The Garbage Pail Kids Movie

 

August of 1987 was a bad month for kids merchandise tie in movies. Though I have an affinity for the Dolph Lundgren Masters Of The Universe film, I can openly admit that it's widely panned as one of the worst films of all time. However, many kids who rushed to theaters on August 7th, 1987 to see He-Man may have just been getting over it's sting when August 21st rolled around, and with it, the premier of the film based on one of Topps most popular non-sports card series. I'm of course talking about The Garbage Pail Kids Movie.

When it launched, the film was released in very few theaters across the USA. So few that the movie cinema in my neck of Bend, Oregon, didn't even have it. Considering how poorly the film ultimately performed, this may not have been a bad thing.

Critics were quick to pan the film, calling it, "The dumbest film of all times," and articles spread across local newspapers professing how bad it was. One critic, Harper Barnes of the St. Louis Post-Distpatch, even regales in his write up how the kids watching the film in the same showing he saw mocked the film, making comments about how dumb it was.

Though I can't find anything to confirm this, the word around my school playground at the time was that the film was yanked from theaters in just two weeks. Though it sounds feasible, in hindsight I"m not sure of the validity on that one. Like I said, the movie never even came to our movie theater. So how would any of us have known?

Film review by Harper Barnes of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 

Film review by Fred Lutz, the Blade's Critic at Large

News article clippings taken from GeePeeKay.com.

Before people could find out how bad the film was touted as, a special collector's edition magazine was released. Within its pages were a slew of photographs from the movie, as well as articles going behind the scenes, pin-ups and posters.

Despite its floundering in the theaters, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie eventually made its was to VHS. It's interesting to note that the film never got released on Laserdisc, the highly popular competitor during the home video wars.

In conjunction with the limited theatrical run and VHS, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie quickly garnered a strong cult following. It became one of those movies that people wanted to love because of how great the cards were, but at the same time, it served as a fantastic film for any bad movie night.

To coincide with the film's release, Curb Records released a full soundtrack on both vinyl and cassette. Though it's not a memorable album, in terms of people knowing it was even released, 80's aficionados have commented that, for the most part, it's a solid listening session. Most will also tell you to avoid the final track, "Working With Each Other," at all costs.

The album is relatively scarce these days, making it not only difficult to find, but also rather expensive. I've never seen the cassette version in the wild, and a vinyl copy can easily set you back a hundred dollars.

In addition to the full soundtrack, Curb Records also released a forty-five vinyl featuring the two tracks people site as the worst from the album; "You Can Be A Garbage Pail Kid" (Side A), and "Working With Each Other," (Side B).

The Garbage Pail Kids Movie eventually made its way to a DVD release in 2005. It's budget friendly price didn't help it to sell well, and copies were quickly shuffled to five dollar bins. These days, it can still be found for a relatively low price. While the film was showcased in a widescreen format, there were no special features included on the disc.

The film was re-released on DVD in 2012. It appears to be nothing more than a repackaging of the exact same DVD released in 2005.

With a resurgence of The Garbage Pail Kids trading cards, including numerous new series, it was only natural that a rekindled interest in the cards would transfer to a desire for the film, which was released on Blu-Ray in 2015. This time around, the film not only featured a widescreen transfer, but theatrical trailer and all new interviews with the cast and crew.

Despite missing it in theaters, I would eventually get my chance to see the film. Though I don't honestly remember when exactly it was, I can say it was either a VHS rental back in the late 80's, or when it hit one of the many channels of my dad's satellite dish. It was bad, and that's putting it lightly.

Though you would think that all things Garbage Pail Kids would have come crashing down around the 1987 film, it's interesting to note that a short lived animated series was also in the work, and scheduled to air as a Saturday morning cartoon in September. However, due to controversy to the the brand, the series was ultimately cancelled in the USA before airing. All thirteen episodes were eventually released on DVD in 2006.

In a retrospective viewing of the show, it's actually not bad, as far as a cartoon series from the 80's go. It's not mind blowing, or necessarily memorable, but it's okay.

