There
were four different items found in the United States Garbage Pail Kids
All-New Series 3 packs, and there was one additional item that could only
be found in the bonus boxes. Topps titled the items for the series
differently than what I will refer to them as. The Stickers will
be referred to as Cards, the Foil Stickers will be referred to as Foil
Cards, the Scratch 'N Stink will be referred to as Scratch 'N Stink Cards,
and the Bonus Stickers will be referred to as Bonus Cards. I will
refer to the Pop-Up Cards no differently than Topps does. I used
these titles to help clarify which items I am discussing. The cards,
foil cards, scratch 'n stink cards, and bonus cards are actually stickers
on card backing, so I decided to continue on with the same format I had
been using on the website and refer to them as cards.
I provided samples of what the cards and
items of the series look like. The first and last cards, foil cards,
scratch 'n stink cards, and pop-up cards are shown above. There
also are image overviews of all of the cards, foil cards, scratch 'n stink
cards, and pop-up cards. The card checklist, foil card/scratch 'n
stink card/pop-up card checklist, the front and back of the three bonus
cards, the front and back of the promo card, sample foil card back, sample
scratch 'n stink card back, and sample pop-up card back can also be seen
above. The purpose of the samples and image overviews is to give
you a preview of the series. Higher quality images of these items
will not be provided on this website or by request.
There are a total of 107 different characters
(55 different paintings) in the United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New
Series 3. Tom
Bunk created 22 new paintings for the series, and John
Pound created 11 new paintings for the series. There were some
additional artists painting characters for the series. John Czop
created 1 new painting for the series, Luis
Diaz created 5 new paintings for the series, Sean Greathead created 1 new painting for
the series, Ray Lago
created 1 new painting for the series, Aron
Laikin created 4 new paintings for the series, Strephon
Taylor created 3 new paintings for the series, and James
Warhola created 7 new paintings for the series.
You may have noticed that I listed my name
in the credits section above. I had done this because I provided
input for the concept of card 37a Field Goal Joel / 37b Kicked Mick.
More information on this is listed in the Artwork
- Card Fronts section on page 4.
The complaints about the artwork in the
All-New Series 2 did help influence the look of the characters for the
All-New Series 3. While the artwork was greatly improved in the
All-New Series 3, the overall style of the of the paintings from artist
to artist still did not look uniform compared to the original Garbage
Pail Kids series. Since the style still looked so different from
artist to artist, there supposedly was a style guide created by John Pound
for use in the All-New Series 4.
There were some All-New Series 3 characters
that were fan favorites. Some of these favorites were cards: 2a
Jet Ski Jesse / 2b Flayed Jay, 18a Lava Levi / 18b Retro Pedro, 20a Birdbrain
Brian / 20b Cuckoo Chris, 33a Troy Story / 33b Trojan Warren, and 37a
Field Goal Joel / 37b Kicked Mick. The interesting thing to note
about these fan favorites is that the gags for the characters did not
revolve around on snot, puke, puss, or urine, which was something that
seems to be overly focused on for the characters in the All-New Series.
The artwork choosen as the fan favorites was clever, humorous, and unique
just like many of the characters from the original Garbage Pail Kids series,
which is one of the main things that draws people into collecting the
cards.
There were also some Garbage Pail Kids characters
created for the All-New Series 3 that parody celebrities and popular movie
characters, but they really did not seem to grab much attention in the
media or by collectors. Here are is a list of the cards that featured
parodies of celebrities and popular movie characters: 1a Christina Ugliera
/ 1b Diana Diva (parody of Christina Aguilera), 5a Swampy Shaq / 5b Omar
Ogre (parody of Shrek), 7a Donald Dump / 7b Trumped Trevor (parody of
Donald Trump), 14a Bob Gnarly / 14b Dread Ed (parody of Bob Marley), 40a
Janet Jackass / 40b Has-Been Jasmine (parody of Janet Jackson), and S5a
Brad Pit / S5b Dakota Odor (parody of Brad Pitt starring in the movie
Troy).
Just as in the All-New Series 2, most of
the characters in the All-New Series 3 appeared to be white. Garbage
Pail Kids cards are collected by kids from all backgrounds, so I am not
sure why the artists did not create more racially diverse characters for
the All-New Series 3. As I had mentioned in the All-New Series 2
section, it is a good idea to create a racially diverse group of Garbage
Pail Kids characters in order to appeal to children from all backgrounds.
Creating just a few non-white characters really is not doing enough to
appeal to all the kids/potential collectors out there, and there needs
to be more a greater effort to correct this problem.
