Garbage Pail Kids

The Topps Company finds the perfect way to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the controversial sticker card series – Garbage Pail Kids NFTs.
Topps Digital

New Kids on the Blockchain

The Garbage Pail Kids were created in 1985 by The Topps Company. A group of underground cartoonists birthed a collection of trading card stickers that parodied the beloved Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. The gross-out humor and subversive attitude appealed to kids of all ages (and repulsed parents), and the stickers were plastered on books, desks, and bedroom doors around the world.
In 2012, Topps established its digital group, launching apps for baseball and football enthusiasts. But what about the GPKs? It’s been over three decades since they were unleashed onto the world. Expanding the realm of digital card collecting, Topps embraced a new format – the NFT (non-fungible token) on the WAX blockchain. This allows investors and collectors to buy, sell, and trade Garbage Pail Kids NFTs anywhere.
Client

Topps Digital

Animator

Justin Gammon

Illustrator

John Pound

A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '47a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Disgustin' Justin' depicted as a tough-looking baby with long hair, sunglasses, and a beard, riding a motorcycle. The character is drinking from a can labeled 'BEER' and has tattoos and a skull on the motorcycle. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Disgustin' Justin' is written on a yellow banner at the bottom. The background is yellow. A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '47a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Disgustin' Justin' depicted as a tough-looking baby with long hair, sunglasses, and a beard, riding a motorcycle. The character is drinking from a can labeled 'BEER' and has tattoos and a skull on the motorcycle. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Disgustin' Justin' is written on a yellow banner at the bottom. The background is yellow.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '42a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Patty Putty' depicted as a baby with exaggerated facial features, including a large mouth and eyes on stalks, sitting on the ground wearing a diaper. The character's face appears to be melting or stretched out. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Patty Putty' is written on a yellow banner at the bottom. The background is blue.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '53a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Jolted Joel' depicted as a baby with spiky hair, playing an electric guitar. The character is surrounded by electric sparks, suggesting a high-energy performance. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Jolted Joel' is written on a blue banner at the bottom. The background is a gradient of dark colors with yellow electric effects.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '49a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Double Heather' depicted as a two-headed baby doll with pigtails, wearing a blue and white checkered dress with a white collar and cuffs, and white shoes. One head has a black eye patch, and both heads have angry expressions. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Double Heather' is written on a pink banner at the bottom. The background is yellow.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '54a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Fryin' Ryan' depicted as a green dinosaur-like creature causing destruction in a city. The creature is holding a hot dog and stepping on buildings that are on fire. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Fryin' Ryan' is written on a yellow banner at the bottom. The background is red with smoke and fire effects."
Topps Expands Its Digital Realm

The Collecting Landscape

Before NFTs, collectors would scour retail stores or buy from collectors in the secondary market to complete their GPK collections. Buying, trading, and selling nationally or internationally left a lot of buyers at risk of scammers, unreliable sellers, or those who would not adequately protect a sought after card before shipping. If all of that did work out, you still were left with the gamble of losing it all in the unpredictable black hole that is the postal system.

The introduction of NFT trading cards in the Garbage Pail Kids collecting community virtually eliminates the hassles of maintaining a physical collection. No more worries about loss, damage, or theft. Each Garbage Pail Kids NFT is a unique digital card. Collectors can buy, sell, trade and store their blockchain collections on a dedicated Topps platform which uses the WAX blockchain to authenticate each card and its content. Every Garbage Pail Kids card on the platform will retain a unique code that will ensure its authenticity. This new approach has created some division in the collecting community since its introduction of Series 1 in early 2020. Some traditional collectors find it difficult to find value in a non-tangible card.

To entice the hesitant collector to fully embrace the new direction of GPK NFTs, Topps also created rarer versions of the GPK base cards such as prism cards, sketch cards, and animated collectors cards. Topps brought me on board to create more dynamic and engaging animated versions of popular characters for Series 2. This approach perfectly suits the digital platform and gives collectors more reason to explore and potentially embrace the new direction in collecting. These animated GIFs were included as the rarest cards in the set which appeals to the possibility of scoring a scarce card for your collection.

