RELEASE PERIOD : JANUARY 2016

The first, full-fledged thematic set, titled GPK 'American as Apple Pie—in Your Face', aka 2016 Series 1 ('2016S1') Yearly set, was released by Topps, Inc. in the winter of 2016 and distributed in January, with a 01/20/2016 release date; roughly six months after the 30th Anniversary (aka 2015S2) set that was released in July 2015.

The GPK set includes all-new artwork or contributions by artists Tom Bunk, John Pound, Brent Engstrom, Joe Simko, David Gross, Mark Pingitore, JungHwa Im and Colin Walton (editor, art director, writer and brand manager); as well as several additional artists that assisted with autograph and sketch cards along with concept ideas. For the first print run, each foil or plastic pack, with a suggested retail price of $2.49, contains ten sticker cards, except for the Hobby Collector Edition box which packs contain six stickers per pack with exclusive premium content.



MOCK-UP IMAGE — MAIN ARTWORK : JOHN POUND — LOGO DESIGN : COLIN WALTON

220 A+B CARD SET : SUBSETS BASE CARDS
SUBSETS : 84 American As Apple Pie + 18 America's Pastimes + 18 Americana Swept Under the Rug + 18 Americana Devolved + 18 American Icons + 18 American Inventors + 18 U.S. Historical Moments + 18 2016 U.S. Summer Olym-picks + 10 2016 Presidential Candidates

TOTAL BASE + CHASE INSERT CARDS + ONLINE CARDS
1,608 Total Cards = 220 Base Card Stickers + 220 Puke Splatter Parallel (R) + 220 Pee Splatter Parallel (Target gravity feed) + 220 Spit Splatter Parallel (H) + 220 Bruised Splatter Parallel (HC) + 220 Bloody Nose Splatter Parallel (HC) + 220 Gold Dust Parallel + 18 Classic Patriotic Stickers (R jumbo pack) + 6 Gross Bears bonus (Wal*Mart value box) + 6 Bathroom Buddies bonus (Target value box) + 8 Comic Covers (H) + 8 Horror Stickers (H) + 10 Patriotic Patches (HC) + 4 ADAM Americana cards (blister pack) + 1 Artist Relic (HC) + 1 Standard Sketch (R) + 1 Panoramic Sketch (R jumbo pack) + 1 Dual Artist Panoramic Sketch (HC) + 1 Die-Cut Sketch (H) + 1 Loaded Puzzle Sketch (R value box) + 1 Artist Autograph + 1 Printing Plate

RETAIL: Splatter Parallel card (green Puke 1:1 [retail exclusive], yellow Pee 1:4 [Target gravity feed exclusive], gold Dust 1:44; 50 per subject), Printing Plate card (1:1,536; value box bonus card Printing Plate 1:?; jumbo pack bonus card Printing Plate 1:?), Artist Autograph card (1:200), Standard Sketch card (1:266)[retail exclusive], Panoramic Sketch card (1:401; 100 total)[jumbo pack exclusive], Loaded Puzzle Sketch card (1:68; 250 total)[value box exclusive], Classic Patriot Sticker card (2:1)[jumbo pack exclusive], Gross Bears (3:1)[Wal*Mart value box exclusive], Bathroom Buddies (3:1)[Target value box exclusive], Bomb/Boom Americana cards (1:1)[blister pack exclusive].

HOBBY: Splatter Parallel card (blue Spit 1:4 [H exclusive; 99 per subject], gold Dust 1:44; 50 per subject), Die-cut Shaped Sketch card (1:158; 500 total)[H exclusive], Comic Cover card (1 per box)[H exclusive], Horror Sticker card (1 per box)[H exclusive], Printing Plate card (1:1,536), Autograph card (1:200), Comic Cover card (1:24), Horror card (1:24).

