379b SIDNEY
KIDNEY —
Rhyme; the forename Sydney with the word ‘kidney’.
def’n: Kidney —
A pair of organs in the dorsal region of the vertebrate abdominal cavity that
function to maintain proper water balance, regulate acid-base concentration, and
excrete metabolic wastes as urine.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s FULL BLADDER/FULL DIAPER gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. As documented
on the backside of the final artwork, ‘379 JOINTS & CRACKS‘,
the image illustrates a new, reworked iteration of the GPK character—as
demonstrated within the new model sheets—that
showcases a now hardened doll, with different facial features, and four digits
on each hand; as outlined within the settlement agreement between Topps &
the OAA to look less like CPK. The artwork depicts a GPKid bursting at the seams
(& diaper/pants), attempting to gain entrance to a double-padlocked ‘MEN‘s
bathroom door. The gag is further driven by the character attempting to pull with
his arms—whilst pushing with his legs—on the same hatchway; but the
door is giving in and curving outwards, regardless. For this to actually work,
the character’s leg or legs would need to be pushing from the doorframe (or wall).
Curiously, the entryway must be some kind of swing door, or nonsealable door,
since it contains no latch nor actual closing mechanism.
—
The GPK character not only has two reverse card back variations, resulting in
three different card backs for both names, but is also ‘PUZZLE
K‘ for one of the two 21-piece collated puzzles, as well as the display
box’s side character.

380b
GULLIVERED TRAVIS
= The book title ‘Gulliver’s Travels’.
def’n: Gulliver, Lemuel —
Hero of voyages to four imaginary regions in Jonathan Swift’s satire Gulliver’s
Travels.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s INSECT INFESTATION gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. Although no apparent ‘cracks
& joints’ are seen, as the previous character, the artwork depicts a GPKid
being tied down by a troop of ‘army’ ants. An army ant (over 200 tropical species)
is an aggressive predatory group of nomadic ants, commonly known for their ‘raids’,
that forage for their prey in large columns. In the distance, the row of ants
can be seen marching two-by-two, army-style, but ants tend to go marching in one-by-one.
The parody is based off artwork from an 1860s edition of Gulliver’s Travels,
written by Jonathan Swift (& cover illustration by ?), however, there have
been quite a few pieces of artwork depicting the traveler’s predicament over the
many years. The story (and original title, Travels into Several Remote Nations
of the World by Lemuel Gulliver) starts out with a shipwrecked Gulliver on
the Island of Lilliput, whose inhabitants are six inches tall. There are almost
70 ants depicted, and rather than seven or so tufts of hair having been staked
down, the parody takes the satire further and shows individual strands of hair
being spiked down. Both images show a successful take down and stake down for
the army regiments, but the GPK image takes it another step further by portraying
a high-flying flag where the ‘body of land’ has been conquered.
—
I’d like to point out that the ‘parked’ bike—leaning against the mortar-brick
wall—has the less dangerous, flat, but slightly ridged, plastic pedals that
your feet would often slip off of, especially when wet… rather than metal pedals
with their small, gripable spikes, that—if your foot did slip off—could
and would rake your leg shin raw.

381b
LEAN JEAN
—
Rhyme; the forename Jean with the word ‘lean’.
def’n: Lean —
Not fleshy or fat; thin. Containing little or no fat. Meat with little or no fat.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s PUMP & GRIND gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. To make this concept work
the character couldn’t be a plastic doll, let alone a cloth doll, but had to be
made of flesh & blood. The artwork depicts a GPKid self-operating and double-fisting
a manual meat grinder while sitting within the metal basin, and pleasantly watching
his own pulverized contents being pushed out. The no eyelids & oval eyes on
the new GPK design make the characters look very surprised to any eye-opening
experience. Per rough sketch (via Garbage Archive), by director Art Spiegelman,
the self-operating purveyor of fine meats is seen with their head being pressed
down on by a human hand (red ink), but the idea was dropped for the final product.
On second review, the character has his head more downcast, facing the bloody
outcome (black ink) and a table clamp suggested (‘blue’ ink). Dripping red blood
was also added as a final touch to the end product. Again, no cracks or joints
present within the character.
— In general,
Mark Newgarden often worked one-on-one with Tom Bunk, and the same can be said
for Spiegelman and Warhola; with the later often driving into New York City to
go over the artwork in person either at Topps or in the evenings over at Spiegelman’s
place. A very similar concept was created in late ’84 or early ’85 for the Gross
Bears (Big Bad Buttons) release, but had remained unused until printed on card
for the 2017 Series 1 release as number ‘L3’ BURGER BEAR.
It’s not entirely known if Spiegelman was aware of this unused concept in early
1987 though.

382b
FAREWELL MEL
—
Rhyme; the forename Mel with the word ‘farewell’.
def’n: Farewell —
Used to say good-by. A good-by. A leave taking.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s CITY COFFIN gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid laying
mysteriously dormant, but actually deader-than-a-doornob on closer inspection.
Per Warhola’s tight pencil, the concept had a regular Joe Schmoe placed in a regular-looking
coffin, along with the other ‘trash’, amongst several garbage cans. A rat, spills,
splatters, grafittied names, and extra garbage was added to the scene of the crime,
but the character itself was changed to a mobster-like individual dressed in a
pin-striped suit with an Italian-like mobster haircut. To carry the parody further,
the bins were made to look like metal garbage cans, and the casket was given the
same treatment, with several garbage can handles added. An evergreen funeral wreath,
usually adorned and decked out with flowers, is a symbol of continuity (the circle
of eternal life), but looks like a discarded Christmas wreath instead. The smiling
figure, with open eyes, shows signs of livor mortis; aka hypostasis = the
blue-purplish discolouration that develops in the skin of dependent parts of the
body after death has visited your doorstep.
—
Additionally, thrown garbage is strewn throughout the painting, including banana
peels, splattered egg shells, spills on the ground, and gunk remnants after something
has smacked the brick wall. The names ‘JOE + PAUL(INE)‘
and ‘LEROY [ARROW THROUGH HEART]‘ were also scrawled on
the facade, but it is unknown if these hold any special meaning to the artist
or not. Cracks were also added to the head and hand of the character.

