FUN FACTS & TIDBITS

1. The GPK Flashback base card set consists of eight different images from each series, OS1 thru OS8 -- and four images from OS10 set for the bonus cards. The Loco Motion chase card set contains animated images for characters from the OS1, OS2, OS4, OS7 and OS8.

2. The set also features Four Levels Of Parallels to collect that mirrors the yellow checkerboarded borders of the 160 base card set. These chase card parallel sets can be found in either a 'green gross' border card inserted 1 out of every 2 packs, a 'punk pink' border inserted 1:3 packs, a silver border card inserted 1 out of every 6 packs or a gold border set inserted 1:42 packs. For each different parallel, the color of the border, logo background and name bar are always the same.

3. The Where Are They Now? subset puts several original GPK characters into nowaday scenarios, twenty-five years later as young adults. This is the only all-new artwork created for the Flashback, throwback set; artwork created by Luis Diaz, Tom Bunk, Brent Engstrom, Mark Pingitore and Joe Simko. The card set has the original character card images on the backside (although both card backs only have the "A" names, no "B" names).

4. The Lost GPK subset contains three images from the unpublished 1989 original 16th series GPK set, artwork that was pulled for the All-New Series 1 set, and three earlier GPK artwork pieces by John Pound (more information below within the GPK History section).

5. The promotional material and GPK Flashback Packaging was manufactured in 2009, the set was released in late February (hobby) and in early March (retail) of 2010, hence, the copyright date found on certain card backs is 2010. Topps manufactured brick-red, generic Gravity Feed Boxes for all of their ongoing releases, placing a solid sticker on the front of the box for the relative theme.

6. Two WATN? final artwork pieces based off of Mark Pingitore's concept sketches have several 80's Toys nostalgic Shout-Outs found within the final artwork images which can be seen on the Artwork Images page (link above). Among other things, Brent Engstrom's final artwork for cards 74a/b contains the Atari console and two controllers, a GPK Movie VCR tape, a Rubix Cube, a Gizmo Doll, a He-Man toy (with sword), a Simon Says game and a My Pet Monster (arm). Luis Diaz's final artwork for cards 78a/b has the first Nintendo console and a NES controller, a Speak & Spell game, and also a He-Man sword, a popular image that can also be found in the ANS7 cards 44a/b.


7. Card 42a JOEL Hole (Joel HOLE) is found with the Name "Joel" Small And Unbolded, and the word "HOLE" as big and bolded, both the opposite of what they should be. The checklist card comes with a list of errors as well; Card 11b FRAN FRAN has both first names in bold whereas the checklist has only the second "Fran" name in bold, 33b JORDAN Nuts has the word "nuts" in bold instead of the first name on the checklist, and card 39a "Fluoride FLOYD" has the name mispelled as "Flouride FLOYD" on the checklist card.

8. Card back images for cards 2a/b - 23a/b cover images for most of the GIANT GPK 15 Card Set released back in 1986. Much like the card fronts, the characters are successfully printed sharply in a nice dark and vibrant colors; the images not covered within the set are the card back to #9 and #12, and card fronts and card backs for #13, #14 and #15... for a total of 22 images used out of 30 possible from the 15 card GIANT GPK set.

9.The ten different sketch card artists were given 10 blank Sketch Card 'Returns' back from the Topps company... once drawn and approved, they could be kept by the artist or sold outright or auctioned to collectors. These sketch cards are often more highly detailed than the ones located and distributed within the hobby and retail boxes. Below is an example of one of Fred Wheaton's sketch card returns; more can be found on the Sketch Card Page (link above) for Wheaton, Pingitore and Zapata.


10. Due to the Where Are They Now? subset, there are several cards with the Exact Same Names; Cards 1a/71a Nasty NICK and 1b/71b Evil EDDIE, 3a/72a ADAM Bomb and 3b/72b Blasted BILLY, 4a/74a Tee-Vee STEVIE and 4b/74b Geeky GARY, 7a/76a Bony JOANIE and 7a/76b Thin LYNN, 16a/77a Split KIT and 16b/77b Mixed-Up MITCH, 18a/78a Hot Head HARVEY and 18b/78b ROY Bot, and 34a/80a NAT Nerd and 34b/80b CLARK Can't.