HOBBY COLLECTOR PREMIUM EDITION: Splatter Parallel card (blue Spit 1:4 [H exclusive; 99 per subject], black Bruised 1:1 [HC exclusive], red Bloody Nose 1:3; 75 per subject [HC exclusive], gold Dust 1:44; 50 per subject), Patriotic Patch card (1:73)[HC exclusive; 50 per subject], Artist Relic card (1:61)[HC exclusive; 99 per subject], Dual/Double Artist Panoramic Sketch (1:362; 100 total)[HC exclusive], Printing Plate card (1:241), Artist Autograph card (1:65), Die-cut Shaped Sketch card (1:158; 500 total)[H exclusive], Comic Cover card (1 per box)[H exclusive], Horror Sticker card (1 per box)[H exclusive].

HOBBY & RETAIL PRODUCTION RUNS
MAIN BOX + WRAPPER ARTWORK : JOHN POUND
ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS : BRENT ENGSTROM, ETC.
DISPLAY BOX : 4 VARIATIONS + 2 BONUS BOXES
WRAPPERS : 9 VARIATIONS

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'CLICK' TO VIEW SHEETS — PRODUCT RELEASE DIGITAL SHEETS — PAGES 1-23

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HOBBY PRODUCTION RUN



DISPLAY BOX — PKG004621 — UPC 8-87521-04382-8 — 24 PACK : 'H' ON BOX
NOTE: 8 COMIC COVER CHASE CARDS
CARDBOARD CASE — PKG004632 — FGC001855 — UPC 8-87521-04383-5 — 8 BOX / 24 PACK CT
FOIL PACK— PKG004617 — UPC 8-87521-04381-1 — 'H' ON WRAPPER; $2.49

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COLLECTOR PREMIUM EDITION PRODUCTION RUN




DISPLAY BOX — PKG004626 — UPC 8-87521-04385-9 — '24 PACK' + 'H' ON BOX;
NOTE: 8 HORROR / 8 COMIC COVER CHASE CARDS
BOX ART INLAY — PKG004627 — ARTIST BRENT ENGSTROM
CARDBOARD CASE — PKG004640 — FGC001856 — UPC 8-87521-04386-6 — 8 BOX / 24 PACK COUNT
FOIL PACK — PKG004619 — UPC 8-87521-04384-2 — $2.49 SRP; 'H' ON WRAPPER

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RETAIL PRODUCTION RUN



DISPLAY BOX — PKG004622 — UPC 8-87521-04388-0 — '24 PACK' ON BOX; TOPPS ONLINE; $59.99 SRP
CARDBOARD CASE BOX — PCK00? — FGC001857 — UPC ? — 24 PACK / 8 BOX
FOIL PACK — PKG004613 — UPC 8-87521-04387-3 — $2.49 SRP




PEGHOOK DISPLAY BOX : PKG004623 — UPC 8-87521-? — '16 PACK' ON BOX (TOPPS ONLINE) : $39.99 SRP
CARDBOARD CASE BOX — PKG00? — FGC00? : UPC ? — 24 PACK / 8 BOX
FOIL PACK — PKG0004615 — UPC 8-87521-? — $2.49 SRP



VALUE DISPLAY BOX — PKG004624 — UPC 8-87521-04436-8 — $9.99 SRP; TARGET
NOTE: THREE BATHROOM BUDDIES CARDS
CARDBOARD CASE BOX — PKG004638 — FGC001863— UPC 8-87521-04437-5 — 16/4+1 COUNT
FOIL PACK — PKG00? — UPC 8-87521-?
BONUS CARD FOIL PACK/WRAPPER — PKG004612



VALUE DISPLAY BOX — PKG004625 — UPC 8-87521-04438-2 — $9.99 SRP; WAL*MART/TOPPS ONLINE
NOTE: THREE GROSS BEARS CARDS; NO PRICE ON BOX
CARDBOARD CASE BOX — PKG004638 — FGC001864 : UPC 8-87521-04439-9 — 16/4+1 COUNT
FOIL PACK —PKG00? — UPC 8-87521-?
BONUS CARD FOIL PACK/WRAPPER : PKG004612