383b
RAKED JAKE
—
Rhyme; the forename Jake with the word ‘rake+d’.
def’n: Rake —
To scrape with or as with a rake. A handled garden tool with a row of projecting
teeth at its head.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s SCRATCH-UNTIL-YOU-BLEED gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
using a hand-shaped back scratcher (notice the four fingers) to reach a spot to
relieve themselves of the itch. Strangely, scratching triggers your skin sensory
nerves to send mild pain signals to your brain, which makes your body release
the pain-fighting chemical serotonin, which then can cause things to feel even
itchier… so the more you scratch, the more you want to itch it. The relief is
so great that it’s causing the character’s eyes to roll to the back of their head;
or rather, upwards. Of course, as the nomenclature suggests, the character is
going beyond scratching themselves and is raking their skin bloody raw instead.
The ‘STAR’ symbole equals GOOD pain.
— The
original colour rough showcases several changes during the production process.
From top to bottom: the blonde tuft of hair remains, but the rest of the head
is now bald with a huge crack that has been added… the eye colour has been changed
from blue to green… the baby’s pacifier has been removed & replaced with
a single tooth and an extra saliva drip… and a joint has been added to the character’s
arm.

384b
HOT TODDY
= Hot toddy.
def’n: Hot —
Pungent; spicy. Warmer than is normal.
def’n: Toddy —
A drink consisting of liquor with hot water, sugar, and spices.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s FLAME CHURNING DRINKING FOUNTAIN (10-22 REV.) gag
was one of several approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10
set. The artwork depicts a GPKid attempting to use a park’s drinking fountain
in order to quench his thirst, but is brutally burnt to a charred crisp instead.
Per Pound’s tight pencil artwork, the original fountain shows the flame shooting
straight upwards (erased spot) but later revised to shoot more forward, towards
the victim. The character’s oval eyes are basically melting out of his face, and
you can see the character’s scorched bald head better within the tight pencil;
the billowing smoke was lowered a bit for the final artwork. There does appear
to be another layer of ‘heat’ above the flame within the tight pencil artwork,
but this did not show up within the final image.
—
Both cards can be found with a part of the artwork missing, leaving a white ‘square’
area under the GPK banner, to the right of the billowing smoke, and to the left
of the banner ribbon; a sample is seen on the main OS10 page.
—
As with many international releases that took place after the OAA settlement agreement
in 1987, and listed under the GARBAGE GANG trademark (usually
a rough translation), a new rectangle banner was attached over the original card
layout, which covered any artwork underneath, instead of overlaying it.

385b
CHUCKIN’ CHARLIE
– Charlie; CH forename to go with the word ‘chuck+ing’.
def’n:
Chuck —
To throw out; discard. slang. To vomit.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s ASSEMBLY LINE BARF (10-23 REV.) gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts
a GPKid slouched over an industrial assembly line, barfing into soup containers.
Per tight pencil artwork you can just make out two ‘erased’ areas where the concept
was revised, where the character was holding two utensils, most likely wooden
ladle spoons. The chracter is suggestively a parody of the main Campbell Soup
‘Kids’ mascot that wore a chef’s hat, often held a soup ladle, wore a white apron,
and a kerchief (backwards). Another update was adding a joint to the arm, which
appears to have been a change that took place prior to the initial thumnails and
concepts were produced; adding miscellaneous cracks and joints. It’s humourous
to note that the work clock states 6:10pm (or am?), so either the young child
labourer is working past their shift, working 2nd shift, working a late 3rd shift,
or started an early 1st shift… or is working all three.
—
The two cards can be found with two different backs; the same comic but with either
a red or a blue ‘THE GARBAGE GANG‘ banner. A new brand name
most likely created in case the lawsuit had made Topps change the GPK title. The
cards can also be found with an incorrect die cut, where during a resetting of
the press, the die cut was flipped upside down (for the red GARBAGE
GANG banner).
— An acetate card was
auctioned through the Topps Vault in 2005, where card 385b had the nomenclature
of ‘LUKE Puke’ rather than the published Chuckin’ CHARLIE name. This was most
likely changed considering the same nomenclature was already used for the OS5
release (for card character 170b LUKE Puke).

386b
FROZEN FLO
= Frozen flow.
def’n: Frozen —
Very cold. Preserved by freezing. Rendered immobile.
def’n: Flow —
To move or run freely in or as if in a stream.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s FREEZIN’ SNEEZIN’ (10-24 REV.) gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts
a GPKid frozen stiff after a hefty sneeze, thrusting the character upwards and
somewhat airborne, in flight formation. An unintentional farmer’s blow on crystal
crack. Some time has passed since the flow of snot had frozen; there are several
inches of snow on top of the character’s posterior, multiple icicle formations
at the tips of the two gloves, and to the boots & scarf, plus the character’s
face is blue-faced frozen. Speaking of changes during any revisions… besides
the change in face colour, the only other major change is the background colour,
which may have just signified a nighttime atmosphere for the colour concept, but
other changes may have occurred.

387b
CORA CORSET
—
Semi-rhyme; the forename Cora with the word ‘corset’.
def’n: Corset
—
A close-fitting undergarment, often reinforced by stays, worn to support and shape
the waist and hips.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s GIRDLE (GIRL) (10-03) gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
during the finishing touches of lacing up her corset. Although the concept was
titled ‘GIRDLE‘ (= a band worn around the waist to circle
and confine), the image and nomenclature both indicate that the corset is better
suited, pun intended. A girdle tends to be a piece of elastic undergarment worn
around the waist (and often buttocks) to help shape and slim the body. Whereas,
a corset is centered at the waist and encompasses from the hips through the lower
ribcage, and cinched in order to give an (often severe) hourglass shape. A corset
is much more stiff, containing metal boning material, grommet holes & lacing,
so tends to be more expensive. This particular corset is considered an ‘overbust’,
which also provides support to the breasts. As seen within the ‘pain’-ting, a
corset can be very uncomfortable and painful, and quite the struggle—hence
the ‘concentration tongue’—to lace up by oneself.

