—
Several Unpublished OS2 Paintings were completed
by artist John Pound for the release but pulled from the line-up at some point
during production. A ‘FISHBAIT‘ (2-06) concept that was
later used as card #6 ‘HOOKED ON GARBAGE PAIL KIDS‘ for
the Giant GPK set — pictured within the ‘ART Gallery’, and a ‘PICKLED‘
(2-24) concept that was later printed as a ‘LOST‘ image
in the 2010 Flashback and 2014 OS2 Chrome sets and reworked by Pound and used
in the Comic Images Meanie Babies set as card #6 PICKLES in 1998. This and the
next image were completed for the OS2 but it is speculated whether they were pulled
from the sheet causing two empty spots.

—
Several Unpublished OS2 Images were completed by
artist John Pound for the release but it is unknown how far into production the
images got or if executed later. A ‘PIZZA FACE‘ concept,
website mock-up image pictured below, that was later used as poster #7 ‘EAT
MY FACE!‘ for the GPK Poster release. The piece was considered for the
OS6 set and finally made the OS16 line-up as cards 639a GUY Pie and 639b Pepperoni
TONY — replacing a pulled image, but remained unpublished due to the shelved
project late in production. The character was finally printed within the 2003
ANS1 set as cards 9a Cheesy CHARLIE and 9b Pizza Face CHASE. Pound sketched out
53 concepts for the OS2 set; other conceptes included a ‘SPIDER‘
(2-33) concept printed as cards 98a CHARLOTTE Web and 98b DIDI T. and a ‘WRESTLER‘
(2-52) printed as cards 93a DREW Blood and 93b Bustin’ DUSTIN (2-52) both for
the OS3 release.

— Several
Unpublished OS2 Concepts were tight sketched but
not executed by artist John Pound for the release, but were later painted by other
upcoming GPK artists, including several listed above in the previous paragraphs.
One example is the image later completed for the OS3 release and printed as character
for cards 116a Eerie ERIC and 116b Berserk KIRK (2-01) executed by artist Tom
Bunk; Bunk and artist Jeon Mae used these along with other sketches as test samples
with their integration into painting card fronts.

—
The Award & License Card Backs concept was inspired
by older Topps sets such as Funny Licenses and ideas from the 1968 Kooky Awards
die-cut sticker set. However, the artwork by Tom Bunk and the writing by Mark
Newgarden is all-new original artwork and text for the release; there are three
unpublished card backs that can be seen within the ‘Reverse Card’ section above.
These three backs were re-created for the Chrome OS2 set released in 2014; two
faithfully restored and the third to the best of NPD’s ability due to the quality
of the scanned reference. The lower right corner ribbon artwork on the backside
of the card was completed by Mark Newgarden and was the only way for him to sneak
in a bit of his own artwork into the set.

—
The Reverse Artwork for the OS2 card backs was completed
twice by GPK artist Tom Bunk. The original artwork (first image) was finished
using markers but the NPD (New Product Development), Mark Newgarden and/or Art
Spiegelman, wanted the card backs to be re-done and finished with watercolors,
which became the final reverse artwork for the card backs (second image), to give
them a lighter, more vibrant appearance, and also prints better. More information
can be located within the ‘Reverse Card’ section above.

—
During the release of the 2nd and 3rd Series sets, with the growing interest of
GPK and collectors writing into the company, Topps created a blanket Response
Letter that outlined a few of the main questions asked by collectors and
offered a way to obtain the cards through local hobby shops. The reverse side
of the letter contained three listed hobby shop addresses including Roxanne Toser,
publisher of Non-Sport Update, when she was still dealing and selling to
the public. The letter gave little insight behind the creators of the GPK and
mentioned Topps did not accept concept ideas from the public. A local rumor in
IL mentioned a 58b Soft-Boiled SAM puzzle could be completed, my original letter
in 1986 came back with ‘Other: Aaron, your friends are kidding you, there is no
completed puzzle for the card Soft-Boiled SAM’.

‘CLICK’ IMAGE FOR A LARGER PICTURE

—
GPK Uncut Sheets were auctioned off of eBay through
the Topps Vault in the Summer of 2006; A front image for the 2nd Series GPK set
(one ‘b’ set and one half ‘b’ set) with production number 4-495-05-01-5; Schizo
FRAN card and Leaky LINDSAY puzzle. This uncut sheet contains the standard 44
card sheet formula that Topps uses during printing (132 cards per sheet) with
the inclusion of two images due to the rejection of artwork (or no exclusion at
all) and replaced with a duplicate image. You can see that there are two of card
titles #42 and #45, but since #45 has the same backs only card #42 is a variation
for this release since it has two different backs. The sheet number 4-495-05-02-5
contains the Schizo FRAN card and Live MIKE puzzle.

