For the seventh installment
of the UK Garbage Pail Kids releases, four years after the UK 6th Series set,
Topps Ireland took the retired U.S. GPK Series characters from 1987 and 1988,
with the new post-lawsuit look, and renamed them ‘The Garbage Gang’. The Garbage
Gang ’91 is identical to the U.S. 10th Series set except the numerical sequence
starts back at number one. The set was produced in 1990, for packaging, and
was manufactored, printed and released in 1991. The settlement may have prevented
the unpublished UK 7th Series set to be released following the lawsuit period,
even though the finished artwork for the U.S. 8th and 9th Series sets could still
be released during that time since it had been completed pre-settlement. Topps
could only use the ‘Garbage Pail Kids’ name through February 1988 abroud; all
future international GPK releases, within a certain time frame, were changed to
‘The Garbage Gang’ word mark; the trademark was filed in April of 1987 and the
registeration date occured in December of 1987. Thus, all GPK released internationally
from 1988 onward, until the All-New Series set in 2004, were titled ‘The Garbage
Gang’.

The
UK Garbage Pail Kids were released after the initial hype and craze of the U.S.
phenomenon. The cards were released in the UK (England, Ireland, Scotland) as
well as distributed in Holland and parts of Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark),
slapped with a clocal price tag.  Unlike the U.S. cards that measure 2 1/2
x 3 1/2 inches and are die-cut, the UK cards are smaller, measuring 2 1/8 x 3
inches and are non die-cut, peeling from the edges, and are sometimes referred
to as ‘mini’ because of their cigarette-card size. The sticker cards come
three to a plastic or cellophane pack with a slab of gum, except for the OS5 set
that comes four cards to a pack. The price is marked on the box rather than
on the packs. Fifteen original series U.S. sets were released by Topps compared
to only eight UK series released by Topps Ireland; Topps International Limited
established in November 1975. All international GPK are a direct reproduction
of the U.S. version or sequential international release and are changed to accommodate
each country that they are released in. This includes any nomenclature, numbering
or header and logo changes—also, covering up card numbers with overlaying
boxed numbers or old ‘PEEL HERE‘ arrows with boxes or larger
arrows pointing in the opposite direction. A 15-card Giant set was also released
in the UK which is same as the U.S. version, but with different copyright date
information and matte finished backs. An unpublished OS7 UK set was also produced
but never printed or released in the United Kingdom.

—
In error, both character cards for 15a JESS Express
& 15a Choo-Choo TRINA have Card Number ’15a’;
the card number for Choo-Choo TRINA should be ’15b’.

—
In error, both character cards for 39a Hangin’
HARRIET & 39a Swingin’ SOPHIE have the Card Number
’39a’; the card number for Swingin’ SOPHIE should
be ’39b’.

—
Due to the settled U.S. lawsuit between OAA and
Topps, all international GPK releases, within a certain time frame, must be titled
‘The Garbage Gang‘ going forward, or a rough translation
of the title.

—
The U.S. image for cards 384a Flamin’ RAYMOND
& 384b Hot TODDY display the smoke in front of the GPK
Banner, but the U.K. cards 6a b Flamin’ RAYMOND & 6b Hot
TODDY display the smoke behind ‘The Garbage Gang’ banner.

—
The U.S. characters for cards 416a Shootin’
NEWTON & 416b SHERMAN Tank have no GPK Banner
sections to the left of the tree or to the right of the tree, but the U.K. cards
38a Shootin’ NEWTON & 38b SHERMAN Tank have ‘The Garbage Gang’ banner
stretching to both areas.

—
When a black number isn’t used for the
set 10th Series set, the U.S. version has white numbers, whereas the UK uses black
Numbers in white boxes instead; this method
may have been a lot easier to edit & ‘box over’ the existing number.