388b
HEADS UPTON
= Heads up.
def’n: Head —
Upper or anterior bodily extremity containing the brain, the eyes, ears, nose,
mouth, and jaws.
def’n: Heads-up —
slang. Warning; notice given in advance.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s GPK OF HEADS (10-01 REV) gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts
a GPKid made up of GPK noggins, as the title suggests. There are twenty-eight
visible faces, but’t’, I have a sneakin’ hunch that there might be at least two
more—one for each buttock cheek—and possibly something for the ‘twig
and berries’ up front as well; both hidden within the confines of his diaper.
Per tight pencil and colour rough, a revision is noted, but it cannot be easily
discerned; we would need to see an early thumbnail or concept sketch to clarify.
However, it appears to be around the two hands, which areas have been erased and
redrawn; maybe to add face-fingers, and/or to have the one ‘hand’ changed to bite
the ear on the upper leg-face.
— Minus the
fourteen finger and toe faces—all giving ‘OH’-pen mouth suprised looks—the
actual face contains a single tooth, the torso has a snot rope hanging over the
diaper, the waving arm contains three faces that are barfing, wearing sunglasses
& sucking on a pacifier (‘dummy’ if a Brit or Aussie), the dangling arm contains
three faces that are smiling, grimmacing & biting, and the legs contain three
faces each as well, one looking down at the other one blowing a Bazooka gum bubble
& one spitting at the other leg, one being bitten, one smoking a pipe, and
the other one looking angry to having been spit upon and sticking his tongue out.
Early facial emoticons.

389b
OVERFLOW JOE
—
Rhyme; the forename Joe with the word ‘overflow’.
def’n: Overflow —
To flow over the top, brim, or bounds. To spread or cover over.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s GIANT MONSTER FIST gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
being fisted by a monster hand, reaching out from a nether region of the toilet’s
plumbing. Realistically speaking, the hand is too big to even fit through the
toilet basin opening, but that only adds to the surreal concept and wonderful
bizarreness. As is Bunk’s style, the art director would have received several
iterations of the same character in various degrees of change. Per three different
colour roughs, the monster hand, the toilet (and even the lid pegs), the bathroom
floor, the character’s hair colour, the character’s tennis shoes/runners, and
even clothing colour are all given a varying degree of changes. Only one edit
was scrawled on one of the colour roughs, the word ‘FACE‘,
possibly to make sure the eyes remained oval in shape.
—
From top to bottom, flying stress sweat was added to the character early, and
the mouth & tongue positioning changed a bit. Some cracks were added to one
arm and both legs (that are being crushed) late in production, as we have seen
with previous GPK characters. The monster’s hand remained relatively the same,
but the degree of colour was limited to white, green & black, so it remained
muted compared to the star of the show, who was innocently just trying to bang
out a banger. A belt was added at some point and remained for the final image,
and a piece of gum was stuck to the bottom of one of the character’s shoes. Yellow
water, or urine, was tested out at some point, but remained crystal clear blue
at the end. The bathroom’s solid green-tiled floor won out in the end, and the
dropped toilet-paper roll remained on the floor, but turned to pink TP.

390b
TWINNY VINNIE
—
Rhyme; the forename Vinnie with the word ‘twin+ny’.
def’n: Twin —
One of two offspring born at the same birth. Consisting of two identical or similar
parts.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s SIAMESE TWINS, SNOT (10-28) gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts
a set of GPKids that are connected; the siamese twins expression became synonymous
with the term conjoined twins and made popular due to the infamous Siamese-American
twin brothers, Chang & Eng Bunker, who were exhibited as curiosities in the
nineteenth century. The artwork also portrays the two attached twins connected
by a string of shared snot. They are identical down (up?) to their single hair-curl
strands. Since identical twins develop from the same embryo and separate to form
the same two individuals, there is a chance of being partially re-connected during
the blastocyst stage, often remaining attached at the chest, pelvis, or buttocks,
and at times sharing the same organs. A nice horizon line exists in the artwork,
and a little carpet pattern added to the final artwork.
— A slight pet
peeve of mine are stories in books and movies involving only fraternal twins (separate
embryos, separate sacs) who are supposed to share ‘twin telepathy’… I do believe
fraternal twins are extremely close and bonded, having grown up together, but
they are not genetically the same person as identical twins, who’s ‘soul’ has
split, and at times even share the same placenta… but maybe it’s more interesting
to have a boy & girl story. Identical twins are of course born the same sex,
but it’s interesting to note, although a rarity, there are identical triplets.

391b
FALSE IRIS
= False eye.
def’n: False —
Not natural; artificial.
def’n: Eye —
Something suggestive of an eye. Sight; vision.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s EYES IN GUMBALL MACHINE (10-27 REV.) gag was one
of several approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The
artwork depicts a GPKid ‘standing in’ for an old-fashion gumball machine, but
instead of gumballs, the machine dispenses eyeballs for the vision impaired. Considering
there is one brown eye sitting in the dispenser slot, and the older man is inserting
another quarter, the gentleman is looking to purchase a new pair of eyes. It’s
a gumball-machine gamble if you’re going to get the same colour iris or not. You
may wonder how a blind person might be able to read the ‘EYES 25¢‘
sign/price—and a completely blind person would not be able to (unless raised
in Braille)—but if you take a look at the walking cane (or stick), an all-white
cane means the person is completely blind without vision, and a white cane with
a red bottom (or section) means that the user has low, but some vision. That being
said, a glass eye does not give you vision, so he would need to acquire an all-white
cane at some point.
— Per Pound’s tight pencil and colour rough artwork,
the concept went through at least one revision. As you can just make out in both
pieces, a regular, circular gumball machine baseplate can be seen just above the
replaced humanized plate made out of two feet in a similar shape. This was done
to ‘doll’ up the metal + glass inanimate object. Pound tend’s to have a somewhat
square box within his production artwork used as a focal point for the subject
matter. This area is a bit more rectangle in shape and lowered by a ‘gumball machine’
foot to extend and lower the artwork, ‘raise’ the character, and shorten the window
section at the top—eventually covered up at a later date by the GPK banner.

