A Historical Garbage Pail Kids Reference Guide

RELEASE
PERIOD : DECEMBER 1988 — PRODUCT NUMBER : 490-15

The
two production runs of the 15th Series Garbage Pail Kids
—aka
Original Series 15 GPK, or OS15 for short—
release
are almost the same except for their wrappers. The first production run wrapper
has the ’25¢ CHEAP’ logo and the second production run is without the pricing
logo. However, on account of a printing error, several print runs of OS15
are non-die cut—without a die-cut sticker—and found in both production
runs. Due to a correction, die-cut cards have only been found in the second production
run. This is the fifth set to inlude the ‘FLICK IT!’ section on the reverse
card backs completed by artist Richard Mcguire. With the GPK brand in its final
year of production, from 1987-1988, and the popularity slowing down, the product
is much harder to locate, often raising the price per pack at certain retailers,
and increasing the demand for these cards by collectors years later. Since the
last production run of any series usually sells the least amount, unsold boxes
are either black marked for closeout or sent back to the distributor, they tend
to be the harder-to-find production runs.

ARTISTS
: JOHN POUND, TOM BUNK, JAY LYNCH, JAVI SOLER & RICHARD MCGUIRE
WRITERS
: JAY LYNCH

88
CARD SET : 80 CARDS + 8 VARIATIONS
VARIATIONS : 581a, 581b, 582a, 582b, 583a,
583b, 584a + 584b
177 TOTAL CARD SET : 88 CARDS + 89 ERRORS

Artist
Jay Lynch brought in friend and artist Javi Soler to assist him on the artwork
for the card backs for the set; this would be the only known set that Soler contributed
to and wouldn’t necessarily be on the Topps books. The NPD team would also have
artist Richard McGuire work on the ‘FLICK IT!’ section again; for sets OS11 through
OS16.

ITEM
CODE
REVISION
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

B&W Sell Sheet
490-15
NA
Wholesaler
Buyer Product Order Sheet
Retail
Wrapper
0-490-21-03-8
NA
Retail Store
Wax Wrapper : 25¢ Price
Hobby
Wrapper
0-490-21-04-8
No Price
Hobby
Store Wax Wrapper : No Price
Retail
/ Hobby Box
1-490-40-02-8
NA
Cardboard
Display Box
Case
Box
2-490-39-02-8
NA
Corrugated Cardboard
Shipping Carton : Product
Uncut
Sheet
4-490-05-02-8
NA
Uncut
Production Sheet : Sticker Format
Display
Poster
4-490-08-02-8
NA
Retail Box Display
Poster

OS15
PRODUCT & PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

*

UNCUT
SHEET — 132 CARD SHEET — 8 x 11 FORMAT
CODE 4-490-05-02-8 —
NO IMAGE

*

CASE
BOX — 24/48 ct. — PRODUCT #490-15
CODE 2-490-39-02-8 — UPC
0-41116-05490-7

*

DISPLAY BOX — CODE 1-490-40-02-08 —
1 VARIATION
MAIN ARTWORK : TOM BUNK — SIDE ARTWORK : JOHN POUND
BOX
DESIGN : BRAD KAHLHAMER

*

WRAPPER
#1 — CODE 0-490-21-03-8
— 25¢
PRICE
— 1 VARIATION
RENDERED ARTWORK
: TOM BUNK — DESIGN : BRAD KAHLHAMER

WRAPPER #2 — CODE 0-490-21-04-8
— NO PRICE — 1 VARIATION
RENDERED ARTWORK : TOM BUNK — DESIGN
: BRAD KAHLHAMER

*


RETAIL AD POSTER — CODE
4-490-08-02-8 — SIXE 10 x 14
ARTWORK : TOM
BUNK — DESIGN : BRAD KAHLHAMER

*

WHOLESALER
SELL SHEET — CODE # 490-15 — SIZE 8 x 11
ARTWORK : TOM BUNK —
DESIGN : BRAD KAHLHAMER

WHOLESALER
ORDER SHEET — NO CODE — SIZE 8 x 11 INCHES
OCTOBER 1988 — BLUE
SELL SHEET — PRODUCT # 490
NOTE : ONLY A PROTOTYPE OS14
SELL SHEET KNOWN

GPK BOX ARTWORK : JOHN POUND


‘CLICK’ IMAGE TO VIEW PAGE

—
The second GPK release with different Packaging
colors; a red box and a green wrapper; this is a nice Christmas color schematic
since the set was released in month of December.


—
The second Garbage Pail Kids set to have
a forename in large Font, but the word in is bold
for card 583b HARRY Glyph.

—
A production Error
for card 584b Crawlin’ ROLLIN can be found with the black color missing from a
majority of the ‘PEEL HERE’ arrow and the GPK banner due to the absence of the
rich black ink during the printing process; this has been identified for the non
die-cut card version with the completed ‘PUZZLE PREVIEW’ variation card back.
Please visit GPKStoreandMore.com; thanks Jeff!

—
The only GPK release to have the Variation card
backs all right next to each other within the set for card #581, 582, 583 and
584 and all four characters are used for the packaging, promotional and puzzle
material.

