—
The first U.S. GPK set to have
Promo Cards, much like the promo card inlay sheet of the ANS1 which showcased
three promo stickers, that were also called bonus stickers; this is the first
official GPK promo card which was released at the San Diego Comic Con in August
of 2004; card P1 CHRISTINA Ugliera.

—
The Flick-It sequence
section, which makes a come back from the later OS GPK sets, located
on the comic backs, were completed by a design studio called Apartment 4G.
The same department whose figure animation was showcased on the retired Topps
GarbagePailKidsWorld.com website.

—
The new chase card for ANS3, and for the GPK franchise
in general, are Pop-Up cards that number 1 of 10
through 10 of 10. Instructions: Punch out figure leaving figure attached at ‘A’.
Fold card back at ‘B’ and ‘C’. Insert slots ‘D’ and ‘E’ together with panel ‘F’
behind panel ‘G’.

—
The fold-out flyer, sell sheet, and promotional
ads showed the Mock-up #2 Pop-Up
card as Disgustin’ DUSTIN, from the ANS1 set (#24b), but the nomenclature used
for the release is Gutsy GABRIEL (#24a) instead.

—
Besides the returning the Foil cards the set also
features more Scratch ‘n Stink stickers for the second
time, first seen in the ANS2 set. The set is twice as big as the previous set
and had the following scents listed on the tentative checklist: S1a/b – cigar,
S2a/b – ashtray, S3a/b – fish, S4a/b – mexican food, S5a/b – sweat, S6a/b – peanut
butter, S7a/b – hamburger, S8a/b – durian, S9a/b – roast beef, S10a/b – compost,
S11a/b – broccoli and S12a/b – camp fire; several of these scents or descriptions
may have been changed for the final release.

—
Artist Tom Bunk‘s last
name ‘BUNK’ can be found on the grafittied wall on cards 26a Taggin’ TYLER and
26b Popped PAUL, along with the names of other friends and family; ‘BEN’ and ‘ANNA’
for his son and daughter, ‘JEFF’ for the art director, ‘GUS’; unknown and ‘AARON’
for this website’s webmaster. Bunk’s name can also be found as ‘T. B-UNK’ on the
front of the grandstands next to the message ‘Get Your Kicks GPK’ on cards 37a
Field Goal JOEL and 37b Kicked MICK.

—
A new DONALD Dump character
was created for the 2016 Apple Pie (In Your Face!) release and painted by artist
Joe Simko. At this time, Topps still had the artists make the characters look
like the new style of GPK, however, in 2012 for the Brand-New Series releases,
they were allowed to make them in the CPK-likeness again.

—
The second GPK set in which the Letter
‘G’ can be found within the artwork; on cards 4a
Sweaty BETTY and 4b Clammy SAMMY on the chearleader’s sweatshirt.

—
The ANS3 Tentative Checklist
was changed replacing cards 8a Pasty PAT and 8b COLE Gate with cards 8a Urine
NATE and 8b Backwoods BRANDON. The COLE Gate character became bonus card B5 and
the name Pasty PAT was dropped. Cards 36a Starstruck CHUCK and 36b MARSHALL Artless
were replaced with the character for cards 36a Offensive OSCAR and 36b Foul FERNANDO;
possibly to strengthen the set as a whole.

—
The Unpublished cards
36a Starstruck CHUCK and 36b MARSHALL Artless painted by Luis Diaz and a titled
‘Frankenfurter’ piece painted by Ray Lago were not used for this release but held
back for the ALS4 set as cards 7a Nin JACK and 7b MARSHALL Artless and cards S1a
FRANK N. Wiener and S1b OSCAR Mire, respectively. The color rough for Luis Diaz’s
piece has ‘LD Monster’ written on the back wall, a trademark character name of
the artist.

—
The set contains a signature piece of artist Luis
Diaz; a pink water (squirt) bottle flying behind the motorcycle of cards
30a Chopper CHAD and 30b Hurlin’ HARLEY. The pink water bottle can also be found
in Diaz pieces for the ANS4 and ANS5 sets; Topps tried to keep Diaz’s LD monster
character out of the artwork.