392b
SARDINE CANDICE
= Sardine can.
def’n: Sardine —
A small herring or related fish, often canned in oil.
def’n: Can —
A metal container.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s SARDINE CAN gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid prying
its ‘lid’ or ‘top’ off, like opening a sardine can. The phrase “To blow your
top” means to become very angry, and “To blow one’s lid” is to
lose one’s temper, but this character is simply using a keyed-style tin process
to open the top of their head revealing a row of sardines, and proceeding to snack
on them. The character is pretty dressed up, in a nice patterned, collared top
with lacing on the arms, a green bow, and fuzzy pink socks. An extremely interesting
item to note is the off-model addition of six eyelashes to the character’s eyes,
which is very unique and possibly a parody of a sardine can mascot perhaps. Also,
similar to the character’s three fingers (and thumb), the fork has only three
tines, instead of four.
— I had reached out to John on May 13, 2024, to
enquire about the very intriguing eyelashes, that Pound usually would have coloured
in, so I wasn’t sure if it was done inhouse, “I was wondering if this was
part of your production artwork? I thought perhaps it might be parodying a sardine
can ‘mascot’, since it’s so out-of-character (or off model) for GPK.” John
got back to me the next day, stating, “Not sure what my idea was for the
eyebrows, but looking at it makes me think maybe I would do really light colored
hair, so I outlined them. Instead of filling them in. To contrast with the little
dark eyebrows.”

393b
CHOO-CHOO TRINA
= Choo-choo train.
def’n: Train —
A string of connected railroad cars.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s SUBWAY CAR gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid ‘dressed’
as a dilapidated transportation train car, that has seen better days. Per Bunk’s
original tight pencil artwork, a majority of the concepts and ideas translated
over to the final artwork, including the teenager leaning out of the window tagging
the side of the train, and the older female character being held up at gun point,
but a bottle being tossed out the back window is all the way outside the car rather
than inside. The character’s face for the final artwork has two fully opened and
operating eyes, two little lights and facial cracks added, along with ‘ADAM
BOMB‘ tagged on his chin. Most of the spray-painted names and words remain
the same, including ‘SNOT‘, ‘BARF‘,
‘(BAD) BEN‘ (possibly named for Tom’s infant son), ‘HOT
ROD‘, EERIE ERIC‘, ‘JAY DECAY‘
(listed twice for the final), but ‘STINKY JEFF‘ replaced
‘BAD BOB‘ (which was moved), and changed to ‘JUNKY
JEFF‘ and the kid is now tagging ‘STINKIN…’ instead.
Additional nomenclature includes ‘SHORT MORT‘, ‘ARMPIT
BRITT‘, ‘PEEPING TOM‘ (possibly named for the artist),
and a few random names such as ‘TIM‘, ‘BERRY‘,
etcetera.

394b
PLAY PENNY
= Playpen.
def’n: Playpen —
A portable enclosure in which a baby can be left to play.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s “PLAY”PEN gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
entrapped within a high-security holding enclosure. The permanent structure is
placed in the center of a living room within a peaceful coastal neighourhood,
as seen through the picture-esque windowscape. The structure warns of “DANGER:
HIGH VOLTAGE“, is walled & surrounded by barbed wire and two floodlights.
In comparison to civil clothing, prison unforms are visually distinctive in order
to identify any escapee as a prisoner. Early prison garments had vertical stripes,
to represent prison bars, and later iterations had horizontal stripes or a bright
solid colour. The 19th century prison garb looked almost like pajamas and was
accessorized with a pillbox hat. The character on house arrest is wearing blue-and-white
pinstriped clothing while his fellow inmate, potential best friend, and sleepmate,
the sad teddy bear, dons a red-and-white pinstriped uniform. The barred playpen
might also be the prisoner’s crib as well, choosing one of the four cold corners
for his sleeping quarters. The non-free range area is adorned with a plethora
of vintage and newer toys, including a spinning top, toy block, striped ball,
Mr. Potato Head, a police car (to re-enact failed getaways), among other playtime
paraphernalia.

395b
RUN-OVER GROVER
—
Rhyme; the forename Grover with the words ‘run-over’.
def’n: Run —
(Run down) To collide with and knock down.
def’n: Over —
On or above and across.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s FAILED HITCHHIKER gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
whose hitchhiking attempt has gone awry, who can still be seen smiling without
his spirit being smashed & broken—just his entire body. The character
can be seen holding a rolled sleeping mat (might be too thin for an actual sleeping
bag). The only change from Bunk’s tight pencil to the final artwork is that the
drooping shoelace is a bit more uplifting, along with his enthusiastic hitchhiker’s
thumb, and a bit of texture added to the sole of the shoes. Although no cracks
appear on the flattended character, plenty have been added to the pavement.

396b
CLOBBERED BOB
—
Rhyme; the forename Bob with the word ‘clobber+ed’.
def’n: Clobber
—slang.
To hit or pound with great force.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s HORSESHOES gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid being
used as a stake within a horseshoes game. Horseshoes is a lawn game played between
two players using four horseshoes and two targets used for calculating point tallies
and set up in a yard, park, or sandbox area. The initial two colour rough images
by Bunk contained six horseshoes thrown at the bust of a character buried into
the ground; the first not having any stake in the background, and the second rough
suggesting that a ‘STAKE‘ and ‘GRASS‘
be added, to the top of the head and around the character, respectively, which
was noted on the right-hand margin. The third colour rough is the only image that
contains only five horseshoes, the sixth horseshoe having been removed from around
the character’s neck and set off to the side. The tight pencil was most likely
sketched to secure the overall concept prior to the final artwork being created,
and reduced the number of ‘seeing stars’ from three to two.