—
The third set with a GPK Wrapper
character that is different from its box character; the remaining Garbage Pail
Kids set for the unpublished OS16 set will follow this same pattern.

—
Non-Die Cut
cards can be found in both print run releases, however, the die-cut cards have
only been located in the second print run release.


—
The second GPK set in which the ‘T’ for the Topps
company logo can be found within the artwork, on the baseball player’s hat of
cards 590a Little Leak LEN and 590b Snot-Ball SAUL.

—
The only series where the GPK Header
is located in the center of the card and contains two Nameplates
which are located at the top and bottom of the card with two different colors
for cards 602a Upside DONNA and 602b Two-Fer JUAN. The second release with an
upside down nameplate.

—
The tenth set to contain cards with the
GPK Acronym found within the artwork; the GPK acronym
found on the baseball cap of cards 603a MITCH Mitt and 603b Foul BILL and on the
towel dispenser machine of cards 606a Foul-Towel RAOUL and 606b Muddy BUDDY.

—
The Nomenclature
artist John Pound had suggested on the tight pencil artwork for cards 605a Windy
MINDY and 605b Birthday KATE was ‘BERTHA Day’.

—
The completed Puzzles
for the OS15 set are alphabetically sequential with the OS14 set which contained
teh S-puzzle and T-puzzle. The puzzles have remained at 21 pieces and the set
contains two puzzles much like the OS2, OS3, OS5 and OS9 through OS14 sets for
card characters 583a HARRY Glyph and 583b LYLE Tile for the U-puzzle and 584a
Slimy HYMIE and 584b Crawlin’ ROLLIN for the V-puzzle. This is the second set
where the A-name is one puzzle preview and the B-name is the other puzzle preview.


—
The Garbage Pail Kids set has a same sounding
Nomenclature as another release for OS8 card 305A
Grate SCOTT and OS15 card 613b Great SCOTT.

—
The set has several of characters with the
same Forename for cards 583b HARRY Glyph and 597a
HARRY Armpits; 585a Picky NICK and 596b Sick NICK; for cards 591a FRANK Footer
and 609b Dank FRANK; 597b Under Arnie and 619a V.C. Arnie along with cards 602b
Two-Fer JUAN and 614b Cutting JUAN.

—
A fitting Farewell
for the Original Series Garbage Pail Kids franchise, the final twin cards are
a female version of the forever infamous 8a ADAM Bomb and 8b Blasted BILLY mascot
character, for cards 620a ADA Bomb and 620b Blasted BETTY, bringing the GPK brand
full circle and to an end for the 80’s fad.

—
The Garbage Pail Kids set contains the light-blue
Namplate, but not the light-pink nameplate for this
release.

—
The
sixth GPK set to have the PEEL HERE
arrow
pointing higher up compared to the previous ‘PEEL HERE’ arrows for OS1 through
OS9. Beginning with the OS10 set through OS15, the remaining Garbage Pail Kids
unpublished release for OS16 will also contain this new arrow position.



ANNOTATED NAMES
Explanatory
Notations and Definitions of the GPK Nomenclature


—
Artist Tom Bunk creates several different
artwork renditions for his Color Roughs; below are
samples of a few of these original versions with very subtle color and clothing
variations for cards 581a SHEL Game and 551b 3-Card MONTE with different colored
clothing, 585a Picky NICK and 585b BEULAH Ghoul in an evening scene with tabasco
sauce and 613a Bag PIPER and 613b Great SCOTT with a lighter wardrobe and gloves
and a pipe piece not within the mouth or with the same facial expression.


*

—
Pictured below are one each of artist John
Pound’s Color Rough and Pencil
Rough
samples for cards 592a Extra DEXTER & 592b Flabby ABBY and 600a
Vendo-MATT & 600b DOUG Slug, respectively. Since very few unrevised thumbnail
sketches by Pound have been available to the public there are very few changes,
if any, that can be found between the tight pencil, color rough and final artwork
considering they are photocopied and colored and painted directly over the top.


*


—
The OS15 FLICK IT!
section artwork on the reverse card backs emulates a flipbook that was completed
by artist Richard McGuire which pokes fun at horoscopes and astrology. Artist
Jay Lynch completed the final roughs and final artwork for the reverse card backs
while Javi Soler—a Spanish cartoonist—penciled and inked, finished the
lettering and assisted with the final artwork.

*

—
A few pieces by artist Tom Bunk showing additional
artwork renditions for his Color Roughs with very
subtle color and clothing variations for cards 591a FRANK Footer and 591b Dog
Bites BOYD with the frankfurter looking more like a dog and the entire face not
being bitten; and for cards 611a Acid WAYNE and 611b Polluted PAUL with different
colored hair and background and the fish head above water.



*

—
Garbage Pail Kids Flowcharts
were created for the releases after the OS4 set which showed Mark Newgarden, the
GPK editor how the progress of the new set was going. It displayed what artist
was working on which concept piece and the stage in which the painting had been
completed. Oftentimes, concept pieces were denied and the department tried to
work them into later sets. A list of additional concept pieces was found at the
bottom of the flowchart in case pieces could not be used. The OS15 set contained
the following ideas which either replaced rejected concept pieces within the set,
were saved for a later series or never saw the day of light : barbwire (unpublished
OS1 used in Poster set), girl jumping barbwire (ANS4), kid with tongue toothpaste
dispenser (ANS3), angel girl (ANS4).

