The
United States Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series 7 had hobby boxes and
retail boxes that contained 24 packs. It is possible that there
also were "special market" / candy store boxes that
contained just 24 packs, but no collectors had reported coming across
any of them even though these boxes were listed in the promotional
material distributed by Topps. All of the All-New Series 7
boxes came shrink-wrapped in plastic (see image above), and the
shrink-wrap had Topps printed all over it in blue. Stamped on
the inside of the lid of each box was a 7-digit number, which was
used for tracking and quality control. The character featured
on top of the All-New Series 7 boxes was 1a Ty Dee Knot and 1b Ty Dee
Knot. The card featured on the left and right sides of the
All-New Series 7 boxes was 10b Warrior Warren. The card
featured on the front and back of the All-New Series 7 boxes was 2b
Snotty Sara. Just like the All-New Series 5 and All-New Series
6 boxes, Topps modified the Garbage Pail Kids banner on the top of
the All-New Series 7 boxes, so the text would span two lines.
The All-New Series 7 boxes (see images
above) were designed similarly to the
All-New Series 5 and
All-New Series 6 boxes. The
box lids did not have an area that was perforated, so the center
portion could not be punched out like some of the boxes from the
previous All-New Series. The box lids folded in half, which
made them stick up less and take up less shelf space. The
design was supposed to help prevent the box lids from getting torn
off when they were put on display. It was uncommon to find
regular All-New Series 7 boxes being sold at retail stores, so it
was not possible to tell if the changes with the box designs impacted
how often the box lids were torn off.
The majority of the box produced for
the All-New Series 7 contained packs with 9 or 10 cards. Topps
referred to these packs as "Mega Packs", but having more
cards per pack did not make putting together complete base card and
insert card sets any easier. For the Mega Pack boxes, every 1
out of 4 packs contained an activity card, every 1 out of 8 packs
contained a loco motion card, every 1 out of 6 packs contained a
pop-up card, and every 1 out of 6 packs contained a puzzle
card. Each pack that contained an activity card, loco motion
card, pop-up card, or puzzle card only contained 9 regular
cards. From one 24-pack box, you should get approximately 223
cards, 6 activity cards, 3 loco motion cards, 4 pop-up cards, and 4
puzzle cards. Even thought it was mathematically possible to
make two complete card sets from one box, that did not always
happen. It was not mathematically possible to complete an
activity card set of 10, loco motion card set of 5, pop-up card set
of 10, or puzzle card set of 10 from one box. To make an
activity card set, loco motion card set, pop-up card set, or puzzle
card set, you would most likely have to go through at least 3 or 4
Mega Pack boxes. The front of the Mega Pack wrappers had
"Super-Gross Stickers" and "10 Stickers" printed
on them. The next line of text on the front of the wrappers had
"Look For: · Loco Motion Cards, · Pop-Ups, ·
Puzzle Cards, and · Action Punch-Outs". The back of
the pack wrappers had information on how to enter a drawing to win an
activity card, loco motion card, pop-up card, or puzzle card.
In order for anyone from Canada to be eligible to win one of the
insert cards, they had to answer a simple mathematical skill-testing
question, which was necessary because of Canadian laws regarding to
drawings. I provide more information about this law on page 2
of the
All-New
Series 3 section under Packaging and Contents. The main
problem with the random drawing was that by the time most collectors
were able to obtain any All-New Series 7 packs, the deadline for the
drawing was over because Topps had delayed sending out the All-New
Series 7 products due to manufacturing problems. The back of
the pack wrappers also had the URL to the Topps' official
Garbage
Pail Kids website (the website is no longer up) printed on them.
There also were "regular"
boxes produced for the All-New Series 7. These boxes did not
have the text "Mega Packs" printed on them, and they
contained packs that each had 5 cards and 1 stick of bubble
gum. There were no insert cards in these packs. From
one 24-pack box, you should end up with 120 cards and 24 sticks of
bubble gum. It was nathematically possible to make a complete
base card set of 110 from just one of these boxes. Instead of
the pack wrappers having the insert card odds printed on the back,
they had the bubble gum ingredients and information.
There were at least five different box
codes, and there were five pack codes (see images above). The
only box I have not come across are the ones meant for a speciality
market / candy store. These boxes would have had the
1-757-30-04-7 code (041116777578 bar code) and contained unpriced
packs with the 0-757-89-02-7 code (041116477577 bar code).
These packs had the same code and bar code as the packs from the
hobby boxes.
The hobby shops received 24-pack
boxes with the 1-757-30-03-7 code (041116577574 bar code), which
contained packs with the 0-757-89-02-7 code (041116477577 bar
code). These packs were unpriced. Each hobby box
contained a 10.5" x 17" "On Sale Here!" poster
featuring the All-New Series 7 character 1a Ty Dee Knot / 1b Ty Dee
Knot (see image above). The posters were placed at the top of
the boxes. There was no code printed on the posters.