397b
SUCKED UP STEFAN
= As in “Suck up (the) stuff.”.
def’n: Suck —
To draw in by or as if by suction.
def’n: Up —
Moving or directed upward.
def’n: Stuff —
Unspecified material. To block or stop up; plug.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s VACUUMING UP SELF (10-18 REV.) gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts
a GPKid who’s being violently sucked up by his own vacuum cleaner. The suction
must be exceptional considering a cat can be seen also being vacuumed up, with
it’s claws out and slowing down the eventual outcome with the carpet. The vacuum
cleaner is modeled after vintage or retro cleaners of the 70s which were compact
and rolling floor models (three wheels). Keeping the eyebrows on the skull gives
the character more facial expression. Per Pound’s tight pencil and colour rough,
at least one revision took place. You can just make out a second skeleton arm
underneath the character’s left arm holding the neck of the vacuum hose, and a
second deskinned arm that has been erased above the same area.
—
The GPK character is also ‘PUZZLE L‘ for one of the two
21-piece collated puzzles.

398b
SHEARED SHERWOOD
= Sheared (Sher)wood.
def’n: Shear —
To remove by cutting. To cut with or as if with shears.
def’n: Sherwood
Forest —
A royal forest near Nottingham, England, where Robin Hood & his men allegedly
lived.
def’n: Wood —
Trees or parts of trees cut up into boards, planks, etc.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s CROSS SECTION gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a
GPKid skiing down a mountain slope and eventually being severed in half. The interior
innards shows a perfect cross section of the character’s skeletal and organ systems.
There appears to be a possible heart or bloody tissue remnant on the lowest limb
of the tree; although this area is on top of the GPK header within the sticker
image, the red font obscures it, whereas a blue font would not have. Some liberties
were taken to really drive this concept home; a tree wouldn’t necesarily cut a
human in half, and ski slopes tend to be within the foothills of mountains, where
more trees are present, not really above the ‘tree line’ up in the actual mountains,
but the humour of the character being that bad of a skiier and hitting the only
tree is not lost on us!

399b
GINA CLEANER
—
Semi-rhym; the forename Gina with the word ‘clean+er’.
def’n: Clean
—
Free from dirt or impurities. To make or become clean.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s WET MOP gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid having
been turned upside down and being used as a janitor’s floor mop. The character
most likely came as a set with the (mop &) bucket with wringer seen in the
background. The human janitor is seen vigorously mopping up the muddied footprints
on the floor. The moppy, stringy-like hair is dolled up with a blue bow. Instead
of just a mop handle attached to a mop-like head, the concept adds a pair of legs
at the very end of the mop handle and two arms, this not making it feel or look
like an inanimate object.

400b
ELAINE VEIN
—
Rhyme; the forename Elaine with the word ‘vein’.
def’n: Vein —
To mark, form, or decorate with or as if with veins.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s VARICOSE VEINS – HEAD (10-30 REV.) gag was one
of several approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The
artwork depicts a GPKid with an ultra veiny noggin, with heavily knotted vessels.
The Kid is made cute by adding a spit dribble from his single toofer and dressing
him in a toddler-style ‘overalls’ with buttons. Per Pound’s tight pencil sketch,
at least one revision took place during the production stage and after the thumbnail
and conceptual stage. Both the eyeball socket area and under the chin have been
erased; this may have been to reduce the amount of veins and to show a bit more
skin for the chin area, and smaller ‘bloodshot’ veins may have been touched up
for the whites of the eyes. For portrait shots, Pound tends to extend the arms
and torso areas for the production pieces, where you can see a bit more of the
clothing section below.
— The chosen mascot
was used for the box and wrapper images, with the final artwork most likely noted
on the backside. Both the ‘GARBAGE PAIL KIDS‘ and ‘STICKERS‘
banners cut off the character at the chest for both the box and the wrapper, respectively.
Artist Tom Bunk would have received the packaging character early, to render the
artwork for the wrapper, which explains the lengthened arms. Since a ‘purplish’
colour was being used for the veins, it was also used for the bib overalls, and
the buttons were coloured red and the shirt blue, to possibly stick out better,
and make use of the red used for the bloodshot eyes.

401b DISECT
ED = Disected.
def’n: Di —
pref. Twice, double, or two.
def’n:
—
Sect – suff. Cut; divide; bisect.
def’n: Bisect —
To cut or divide into two equal parts.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s SCHOOL DISECTION gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
being cut open and studied by a frog, a total role reversal from a student dissecting
an amphibian. Per Bunk’s colour artwork (bottom right), the frog’s face is splattered
with blood and the character’s heart is shown as the popular heart shape (first
appearing in an illustrated poem by Italian Francesco Barberino) instead of a
real organ heart. The second colour artwork fixes the heart depiction, removes
the facial splatter, and adds a disecting scalpel blade. One side notation states
‘FIX FROG’—perhaps so the lab coat wearing amphibian didn’t look like Frog
and Toad—and also a sketch of a petri dish that stated, ‘1 OR 2’. Per
Tom’s updated tight pencil artwork, two dishes were indeed added & bowls removed,
a “T-pin” added to the leg, to stop the from character potentially kicking,
& the one in the arm moved to the hand, the frog’s eyes corrected, a pair
of tweezers (pinching an organ tube) replacing the scalpel, a pair of spectacles
added to frog’s snout, the frog’s right hand removed from holding open the patient’s
body cavity, and the character’s legs straightened out. Per final artwork, the
glasses did not make the cut, the blood was removed from the tools in the background,
cracks added to the leg and hand, the Kid’s eyes now downcasted & watching
the ordeal unfold, a fetus added to the jar in the background, and the eyeballs
moved one jar over.

402b
LUNCHBOX STU
= Lunchbox stew.
def’n: Lunch —
A meal eaten at midday.
def’n: Box —
A rectangular container often with a lid.
def’n: Stew —
A dish cooked by stewing, a mixture of meat and vegetables with stock.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s NON-CAFETERIA FOOD gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. Much like card #401, the
artwork depicts a GPKid with a bloodied hearts and guts. A strange cut-of-meat
for a student to pick to eat, or for a mom to pack! Even shut inside a child’s
metal lunchbox, and squeezed beside a liquid thermos, the character is still very
happy-go-lucky and smiling gleefully. The artwork around the open lunchbox shows
a boy chasing a girl, and the two characters picking their noses. The human has
his lunchbox on top of a cafeteria tray, which you don’t often see if/when you
bring your own lunch from home, but perhaps because they grabbed a milk. Note
the small milk carton has a child ‘WANTED’ advert on it, rather than the much
more common ‘MISSING’ lunchtime scare.
—
The card can be found with an incorrect die cut, where during a resetting of the
press, the die cut was flipped upside down; the
incorrect die-cut goes through the ‘PEEL HERE’ arrow instead of correctly underneath
it. See the ‘PEEL HERE : DIE-CUTS‘ section further below
for a comparison.

