priced packs, and the posters were not included in the boxes. The
case boxes with the code #758-076E 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 5-digit or 6-digit code stamped on it. The
codes were used for tracking and quality control.
There were four different box codes and
pack codes (see images above). The specialty market boxes contained
24-packs. These boxes had the code 1-757-30-02-7 code (041116477577
bar code), which contained unpriced packs with the 0-757-89-01-7 code
(041116077579 bar code). These packs had the same code and bar
code as the packs from the 36-pack hobby boxes.
The hobby shops received 36-pack
boxes with the 1-757-30-01-7 code (041116177576 bar code), which contained
packs with the 0-757-89-01-7 code (041116077579 bar code). These
packs were unpriced. Each hobby box contained a 10.5" x 17"
"On Sale Here!" poster featuring the All-New Series 6 character
29a Rasta Roni Tony / 29b Spaghetti Eddy and cards 1a Orange Julius,
2a Showerin' Howard, 3a Me Too Lou, and 27a Lemon Ned (see image above). The
posters were placed at the top of the boxes.
There was no code printed on the posters.
The 36-pack boxes sold at Wal-Mart
and similar chain stores had the box code 1-758-30-01-7 (041116177583
bar code). The boxes did not come with insert posters. The
packs had the 0-758-89-01-7 code (041116077586 bar code) and were pre-priced
99¢.
The 36-pack boxes sold at Target
and similar chain stores had the box code 1-758-30-02-7 (041116477584
bar code). The boxes did not come with insert posters. The
packs had the 0-758-89-02-7 code (041116377587 bar code) and were unpriced.
It was possible to find these boxes being sold at Wal-Mart instead of
the boxes with the 1-758-30-01-7 code.
The packs in the boxes came in 2 horizontal
stacks of 18. It was not too difficult to determine the location
of the activity cards and magnet cards because the insertion of the items
followed a pattern. Some collectors figured out it was possible
to locate the magnet cards just by placing a powerful magnet on the packs. If
there was a magnet card inside of a pack, the powerful magnet would stick
to the pack. Another method collectors used to locate the magnet
cards was to put a compass over the pack. If there was a magnet
card inside of a pack, the compass needle would spin around. After
doing some experimentation, there were collectors who found that the
pack weight varied depending on the items inside of the packs. A
pack that had an activity card inside weighed the least compared to a
pack with no insert cards or a pack with a magnet card inside, and a
pack that had a magnet card inside weighed the most compared to a pack
with an activity card inside or a pack with no insert cards inside. There
was approximately a 1.0 to 1.5 gram difference between the weight of
a pack with an activity card inside and the weight of a pack with no
insert cards inside, and there
was approximately a 1.0 to 1.5 gram difference between the weight of
a pack with no insert cards inside and the weight of a pack with a magnet
card inside.
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
6.
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 6 bonus cards continued
the numbering sequence, which ended at B14 in the All-New Series 5.
Wal-Mart, K B Toys,
Meijer stores carried
the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B18 Seth-Shimi, the price
tags on the boxes were put on by the store, and the boxes had the code
1-939-30-01-7 (bar code 041116179396). Target and Shopko
stores carried the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B19 Scrapped
Brooke, the price tags on the boxes were yellow ovals, and the boxes
had the code 1-939-30-02-7 (bar code 041116279393). 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 in the middle of the box on fold-out, cardboard shelves. 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 not packaged in clear cellophane like the previous All-New Series
bonus cards that were found in the bonus boxes. Instead, the bonus
cards in the All-New Series 6 bonus boxes came inside of one of the packs. It
was not possible to know which pack contained the bonus card. Some
of the bonus boxes were not properly collated, and they could contain
2 bonus cards or come without any bonus cards. The
bonus boxes measure approximately 7.00" x 4.25"
x 2.75". 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 0-939-89-01-7 (bar code 041116079399),
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 except for the pack that
contained the bonus card. The
front of the bonus boxes had the All-New Series 6 character 29a Rasta
Roni Tony / 29b Spaghetti Eddy printed on them. The left and right
sides of the bonus boxes had the card 6b Curtis Blow printed on them.
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 2-939-40-01-7 and #939-076WA were printed on the
B18 bonus box case boxes. The codes 2-939-40-02-7 and #939-076EA
(bar code 041116379390) were printed on the B19 bonus box case boxes.
The B18 bonus box case boxes had a 6-digit number stamped on them, and
the B19 bonus box case boxes had a 5-digit number stamped on them. The
numbers 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
2 regular packs and a bonus card. The bonus card inside of each
blister pack could be B15 Barfs Of Holly, B16 Watery Eyes Walter, or
B17 Levitating Levi. 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. The
packs inside of the blister pack were the same as the unpriced retail
packs, and they had the code 0-758-89-02-7 (041116377587 bar code). The blister
packs had the code 5-759-30-01-7 (041116077593 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 cards in
the blister packs. Also, the blister packs use less packaging materials. 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 $3.99 because that was the
price of the 4-pack blister packs from the All-New Series 5, and some
collectors were overcharged because of that pricing error. 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 13.0" x 4.5" x 8.25".
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 1-759-30-01-7 and bar code 041116177590 printed on the bottom.
Each blister pack box had a 7-digit number stamped on it, which was used
for tracking and quality control. The blister pack boxes had the
All-New Series 6 character 29a Rasta
Roni Tony / 29b Spaghetti Eddy and cards
2a Showerin' Howard and 27a Lemon Ned printed on the
sides.
The blister pack boxes came inside of case
boxes (see image above). The blister pack case boxes measure approximately
18.725" x 13.375" x 17.25". There were 8 blister
pack boxes per case box. The codes 2-759-40-01-7 and #759-076E
(bar code 041116277597) were printed on the blister pack case boxes. Each
blister pack case box had a 5-digit code stamped on it, which was used
for tracking and quality control.
Topps
created gravity feeds for the All-New Series 6 (see image above),
and they were very similar to the design of the gravity feeds for the All-New
Series 5. The gravity feed carried 48 individual packs. Just
like the All-New Series 5 gravity feed, the packs would always be bunched
together at the bottom of the All-New Series 6 gravity feed, and that
made the packs slightly difficult to remove. The
gravity feeds were hung up on plastic hooks. The All-New Series
6 character 29a Rasta Roni Tony / 29b Spaghetti Eddy was featured
on the front of the gravity feed. The All-New Series 6 cards
3a Me Too Lou, 27a Lemon Ned, and Tusky Tucker (the character was
renamed to 36a Tusky Tiffany for the actual card) were featured on
the left and right sides of the box. The cards featured on
the sides of the gravity feed were unnumbered and the name ovals
for Lemon Ned and Me Too Lou were different than the color of the
name ovals on the actual cards. The back of the gravity feed
had the code 2-741-03-01-7. The gravity feed contained the
same type of packs as in the hobby boxes. The packs were unpriced
and had the code 0-757-89-01-7 (bar code 041116077579).
Right after the All-New Series 6 was released,
the ToppsVault began
selling sets of the four different uncut sheets for $199.95 (see images
above). Included in the set was the uncut card sheet (measuring
26" x 30" and featuring all of the cards (1a/1b to 40a/40b)),
the uncut activity card sheet (measuring 40" x 28" and featuring
all of the activity cards (1 to 12)), the uncut magnet card sheet (measuring
38" x 24" and featuring all of magnet cards (1 to 9)), and
the uncut bonus card sheet (measuring 26" X 30" and featuring
all of bonus cards (B15 to B19)).
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 6. 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. |