There were first names used for new characters
in the All-New Series 1 and All-New Series 2 that were also used in the
All-New Series 3. Out of the 80 different new character names for
the All-New Series 1, 94 different new character names for the All-New
Series 2, and 107 different new character names for the All-New Series
3; there were 38 repeated first names for the All-New Series 3: Aaron
(All-New Series 2: 14a Scarin' Aaron and All-New Series 3: S6b Hot Aaron),
Anna (All-New Series 1: 14a Little Barfin' Anna and All-New Series 3:
S9a Anna Innards), Bob (All-New Series 2: 11a Bobble Bob and All-New Series
3: 14a Bob Gnarly), Brad (All-New Series 1: 21b Rad Brad and All-New Series
3: S5a Brad Pit), Brandon (All-New Series 1: 4b Buggin' Brandon and All-New
Series 3: 8b Backwoods Brandon), Brian (All-New Series 1: 35b Booger Brian
and All-New Series 3: 20a Birdbrain Brian), Bryce (All-New Series 1: 28b
Twice Bryce and All-New Series 3: S11a Bryce-Sickle), Chad (All-New Series
1: 29b Cheap Chad and All-New Series 3: 30a Chopper Chad), Chris (All-New
Series 2: 27b Crusty Chris and All-New Series 3: 20b Cuckoo Chris), Cody
(All-New Series 1: 4a Cootie Cody, All-New Series 2: 14b Corny Cody, and
All-New Series 3: 6b Coated Cody), Cole (All-New Series 1: 17b Colossal
Cole and All-New Series 3: B5 Cole Gate), Devin (All-New Series 2: 23b
Digital Devin and All-New Series 3: 29a Divin' Devin), Dustin (All-New
Series 1: 24b Disgustin' Dustin and All-New Series 3: S12b Combustin'
Dustin), Ed (All-New Series 1: 1a Bone Head Ed and All-New Series 3: 14b
Dread Ed), Hannah (All-New Series 2: 22a Handy Hannah and All-New Series
3: 28b Hackin' Hannah), Henry (All-New Series 2: 24a Hairy Henry and All-New
Series 3: 19b Hammered Henry), Ian (All-New Series 1: 26a Peein' Ian and
All-New Series 3: 34a Vegan Ian), Jack (All-New Series 2: 24b Wolfman
Jack and All-New Series 3: 19a Jack Hammer), Jake (All-New Series 2: 16b
Jake Flake and All-New Series 3: 13a Jake Quake), Jesse (All-New Series
1: 36a Messy Jesse and All-New Series 3: 2a Jet Ski Jesse), Joe (All-New
Series 2: S6a Gotta Go Joe and All-New Series 3: 22a Cup O' Joe), Jordan
(All-New Series 1: 21a Boardin' Jordan and All-New Series 3: 16b Flossin'
Jordan), José (All-New Series 2: 3b José Soufflé
and All-New Series 3: 12b Hosed José), Juan (All-New Series
2: 20a Number Juan and All-New Series 3: 23b Bubble Juan), Ken (All-New
Series 2: S6b Ken Not Hold It and All-New Series 3: 9a Bro Ken), Kim (All-New
Series 2: 25b Krummy Kim and All-New Series 3: S1b Garbage Pail Kim),
Laura (All-New Series 2: 30a Lippy Laura and All-New Series 3: 28a Laura
Cough), Mary (All-New Series 2: 22b Mary Mucous and All-New Series 3:
3b Mary Nara), Nate (All-New Series 2: 8a Sk8 Nate and All-New Series
3: 8a Urine Nate), Oscar (All-New Series 2: 28b Oscar La Vista and All-New
Series 3: 36a Offensive Oscar), Paul (All-New Series 1: 27b Punchy Paul,
All-New Series 2: B2 Paintball Paul, and All-New Series 3: 26b Popped
Paul), Pete (All-New Series 1: 34b Pierced Pete, All-New Series 2: 36a
Pete Achoo, and All-New Series 3: 31a Poopdeck Pete), Ray (All-New Series
1: 20a Sprayed Ray and All-New Series 3: 21a X Ray), Tom (All-New Series
2: S5a Topping Tom and All-New Series 3: 6a Tom Tongue), Trevor (All-New
Series 1: 8b Train Wreck Trevor and All-New Series 3: 7b Trumped Trevor),
Troy (All-New Series 1: 38b Troy Destroy and All-New Series 3: 33a Troy
Story), Tyler (All-New Series 1: 12b Bathroom Tyler, All-New Series 2:
20b Tinklin' Tyler, and All-New Series 3: 26a Taggin' Tyler), and Zack
(All-New Series 2: 9a Waxed Zack and All-New Series 3: 39b Wacked Zack).
