— An Unpublished Wacky Packages concept titled Garbage Pail Kids was pulled from production and never made the 1985 release. The term Garbage Pail Kids and the unpublished 1984 prototype were created by Mark Newgarden. Topps was in cahoots with the doll-makers of the Cabbage Patch Kids to possibly produce a card set, but OAA eventually turned down the potential deal. Topps was a bit peeved and a new parody series had been born, inspired by the pulled Wacky GPK piece. The final Wacky artwork was completed in 1984 by John Pound who had worked on the 1985 Wacky Packages release with several other artists. Pound went on to draw and color the card fronts for the first two GPK Series and more than half of each sets thereafter. Tom Bunk completed the reverse card artwork and started card fronts during the 3rd Series set while Mark Newgarden rendered or wrote the card backs. The red banner 'Juvenile Doll-inquent', above the GPK logo, read 'Garbage Can DAN', with various art alterations, for a series of Lost Wacky bootleg cards.



There does exist a tall tale that then CEO Arthur Shorin was so upset about the OAA saying 'NO!' to a CPK license that he demanded the final artwork to be brought to his office where he burned it. Shorin did indeed tell Topps employees that the artwork had been destroyed, but realistically speaking, this was most likely shared around the time of the GPK lawsuit, in 1986, when Topps was subpoenaed to submit any documents or artwork relating to CPK to opposing counsel. In the fall of 2023, Heritage Auctions, based out of Chicago, IL, put the final artwork up for auction, where John Pound let GPK World and Mark Newgarden know, "The Heritage Auctions Wacky GPK image you sent me looks totally like the final art I did. The colors, textures, lettering all look exactly right. Looks like it's the real thing. Technically, I painted it in the fall of 1984, 5x7 inches. I think I used 2-ply bristol board." The artwork was pulled in anticipation of the CPK license, not due to any backlash; the legal action came at least a year later, in 1986, after GPK had already been on the market.

On September 22, 2023, collector Brandon Zuern reached out to let me know he had posted an article on Patreon (www.patreon.com/posts/89631136), which explains how the original Wacky GPK artwork found its way to Heritage Auctions, and the story of Len Brown walking into the Austin Books & Comics shop in Texas, where Brandon manages & grades, on February 17, to potentially sell some items. Brandon had actually emailed me earlier in the year to ask about the Wacky GPK image that showed up in the 30 Years of Garbage GPK documentary, and the Garbage Can DAN bootleg card. What a great story and outcome—although, I wish Pound was getting the money for the sale of the three pieces that were eventually put up for auction. Mark Newgaren was also told by Arthur Shorin that the artwork had been burned, but Len saved it from its destruction. As Pound agreeably summed things up via email, "That really explains the Wacky GPK art mystery nicely. So much more satisfying than the art being burned up."



AUCTION DESCRIPTION: Garbage Pail Kids/Wacky Pack Juvenile Doll-inquent Unpublished Illustration Original Art (Topps, 1985). This disgruntled little guy is the very first Garbage Pail Kid design ever made. Painted by John Pound, the piece was originally intended to be used for the 1985 Wacky Pack series, a famous parody card line at the time. However, due to backlash and legal threatening by Cabbage Patch Kids, it was decided by Topps CEO Arthur Shorin to not publish it. A famous rumor was that the piece was even requested by Shorin, who personally burned it. Luckily for collectors, this wasn't the case! Topps eventually decided to create a new series separate from Wacky Packs that we all now know as the Garbage Pail Kids series. The rest of the story is pop-culture history, as this series went on to become extremely successful. This original Garbage Pail Kid design is a one-of-a-kind treasure, sure to be the centerpiece for any trading card collector. The art is done on an illustration board and measures 5" x 7". In Excellent condition.

