Halloween Garbage Pail Kids
July 29th, 2010 by John Wolfe
If you’re old enough to remember the ’80s, chances are you’re at least a little familiar with Garbage Pail Kids. Once the 1984 Cabbage Patch Kid craze was in full swing, it was a prime market for creating a product mocking those hot selling coleslaw-themed baby dolls — enter the Topps company. By ’85, Topps was cranking out their own “cute” little crop of kids who always managed to find themselves in either disturbing or disgusting predicaments. However, where Cabbage Patch was about toys, Garbage Pail was all about trading cards.
Being in fifth grade at the time, I was young, had a sick sense of humor and loved anything off-the-wall. In other words, I was in the demographic Topps was banking on for gobbling up their chewing gum and swapping their gross cards.
Anyway, I thought I’d share a few of the more Halloween-oriented GPK in this entry. Both images are scans from my own small collection (click on pics to get a better view). Even after all these years, I’ve kept the cards in the same 8-track carrying case where they’ve always been stored. If keeping these old cards in a 8-track case doesn’t scream 1980s, nothing will. 
Out of my entire collection, I’m probably most proud of this Pier Vampier card. While living in Germany, I used to trade classmates all the time for GPK and one day I was lucky enough to come across ole Pier. He’s the very first card from the first series of GPK produced for Holland. In fact, according to Wayne’s Garbage Pail Kids References (link takes you to Wayne’s site), the first series printed in Dutch was sold as a test run. Since the test run wasn’t extended, it’s extremely difficult to find any of the Holland Garbage Pail Kids products. Apparently Pier Vampier, who goes by “Nasty Nick” on the American version, may be a pretty rare card, but I have no idea about its value. Valuable or not, I love these things, because they’re a blast from my past and, of course, because of the Halloween tie-in on the lot I’ve featured here.
July 29th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
I forgot all about those, but then I was from the “wacky pack” era in the 70s… Just gave away my age!
July 29th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I still have bits and pieces of the ’70s stuck in my head, and I wish I could remember even more, but I guess I was destined to be a child of the ’80s. You did give away your age, but you definitely don’t look like you’re old enough to remember much about the ’70s either.
July 29th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
I do remember those, my daughter collected them. I am a child of the 70′s too, the era of peace, luv, far out, cool, flower power, and the Brady Bunch. Keep on truckin’…
July 29th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
I’m embarrassed to admit this to you John but I never once heard of these
Not once, not even among the kids in school. Actually, by 1984, I was no longer in elementary school so the attention of my fellow peers had changed, to some small degree, AS the hormones kicked in! I only remember Madonna making it big and all of the girls wanted to dress just like her or Cyndi Lauper.
LoL……OH, in addition to that I do remember the Cabbage Patch Kid craze very well only my friends were more into Strawberry Shortcake Dolls. I never owned one but I would play dolls with my friends for the sole purpose of SMELLING the dolls. Strawberry was my pick but I also had it bad for Lemon Meringue, Orange Blossom, and Ooooooo Blueberry Muffin doll. LoL, of course I realize this is in sharp contrast to the entry for this blog. LoL, sorry, didn’t mean to get all girley. Just more fond memories of my past that you have brought to the forefront for me and among others I’m sure
Thank you my friend.
July 30th, 2010 at 3:17 am
I was not allowed to have these as a kid. My parents were still resisting my Gothic nature. They wanted Beaver Cleaver for a son, they got Eddie Munster. lol To be fair, I was really young when these came out.
July 30th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Julie,
Since I’ve seen your photo, too, I would guess you and autumn were both born in the ’70s–not coming of age in that era–you both look too young for that! Though I’m mid 30s now, most people assume I’m around 24. I know I also would never correctly guess Goldie’s age, as she looks younger than her calendar years. Maybe living a lifestyle where you consume a steady diet of all things spooky is really a secret fountain of youth!
Goldie,
Really? Never heard of GPK? Since you were out of elementary by that time that’s totally understandable, though. I think Garbage Pail was definitely a fad among younger kids who enjoyed gross-out stuff. GPK was even bigger in Europe because anything trending in the states was hard for us to find overseas, so it became a hot commodity quickly over there. For American boys, the big three in Germany during the mid-’80s were: GPK, GI Joe, and Jolly Ranchers candy. I never really got into the Jolly Ranchers thing, but I was all about the trading cards and GI Joe.
We came back to the states once during our stay in Germany. As soon as all my classmates found out I was coming back for a week, they all put in a wish list of items (toys, cards, candy, etc.) for me to pick up — all the stuff that was almost impossible to get in Europe. I bought everything on the list and happily took it back to Germany for them.
Had I been a little more entrepreneurial-minded back then, I could have really cleaned up! I can see it now, classmates gathered around waiting to see what I was gonna pull from my backpack: “GI Joe stateside runs $2.50. I’m sorry, Brian, but after factoring in my legwork I can’t let you have it at that price. No, I think this GI Joe is gonna run you $10.50. Nothing personal, son, just the price of doing business.”
Of course, I never would have done that.
Though I never got into Strawberry Shortcake, I totally remember those dolls. Around the time when she was all the rage for girls, so was My Little Pony. The boys on the other hand, we were all into He-Man; the action figures, the cartoon, you name it.
Thank you. I totally get a kick out of flashing back to the ’80s and don’t mind it a bit!
Ethan,
You bring up a great point. I think things like GPK were considered rebellious and somewhat counter-culture by many, in a similar vein with how people often mistakenly judge/view the Goth lifestyle. But if you were pretty young, it may have been a good thing to be shielded a little longer from the Garbage Pail influence.
After reading your comment, I just know I’ll be humming The Munsters’ tune all day.
July 30th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
LOL ! My son collected these, and I still have them in an old photo album for him. Something just made me keep them (along with his Ghostbuster toys!) He’s 31 now, and I figure I’ll mount and frame them one day, and give it to him for Christmas…errrr…I mean, Halloween.
xox Donna
July 31st, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I’m close to your son’s age and I know I’d love to receive that for a Halloween gift, Donna. Of course, I’m probably not your typical thirty-something-year-old man!
It’s great to hear from you. Thanks for your comment!
August 1st, 2010 at 9:56 am
I remember those cards . They were great . Glad to see some one hung onto some of them valuable or not. thanks for the flash back.
August 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Thankfully, my parents pretty much let me keep all my old toys, so I get to relive my youth whenever I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about the ’80s. I put on a little Duran Duran and make Skeletor and He-Man battle it out for old times sake
… just kidding, but it is fun to see what’s been stored away for all these years.