The 24-pack boxes sold by some online
card dealers had the box code 1-758-30-03-7 (041116677588 bar
code). The boxes did not come with insert posters. The
packs had the 0-758-89-03-7 code (041116577581 bar code) and were
pre-priced $1.99.
The 24-pack boxes sold at some
Target,
Wal-Mart, and
similar chain stores had the box code 1-758-30-04-7 (041116977589
bar code). The boxes did not come with insert posters.
The packs had the 0-758-89-04-7 code (041116877582 bar code) and were
unpriced. It was not very common to find retail boxes in
stores because the distributors typically had only put out gravity
feeds and bonus boxes.
The 24-pack boxes sold at some
Party City
and Rite Aid
stores had the box code 1-771-30-01-7 (041116477584 bar code).
The boxes did not come with insert posters. These were the
"non-Mega Pack" boxes and contained packs that each had 5
cards and 1 stick of bubble gum. The packs had the
0-771-89-01-7 code (041116377587 bar code) and were unpriced.
These boxes are very uncommon.
The packs in the boxes came in 2
horizontal stacks of 12. It was not too difficult to find the
location of the loco motion cards because they often bent/warped the
packs they were inside of, and the packs that contains loco motion
cards were slightly thicker.
There are instructions on page 2 of the
All-New
Series 1 section under Packaging and Contents if you are
interested in trying to open up packs without tearing the
wrappers.
Some collectors had found hobby packs
that had shorter seals on the back (see image above). These
seals were folded and closed slightly different than all of the
other packs. Most likely, this difference was not made for
too many All-New Series 7 packs, which is why it is not considered
to be a variation.
Topps
created three new Garbage Pail Kids bonus boxes for the All-New
Series 7. The bonus boxes could only be found at specific chain
stores. Two of the bonus boxes were pre-priced at $9.99, and
the other bonus box was to be priced by the retailers. Each
bonus box contained 6 packs, and they were supposed to contain a
unique bonus card. Topps had incorrectly inserted other bonus
cards into the Target / Shopko bonus boxes, so it was extremely
improbable that you would find the intended bonus card for that bonus
box. The All-New Series 7 bonus cards restarted the numbering
sequence back at B1. Wal-Mart,
K B Toys,
Meijer stores
carried the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B1 Leaky Leslie,
the price tags on the boxes were put on by the store, and the boxes
had the code 1-939-30-03-7 (bar code 041116579394). Target and
Shopko stores
carried the bonus boxes that were supposed to contain bonus card B2
Carl Wreck, the price tags on the boxes were yellow rectangles, and
the boxes had the code 1-939-30-04-7 (bar code 041116679391).
K-Mart and
Toys R Us
stores carried the bonus boxes that contained bonus card B6 George
Clowny, the price tags on the boxes were yellow rectangles, the box
lids were glued shut, and the boxes had the code 1-939-30-05-7 (bar
code 041116879391). The designs of the three types of bonus
boxes (see images above) were not very different, and it was not easy
to tell them apart. The bonus boxes had the items packaged in
the middle of the box on fold-out, cardboard shelves. The
bonus boxes came shrink-wrapped in plastic (see image above), and the
shrink-wrap had Topps printed all over it in blue. The bonus
cards were not packaged in clear cellophane like the previous All-New
Series bonus cards that were found in the bonus boxes. Instead,
the bonus cards in the All-New Series 7 bonus boxes came inside of
one of the packs, which was how the bonus cards were packaged in the
All-New Series 6 bonus boxes. It was not possible to know which
pack contained the bonus card. Some of the bonus boxes were not
properly collated, and they could contain 2 bonus cards or not contain
any bonus cards at all. The bonus boxes measure approximately
6-5/16" x 3.5" x 2.875", which was smaller than the
previous All-New Series bonus boxes. The packs that came in the
bonus boxes had the code 0-939-89-02-7 (bar code 041116479397), which
was different from the packs that came in the regular boxes.
However, the contents of the packs that came in bonus boxes were
exactly the same as the packs that came in the regular boxes except
for the pack that contained the bonus card. The front of the
bonus boxes had the All-New Series 6 character 1a Ty Dee Knot / 1b
Ty Dee Knot printed on them.
There were three different bonus box
cases boxes (only one is shown above). Each case box measured
approximately 14-7/8" x 12" x 6-7/8". There were
16 bonus boxes per case box. The codes 2-939-40-03-7 and
#939-077WA were printed on the B1 bonus box case boxes. The
case boxes had numbers six digit numbers stamped on them, which
were used for tracking and quality control.
