Garbage Pail Kids: The 80's Fad That Just Won't Die!

Not the author, but close enough..

When I was a kid in the early 80's, there was a fad that a lot of the kids were in to. Now kids and fads go way back. Before Shopkins and Pogs and several other flavors of the month, kids collected stickers. Back in Edgewood Elementary school, lots of kids had sticker albums filled with Scratch 'N Sniff, Lazer Blazers and Puffy stickers. Gift shops and various stores were filled with stickers and many of us bought them and put them in our albums.

One day while going through each others albums during recess, I flipped a page and saw something new that would change everything. There amidst the random stickers was a baseball card sized painted picture depicting another of the nations most recent crazes, a Cabbage Patch Kid, but this one was falling apart at the seams. It was funny and a little shocking and we all wanted to know what this sticker called a Garbage Pail Kid was. Almost overnight it seemed that every kid wanted some of these funny and subversive sticker trading cards. Locally we all knew a shop called Rios Pharmacy supposedly had them. I eventually hounded my Mom enough until she agreed to take me to Rios to get some.

An Original Series 1 wrapper!

We made the long walk and when we got there it was clear Mom didn't want to make a second trip. She splurged and bought me an entire box. I got to open the box and every pack of cards. It was fantastic!

Garbage Pail Kids cards were created by the Topps company and the first series was printed in 1985. The popular cards ran for 15 series. Each card had both an 'A' and a 'B' card, basically the same piece of art with two different names.

An original box in my collection.

In the early 2000's they returned for a while and in the late 2000's they returned again and are still going strong. Spoofing everything from Tyson biting off ears to the Anti-vaccenation crowd, for over 30 years the Garbage Pail Kids have tried to stay topical.

Why do I love collecting Garbage Pail Kids? It should be because they're small, which for me is a nice change of pace! I guess I'd have to say they remind me of a simpler time in my life. Unlike many of the cartoons of my youth, the Garbage Pail Kids have aged well. Looking back at each painted card, they're still funny, gross and even beautiful.

Complete set of buttons!

I began collecting them again back in 2012 and now I have all 15 series of the original cards and most of the more recent ones, I've expanded the collection to wrappers, empty boxes, posters and other assorted memorabilia.

I don't see the obsession ending any time soon, and that's fine by me. My wife loves them. My son loves them. Even a few of my friends enjoy them. What's not to like about that??

My Garbage Pail Kids birthday cake made by the talented Devin Shalles.

Custom limited edition shirt. Only 100 made!