11. Two WATN? final artwork pieces based off of Mark Pingitore's concept sketches have several GPK character and logo Shout-Outs found within the final artwork images which can be seen on the Artwork Images page (link above). Tom Bunk's final artwork for 75a/b has "Rappin' RON Was Here!" scrawled on the upper left hand wall and two pictures portray the portraits of Snooty SAM and Gorgeous GEORGE. Pingitore's original concept piece had the Bill of Rights being shredded, whereas Bunk's work has not only the U.S. flag but also the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, We The People and a U.S. bill. Bunk changed the 'In U.$. We Trust' concept to 'In $ We Trust'. Joe Simko's final artwork for 77a/b, like Pingitore's concept, has the #9 GPK Poster image of Broad MAUD pin-up poster on the jail wall... as well as two Wanted pictures of SANDY Clod and Deadly DUDLEY. The GPK logo can be found on the police badge and the GPK PD wall plaque.


12. The nineteenth series to contain cards with The GPK Acronym found within the artwork. The GPK acronym can be found on the superhero shirt "GPK" of cards 34a NAT Nerd and 34b CLARK Can't, on the hat "GPK" of cards 51a Cut-Up CARMEN and 51b Dotted LIONEL, on the video recorder "GPK REHAB" (covered by the name plate) of cards 73a Boozin' BRUCE and 73b Drunk KEN, on the "GPK PD" sign, the "GPK" badge and on knuckles "GPK" of cards 77a Split KIT and 77b Mixed-Up MITCH and on the license plate "GPK13" of cards 79a Babbling BROOKE and 79b Jelly KELLY.

13. Two WATN? final artwork images based off of Mark Pingitore's concept sketches have a Self-Portrait by the final artwork artist which both can be viewed on the Artwork Images page (link above). Tom Bunk's final artwork for 79a/b has a caricature of Bunk himself in the second story window, white goatee and all. A shout-out to the GPK logo shows up on the license plate as 'GPK13' changed from 'GPK1' on Bunk's color rough; Pingitore's original concept piece had far less background artwork. Brent Engstrom's final artwork for 74a/b also has a self-potrait of the artist himself found on the newspaper located behind the Tee-Vee STEVIE character; the painting to the right is actually a painted portrait of Engstrom's wife Tracy.


14. Because of the mash-up of several different series releases, there are ten sets of cards with the Same First Names; 19a DINAH Saur and 32b Dyin' DINAH, 10b RAY Gun and 36b Sting RAY, 11b FRAN FRAN and 37a FRAN Furter, 23b Peepin' TOM and 42b Teed-Off TOM, 8a New Wave DAVE and 53a Have A Nice DAVE, 29a MAX Axe and 55b MAX Stacks, 50b Bull's IRA and 62a Waffle IRA, 11a Double HEATHER and 63a Leather HEATHER, 61b Sparrin' WARREN and 67a Global WARREN, 60b Inter STELLA and 68a Stitched STELLA, 16b Mixed-Up MITCH and B1 Itchy MITCH, and 49a Milky WAYNE and B3 Varicose WAYNE.

GPK HISTORY SECTION

1. The original Classic 80's GPK have not been in print within the U.S. in their original form since 1989. Under the OAA/Topps lawsuit guidelines in 1987, no new GPK images could be created post settlement with CPK likeness, therefore any pre-settlement image (released or unreleased) can be published -- the time must have been right to dip back into the nostalgic popularity of the classic 80's GPK images. The set mainly focuses on the pre-settlement characters, whereas the post-settlement reimagined characters have been left out of this reiteration (except for the bonus cards with OS10 characters).

2. The Lost GPK artwork for cards 65a Pickled PETE and 65b Formaldehyde FRED, created by artist John Pound in 1986, was originally intended for the original 2nd series GPK set. The same concept, created by John Pound in 1998, can be found within the Meanie Babies parody set as card #6 PICKLES.


3. The Original Set Concept in 2008 showcased the base cards with a solid yellow border and an updated GPK logo, with the early 2009 promotional material showing the Lost GPK having the nostalgic white borders and original GPK logo -- which would have coincided with the Wacky Package Flashback Lost Wacky's. This was all planned by the then sole art director Colin Walton before the release was shelved. Once the Flashback set was unshelved, in late 2009 and released in early 2010, and Jeff Zapata took over the art direction, the checkerboard was added to the base cards and the mirrored parallel sets -- the Lost GPK (with a short period of having a plain yellow border updated from the white border) also adopted the checkerboard effect. The Where Are They Now? subset was brought into the base set and doubled in size with added twin cards, and the classic GPK base set was truncated while still keeping the 80 card set size plus twins.