GRAVITY FEED BOX — PKG004628 — UPC 8-87521-04394-1 — 10 CARDS PER PACK; TARGET
CARDBOARD CASE BOX — PKG00? — FGC00? — UPC 8-87521-? — ?
PLASTIC PACK — PKG004614 — UPC 8-87521-04393-4 — $2.49 SRP



GRAVITY FEED BOX — PKG004360 — UPC 8-87521-04441-? — 4 CARDS PER PACK
NOTE: SPECIALTY MARKETS; DOLLAR STORE
CARDBOARD CASE BOX : PKG00? : FGC00? : UPC 8-87521-04442-? — ?
PACK — PKG004616 — UPC 8-87521-04440-5 — $.99 SRP



VALUE JUMBO PACK — PKG004620 — UPC 8-87521-04431-3 — $4.99 SRP
NOTE: 18 CLASSIC PATRIOT CHASE CARDS
CARDBOARD CASE BOX — PKG00? — FGC00? — UPC 8-87521-? — ?



BLISTER PACK — PKG# NA — UPC 8-87521-04705-5 — 3-PACK $9.99 SRP; TOYS 'R' US
NOTE: 4 ADAM BOMB/BOOM CHASE CARDS
CARDBOARD CASE BOX — PKG00? — FGC00? — UPC 8-87521-? — ?

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SECONDARY MARKET PRODUCT (NON-TOPPS)



BLISTER PACK : UPC 8-87521-02478-0 — $2.99 SRP; THREE PACK w/ 2014S1, ETC. : TARGET, ETC.
NOTE: MAY CONTAIN A STICKER OF THE JUMBO VALUE PACK UPC 8-87521-04431-3 ON BACK
NOTE: "The products in this package have been purchased directly from the manufacturer or purchased from the secondary market and repackaged for retail sales by The Fairfield Company." Distributed by The Fairfield Company, A division of Excell Marketing [Target, etc.] 5501 Park Ave, Des Moines, IA 50321



GRAVITY FEED: UPC 8-87521-UNK — $.99 SRP; 4-PACK; DOLLAR TREE, ETC.
NOTE: DISTRIBUTED BY THE FAIRFIELD CO., EXCELL MARKETING? 2016S1 + 2016S2 PRODUCT

— The major mascot character for the series, created by veteran GPK artist John Pound, was painted for the OS3 set for cards 110a Snooty SAM & 110b U.S. ARNIE; A classic parody of the iconic 1917 U.S. Army recruitment image Uncle Sam (initialized as U.S.) painted by J.M. Flagg, picking his nose rather than pointing to the general public. Flagg's art, in turn, was based off of the 1914 British 'Lord Kitchener Wants You' advertisement poster. The image can also be located within the 2011 Flashback Series 3 set as cards 15a & 15b, within the GPK Poster set as poster #17 Garbage Pail Kids Want You and in this set within the Classic Patriot Stickers subset as cards 1a of 9, 1b of 9 & Patch Card 1 of 10.



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— An Art-Process Case Study: artist Brent Engstrom contributed more than 45 paintings and 60 concepts to the American As Apple Pie (in Your Face!) Garbage Pail Kids set, including four images from the previous FrightRags t-shirt release and two images from the IDW comic release. Engstrom starts his work with a digital B&W sketch which is then placed within a GPK template as a color rough that displays the GPK header, nameplate and the retired 'PEEL HERE' arrow and sticker die-cut; thus giving a size comparison and placement presentation. The final artwork is manually painted, scanned and submitted to Topps. Shown below is this process from start to finish for Engstrom's parody of the famous Times Square photo V-J Day in Times Square (by Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14, 1945 in New York City) for U.S. Historical Event Stickers 7a of 9 Evil EDDIE & 7b of 9 Navy NICK; the character is going in for the kiss-of-death instead of mouth-to-mouth. The background was suggested and added after concept approved. The final artwork and the Topps mock-up card are also pictured.