—
The Puzzle Backs comprise
only three puzzles with no nameplates and GPK logo as the previous ‘All-New’ releases
. With humor card backs, and especially the Flick It section, in the set there
is less room for six puzzles as with the ANS1 and ANS2 sets.

—
Card backs for 1a CHRISTINA Ugliera and 1b DIANA
Diva had the Winning Entry picture and parody name
from the GPK Build-A-Kid contest that took place online.

—
The fourteenth set to contain cards with the
GPK Acronym (or initialism) found within the artwork. The GPK acronym found
on the jet ski of cards 2a Jet Ski JESSE and 2b Flayed JAY, on the paper shredder
machine of cards 24a Shredded PAIGE and 24b HEATHER Shredder, on the grafittied
wall of cards 26a Taggin’ TYLER and 26b Popped PAUL, on the tombstone of cards
28a LAURA Cough and 28b Hackin’ HANNAH, on the motorcycle of cards 30a Chopper
CHAD and 30b Hurlin’ HARLEY, on the grandstands of cards 37a Field Goal JOEL and
37b Kicked MICK, on the kit box of cards 38a JERRY Rigged and 38b RAUL MODEL and
on the towel of card B5 COLE Gate.

Cards
22a Cup O’ JOE and 22b MAXWELL Louse
NOTE : Based
off of a 1988 John Pound thumbnail sketch; a napkin holder and dirty dishes added.

Cards
30a Chopper CHAD and 30b Hurlin’ HARLEY; NOTE: motorcycle
changed to poppin’ a wheelie;
the two ‘headlight’ cans were removed; larger
tank with garbage and cat added.

Cards
B5 COLE Gate; NOTE: ‘kid sqeezing pus from tube-shaped tongue’ based off

of a 1988 John Pound thumbnail sketch; snot added to nose.

*

—
GPK newcomer,
artist David Gross worked on two concept roughs
for the ANS3 set. Gross worked on several concept pieces for the ANS1 Wacky
Packages set, including Asteroids, and worked on 30 paintings for the ANS2 Wacky
Packages, including the popular promo card Goodbye Kitty. Gross went on to paint
several pieces for the ANS4 GPK set. Pictured below are two roughs executed by
Gross based off of concepts by Strephon Taylor; they were later re-worked by Tom
Bunk for the final artwork.

Cards
32a Picked NIKKI and 32b Antsy NANCY. NOTE: character
centered and changed to the
female gender, wine bottle changed to a pop can
and additional trees, food and body parts added.

Cards
37a Field Goal JOEL and 37b Kicked MICK. NOTE: field
perspective changed,
goal post removed, brain left intact and name ‘Extra
Point PARKER’ not chosen for card.

UNPUBLISHED
for ANS3: Pushing Up DAISY and DAWN
Of The Dead
NOTE: Gross turned the unpublished GPK into Topps as a ‘sample
painting’.

*

—
GPK concept artist Keith Webb,
unfortunately, had a very short run with Topps; Webb turned in some great concepts
for the ANS3 and a large amount of conceptual ideas for the ANS4 set. Pictured
below are three of his concepts that were eventually executed by veteran artists
Tom Bunk and James Warhola.

Cards
6a TOM Tongue and 6b Coated CODY. NOTE: hands placed in pockets, outfits changed
and background added (original concept states ‘no background’); ‘RICKY Licky’
and ‘LESTER For Words’ nomenclature not used.

Cards
27a Bigfoot BRITTANY and 27b ALICIA Creature. NOTE: a lumbering, slouched posture
used for the character; a bellybutton, background trees, squirrel and spit flying
from mouth added; ‘BETTY Yeti’ nomenclature not used.

Cards 38a JERRY Rigged and 38b RAUL Model. NOTE:
layout re-arranged; ‘Build Your Own GPK’ dropped and more body parts and accessories
added to the final artwork; ‘Construction KIT’ nomenclature not used.