There were four first names that were used
in the All-New Series 1, All-New Series 2, and All-New Series 3 (Cody,
Paul, Pete, and Tyler). The character name for the All-New Series
3 card 5a Swampy Shaq was not the best choice because there are not many
people in the world with the first name Shaq besides Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal).
As I had mentioned in the All-New Series 2 section, there are plenty of
common first names that have never been used in any of the Garbage Pail
Kids series, so there really is no reason to repeat so many of the same
first names for any of the new Garbage Pail Kids characters. It
is very disappointing to see so many first names being used for two series
let alone three series.
There were four printings of the United
States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 3. All of the printings
were exactly the same, and you would be able to complete sets of the various
items using boxes from any print runs. There were no variation for
any of the printings. The bonus cards did not come in the regular
boxes, and you would have to purchase the bonus boxes in order to obtain
them. I discuss more details about the packs and bonus cards/boxes
under the Packaging and Contents section
on page 2.
There were two different checklists for
the series. There was a card checklist and a foil card/scratch 'n
stink card/pop-up card checklist. The card checklist and foil card/scratch
'n stink card/pop-up card checklist were both used for 4 of the card backs.
The card checklist numbering is right-justified and has upper-case A's
and B's. The foil card/scratch 'n stink card/pop-up card checklist
numbering is also right-justified and has upper-case A's and B's.
The cards are numbered 1A to 40A and 1B to 40B, which can be very confusing
to new collectors because the numbers are the same as the original Series
1, All-New Series 1, and All-New Series 2. The die-cuts on the cards
were all the same shape. The cards were not printed with asterisks
on them like the original Garbage Pail Kids series. The cards have
an extremely glossy coating on them, which is supposed to help protect
them from getting damaged. Unlike the All-New Series 2, the glossy
coating on the All-New Series 3 cards did not cause the cards to stick
together. The card finish, coloring, and thickness was consistent
throughout the various printings. If you look closely at the Garbage
Pail Kids banners and name ovals on the fronts of the cards, you will
notice that the lines appear much more jagged compared to the original
series Garbage Pail Kids banners and name ovals.
The same gold colored foil was used on the
foil cards for all of the print runs. Even though the artwork used
on the foil cards was taken from the original United States Garbage Pail
Kids Series 12 and 13, the foil did not give a sharp appearance to the
artwork. The gold foil on the foil cards is somewhat dark and does
not contrast with the characters enough in order to show them off well.
There was an error with the numbering of the foil cards. The foil
cards are numbered on the checklist as F1A to F25A and F1B to F25B, but
the numbers on the actual foil cards go from 1A to 25A and 1B to 25B (missing
the "F" in front of the card numbers). The numbering can be confusing
because the All-New Series 1 also uses the same numbers for the foil cards.
The foil cards were printed on thin card stock, which is unfortunately
more prone to getting damaged. The backs of the foil cards are matte
finish. A card with a matte finish is dull, flat-looking, and has
a rough surface. The black on the banners, peel here arrows, name
ovals, and card numbers was sometimes printed much darker, and it may
be possible to collect two different foil card sets (i.e., one with regular
black print and one with bold black print). More information on
the black print is in the Errors
and Card Details section on page 2.
As just mentioned above, the artwork used
for the foil cards was taken from the original United States Garbage Pail
Kids Series 12 and 13. This was probably done for a few different
reasons. It saved time and money because no new artwork needed to
be produced, and collectors could not complain about how the artwork looked
because it was taken from the original series (i.e., the collectors complained
about the new renditions of the Garbage Pail Kids characters that were
created for the All-New Series 1 and All-New Series 2). There were
36 characters taken from the original 12th Series, and there were 14 characters
taken from the original 13th Series.
A unique 7-digit online code was printed
on the backs of the foil cards. The online code would unlock special
features for the Build-A-Kid contest on the Garbage
Pail Kids World website. On rare occasion, you could find foil
cards with upside-down bonus codes or foil cards that were not printed
with a bonus code. The Build-A-Kid contest allowed users to create
their own Garbage Pail Kids character via the Internet using pre-defined
attributes (different hands, faces, heads, clothes, objects, etc.), and
then the public would then vote on their favorite character. The
character that had the most votes would win, and the winner would get
their character painted by an Garbage Pail Kids artist and used in an
upcoming Garbage Pail Kids series.