Article from Diane Haithman of the Los Angeles Times
about the cancelled Saturday morning cartoon

A reboot film was initially talked about in 2012 by the Tornante Company, but was quickly abandoned in July of 2013 when it was reported that there was a negative reception to it. Since then, the concept has been confined to trading card sets, which continue to thrive among GPK enthusiasts.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Trash Bag Bunch (Galoob)

Trash Bag Bunch
Galoob
1991

The Trash Bag Bunch was a small line of figures produced and released by Galoob in 1991.  The series took a page from the recent Cheap Toys line produced by Topps, which coincided with their highly popular Garbage Pail Kids license.  Unlike the GPK product, Trash Bag Bunch leaned heavily on "save the environment" marketing, which was quickly becoming a big deal in the early 1990's.  Each figure also came fully painted as opposed to the single colored GPK ones.

Each small figure came packed on a cardboard backer, and inside the plastic bubble was a small trash bag.  The idea was to open the plastic "trash bag", and remove an even smaller paper made bag from inside.  You then soaked said bag in a small bucket, or sink of water, and watch the paper dissolve around it, revealing the figure.  While it is known that said dissolved paper would turn the water green, other people have been quoted as saying they remember the water smelling really bad when the bag completely dissolved.  Whether this was meant to be a marketing ploy to make it seem like the toys literally were coming from garbage bags or just a coincidence is unknown.

There were thirty-six figures in the first series (complete series shown in the photo to the right), and despite coming in sealed bags, it was easy to tell which figure was inside because each carded character had a small circular sticker at the bottom with a number.  While collecting all consecutive numbers should have yielded a complete set, manufacturing errors did occur, and some got packaged incorrectly.

The figures are broken up into two factions.  The good guys - The Disposers, and the bad guys, The Trashers.  Each faction included eighteen figures in the first series.

Galoob also added a unique twist to the line by packaging two figures in one of every twenty-four packages.  Though the only figures that were packaged inside as the additional figures were numbers thirty-five (Infector), and thirty-six (Wastor).

In 1993, Galoob produced a second series of figures which were sold exclusively in Denmark and Sweden.  This new series consisted of many newly sculpted toys, as well as repainted variant versions of some of the first series.  It was Galoob's hope that the line would take off, and then production would begin for sales in the United States and other countries.  Unfortunately sales didn't merit further production, and the line was cancelled shortly after.  It is because of this that today the second series figures command considerable prices for each individual one.

While there's not much to see packaging wise, we've included a photo of every single numbered and carded figure for the first series below.  The final photo includes a list of the characters with their corresponding number.

Join us next time when we take a look at Swat Kats!

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Garbage Pail Kids - Cheap Toys (Topps)

With the rapidly growing success of Garbage Pail Kids, Topps did something a little out of the ordinary for them. They began producing toys. Mind you, these weren't your average action figure with multiple points of articulation, or overly accessorized playsets. No, instead, Topps produced the Cheap Toys line.

Mini, one color figures sculpted to look like the characters resembled on the cards. Each packaged in their own mini garbage bag, with a checklist, and a small bag of Crummy Candy. All sealed with a simple twist tie. It was cheap, it was easy, and it brought in hand over fist cash from rabid GPK collectors around the world.


There were ten figures made for the series, which came in a variety of colors such as red, green, blue, yellow and peach. However to the true Cheap Toys collector, there are several more variations due to the drastic change in color/tone from dye changes at the factor with each produced batch. As a result, the cheap toys can come in;

Red
Light Red
Neon Red
Orange
Salmon
Light Peach
Dark Peach
Neon Yellow
Neon Green
Lime Green
Light Green
Green
Light Blue
Blue
Electric Blue

And mind you, those are just the colors for the USA. Other color variations are known to exist in both the UK and Canada.


The first series of figures depicted characters from the first and second series of cards. A second set of ten figures was produced and sold exclusively in Canada, manufactured by Nova BonBon. This set depicted figures from the third and forth series of cards.

Today, these cheap toys (no pun intended) are worth a mint. One complete set of ten can set you back two to three hundred dollars. Especially if that set is strictly one color. The neon variations have sold for two to three times that - While the exclusive Canadian 2nd series goes for even more. Single mint in bag packs of figures can sell for as much as thirty to fifty dollars each, and complete boxes, while rare, can fetch as much as a grand. Not bad for tiny, two inch plastic molds.

Much like M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, what started out as a cheap way to produce toys has turned into a secondary market dealers dream come true. For as low quality as they are, collector's around the world can't seem to get enough of them, and as a result, supply and demand has made these a collectible relatively unobtainable to those on a strict budget.

Join us next Monday for our look at G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra!