4. GPK newcomer Joe Simko contributed 2 Final Artwork pieces for the GPK Flashback set from a Mark Pingitore concept and from one of his own concepts which both can be seen on the Artwork Images page (link above). Below is the original concept sketch for cards 80a/b from the Where Are They Now? base card subset created by Simko before starting on the second concept and final artwork; later, the character sits below a Microsoft parody sign. Notice both of Simko's contributions have the Kids with five fingers.


5. The Lost GPK artwork pieces for cards 66a Baby ABIE and 66b LINCOLN Park, along with cards 67a Global WARREN and 67b AL Pocalypse, were both intended for the original 5th series GPK card set; with images for card 66 finding itself on a test sheet before being pulled with the same Baby ABIE name (more information and images within the OS5 series section). However, the same image was originally conceived for the 3rd series GPK set, with the character having only one bullet hole through the top hat (more information and images can be found within the OS3 series section).

6. Right before the GPK Flashback release, the LTL Prints company contracted most of the images (except for the missing unpublished artwork for the OS16 series) for sale as wall graphics, computer laptop graphics, et cetera from their site. A give-away contest was held by several of the main GPK websites and LTL Prints provided the free prizes; Diego Gonzalez (a.k.a. TCT) created a great graphic for my site for this occasion.


7. The previously unpublished artwork for the Lost GPK cards 68a/b, 69a/b and 70a/b, along with nine other images, were pulled from the original 1989 unreleased 16th series GPK set for the published 2003 All-New Series 1 card set (more information and images within the OS16 series section). The name for 68a Stitched STELLA remained intact, although the card name for 68b Interracial RACHEL was changed to the more politically correct Patchwork Paula.

8. ANS GPK artist Brent Engstrom contributed 3 Final Artwork pieces for the GPK Flashback set from a Mark Pingitore concept and from two of his own concepts which all can be seen on the Artwork Images page (link above). Below is the original concept sketch for cards 73a/b from the Where Are They Now? base card subset created by Engstrom before starting on the second concept and final artwork; this plays on the same imaginary animal images found in the original OS1 card.


9. GPK veteran Tom Bunk contributed 2 Final Artwork pieces for the GPK Flashback set from Mark Pingitore's concept work. Below are the color roughs and rough sketches for cards 75a/b and 79a/b from the Where Are They Now? base card subset created by Bunk before starting on the final artwork. Notice that both final artwork pieces has the Kids with five fingers.




10. The Lost GPK subset that previously numbered 75a/b - 80a/b on the Outdated Checklist were re-numbered 65a/b - 70a/b, whereas the original 10 card Where Are They Now? subset with 10 added twin cards became a 20 card subset numbering 71a/b - 80a/b on the updated checklist.

11. The Card backs for cards 16a/b contain the #8 'Take A GPK To Lunch' character from the Giant GPK 15 card set... this image can also be found on #1 'DRINK All-Natural Garbage Pail Kola - You'll Never Drink Anything Else!' within the GPK Poster set labeled as the 'House Special'. For more background information on the imagery found within this poster, please see the GPK Poster section within the GPK*Land section on this site.


12. ANS GPK concept and now artist Mark Pingitore contributed his first Final Artwork piece for the GPK Flashback set from his own concept for cards 76a/b which can be seen on the Artwork Images page (link above). Below is the original concept sketch for cards 77a/b from the Where Are They Now? base card subset drawn by Pingitore before starting on the second concept; the later final artwork was comleted by Joe Simko. Pingitore's final artwork has the character with the original five fingers.


13. Ten pairs of Twin Cards, numbering 65a/b - 74a/b, were Removed from the original November 2009 preliminary checklist (subject to change) that contained eight images from the OS9th series and two images from the OS10 series (Cute TIPPI/Waxy WENDY, Early BERT/Rotten ROBIN, Snot Rope HOPE/Drippy DEBBIE, Con VIC/AL Catraz, CLARK Shark/MANNY Eater, Beasty BOYD/Semi COLIN, Dent AL/Fluoride IDA, Scalped RALPH/Bone-Head FRED, Locked DORIAN/SIDNEY Kidney and Vermin HERMAN/Gullivered TRAVIS). The Lost GPK previously numbered 75a/b - 80a/b on the outdated checklist.