The All-New Series 3 was the first series
to use artwork based on the winning entry from the Build-A-Kid contest
on the Garbage Pail Kids World website. The winning entry was created
by Shane Varga for the Build-A-Kid contest from the All-New Series 1.
Shane's character was a parody of Christina Aguilera called "Christina
Ugliera". The final painting was done by John Pound. In the
end, the artwork was used for the All-New Series 3 cards 1a Christina
Ugliera and 1b Diana Diva, and it was also used for the first Garbage
Pail Kids promo card P1 Christina Ugliera. The foil card backs mistakenly
have "The Winning Entry From Contest #2" printed on them, but the text
should be "The Winning Entry From Contest #1" because the entry is from
the All-New Series 1 contest.
The scratch 'n stink cards are numbered
S1A to S12A and S1B to S12B (note the usage of "S" for the numbering).
All of the scratch 'n stink cards are vertically displayed. The
scratch 'n stink cards were not coated with gloss like the regular cards.
They felt much like the original Garbage Pail Kids cards. Each scratch
'n stink card had a scented, circular area, which you were to scratch
in order to reveal its foul odor. On the back of the scratch 'n
stink cards was a guide to show you where the scent was located, but you
could usually see where the scent circle was located by tilting the card.
Some scents were extremely pungent, and it was unnecessary to scratch
the card to smell them. Just like in the All-New Series 2, you could
sometimes find scratch 'n stink cards without the scented area, and there
were collectors who tried to put together sets with cards that had the
scented areas and sets that did not have the scented areas. Because
some of the scents were so horrible, many collectors kept their scratch
'n stink cards separate from their regular cards.
The latest addition to Garbage Pail Kids
were the pop-up cards. The All-New Series 3 pop-up cards are numbered
from 1 to 10 and featured characters from the All-New Series 1 and All-New
Series 2. Each pop-up card was a miniature stand-up figure.
There were directions on the back of the pop-up cards that showed you
how to punch out and put the stand-up figures together. While it
was nice to see Topps trying to create a new Garbage Pail Kids item, the
pop-up cards really did not appeal to most collectors. And, if you
collect the pop-up cards, you would lower the value of the cards to practically
nothing if you were to actually punch out the characters. I was
not sure what the goal of the pop-up cards was. I thought if Topps
produced some sort of toy gun (e.g., ones that shot ping pong balls or
rubber suction cup darts) to shoot at the stand up characters as targets
that it may have appealed to kids a little more. Better concepts
and artwork for the regular cards will always be appreciated much more
by the collectors than gimmick cards.
There were three bonus cards, and they were
numbered B3, B4, and B5. There were no "a" or "b" versions of the
bonus cards. Besides the numbering and bonus card information on
the backs, the bonus cards looked and felt the same as the regular cards.
The bonus cards had die-cuts and an extremely glossy coating just like
the regular cards. However, the bonus cards are more valuable than
the regular cards because they were much more difficult to obtain and
only available in the bonus boxes. The strange thing about the bonus
cards for the All-New Series 3 was that Topps started the numbering at
B3 instead of back at B1. All of the other All-New Series Garbage
Pail Kids items start back at number 1, so I did not see why Topps numbered
these items differently than everything else.
Even before the All-New Series 3 came out,
there was a special promo card for the series that was handed out at the
San Diego Comic-Con International at the Topps booth. The San Diego
Comic-Con International is a huge convention that has products from hundreds
of manufacturers. The promo card had the character on it based on
the winning entry of the Garbage Pail Kids World Build-A-Kid contest.
The promo card was numbered P1, and the character on it had the name Christina
Ugliera. The same artwork was used for card 1a Christina Ugliera
and card 1b Diana Diva. The promo card was the same thickness and
glossiness as the regular cards, and it also had die-cuts so you could
peel out the center portion of the sticker. Topps had a similar
promotion for the All-New Series 1 by creating a three promo sticker insert
that could be found stapled in the center of various magazines, but the
All-New Series 3 was the first series to actually have a promo card.
There was a very subtle visual error that can
be seen on card 1a Christina Ugliera, card 1b Diana Diva, and promo card P1
Christina Ugliera. If you look closely at the cards, you can see that
the banner was placed over the stink cloud near the top left of the card.
This cuts the cloud in half, and there is a section of the cloud that appears
to be stuck on the character's hat. One way Topps could have corrected
the problem was to edit out the portion of the cloud on the character's
hat. Another solution to correct the problem would be to edit in the
missing section of the cloud over the Garbage Pail Kids banner. |