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— Veteran GPK artist Tom Bunk is back for two new Apple Pie (In Your Face!) patriotic images for which the color roughs are displayed below; a parody of Archibald M. Willard's painting The Spirit of '76 (originally titled Yankee Doodle '76) and a bald eagle (sometimes called the American eagle, the national bird and national animal of the United States) plus Uncle Sam mash-up...plenty of puke and guts. The picture was taken in Bunk's art studio in New Rochelle, NY on October 16th, 2015 prior to attending the Philly Non-Sports Card Show in Allentown, PA; the show is put together bi-annually by the Non-Sport Update folks. Tom completed 2 new images for the Apple Pie (In Your Face!) set and a slew of previously released and unreleased material from the 80's.




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— GPK artist Mark Pingitore completed nine new images for the Apple Pie (In Your Face!) set with two additional images from the IDW comic release. The final artwork deadlines by Topps were severe for this release, the artwork suffered in some cases for the artists, but Mark only took on what he was comfortable completing. Several of his original concepts pictured below were changed from their original conception. The simple background concepts seem to work better than the 'stories' that Topps turned them into on card. The Swept Under the Rug 'tailpipe' concept was drastically changed for cards 4a Hum EARL & 4b S. HUGH Vee within the Americana Devolved subset. The 'sock hop' concept was fleshed out for cards 22a Poodle SKYLAR & 22b Sock HOPE within the As American As Apple Pie subset.



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— The Value Box exclusive chase subsets stem from earlier Topps franchises; the Gross Bears (Big Bad Buttons), released in 1985, was a parody button set of the 1980s Care Bears and the Bathroom Buddies, released in 1996, which was a spin-off toilet humor set in the like-ness of the GPK (and Trash Can Trolls) released in 1996. The Wal*Mart and Topps Online Value box contains—for the first time on small card—six images from the Gross Bears set, including a previously unpublished piece. The Target Value box contains six cards (three twins) from the unpublished Bathroom Buddies 2nd Series set. All artwork was also completed by artist Tom Bunk for both sets. If received well, Topps will continue releasing the Gross Bears and Bathroom Buddies cards in future Garbage Pail Kids sets; and I must confess, the art director asked what items collectors might want to see as chase material and this is what I had suggested. Please 'click' the images below to visit the related parody pages for additional information on the revived releases.



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— A Card-Case Study: the original artwork for the OS3 printed card 103a Wriggley RENE & 103b Curly CARLA were finished by artist Tom Bunk in December of 1985 and finally published within the 'As American As Applie Pie' subset as cards 6a of 42 and 6b of 42 (previously, this would've been considered a Lost Artwork card). The artwork was re-worked with the character sitting down and holding a snake rather than having a standing profile. The final artwork for this printed piece retains the same number of snakes relatively in the same position, no bite marks, with an added blue snake the medusa character is now holding, but the stuck out tongue remains intact. This character feels like an overflow piece from the 30th Anniversay's 'Lost Alternate Art'.



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— The Original Concept for the U.S. Historical Event cards 5a Mountain DEWEY & 5b Gold RUSS (gold rush), painted by Brent Engstrom, was an updated version of John Pound's BNS1 bonus cards B1a Mountain DEWEY & B1b BUBBA Bumpkin. Topps requested that the character grow-up and strike gold (aka booger). The character's pose was changed and there were some communication issues where Engstrom re-drew the character in his original pose but Topps just wanted him to have a clothing colour-scheme similar to Pound's original; still a successful execution of the character—he could easily be a close relative with the same name if nothing else.



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— Pictured below are a number of various alternative concepts by artist Brent Engstrom prior to their approval at Topps. Some are drastic while others are somewhat subtle (Part 1). For the U.S. Summer Olym-Picks cards 4a Stinkin' STELLA & 4b Rowin' ROWENA which character comes from the OS8 set, the original character was OS4 cards 131a Stuffed STEPHEN & 131b RUTHERFORD B. Hay showcasing the crows found on the card image; the octopus out of water and going faster does add a level of humor. The original concept for U.S. Summer Olym-Picks cards 6a BOWEN Arrow & 6b ARCHIE Archery, whose characters stems from the OS8 set, had OS1 character 34a KIM Kong & 34b ANNA Banana using the bow and arrow with her feet while brachiating, but the cupid character was used instead, shooting his brain out instead of his heart—it's strange he's standing on his two feet instead of flying. The final was painted by JungHwa Im, along with U.S. Summer Olym-Picks cards 8a Tongue Tied TIM & 8b JOEL Vault, a character from the OS2 set whose earlier concept showcased the character with his damaged tongue and in a different position (A red GPK banner and yellow nameplate would have made this card 'pop' more).