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Garbage Pail Kids (Topps)

Garbage Pail Kids
Topps
1985 - 1988

It may not have exactly been a toy, but the fact remains that Garbage Pail Kids were a huge part of every child of the 80's! We didn't know a kid who didn't have a locker, desk or notebook plastered with these great stickers.

The series was the brainchild of Topps consultant and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman, who came up with the product idea after the success of his earlier creations, Garbage Candy and Wacky Packages. The concept originally began as an unreleased Wacky Packages title, but the management at Topps thought that it would be a good idea for a separate spin-off series. Spiegelman and Mark Newgarden worked together as the editors and art directors of the project, Len Brown was the manager, and the first run of the cards was drawn exclusively by artist John Pound. Following the initial success of the cards, several additional artists and writers were brought in to contribute to the series, including Jay Lynch, Tom Bunk and James Warhola, among others.

Some of the most unique things with the entire series of Garbage Pail Kids were that the numbers continued in consecutive order with each series. None of them ever started back at number one. Because of this, the entire series of Garbage Pail Kids is easy to track. A total of 620 cards were produced - or rather, 1240 considering that each "character" had its own twin. Of course, with the checklist cards added in, a total of 1155 cards were technically produced. The other greatest thing about the series was that each pack remained at the low, low price of twenty-five cents for all fifteen sets.

During the height of the Garbage Pail Kids' popularity, Topps was sued by the makers of Cabbage Patch Kids, Coleco, for trademark infringement. As part of the out-of-court settlement, Topps agreed to modify the appearance of the Garbage Pail Kids to remove the resemblance between the characters. Production of the cards themselves continued; however, by 1988, sales had dwindled and a planned 16th series never saw production.

While the 16th series was never officially released, it was so close to production that wax wrappers and boxes can be found from time to time on secondary markets. There are even rumors that a few of the unreleased cards have been found.

But, without further delay, please join me in a look back at all fifteen series of Garbage Pail Kids...


























































































































































































































There were two basic designs of wrappers for each series. The original wrappers were printed with a twenty-five cents logo on them. These packs were distributed to retail stores nation wide.

The second wrappers didn't have a price logo printed on them. These packs were shipped off to hobby stores and allowed each store the ability to charge their own desired price per pack - However, most continued to sell them for the original twenty-five cents price.

However, depending on the series, there were several variations of these wrappers.

The commercial success of the trading cards led to the production of a live-action movie, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, in 1987; however, the film was both a critical and commercial flop. An animated television series was also created, but never broadcast in the US due to parental complaints (although it was briefly aired in Europe). Oddly enough the complaints were not because of the content but because parents felt the series was merely a commercial for the cards. The movie was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on July 12, 2005 (the VHS had been distributed by Paramount), and the cartoon series was later also released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on April 4, 2006.

In 2003, Topps reintroduced Garbage Pail Kids with all-new cards, dubbed the All New Series. This new series of cards featured unique ID numbers on the back of first silver, and later gold-foil insert cards that can be redeemed online at the official Garbage Pail Kids website, where visitors can build and 'gross out' their own Garbage Pail Kids; as the number of unique ID numbers applied to the character increases, the more gross they can become.

The All New Series of cards differs from the original series in a number of ways, the most obvious being the upgraded quality of the cardstock used, and a more glossy surface to the stickers. The all new series also changed the format with which the cards are numbered. The original series of cards used a continuous numbering pattern, so that each new set would pick up where the last set ended (e.g. series 1 ended at 41a and 41b, and series 2 picked up at 42a and 42b); the all new set resets the numbering back to 1 with each subsequent series. It also featured special card inserts like foil cards featuring characters from the original series (modified due to the lawsuit), Scratch 'n Stink cards, collectable card game cards, temporary tattoos, Pop-up cards, Alphabet cards, activity cards, magnets, Loco motion cards and jigsaw puzzle cards along with featured special bonus cards available on at participating retailers in either 11-pack Bonus Boxes or multi-pack rack-packs; these bonus stickers were the first Garbage Pail Kids cards not to have twin cards.

Whether you collected them as a kid, or still are, one thing is for sure, we all loved our Garbage Pail Kids. It was a treat for mom and dad to flip us a couple quarters and let us run down to the local 7-11 or grocery store where we would buy them up by the handful. Garbage Pail Kids cards are truly a great series for young and old people alike.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.