— During the developmental stage of creating potential new product, the art team created a Mock-Up Card using a test piece that was painted by John Pound using the curved CPK-esque logo taken from unreleased Wacky Packages GPK image (image above). The curved GPK logo eventually became a dripping blood-like substance. The black vignette outline seen on Wacky Packages for die-cut purposes is present on the image. The nameplate concept of 'Baby Barfy' was later changed to un-proper phrases with popular first name; the eventual use of two different names for each image doubled the set and future sales. The side notes on the mock up picture suggests using an air-brushed gradation of bright or pastel colors which shows up in John Pound's brilliantly executed air-brushed backgrounds. Several internal Topps sketches were also turned in for possible concepts for the GPK project: a 'FRANKIE' image by Gary Gerani with a final image painted by Mae Jeon that shows subversive character humor. A second sketch by Art Spiegelman showing a more perverse character 'NED' with a more grotesque vision similar to previous Topps releases such as Ugly Stickers by Basil Wolverton and Norman Saunders. Three artists were assigned to this concept, John Pound, Robert Grossman and Howard Cruse; out of the three John Pound was chosen to complete the art for the new parody set.



— The Topps Chewing Gum (T.C.G.) company released the Nutty Awards Postcards in 1964 which were completed by Jack Davies. In 1985, the Topps company rendered almost every idea from this set for the 1st Series Garbage Pail Kids card backs, 20 years later. Artist Tom Bunk reworked and created new art for the backsides and drew the spiral border while Mark Newgarden rendered the writing as well as creating new material including the ribbon artwork in the bottom right hand corner. Out of the 32 Nutty Awards card set, 31 of these concepts were used in the GPK release. In 1967, the Topps Chewing Gum company published the 44 card Kooky Awards Stickers set painted by Norman Saunders and five completed by Tom Sutton; several ideas were recycled from the 1964 Nutty Awards Postcards set which in turn were used on the majority of the card backs for the 1985 Garbage Pail Kids set. The following example for the 'Bull Throwers Award' which can be found in all three sets used the same tagline at the end "Cows may come and cows may go - but your bull goes on forever!"




— During the process of developing a new product test products are sometimes created from existing releases. The first Prototype Wrapper for the Garbage Pail Kids™ was rendered from the Funny Li'l Joke Books set using the wrapper. The Funny Li'l Joke Books set of 44 was released in 1970 — notice the old Topps emblem and price tag of 5cents — and completed by Art Spiegelman, Jay Lynch, Ralph Reese, Wally Wood, Rich Varisi, and Tom Sutton. The 1st Series Garbage Pail Kids set of 44 x 2 was released in 1985 with the new Topps emblem and a price tag of 25cents. The main purpose was to get the GPK logo on an image for trademark filing.




— Garbage Pail Kids Uncut Sheets were auctioned off of eBay through the Topps Vault in the Winter of 2007 (around November); A front image for the 1st Series GPK set (two 'b' sets and one "a" set) with the sheet code number 4-494-05-01-5. This uncut sheet contains the standard 44 card sheet format that Topps uses during printing (132 cards per sheet) with the inclusion of three duplicate images due to the rejection and removal of artwork.

— The Wrapper Artwork was later rendered by artist Tom Bunk from the ADAM Bomb character painted by John Pound. The popular image would be used for the wrapper of the first five Original Series GPK sets -- the color rough concept can be seen below. The box and wrapper layout was designed Brad Kahlhamer, a staff member within the NPD (New Product Development) department, along with the rest of the GPK crew. The NPD staff picked what character ended up on the wrapper and box, what color the packaging would be and what image ended up as puzzle characters (for later releases). The tight ink artwork was also used for the GPK Chew Candy bag and wrapper as well as on the checklist for the GPK Cheap Toys release.