— Pictured below are a number of various alternative concepts by artist Brent Engstrom prior to their approval at Topps. Some are drastic while others are somewhat subtle (Part 2). The original concept for America's Pastime for cards 3a CHARLOTTE Web & 3b Basket BERTHA, a character from the OS3 set, was placed on top of the web-created basketball hoop (the number 8 feels reminiscent of the red hourglass-shape on the black widow spider's underbelly); another variation has the character under the basket holding a ball with a fly stuck to the hoop-web—I feel this alternate version works the best for translation. The OS1 character of America's Pastimes for cards 7a ART Apart & 7b Tackled TED showed the character busted up on the field rather than being tackled and busted. The 'zero' number jersey speaks volumes.



— Pictured below are a number of various alternative concepts by artist Brent Engstrom prior to their approval at Topps. Some are drastic while others are somewhat subtle (Part 3). For the American Inventors subset, one of the two twin names is either the inventor or patent holder for the product and/or person being parodied—see the Comprehensive Checklist below for more information. The original concept for 4a Hurrying HARVEY & 4b Portable JOHN was more of a 'movement' gag, the character/item being movable; Topps had Engstrom add customers running after him and some stench steam and flies. The first concept for 6a Say It Ain't So JOE & 6b Toilet Paper RAUL (roll) had the dispenser empty; an easier gag to get than Topps changing the toilet paper head going from happy to sad with the impending bottom wipe (the empty toilet paper roll could still have been left on the wall). The 9a Loud LEO & 9b Atomic BOB (bomb) concept remained the same, but is cool to look at.



— Pictured below are a number of various alternative concepts by artist Brent Engstrom prior to their approval at Topps. Some are drastic while others are somewhat subtle (Part 4). The Historical Event OS8 character for cards 8a Inter STELLA & 8b First STEPH (step) had an alternative concept that was mirror-imaged and a much smaller space shuttle in the background. The Americana Swept Under the Rug original concept for cards 3a Monster CHUCK (truck) & 3b BUCK Truck was flying solo through the air before burning buildings and smoke were added, but the final image was less devestational—the final artwork's yellow background and purple buildings is coincidentally very similar to Tom Bunk's As American As Apple Pie characters 5a U.S. ARNIE & 5b Bald EDGAR (eagle). The Americana Devolved character for cards 7a Ripped JEAN & 7b FIONA Fashionista (not pictured) was a male figure—and a price tag was requested to be added by Topps. Topps also had Brent replace the steak with the character's tongue for the As American As Apple Pie cards 3a BILL Grill & 3b CODY Cook and changed his mean look to a normal, happy-go-lucky GPK expression.



— Pictured below are a number of various alternative concepts by artist Brent Engstrom prior to their approval at Topps. Some are drastic while others are somewhat subtle (Part 5). The As American As Apple Pie character for 7a Party MARTY & 7b Two-Party Cyst TIM (very unusual constructed nomenclature) were originally two separate concepts brought into the same concept with the characters in a brawl before they took on the nostalgic OS2 'Split KIT'/'Double HEATHER' pose of yesteryears. Topps had a knife added to the cards for 11a ANDY Apple & PATON Pie (not pictured); this character was an instant contender for a box character for the set. Topps also had burning money added to the character's hands for cards 13a Capital CAL & 13b U.S. BILL Ding (not pictured); Brent added the cigar. The original character for 14a Brawling BARB & 14b MISSY America was more reminiscent to OS3 characters ALICE Island/Liberty LIBBY with garbage and her crown made of barbed wire; Topps had the dog-pile of contestants added to the image with cuts and bandages along with a severed hand. Very unlike Topps, the fecal geyser for cards 17a OLE Faithful & 17b Yellow STONE was changed to the normal hot water of a regular geyser; the image doesn't pop as much on card without the fecal stream.