How to Appeal to Collectors

From Wax Packs to WAX Blockchain

Garbage Pail Kids Series 1 NFTs were limited due to the experimental nature of its platform, so it sold out quickly – less than 28 hours. But how could Topps get hesitant collectors to embrace the followup Series 2 and take the quality of the Collectors Cards up a notch.

Topps understood their animated Collector Cards could be improved and enhanced with more dynamic and purposeful animation. They expanded on the animated cards and released 12 Collector Cards with Series 2 to entice those who were hesitant to dive into collecting NFTs.

Series 2 doubled the release of Series 1, and it sold out in a few days. More cards were available in the series, more people got on board and experienced Garbage Pail Kids NFTs  collecting in its digital form. Some hesitant collectors have started to embrace the fun of collecting NFTs, and GPK as a iconic property has also attracted new customers who want to partake in digital collecting.

A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '43a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Smelly Kelly' depicted as a fire hydrant with a human face, complete with a nose and eyes, and a chain hanging from its side. Next to the fire hydrant is a dog with its tongue out, appearing to sniff or lick the hydrant. The background shows a sidewalk. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Smelly Kelly' is written on a blue banner at the bottom.
Garbage Pail Kids trading card featuring a cartoon character named 'Dirty Harry' sitting in a dirty, swamp-like environment. The character has exaggerated features, with a pig-like nose, and is covered in slime and dirt. There are various pieces of trash floating around him in the murky water. The background shows a wooden fence and a blue sky with a few clouds. The card is labeled with the series number '52a' and the Garbage Pail Kids logo at the top.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '50a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Mad Donna' depicted as a wild-looking baby with disheveled hair, biting on a bone. The baby is in a crib with golden bars, and a white bird, possibly a dove, is perched on the crib. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Mad Donna' is written on a yellow banner at the bottom. The background is blue.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '51a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Russell Muscle' depicted as a baby with an exaggeratedly muscular body, lifting a heavy barbell. He is wearing red shorts, and his body is glistening as if covered in sweat. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Russell Muscle' is written on a yellow banner at the bottom. The background is black, highlighting the character
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '47a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Disgustin' Justin' depicted as a tough-looking baby with long hair, sunglasses, and a beard, riding a motorcycle. The character is drinking from a can labeled 'BEER' and has tattoos and a skull on the motorcycle. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Disgustin' Justin' is written on a yellow banner at the bottom. The background is yellow.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '46a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Rappin' Ron' depicted as a baby with a large head and exaggerated features, wearing a suit and tie. He is standing behind a podium with the seal of the President of the United States, giving a speech or rap performance into a microphone. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card, and the name 'Rappin' Ron' is written on a blue banner at the bottom. The background is a gradient of green.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '44a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Sy Clops' who has a large singular eye in the center of his forehead, resembling a cyclops. He is depicted as a giant baby wearing a diaper, standing on a beach with sand and a small body of water in the background. There are tiny figures, including a person in a blue outfit and another in red shorts, near his feet, emphasizing his giant size. The card has a blue sky background with the 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo at the top, and the name 'Sy Clops' is written on a pink banner at the bottom.
A Garbage Pail Kids trading card labeled '45a' at the top right corner. The card features a cartoon character named 'Leaky Lindsay' depicted as a baby doll with pigtails, wearing a purple dress. The character is covered in green slime that is dripping from her hands and mouth. There is a box of tissues and a spilled bottle labeled 'Slime Off' on the ground. The 'Garbage Pail Kids' logo is at the top of the card
Mutating Iconic Art Into Magical Moments

Garbage Pail Kids NFTs

A new marketing effort was made to publish articles, do interviews on various platforms revealing the wider selection of chase cards including the animated GIFs, enticing potential customers to buy digital GPK packs with the knowledge that there’s a chance to find these Collectors animated cards.

A personal challenge for me was dissecting the existing artwork and putting into motion. I painstakingly repainted and illustrated portions of the art that didn’t exist in the flat paintings. Bringing new humor and life to the cards while retaining the vision of the original artist would entice collectors to notice and embrace digital cards using GIFs to perfectly illustrate why NFTs are the perfect platform for the future of enhanced collectibles.