Topps created Garbage Pail Kids blister
packs for Target and Wal-Mart stores. The blister packs each
contained 2 regular packs and a bonus card. The bonus card
inside of each blister pack could be B3 Lock Mess Rex, B4 Snack
Attack Zack, or B5 Tongue Tied Tara. While the bonus cards were
supposedly inserted into the blister packs at random, they actually
were inserted in numerical sequence. The bonus cards found in
the blister packs did not come wrapped in cellophane. The
packs inside of the blister pack were the same as the unpriced retail
packs, and they had the code 0-758-89-04-7 (04116877582 bar
code). The blister packs had the code 5-759-30-02-7
(041116377594 bar code). The blister packs had a hole at the
top, so they could be hung up at the stores. They could also be
left in the blister pack display box, so they could be placed on top
of a shelf.
The blister packs came inside of boxes
(see image above), which could be used for displaying the blister
packs on a shelf. There were 20 blister packs per box.
The empty blister pack boxes measure approximately 13.0" x
4.5" x 8.25". The blister pack boxes were
shrink-wrapped in plastic, and the shrink-wrap had Topps printed all
over it in blue. The blister pack boxes had the code
1-759-30-02-7 and bar code 041116477591 printed on the bottom.
Each blister pack box had a 7-digit number stamped on it, which was
used for tracking and quality control. The blister pack boxes
had the All-New Series 7 character 1a Ty Dee Knot / 1b Ty Dee Knot
and cards 2b Snotty Sara and 10b Warrior Warren printed on the
sides.
The blister pack boxes came inside of
case boxes (see image above). The blister pack case boxes
measure approximately 18.5" x 13.5" x 17.0".
There were 8 blister pack boxes per case box. The codes
2-759-40-02-7 and #759-077E (bar code 04116577598) were printed on
the blister pack case boxes. Each blister pack case box had a
5-digit code stamped on it, which was used for tracking and quality
control.
Topps created gravity feeds for the
All-New Series 7 (see image above), and they were very similar to the
design of the gravity feeds for the All-New Series 5 and All-New
Series 6. The gravity feed carried 48 individual packs.
Just like the All-New Series 5 and All-New Series 6 gravity feeds,
the packs would always be bunched together at the bottom of the
All-New Series 7 gravity feed, and that made the packs slightly
difficult to remove. The gravity feeds were hung up on plastic
hooks. The All-New Series 7 character 1a Ty Dee Knot / 1b Ty
Dee Knot was featured on the front of the gravity feed. The
All-New Series 7 cards 2b Snotty Sara, 10b Warrior Warren, and 55a
Dough Boyd were featured on the left and right sides of the
gravity feed. The cards featured on the sides of the gravity
feed were unnumbered. The back of the gravity feed had the
code 2-741-03-02-7. The gravity feed contained the same type of
packs as in the hobby boxes. The packs were unpriced and had
the code 0-757-89-02-7 (bar code 041116477577).
Right after the All-New Series 7 was
released, the
ToppsVault
began selling uncut card sheets (see images above). The uncut
card sheet measured approximately 26" x 40.5" and featuring
all of the cards (1a/1b to 55a/55b).
At
Sears, you could
find All-New Series 7 1-pack rack packs (bar code 041116877582) for
$1.97. These rack packs were put together by Vintage Sports
Cards. The front of the rack packs had the cards 1a/b Ty Dee
Knot (both first names were in a larger font), 2b Snotty Sara, 8a Big
Top Tony, and 10b Warrior Warren. The back of the rack packs
had the cards 1a/b Ty Dee Knot (both first names were again in a
larger font) and 8a Big Top Tony. The rack packs were designed
very similarly to cardboard CD sleeves.
At Toys R Us, you could find
"Wacky Garbage" 3-pack rack packs (bar code 730828713713),
which contained a mixture of Garbage Pail Kids All-New Series packs
and Wacky Packages All-New Series packs. These rack packs were
priced at $1.99. The front of the rack pack has a Garbage
Pail Kids All-New Series 7 pack, a Wacky Packages All-New Series 4
pack, and a Wacky Packages Flashback pack. There is text on the
front of the rack packs that states, "Actual packs may
vary". These rack packs were put together by Vintage
Sports Cards, and they were released around August of 2008. The
rack packs were also designed like the Garbage Pail Kids All-New
Series 7 1-pack rack packs made by Vintage Sports Cards.
There were case boxes for all of the
All-New Series 7 products, but only a couple of the case boxes were
shown above. This was because case boxes are slightly tedious
for me to obtain and costly to ship to me, and I did not feel they
were worth the trouble. The case boxes from the previous
All-New Series are very similar (dimensions, codes, and markings)
to those for the All-New Series 7.
Just as with the previous All-New
Series, there were distribution problems with the blister packs,
boxes, and bonus boxes for the All-New Series 7. The items
arrived in different stores as much as a month or two apart if
they even arrived at all. The K-Mart / Toys R Us bonus boxes
were not available until a couple of months after collectors had
contacted the distributor, Vintage Sports Cards, and requested
them. The items were poorly displayed in the stores, and many
of the stores did not keep all of the items in stock. As
previously mentioned, the regular boxes were not easy to find in
stores. The bonus boxes and blister packs did not seem to get
reordered when they were sold out. |