— Pictured below are a number of various alternative concepts by artist Brent Engstrom prior to their approval at Topps. Some are drastic while others are somewhat subtle (Part 6). Topps had Brent add the OS1 character added to the image for cards 31a Wrinkly RANDY & 31b Har LEE. The gender for cards 41a Log Droppin' LINCOLN & 41b LOGAN Cabin was changed from a pioneer girl to a President Lincoln like character, the name 'LINCOLN Logs' may have been more reminiscent of the popular construction toy set and the scatilogical wordplay. The original concept for cards 42a Area 50 JUAN & 42b Cover Up CHUCK was drastically changed for the final painting; a GPK-alien Kid was replaced by a FBI special agent. With agents Mulder and Scully brought back to TV in January of 2016, a good name would've been XAVIER Files.



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— Below are a few wonderfully rendered Colour Roughs of Brent Engstrom's for various GPKids found in the Applie Pie set. Alhough the stunning imagery for the American Inventor character for cards 9a Loud LEO & 9b Atomic BOB were squeezed into the set as the creator of the atomic bomb, it could easily have found it's way into the ADAM Bomb/ADAM Boom Americana blister pack chase card set as ADAM Gone and Blasted Billy VIII—I could also envision this character as a wrapper, etc. Cards 33a Struck It RICH & 33b Crude CRAIG from the As American As Apple Pie subset have the same background colour scheme as the 2014S1 cards 43a WENDY Chimes & 43b Rattled RUTH; the white clouds were removed for the final image.




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— GPK artist Joe Simko completed close to twenty final artwork pieces for the Apple Pie (In Your Face!) set; he most likely would have contributed much more but was currently hard at work on a '30 Years of Garbage' documentary about Garbage Pail Kids that is set for a summer 2016 release.

— GPK artist David Gross took on much more work for the Apple Pie (In Your Face!) release and completed seventeen pieces of final artwork including additional concepts for other works. In general, if you were to take the background out of Gross' pieces, the concepts work just as well; with the backgrounds, they remind me of the later OS releases back in the 80s. The 'hoarder' Swept Under the Rug concept for cards 9a HUGH Hoarder & 9b COLIN Collector, painted by Brent Engstrom, was drastically changed from the character collecting tangible items from the OS cards to a regular GPK card and memorabilia collector. The plethera of GPK gag plot products portrayed in Gross' concept piece is staggering; this would make a GREAT Giant card or GPK Poster image.



— The original concept for cards 9a Helicopter HEATHER & 9b Obsessed OLGA within the Americana Devolved subset portrayed three previous OS characters as infants with the 'helicopter parent' hovering above (a term I was unfamiliar with). And, the original concept for cards 23a TOM Prom & 23b Social SAL within the As American As Apple Pie subset had a high school geek bringing a mannequin dummy to prom instead of the girl wearing the kid's head as a corsage. Both of the changed concepts seem to work better in their original state and shouldn't have been edited in my opinion.



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— Artist JungHwa Im worked on fourteen images for the Applie Pie (In Your Face!) set based off of artist Brent Engstrom's concepts.

— The original DONALD Dump character stems from the 2004 All-New Series 3 release and painted by artist Tom Bunk. At the time, Topps still had the artists make the characters look like the new style of GPK, however, starting in 2012 for the Brand-New Series releases, they were allowed to make them in the CPK-likeness again. The updated image was painted by artist Joe Simko.



— GPK artist Layron Dejarnette completed one final Garbage Pail Kids piece for the Apple Pie (In Your Face!) set for cards 16a Grand GRANT & 16b CARRIE Canyon within the As American As Apple Pie subset and worked on sketch cards for the release.

— Returning artist Miran Kim completed one final piece or the Apple Pie (In Your Face!) set for cards 7a Contagious KIMBERLY & 7b Tissue SUE within the American Inventor subset.