—
A set of twelve GPK Buttons were released in 1986
with seven 1st Series images and five 2nd Series images which, instead of a nameplate,
contained an expression. Button #6 BLESS YOU! portrayed
the image for card character 45a Leaky LINDSAY and 45b Messy TESSIE, however,
the snot running from her nose is missing; the characters smile is slightly off,
looking more like human lips rather than the CPK smile. The characters for 1st
Series cards 8a ADAM Bomb and 8b Blasted Billy and for the 2nd Series cards 42a
PATTY Putty and 42b Muggin’ MEGAN and 45a Leaky LINDSAY and 45b Messy TESSIE (with
full snot strands) can be found as the button images on the box with blank nameplates.
The die-cut is not the original sticker die-cut but a generic die-cut used for
all of the buttons.

—
Possibly coincidental, but there are several GPK characters with a very R.
Crumb feel to them. Artist Robert Crumb’s artwork tends to display nostalgic
contemporary American folk culture, but oftentimes from a satirical viewpoint.
Card example 42a PATTY Putty and 42b Muggin’ MEGAN:

—
In 1986, Mad magazine came out with the “Garbage Pail Issue”
featuring nine pieces of original artwork, by Will Elder and Harvey Kurtzman,
portraying parodies of celebrities on the back cover called Garbage
Pail Adults. Parallel to the back cover, a company printed the cards on
a plain white stock with the cards measuring around 2 X 3 8/16 inches which
were included in a future issue of MAD.  Besides the front and back
cover, there is no GPK material within.

—
Garbage Pail Kids Chewy Candy
was produced in 1986 after the release of the 1st and 2nd Series sets and in 1987
after the trademark lawsuit. The candy product used characters from the 1st and
2nd Series sets as mascots on the candy wrappers. Three assortment of flavors
can be found; cherry (blue and red wrapper), grape (yellow and purple wrapper)
and strawberry (pink and green wrapper). The images are very similar to the rendered
artwork found on the GPK wax wrappers; however, the NPD (New Product Development)
department at Topps in the ’80s was responsible for the GPK cards, while the Art
Department created the packaging and images for licensed products — oftentimes
using in-house art staff or other freelance artists not associated with the GPK
franchise. Although Tom Bunk worked on the image rendering for the OS1 thru OS16
wax wrappers, including the 8a ADAM Bomb image below, the remaining artwork was
executed by artist George Evans. Five of these black and white rendered artwork
pieces can also be found on the GPK Cheap Toys candy checklist. The product was
made in Argentina (South America) by the Stani company for Confex, Inc., located
in New Jersey and licensed by the Topps company. Various candy wrapper images
can be viewed within the ‘Art Gallery’ above and within the ‘Chewy Candy’ page.

The 1986 release displayed the ADAM Bomb character and the straight
GPK header which can also be located on the wrapper; the 1987 release displayed
the JENNY Genius character and the new banner-style GPK header which can also
be located on the wrapper. There are sixteen characters found for each release
for a total of thirty-two characters. Each full bag contains a 240 count of three
assorted candy flavors and random characters. 2nd Release images and information
provided by collector Luis Thompson. Both releases contains 48 wrappers for each
character: 16 cherry, 16 grape and 16 strawberry; for a total of 96 wrappers.

1ST
RELEASE : 1ST SERIES CHARACTERS

RAY DECAY 2b, ADAM BOMB 8a, SPACEY STACY 13b, DRESSY JESSE 20b, FAT MATT 26b,

JENNY GENIUS 27b, SAVAGE STUART 33b, THIN LYNN 29b
1ST
RELEASE : 2ND SERIES CHARACTERS
MUGGIN’ MEGAN 42b, ONE-EYED JACK 44b,
FRAN FRAN 49b, BRETT SWEAT 51b, BRUTAL BRAD 55b,
BRUTAL BRIDGET 56b, PEGLEG
PETER 61b, CHRIS HISS 62b

2ND
RELEASE : 1ST SERIES CHARACTERS

EVIL EDDIE 1b, DRUNK KEN 9b, TV STEVIE 10a, ASHCAN ANDY 13a, WEIRD WENDY 16a,
BRAINY JANIE 27a, BONY JOANIE 29a, GRAFFITI PETEY 30b, MAD MIKE 33a, ANNA BANANA
34b, ROCKIN’ ROBERT 35b, TOMMY TOMB 36b, SLIMY SAM 38a
2ND
RELEASE : 2ND SERIES CHARACTERS
RUSSELL MUSCLE 51a, HAIRY GARY 55a,
JOLLY ROGER 61a

—
The Original Concept Piece for the 1st Series card
8a ADAM Bomb and 8b Blasted BILLY had the character depicted as President Ronald
Reagan pushing the red nuke with the mushroom cloud in the background; Art Spiegelman
suggested the cloud come out of the characters head instead. The character was
later reworked and realized for the 2nd Series set placed behind a podium for
cards 46a Rappin’ RON and 46b RAY Gun; the original Mark Newgarden concept piece
had him holding a set of guns that were removed for the final artwork.