THE
ARTIST RECOGNITION EDITION

VARIATION
& PRINT RUN INFORMATION LOCATED ON PRINTABLE CHECKLIST PAGE

#
NOMENCLATURE &
NOTES
ARTIST:
FRONT
ARTIST:
BACK
WRITER:
BACK
581a
SHEL Game —
V
TOM
Bunk
NA
: CHECKLIST
NA
: CHECKLIST
581a
SHEL Game —
V
TOM
Bunk
Lynch
+ McGuire
JAY
Lynch
581b
3-Card MONTE —
V
TOM
Bunk
NA
: CHECKLIST
NA
: CHECKLIST
581b
3-Card MONTE —
V
TOM
Bunk
Lynch
+ McGuire
JAY
Lynch
582a
Take-Out DINAH
— V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
582a
Take-Out DINAH
— V
JOHN
Pound
Lynch
+ McGuire
JAY
Lynch
582b
Chow MAME —
V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
582b
Chow MAME —
V
JOHN
Pound
Lynch
+ McGuire
JAY
Lynch
583a
LYLE Tile —
V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
583a
LYLE Tile —
V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
583b
HARRY Glyph —
V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
583b
HARRY Glyph —
V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
584a
Slimy HYMIE —
V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
584a
Slimy HYMIE —
V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
584b
Crawlin’ ROLLIN
— V
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
584b
Crawlin’ ROLLIN
— V
, E
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
585a
Picky NICK
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
585b
BEULAH Ghoul
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
586a
PETER Cheater
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
586b
DEAN List
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
587a
CORNELIA Flake
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
587b
MALA Nutrition
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
588a
Yo! GERT
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
588b
Ice Cream CONNIE
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
589a
Ecch BENEDICT
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
589b
Brain LES
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
590a
Little Leak LEN
— SNOT-BALL PITCHER
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
590b
Snot-Ball SAUL
— SNOT-BALL PITCHER
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
591a
FRANK Footer
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
591b
Dog Bites BOYD
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
592a
Extra DEXTER
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
592b
Flabby ABBY
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
593a
Footloose FRED
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
593b
Lucky LEW
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
594a
Tied DI —
KNOTTY PINE PANELLING
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
594b
Knotty LOTTIE —
RUBBER KID TIED IN KNOTS
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
595a
MAL Practice
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
595b
Intensive CARRIE
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
596a
Sani KLAUS
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
596b
Sick NICK
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
597a
HARRY Armpits
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
597b
Under ARNIE
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
598a
Vise GUY
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
598b
HUGH Fix-It
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
599a
BERN-Out —
BURNT-OUT BULB, REV.
JOHN
Pound
Lynch
+ McGuire
JAY
Lynch
599b
Dim-Bulb BOB —
BURNT-OUT BULB, REV.
JOHN
Pound
Lynch
+ McGuire
JAY
Lynch
600a
Vendo-MATT
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
600b
DOUG Slug
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
601a
Losin’ WADE
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
601b
HY Cholesterol
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
602a
Upside DONNA
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
602b
Two-Fer JUAN
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
603a
MITCH Mitt
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
603b
Foul BILL
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
604a
SANDI Box
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
604b
CAT Litter
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
605a
Windy MINDY —
FART BLOW OUT CANDLES, REV.
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
605b
Birthday KATE —
FART BLOW OUT CANDLES, REV.
JOHN
Pound
JOHN
Pound
NA
: PUZZLE
606a
Foul-Towel RAOUL
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
606b
Muddy BUDDY
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
607a
KIT Video
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
607b
HAM Actor
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
608a
Fairy MARY
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
608b
Stinker BELLE
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
609a
Dewy DEWEY
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
609b
Dank FRANK
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
610a
BEAU Constricted
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
610b
Coiled CARL
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
611a
Acid WAYNE
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
611b
Polluted PAUL
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
612a
Shoe LACEY
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
612b
Weird WALKER
TOM Bunk
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
613a
Bag PIPER
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
613b
Great SCOTT
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
614a
Fillin’ DYLAN
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
614b
Cutting JUAN
JOHN Pound
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
615a
PRESTON Change-O
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
615b
Sleight Of HANS
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
616a
ALEC Gator
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
616b
Croco-DALE
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
617a
CLAUDE Flesh
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
617b
Slasher ASHER
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
618a
Paper DOLLY
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
618b
CATIE Cut-Up
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
619a
V.C. ARNIE
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
619b
Cassette CASEY
TOM Bunk
Lynch + McGuire
JAY Lynch
620a
ADA Bomb
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
620b
Blasted BETTY
JOHN Pound
JOHN Pound
NA : PUZZLE
#
NOMENCLATURE &
NOTES
ARTIST:
FRONT
ARTIST:
BACK
WRITER:
BACK

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