— A 1st Series Wrapper Proof as auctioned off of eBay via the Topps Vault and resold in December of 2015; this type of 'wrapper' was submitted by Topps as 'proof of publication' to register the series title as a trademark months in advance. The '494' within the wrapper code (0-494-21-01-5) and UPC number identifies this product as Garbage Pail Kids, and most specifically, as the 1st Series; the '-5' in the code for the year 1985. This proof does not contain the '25¢ CHEAP' star that is often associated with the first wrapper for a series, identified as '-01-' within the product code. This is a proof to test the colors and layout of the item and not the final product -- the most evident change is removing the orange color and replacing it with the iconic pink color found on the ADAM Bomb card image, per the NPD crew, he was the obvious choice for the packaging mascot. The color red for the detonation box (black on the card image) was also replaced with the color pink reducing the number of colors needed for printing. Lastly, it's humorous to point out that yellow is spelled 'yelo' on the proof.



— Per John Pound's notes and references card #5 'Have a Nice Day' and card #8 'Take a GPK to Lunch' from the Giant 5x7 GPK set were Unpublished 1st Series (OS1) paintings. Giant card #5 'Have a Nice Day' has a #25 on the top left corner of the concept, color and final artwork pieces -- the number tells what order in which the artwork was completed by Pound. The image for OS14 cards 555a Alien ED and 555b Phone HOMER was also intended for the OS1 set but the eyes were reworked to match the new eye shape of the later GPK releases. All of the the pieces match the aesthetic feel of the OS1 set. This would have completed the 44 cardsheet for printing; any pieces removed would be replaced by duplicate artwork which led to card variations -- cards with different backs.



— Artist Dave Newtown worked within the Topps Art Department under the tutelage of and worked on the first GPK T-shirt that went on sale during the OS3 release: "Back in the eighties I did the t-shirt art for 'Adam Bomb', which I think was the first Garbage Pail Kids shirt. We had 4 color process separations created but for some reason (Topps or my bosses?) we decided not to use them. They had me hand stipple all the color separations instead (this was in the pre-digital days). A very fun, but time-consuming, project!"

— A set of twelve GPK Buttons was released in 1986 with seven 1st Series images and five 2nd Series images which, instead of a nameplate, contained an expression. The character image for cards 30a New Wave DAVE and 30b Graffiti PETEY was used for the GPK Button box artwork painted by Mae Jeon; the original artwork was auctioned off of eBay during July of 2008. 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.



— In 1989, Topps consigned artist John Pound to create a GPK image for their Rot 'n Roll Bubble Gum Cassettes product using characters from the 1st Series set. Characters 8a ADAM Bomb and 8b Blasted BILLY playing the keyboard, 3a Up CHUCK and 3b Heavin' STEVEN as the lead singer, 19a Corroded CARL and 19b Crater CHRIS playing the guitar and characters 14a Potty SCOTTY and 14b JASON Basin "playing" the drums. The label artwork became the mini-cassette insert and the tape case contained a gum-shaped cassette tape. The set was art directed by MAD Magazine co-editor Nick Meglin for the Topps company. The band members names (not the card nomenclature) can be found on the casette tape insert. Another version imported by Holland with ingredients in Scandinavian languages and slight changes is also available.The tight pencil, color rough, final product and sell sheet for The Barf Boys cassette tape. The product number 4-999-40-24-0 was released in 1990.



— In August 2017 artist John Cebollero, who started working on GPK during the All-New Series phase, posted on social media a tight pencil he completed based off of a Jay Lynch concept for an unreleased Topps project titled Wacky Hackers; a mash-up of Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids nomenclature and card design. Pre-production allegedly began in 1999 and lampooned popular video game box artwork and computer games; the sketches by Lynch were due in early February, 2001 and faxed in. Cebollero completed the final artwork for the image during production in 2001 but the project was eventually shelved, like so many Topps projects. Lynch noted "RECALLING THE GPK CHARACTER BRAINY JANEY" for OS1 cards 27a Brainy JANIE and 27b JENNY Genius.



— 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



— 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 10a Tee-Vee STEVIE and 10b Geeky GARY:



— The soon-to-be Brand would go on to spawn sixteen sets in the '80s (one unreleased), spin-off products, and merchandise; along with international releases and a revival of the franchise name in 2003 for many more sets and years of the Garbage Pail Kids lineage.