The 16th series Garbage Pail Kids art and product development for the series, which included the box, wrapper and display designs, were fully completed by the end of 1988. Production was in the works for test sheets of the cards and boxes in January of 1989... in which an expected release during March of 1989 was estimated. Unfortunately, at the last minute, Topps decided against a 16th release and shelved the project. The cost of production wasn't sufficient enough in comparison to potential sales if released. The sales of GPK had weakened progressively and the craze had run its course. Topps was working on other non-sport sets at the time along with their higher-selling sport card line. A 16th series GPK release, unfortunately, would not be profitable. In 1991, Topps had the creators and commissioned artists of the GPK series work on a new GPK-like card set called Trash Can Trolls, although sales were so poor a 2nd series never materialized. What's left of the 16th series GPK is a black and white seperation sheet of the "A" set of cards salvaged from a Topps dumpster back in 1989 which resurfaced in 2001 for GPK enthusiasts to feast their eyes on for the first time. This is the sixth and last series to include the "Flick It!" section on the backs of various cards completed by GPK newcomer Richard Mcguire. In late 2002, Topps auctioned off several 16th series GPK items from their legendary Topps Vault on eBay, the on-line auction house. Some items consisted of front and back test or proof sheets of the series showing the color versions of the "A" and "B" cards along with all the names. A wealth of information for collectors which has finally brought the visualization of the unreleased set to reality. In 2003, Topps finally published 29 images from the original, unreleased 16th series GPK set as part of the All-New Series 1 release. Nine of the remaining twelve images can be found within the 2010 and 2011 Flashback sets; and the last three artwork pieces can be found as bonus cards in the Abrams 2012 GPK book.

BLUE WAX WRAPPR - 4 Expected Variations (Below)

WRAPPER (0-490-21-05-8) - With "25¢" Logo
(Rendered Artwork : Tom Bunk)


WRAPPER (0-490-21-06-8) - Without "25¢" Logo
(Rendered Artwork : Tom Bunk)

RETAILER ADVERTISEMENT POSTER - Expected
(Poster Artwork : John Pound)

DEALER SELL SHEET - Expected
(Sheet Artwork : John Pound)

24/48 ct. CASE DISPLAY BOX - Exptected

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ARTWORK IMAGES

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FUN FACTS & TIDBITS

1. The second series to have a Slanted GPK Header, cards 636a "Slammed SLOAN" and 636b "KEITH Out" show the logo header being slammed in the door with the character (see the "Artwork Images" section above to view the picture).

2. The eleventh series to contain cards with The GPK Acronym found within the artwork. The GPK acronym found on the advertisement sign of cards 622a "Neon LEON" and 622b "Blinkin' BLAKE".

3. After the production of the 16th series was axed, a new parody set called the Trash Can Trolls was released in 1992. Three different Drawings Of the 16th Series were Reworked For the new Trash Can Trolls release.

Cards 628a "Double TEX" and 628b "HOWIE Yowie" : 15a "TEX Wrecks" and 15b "Shocked SHERRY":

Cards 660a "TAD Ill" and 660b "Spillin' GUS" : 2a "Retchin' GRETCHEN" and 2b "DREW Spew"

Cards 661a "Stoked STU" and 661b "Toilet Wave DAVE" : 4a "New Wave DAVE" and 4b "Flush GORDON"

4. A few Subtle Changes occured between the color rough or final artwork and the card production for a few of the artwork pieces. Cards 622a "Neon LEON" and 622b "Blinkin' BLAKE" have "BUY" and "GPK's" separated by a GPK face picking his nose ... the final artwork reads "BUY GPK's" at the top of the sign with a full GPK character at the bottom. The toilet plunger is changed to a toilet-paper roll for cards 625a "Flushed FLOYD" and 625b "Croc O. SID". The color changes of cards 626a "Interracial RACHEL" and 626b "Stitched STELLA" can be found in the bow and the dress. While cards 640a "Finger-Paintin' FIFI" and 640b "LIBBY Stick" contain both color and slight character changes ... the perfume bottle is changed from yellow to red to blue, while the clean-cut finger now has a finger bone sticking out of it for the final piece. For cards 647a "Leggy PEGGY" and 647b "Obscene Kathleen", the drink table and cigarette are removed from the character for the final version. See the "Artwork Images" section for pictures of these changes.

5. Only 16th series test items were published. This particular series is Not Released. 29 images from the "16th Series" set was released in 2003 within the All-New Series 1 (ANS1) set, nine of the remaining twelve images can be found within the 2010 and 2011 Flashback sets; and the last three artwork pieces can be found as bonus cards in the Abrams 2012 GPK book. See the "Comprehensive Checklist" further below for more information.

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HISTORY SECTION

1. These unpublished 16th Series Wrapper Artwork were started for the release by Tom Bunk; two different wrapper mock-ups were produced, one picturing cards 624a "ROD Rodent" and 624b "PAT Rat", and the other portraying cards 658a "Trim JIM" and 659b "Groomin' TRUMAN". Not sure whether the one or both of the wrapper concepts would have been used, if so, that would have been the first release with two different wrapper character styles.