403b
FRACTURED FRANCIS
—
Francis; FR name to go with the word ‘fracture+d’.
def’n: Fracture
—
The act or process of breaking. The condition of being broken. A break, rupture,
or crack, as in bone or cartilage.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Wray’s FOOTBALL FIELDGOAL KICK gag was the only concept
approved by Topps that Bill executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
kicking a football and his foot and leg being
smashed to smithereens. Hopefully that leg and foot was insured. Artist Bill Wray,
who later went on to do incredible work with Ren and Stimpy, was asked
to draw a GPK by Art Spiegelman. “I was heavily art directed so it’s hard
to tell if the piece was touched up or not. I can tell that it’s my painting,
one of the giveaways it’s mine is how the color is kind of normal, Topps wanted
garish color.”—Bill Wray. Because Art was so busy, he was unable to
art direct Bill, so no other work was completed or commissioned. The backside,
with art approved by Mark Newgarden ‘OKAY BY MARK‘, is numbered
‘403’ for the set and has been stamped in the lower right hand corner with a gurning
face (def’n: to make a grotesque face). When Bill was questioned about this peculiar
stamp, Mr. Wray had this to say, “The stamp was bought at a stamp shop (and)
just used for fun. I was excited to work for Mark and Art, but Art had a baby—just
after that—and I could not make him happy with my next sketch and he was
very busy; so that was it.” For anyone growing up on the Ripley’s Believe
It or Not program, this image might look somewhat familiar, J.T. Saylors’
(aka Rubber Face) mug was used as their logo for their odditoriums. Thanks
to collector Jason Alexander for the additional investigation and information.
—
Besides the one GPK piece that was created
and published for cards 403a HUNTER Punter and 403b Fractured FRANCIS, another
rough sketch was turned in several times but never used which was the idea of
a body builder’s arm with the Kid’s head as a bicep muscle.

404b
HISSY MISSIE
—
Rhyme; the forename Missie with the word ‘hiss+y’.
def’n: Hiss —
A sharp, sibilant sound.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s BIKE TIRE TUBE gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a
GPKid pumping up their head as if a bicycle’s tire inner tube. The tire pump is
attached to one of the character’s nostril holes, instead of the inner tube valve.
The inner tube, that contains the character’s ears and hair patch, has no less
than four patched-up repairs, and four holes (including one ear hole). The character’s
entire body, arms plus legs, is also made out of the black, rubber material.
—
Strangely, and surprisingling, card #404 is the only OS10 character that has a
blue Garbage Pail Kids header; the rest are ALL red. Perhaps it was changed to
blue so the red hair bow wasn’t lost in the header.

405b WALTER
MELON = Watermelon.
def’n: Watermelon
—
The fruit of the watermelon, an african vine cultivated for its large edible fruit,
having a hard green rind and sweet, watery reddish flesh.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s WATERMELON gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid made
up of melon and being carved up and served. The character’s left arm has already
been cut off and assumingly consumed, considering the amount of spitted seeds
on the outdoor tablecloth (usu. made out of oilcloth or vinyl). A section of the
character’s head and torso has also been carved out, with at least three bites
taken out of the ‘flesh’/pulp of the melon, laving a pool of blood-like watermelon
juice… attracting no less than ten flies to the sticky substance. A huge knife
has been stuck into the character’s right leg, stabbed through the ‘skin’/peel
of the melon as a placeholder. Art Spiegelman’s rough concept (via Garbage Archive)
gave an overall idea of the composition with a description of ‘WALTER
MELON ON PICNIC TABLE‘, which gave some early nomenclature for the card
character. The knife, paper plates, two forks, and the table’s picnic tablecloth
pattern followed. The carved watermelon slice gives a nice & fun cross section
of the character’s face within the rind of the fruit.

407b
SUPER MARCUS
= Supermarket.
def’n: Supermarket —
A large self-service retail store selling food an household goods.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s SHOPPING CART gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a
GPKid being pressed down at the bottom of a grocery store shopping cart. Of course,
this concept would not work if the doll was made out of hard plastic that could
crack, so the character is a soft, squishy material instead, so that he could
be squeezed through the cart’s basket grid. The cart is apparently not equipped
with a child seat section, and the parent has apparently forgetten about their
existence. Per artwork, the shopper is hitting the last area of the store, the
frozen food and refrigerated section, grabbing ‘VIT. D MILK‘
and possibly ice cream next. The kid may have been drinking tomato juice at one
point, the open can can be seen dripping a red liquid onto the top of the victim’s
head. A large portion of the groceries is not as detailed, possibly to keep your
eyes drawn down to the character. A single roll of TP is usually single-ply and
pretty rough on the derriére.
— The
trading card contains a rarer occurrence, where the Garbage Pail Kids header is
used as part of the running gag; the grocery shopper, in their haste, has added
it to their shopping cart.

407b
WALLY WALNUT
—
Wally; W forename to go with the word ‘walnut’.
def’n: Walnut
—
The hard, dark brown wood of a walnut. The nut of a walnut. An edible nut.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s CRACKED WALNUT gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts an inanimate
GPKid who’s head is bascially a walnut and not much else. It seems like most houses
had these nutcracker (& picking tools) back in the 70s and 80s, I know our
did and I would play with them a lot. Per Bunk’s colour rough artwork, the teeth
are intact, which remains for the final artwork, a pain ‘star’ is added, but the
eyes are squeezed tight shut, instead of just closed. Per Bunk’s tight pencil
artwork, the character was drawn with suggested teeth flying out due to breakage
and the sheer pressure of having your melon pressed. A couple more pain ‘stars’
are added for the final artwork piece; often seen depicted in cartoons & comics.

