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The Tagline for button #4 Barf Bear was changed
from the original sketch artwork ‘Let’s Share Lunch’ to ‘Ready for Lunch?‘
for the published final artwork; all of the barf material remains intact and unchanged.
—
The Concept
for button #21 Punk Bear (I’m a Sharp Dresser!) had several subtle changes from
the color rough to the final artwork. The patriotic red-white-and-blue spiked
hair was changed to punk green, a cigarette was added to the mouth — it looks
like the original color rough had one in its mouth or it was whistling, and a
safety pin was added to attach the razer blade stomach emblem — blade shape
being revised.
—
The
Gross Bear character #24 Bony Bear had her Death Scythe
Removed and a heart balloon (to match her heart) added instead. The balloon
concept was removed from the #25 Trash Bear character and added to Bony Bear,
per the colour rough artwork.
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Like
many Topps’ humor and parody sets, the Gross Bears—Big Bad Buttons theme
came from the 1976 Topps release simply called Big Bad Buttons.
Button examples: #4 Change Your Deodorant! and #18 Where’s Your Leash?
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The following (at-the-time) Unpublished
Gross Bears artwork were slightly reworked,
with subtle changes from the sketch artwork to the final artwork, and often could
be found reworked and used as Garbage Pail Kids characters in later GPK sets.
‘Have It Your Way‘ Burger Bear (Burger King slogan
parody) was an idea sketch that made it to the final stages and slightly reworked
from the color rough stage, minus the chef’s hat. The concept was later painted
as an OS10 GPK piece by James Warhola. The image was later released on mini-card
for the 2017S1 set as #L3 Burger Bear.
—
The ‘Not-All-There
Bear‘ made it to the final stages and was slightly reworked as well, the
crossbones bear insignia changed to a broken heart.
The concept was later reworked and painted as a similar idea for an OS7 GPK piece
by James Warhola. The image was later released on mini-card for the 2017S2 set
as #L4 Not-All-There Bear.
—
The ‘Blender
Bear‘ piece was previously unpublished and was later reworked for an OS5
GPK piece painted by Tom Bunk. The character is in the same position, similar
style of blender (with an added cord), tongue sticking out and blood replaced
with water. The image was later released on mini-card for the 2016S1 set as #L1
Blender Bear.
—
The Deaddy
Bear (teddy bear rhyme), or Zombie Bear, piece was never published or released
in another parody set. The stomach emblem was changed from a comical bear skull
crossbones to a human skull with no bones for the final artwork, the foreground
forepaw added and the atmospheric colors changed. It is very similar to the OS3
GPK Frankenstein character painted by Tom Bunk. The tombstone in the background
has bear ears on it. The image was later released on mini-card for the 2016S2
set as #L2 Deady Bear.
—
Two Gross Bears images found their way into
the 1988 Topps T-Shirt Factory Iron-Ons set. The
series consisted of 18 different Iron-Ons with artwork that appears to be taken
from various, older Topps sets. The two Gross Bears images found within the set
are #13 Spiky Bear (Hug Someone Else!) and #28 Butt Bear
(I Get a Kick Out of You!), #4 and #5, respectively —
the later being changed to ‘KISS ME!’ for the iron-on set. Topps product # 4-594-60-01-8.
—
A dealer Sell Sheet
can be located for the T-Shirt Factory Iron-Ons set, #594 which shows a very small
picture of the Gross Bears image for button #28 Butt Bear (I Get a Kick Out of
You!) that reads ‘KISS ME!’ for the #5 iron-on.
—
Thirty-two Gross Bears Big Bad Stickers were released
within the ‘Yearly’ GPK sets: six cards were released in the 2016S1 GPK Apple
Pie (In Your Face!) set within certain value retail boxes; the images are printed
on card for the first time, measure 2.5 x 2.5in, and include Gross Bears characters:
#1 Flare Bear, #2 Killer Bear, #3 Flat Bear, #4 Barf Bear, #5 Pig-Out Bear (numbered
#6 in the Button set) and L1 Blender Bear (Lost artwork). Note: #5 Goodbye Bear
has been passed up for the release due to the subject of suicide. Six cards were
released in the 2016S2 GPK Prime Slime Trashy TV set within Wal*Mart and online
Value retail boxes; the images include characters: #6 Heady Bear, #7 RamBear,
#8 Big Shot Bear, #9 Rug Bear, #10 Everywhere Bear and L2 Deady Bear. Six cards
were released in the 2017S1 GPK ADAM-Geddon set; the characters include: #11 Bonkers
Bear, #12 Spikey Bear, #13 Tear Bear, #14 FrankenBear, #15 B.O. Bear and L3 Burger
Bear. Six cards were released in the 2017S2 GPK Battle of the Bands set; the characters
include: #16 Go Bear, #17 Lousy Bear, #18 Cyclops Bear, #19 Scar Bear, #20 Punk
Bear and L4 Not-All-There Bear. Eight final cards were released for the 2018S1
GPK We Hate the 80’s set; the characters include: #21 Zit Bear, #22 Melted Bear,
#23 Bony Bear, #24 Trash Bear, #25 Bat Bear, #26 Bicep Bear, #27 Butt Bear and
#28 Bare Bear. Topps released the Gross Bears within five ‘Yearly’ sets and finished
out the special chase card subset. Note: the original box artwork is used for
the card backs minus the ’36 Buttons’ (per box) message.
—
Martian Toys held a Who
Cares Bears opening at the Mothership Art Gallery on Saturday April 21st,
2018 from 6-10pm in the Philly, PA area and on the 223 W. Girard Ave block. There
were custom, original and bootleg toys — similar to the items found on their
website, along with original Gross Bears color rough artwork on display by artist
Tom Bunk along with a new piece that Bunk created for the show titled ‘The Zombear’.
—
The artist behind the buttons, Tom
Bunk, in December of 1985 sporting all of the Big Bad Buttons. The Gross
Bears buttons were released after the OS2 GPK cards were released in October of
the same year; Bunk worked on the Gross Bears artwork while he was working on
the OS1 and OS2 GPK reverse card artwork. NOTE:
BIG BAD BUNK SPORTING ALL 29 GROSS BEARS BUTTON.
—
The actual Gross Bears—Big
Bad Button Size is about 1 1/2 inches in circular diameter and the ‘Yearly’
Gross Bears—Big Bad Stickers measure roughly 2.5 x 2.5 inches.