2. Out of the 41 images used for the 16th series, 20 were Drawn By Tom Bunk. The five images NOT used in the ANS1 set are cards 640a "Finger-Paintin' FIFI " and 640b "LIBBY Stick" (published in the 2010 Flashback set), 641a "Ticked-Off TUCKER " (2012 Abrams GPK book; 2 of 4) and 641b "Quittin' Time QUINN" (unpublished), 650a "Dead FLORA " and 650b "Fetid FERN" (published in the 2011 Flashback 2 set), 658a "Trim JIM " (2012 Abrams GPK book; 4 of 4) and 658b "Groomin' TRUMAN" (unpublished), and 659a "Idol IRA " and 659b "KEN Tiki" (published in the 2011 Flashback 2 set). See the "Artwork Images" section for pictures of these pieces. One Tom Bunk "Gun" unpublished piece not used in this series was replaced by the artwork for cards 645a "Busy BEA " and 645b "Handy MANDY" (pictured further below) by James Warhola.

3. John Pounds Unpublished 2nd series GPK Piece, which was also considered for the 6th series GPK set, was finally used within the unreleased 16th series. The image was used for the GPK Poster set (Poster # 7 - "Eat My Face!, Garbage Pail Kids") and later used for the 16th series unpublished card 639a "GUY Pie" and 639b "Pepperoni Toni" and again later in the All-New Series 1 set for card 9a "Cheesy CHARLIE" and 9b "Pizza Face CHASE" (notice the four fingers on the character instead of the three fingers of later character models).


4. Out of the 41 images used for the 16th series, 20 were Drawn By John Pound. The six images NOT used in the ANS1 set are cards 626a "Interracial RACHEL" and 626b "Stitched STELLA" (published in the 2010 Flashback set), 636a "Slammed SLOAN" and 636b "KEITH Out" (published in the 2011 Flashback 2 set), 637a "Raisin' ELLA" and 637b "Grape VI" (published in the 2010 Flashback set), 642a "Scrawled SAUL" and 642b "Bad ART" (published in the 2011 Flashback 2 set), 644a "NOAH Parking" and 644b "PETER Meter" (published in the 2011 Flashback 2 set), and 651a "Dunkin' DUNCAN" and 651b "WILL Hung" (published in the 2011 Flashback 3 set). See the "Artwork Images" section for pictures of these pieces. One John Pound "Gun" unpublished piece not used in this series was replaced by the artwork for cards 639a "GUY Pie" and 639b "Pepperoni TONI" (both pictured within the "Artwork Images" page above).

5. Artist Tom Bunk had Different Renditions For his 16th series Color Roughs. Below are some examples of these various color versions that you can compare to the actual color roughs seen on the "Artwork Images" page for card numbers 623 (2 versions), 625, 631 (2 versions), 638, 643, 648 (2 versions), and 659.

6. The Only Image not Drawn By John Pound or Tom Bunk for the 16th series set, but drawn by James Warhola, are cards 645a "Busy BEA" and 645b "Handy Mandy". This piece was pulled from an earlier GPK set and unpublished, used as a replacement for Tom Bunk's "gun" unpublished piece (see the "Artwork Images" section), and also was NOT used in the ANS1 set. The image for "Busy BEA" 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 3 of 4.


7. In late 2002, The Topps Co. Auctioned off some 16th Series Items from their legendary Topps Vault on the auction house eBay. Some pieces included the uncut 16th series box sheet, as well as uncut correction sheets for the front and backs of the cards.

Uncut Box Sheet

Uncut Front Correction Sheet

Uncut Back Sheet "B"s Puzzle "W" : Uncut Back Sheet #2 "A"s Puzzle "X"

8. This unused 16th Series Wrapper rough sketch idea was also created for the release by Tom Bunk as a contender for the wrapper artwork; as seen further above, two other different wrapper mock-ups were produced which Mark Newgarden had amongst his records as being approved, one picturing cards 624a "ROD Rodent" and 624b "PAT Rat", and the other portraying cards 658a "Trim JIM" and 659b "Groomin' TRUMAN". This third concept piece from Bunk's records showcases cards 661a "Stoked STU" and 661b "Toilet Wave DAVE".


9. In 1988, before the actual release of the planned 16th series GPK set, Topps released the Dinosaurs Attack! card set ... a second in the series of "attack" sets after the Mars Attacks! set from 1962. The exact artwork layout for card #39 "Trilobite Terror" created by XNO/Chet Darmstaedter (thanks for the card Jim!) became one of the GPK concepts for cards 657a "Crawly RALEIGH" and 657b "Bugged BOYD" created by John Pound... coincidently, card #655b within the 16th series set is titled "DINO Attacks". The image was later released in 2003 within the All-New Series 1 set for cards 4a "Cootie CODY" and 4b "Buggin' BRANDON".


10. Jay Lynch completed the pencil roughs and the Final Artwork for the 16th series card Backs, assisted by Gary Whitney who helped with the final artwork. Jay lynch also wrote the simple gag roughs for the 19 artwork panels for the back of the cards. The idea outline came from Charles Schneider and Richard McGuire animated the "FLICK IT" section (see the "Artwork Images" Card Backs section).

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COMPREHENSIVE CHECKLIST