408b
/ L16b LOUIE KABLOOEY —
Rhyme; the forename Louie with the word ‘kablooey’.
def’n:
Kablooey —
informal. To suffer complete destruction or ruin, especially in a sudden
or spectacular way.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s TRIGGER HAPPY gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
using his trigger-happy tongue to shoot a hole through his head. This may be a
parody of an underground comix image, or even the number of suicides committed
by businessmen due to problems relating to their job environment and work stress.
The character was intended for card 408a
Hole In JUAN and 408b LOUIE Kablooey, but much like the OS16 unpublished Tom Bunk
gun piece, it was pulled at the last minute for the sensitive topic of suicide
and replaced with cards 408a Lickin’ LEON and 408b Rat-Sucker RANDALL.
—
An acetate card was auctioned through the Topps Vault in 2005, where an unpublished
character with the card number 408b and nomenclature of ‘LOUIE Kablooey’ was posted.
—
The card for 408a Hole In JUAN was finally
released in the Abrams 2012 Garbage Pail Kids book detailing the original series
artwork for the first five GPK sets as bonus card #1 of 4.

408b
RAT-SUCKER RANDALL
—
Randall; R forename to go with the words ‘rat-sucker’.
def’n:
Rat —
Any of various long-tailed, often destructive rodents similar but larger than
a mouse.
def’n: Sucker —
A lollipop. One that sucks.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s FROZEN DESSERT gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid licking
a frozen rat-on-a-stick as if a customary delicacy. Per Bunk’s rough colour artwork,
and his usual abundance of samples, the ‘ICE RAT’ cart was situated within more
of a tropical setting, as seen with the palm trees above and ocean in the background.
The rat, or rather, what’s left of him, started out as just a rat-head-on-a-stick,
but soon took on the full embodiment, or his ‘full body’, of a frozen treat and
his tail became a convenient hand-holding instrument. For the third colour rough,
the kid was removed from the street side of things, the ‘boardwalk’, and moved
to they sandy beach, on the other side of the seller’s cart. This iteration also
changed the character into a t-shirt, removing the botton-down shirts and bow
ties. The t-shirt shows the Garbage Pail Kids acronym ‘GPK’, (stylized as ‘G.P.K.’).
The character’s tongue also becomes elongated for this version, and the eyes closed
to show his dreamy pleasure. The right-hand column had one suggested change that
simply read ‘CONEY ISLAND‘. Per Bunk’s tight pencil, the
Coney Island area was added to the concept, mainly the Luna Park section which
includes the entertainments area’s roller coasters. The character’s tongue appears
to have canker-like sores, possibly from overlicking the rough fur and germy feet
of the rodent desserts. The line ‘23 FLAVORS‘ has been added
to the side of the cart (next to the ice cream cone), similar to Baskin-Robbins’
31 flavors phrase, but a number added and then flipped. Like many densely populated
areas, the rats in New York City are widespread, and in NYC are considered a cultural
symbol of the city. What a treat!

409b
AMAZING MASON
—
Semi-rhyme; the forename Mason with the word ‘amaze+ing’.
def’n: Amaze
—
To fill with surprise or wonder; astonish.
def’n:
Maze —
A network of paths designed as a puzzle through which one has to find a way.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s MOVEABLE MAZE-FACE, EYEBALLS (10-40 REV.) gag was
one of several approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set.
The artwork depicts a GPKid working a ball through his face-puzzle. These circular
or square vintage wooden maze labyrinths tend to have a deposit slot if the ball
falls through a hole during the game. The board face is the character’s face,
flattened, and the eyesockets are holes for the balls (or rather, eyeballs), the
ears maneuvers the movement of the board. The nose is the only ‘bumper’ issue,
and two teeth block the mouth hole. Per Pound’s tight pencil artwork, the concept
went through at least one revision… possibly the shortening of the teeth.

410b
CLAWED CLAUDE
—
Rhyme; the forename Claude with the word ‘claw+ed’.
def’n: Claw —
A sharp, often curved nail on the toe of an animal. To scratch or dig with or
as if with claws.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s SCRATCHING POST gag was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a
GPKid standing stoically still while pleasantly being cat-scratch-fevered. The
character is peppered with a plethora of paw-claw marks. Per Art Spiegelman’s
early doodle sketch (via Garbage Archive), it gives a very rough concept of the
character as a scratching post on a wooden plinth, the feline scratching away,
and a lightsocket in the background, along with another image on the floor—possibly
the food dish seen within the final artwork moved to the forefront. A ball of
yarn was eventually added to the concept and the character’s left ear added to
the top of the plinth after having been scratched off.

411b
BUD SUCKER
= Blood sucker.
def’n: Blood —
The fluid circulated by the heart throughout the body.
def’n: Sucker
—
One that sucks.
def’n: Suck —
To draw (liquid) into the mouth by inhaling.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Warhola’s VAMP BLOOD TRANSFUSION gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that James executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts
a “VAMPIRE KID GIVING BLOOD TO SELF” as described
on Art Spiegelman’s rough concept sketch. Per artwork, the ‘Heart Rate Variability’
chart appears to be almost off-the-charts. The self medicating vampire seems quite
content in camping out for a while, laying in a comfy bed with some soft pink
sleepers (with bat flaps). Plus, his vampiric friends are roosting and flying
about to visit him. The open blood container does not seem very sterile, but I’m
not sure how vulnerable or susceptible the undead are to pathogens. Per Warhola’s
head studies from 1987, James was getting down the angle of the head, and the
character engaging the viewer/audience with his hypnotizing eyes.

412b
DOUGHY CHLOE
—
Rhyme; the forename Chloe with the word ‘dough+y’.
def’n: Dough —
A thick, pliable mixture of flour and other ingredients that can be rolled or
kneaded for pastries. A mass similar to dough. Doughy adj.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s FACE IN MIXING BOWL (10-4) gag was one of several
approved concepts by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts
a GPKid face-diving into a mixing bowl and the contents of their head acting as
a dough-like substance. To add self-insult to self-injury, the character is hand-cranking
a manual mixing instrument, rather than an electric blender. Although the doll
doesn’t follow the new GPK model, not having a hard plastic body and no cracks
& joints, the face is so mixed up that you couldn’t really identify it as
a GPK v. CPK. Per Pound’s tight pencil and colour rough artwork, the piece went
through zero revisions, although subtle changes may have taken place between any
potential thumbnail sketches and the art production by Pound.