*

—
Veteran GPK satire artist Tom
Bunk completed an astonishing number of twenty-three images for the ANS3
set. Pictured below is a sample of color rough images for six of the cards describing
the changes that took place for the final artwork as requested by the Topps art
director that contained the most changes for their conception stage. Bunk has
a history of giving a liberal amount of color rough variations for the director
to choose from.

Cards
6a TOM Tongue and 6b Coated CODY. NOTE: concept by Keith Webb; ‘RICKY Licky’ still
noted for the name. Hands moved to pockets (opposed to the tongue figure), background
added, outfits and eyes changed.

Cards 14a BOB Gnarly and 14b
Dread ED. NOTE: hat added, armpit and nose hair became the gag (not the garbage
in hair), hands changed to ‘peace’ signs, background added; ‘FRED Dead’ and ‘RUDY
Raster’ names not used.

Cards
24a Shredded PAIGE and 24b HEATHER Shredder. NOTE:
hand pushing head removed; self shredded, facial reaction changed and larger bows
added to hair; ‘FRIDA Shredder’ and ‘HEDDA Shredda’ nomenclature not used.

Cards
26a Taggin’ TYLER and 26b Popped PAUL. NOTE: picture
reversed, mirror-image used, outfit and colors changed, spraycan added to pocket,
‘Was’ changed to ‘Wuz’ and names added to wall for final artwork.

Cards
40a JANET Jackass and 40b Has-Been JASMINE. NOTE: a ‘Missy Elephant’ (Elliot)
concept was submitted first and changed to a Janet Jackson spoof.

Cards S12a Ashy ASHTON and S12b Combustin’ DUSTIN.
NOTE: original concept had the character surrounded by a dozen sun tan lotion
bottles.

*

—
Veteran GPK artist James Warhola
completed seven different character paintings for the ANS3 set; around double
the number he finished for the ANS2 set.

*

—
Veteran GPK artist John Pound
completed eleven paintings for the ANS3 set. Pictured below is Pound’s tight pencil
based off of a Jay Lynch concept piece for 20a Birdbrain BRIAN and 20b Cuckoo
CHRIS as well as Strephon Taylor concept for cards S7a Eyeball IVAN and S7b Eye
Candy ANDY. John’s preliminary artwork tends to always look like the final artwork
with little revisions since the initial thumbnail drawings have not been shared
with the public.

*

—
The GPK Next-Gen Artists
who were tested out and contributed to the new set were Luis Diaz with five pieces,
Aron Laikin with four pieces and Sean Greathead with one piece; Diaz went on to
create GPK artwork for the remaining All-New Series sets. The returning next-gen
artists from ANS2 are Strephon Taylor with three pieces and John Czop with one
piece. Czop went on to claim GPK fame with the ANS4 sketch cards. The Glover brothers,
Pat and Sean, worked on the rendered artwork of the Foil cards for the ANS1 through
ANS3 sets.

*

—
Artist Luis Diaz had
a few pieces of unpublished artwork stemming from the ANS3 period; the images
are similar to Diaz’s earlier GPK artwork in comparison to his stronger pieces
found in ANS5 through the ANS7 sets. Pictured below are characters for the rapper
Eminem, an abstract artist and the Pokémon characer, Pikachu; artist Tom
Bunk had painted a rapper kid and artist John Pound had a Pikachu character completed
for the ANS2 set.

*

—
Veteran parody artist and writer Jay
Lynch completed the reverse comic back artwork for the ANS3 set. Jay wrote
all of the comic gags, finished the panel roughs, worked on tight pencils and
then inking—helped by a close friend Matt Anderson. A freelance artist, hired
by Topps, completed all of the coloring which is now done digitally on the computer
instead of by hand. In the late eighties several people helped Jay Lynch complete
the comic backs he did for the older sets; some of the individuals were Gary Whitney
(penciling/inking), Shane Swank (coloring) and even his then wife Carol Lynch
(coloring).