413b
DICK HICK
—
Rhyme; the forename Dick with the word ‘hick’.
def’n: Hick —
informal. A gullible, provincial person;
yokel.
def’n: Yokel —
A simple country person; bumpkin.
def’n: Bumpkin —
An awkward or unsophisticated person.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s AMERICAN GOTHIC gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid, or rather,
a GPAdult in the same scene and stance as the ‘American Gothic’ painting created
by Grant Wood in 1930. While Wood was visiting Eldon, Iowa, a small wood farmhouse
with a single Carpenter Gothic-style window had caught his eye; he had his sister
and his dentist stand in for the farmer and his daughter and visualized ‘American
Gothic’ people with elongated faces to match the window structure.
—
Per Bunk’s early tight pencil and rough colour artwork, the dog stuck on the farmer’s
pitchfork was much uglier in appearance and the daughter had a more disgusted
look on her face. You can just make out the pig peeking around her elbow in this
colour rough, which contained the following art direction notated off to the left
of the image: ‘her head smaller – mouth a little open’ and ‘CUTE dog’.
The daugther’s tongue make’s a quick appearance in the second tight pencil artwork,
where the dog’s eye(s) is/(are) wide open. The second rough colour and final artwork
shows the daughter’s face with a more surprised or startled look, the dog is much
cuter, and the farmhouse in a more dilapidated state.

414b
YO YOLANDA
= Yo yo.
def’n: Yo-yo —
A toy consisting of a flattened spool wound with string that is spun down from
and reeled up to the hand by winding and unwinding the string.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s YO-YO gag was one of several approved concepts by
Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a miniaturized
GPKid being used as a ‘human’ yo-yo with its umbilical cord being used as the
string; the average length of an umbilical cord is 50-60cm, but the range is from
30-100cm. In 1866, Haven & Hettrich (of Ohio) secured a patent for a ‘whirligig’,
whereas Donald F. Duncan bought the rights to the term ‘yo-yo’ in the 1920s. Note,
the ‘official’ length of a yo-yo string is measured from the floor to the height
of one’s stomach or belly button, when the string is tied to one’s finger, roughly
3″ above the naval. The character’s tongue is sticking out gleefully, and
this is the first time in a while, for this set, that we see joints at the elbows
and knees, but a crack is seen on the head, most likely caused by hitting the
hard pavement. Two other GPK-like characters are in the background demonstrating
the toy fad.

415b
WIPED OUT WINNIE
—
Winnie; W forename to go with the words ‘wipe+d out’.
def’n:
Wipe —
To rub, as with a cloth or paper. To remove by or as if by rubbing.
def’n:
Wipe out – To destroy completely.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s ERADICATED gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a 3D GPKid being
erased as if part of the 2D chalkboard. The teacher or instructor is holding a
‘CHALKBOARD ERASER‘, erasing the mathematical equations
on the board, but going well beyond the plane of the chalkboard’s existence and
also eradicating the student in the process. The character appears to be standing
at the front of the class, reading out possible math problems and their answers.
The teacher isn’t listening or paying attention.

416b
SHERMAN TANK
= Sherman tank.
def’n: Sherman tank —
The main American battle tank during World War II, weighing 35 tons with a 40
caliber cannon.
def’n: Tank —
An enclosed, heavily armored combat vehicle mounted with a cannon and guns and
moving on treads.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Pound’s ARMY TANK gag was one of several approved concepts
by Topps that John executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid riding
in a baby carriage (or pram) decked out as an army tank, with caterpillar treads
and a machine gun. The off-road vehicle has cut across a designated walking path,
tearing up the grass. A squirrel is seen in the distance just getting out of harm’s
way. The infant is sucking profusely on a pacifier taking aim at anything within
his destrutive path, with his finger constantly on the trigger and gun shells
flying in the air.
— The final card image
might have the most interesting GPK header for the whole U.S. original run; the
trees aren’t necessarily placed over the banner, as per usual, where you can still
read the logo, but they actually trauncate the header from both sides. Maybe they’re
camoflauge trees.

Tank Cutaway: 1 – Lifting ring, 2 – Ventilator,
3 – Turret hatch, 4 – Periscope, 5 – Turret hatch race, 6 –
Turret seat, 7 – Gunner’s seat, 8 – Turret seat, 9 – Turret,
10 – Air cleaner, 11 – Radiator filler cover, 12 – Air cleaner
manifold, 13 – Power unit, 14 – Exhaust pipe, 15 – Track idler,
16 – Single water pump, 17 – Radiator, 18 – Generator, 19 –
Rear propeller shaft, 20 – Turret basket, 21 – Slip ring, 22 –
Front propeller shaft, 23 – Suspension bogie, 24 – Transmission, 25
– Main drive sprocket, 26 – Driver’s seat, 27 – Machine gunner’s
seat, 28 – 75 mm gun, 29 – Drivers hatch, 30 – M1919A4 machine
gun. Source: stephentaylorhistorian.com/2018/09/05/sherman-tank-inside-and-out/

417b
SWINGIN’ SOPHIE
—
Sophie; S forename to go with the word ‘swing+ing’.
def’n: Swing
—
To move or cause to move backward and forward. To hang freely. The act of swinging.

BITS
& BOBS:
—
Bunk’s AMERICAN HANG IN THERE was one of several approved
concepts by Topps that Tom executed for the OS10 set. The artwork depicts a GPKid
just hanging around on a swingset, but with her pigtails tied to the frame. Per
Bunk’s original colour rough, the school yard prank takes place during the day,
and the so-called smiling victim must’ve been swinging for some time since there
are spiderwebs forming. The colour rough was most likely a previously unused concept,
since the old GPK model is apparent; ten fingers, CPK eyes, etcetera. The reworked
idea sees the character within a night-time setting, a full moon & stars scenery,
and crying about her lonely predicament. The character is updated with new attire,
bowstrings, and some joints for her arms & legs.