Garbage Pail Kids is perhaps one of the most controversial games of its time. These sticker cards released in 1985 were a parody of Cabbage Patch Kids, a popular line of rag dolls.
Every character that appeared on the Garbage Pail Kids cards represented some sort of comic deformity and suffered a horrible fate or death.
The letters were vehemently criticized for their crude humor and the grotesque imagery they depicted. The humor depicted in his artwork was considered by many to be inappropriate for children.
Despite all these negative comments, Garbage Pail Kids managed to survive. In fact, shortly after its release, it was a huge hit and hugely popular with children. 15 original series of regular cards were released in the US from 1985 to 1988.
Garbage Pail Kids cards from the original sets are now considered collectibles; some sell for thousands of dollars at auction. Here we list the 8 most expensive Garbage Pail Kids cards that can be found today.
8. Junky Jeff # 2a
sold to:$ 1.750
Total auction price:$ 6.123
Release year:1985
photo source:d1w8cc2yygc27j.cloudfront.net
Junky Jeff Cardwas part of the first ancient series. It features a boy with his naked body covered in rubbish. The boy depicted in the artwork is obese and has a severed head. His head spills garbage and various coarse objects. A stray cat holding a lid-like object in one hand attacks his head.
The boy has an empty smile on his face. All in all, the boy looks like a living garbage man.
Some believe that the artwork is trying to remind us of how stray cats get food out of garbage. However, the prevailing notion is that the artwork pokes fun at how a child's mind can be filled with useless ideas and information.
did you know
Garbage Pail Kids cards have been released in many other countries including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and several European countries. However, the name was different for each country.
7. Norma nerd nº 24b
sold to:$ 2.125
Total auction price:$6,881 from 23 sales
Release year:1985
photo source:www.psacard.com
normal nerdwas one of the most criticized cards released as part of the original (OS) series. Parents scorned the artwork which depicted a bald boy smoking and drinking.
The child is in a diaper and holding a cigarette in one hand. The hand is resting on your head. With the other hand, he is lifting his nose. He has four cigarettes in his mouth and two more coming out of his head and ear.
He is surrounded by coffee cups and coke bottles. An ashtray in front of him is full of cigarette butts.
The artwork was likely intended to poke fun at the way people deal with their stress and anxiety. Smoking in the United States peaked in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. It was a reaction to this phenomenon.
did you know
Many schools across the United States have banned Garbage Pail cards. The official reason cited was that it distracted students during class.
6. Schizo Fran #49b
sold to:$ 2.400
Total auction price:$11,782 from 32 sales
Release year:1985
photo source:Wikia
Fran card sketchit was part of the second series of Garbage Pail Cards released in October 1985. It is perhaps one of the worst cards ever released in Garbage Pail Kids.
The artwork shows an image of a girl with two heads fighting each other. Both faces show wound marks and look violent. The card makes fun of mental disorders, which is clear both in the image and in the name.
The card was criticized for all the right reasons and was highly unpopular, especially with parents.
did you know
In some printings, the card's name was changed to Fran Fran, possibly because the developers realized the name was too exaggerated.
5. Eddie Maligno #1b
sold to:$ 2.693
Total auction price:$51,375 from 169 sales
Release year:1984
photo source:psacard.com
evil eddieit is the number 1 card of the former series 1. That is why this card has been sold in such high numbers
The card depicts a small vampire holding a Barbie-like doll. The boy clings to her, ready to bite her neck. There is also a small bat that proudly watches over the vampire boy.
The image is based on the character Dracula by Bram Stoker, while the name is a reference to the Eddy, vampires that disappear and have a spinning movement. It is clear from the art of the first series that the developers of Garbage Pail Cards were ready to go to great lengths to counteract the cute and cuddly image of the Cabbage Patch children.
did you know
Each card in the Garbage Pail Kids cards had two versions. They featured the same artwork, but the character names were different. They also had the same number but were differentiated by "a" or "b" mentioned after the number. Evil Eddie's counterpart was Nasty Nick, which is the most expensive Garbage Pail Kids card ever sold at auction.
4. Brad brutal # 55b
sold to:$ 2.900
Total auction price:$10,796 from 52 sales
Release year:1985
photo source:psacard.com
brad brutalit was part of the original second series. Around this time, the Garbage Pail Kid began to get into serious trouble. The card image shows a hairy caveman in a leopard-skin toga dragging a woman by her hair. He also holds a club in his other hand.
The image may simply be a representation of the popular belief that cavemen used to beat their chosen partners and drag them by the hair. It may also be a reference to domestic violence. However, it's unclear whether he endorses the violence or tries to mock it.
The counterpart to this card was named Hairy Garry, a character who appeared in the Garbage Pail Kids animated series, Idaho Spud.
did you know
This card has a female counterpart called Brutal Bridget #56b. The image is almost the same, but the roles are reversed. In this card, a cavewoman carries a gun over her shoulder and drags a dead caveman with her other hand.
3. Damn Billy #8b
sold to:$ 6.000
Total auction price:$37,225 from 190 sales
Release year:1984
photo source:psacard.com
damn billyit was part of the original series one. He is the counterpart to Garbage Pail Kids' most iconic character, Adam Bomb. However, the character was never as popular as Adam.
Both Adam Bomb and Blasted Billy portray the Cabbage Patch boys in tuxedos. They are bald boys with blue eyes. They are wearing a blue coat, blue shorts, white boots and a tie.
The artwork shows the boy sitting on the floor and pressing a detonator box. He causes an explosion above his head, forming a mushroom cloud. It was a reference to the atomic bomb being introduced at the time.
An example of the Blasted Billy #8B card wassold for $6,000 on Feb 15, 2021.
did you know
When the design of the "a" and "b" trash cards was always the same, the variations were usually depicted on the back of the cards. Some of them had checklists on the back and others carried mock prize announcements.
2. Adam Bomba #6a
sold to:$ 7.643
Total auction price:$134,606 from 294 sales
Release year:1984
photo source:psacard.com
Adam Bomb was the most popular Garbage Pail Kids character. Art is the same as Blasted Billy. The name Adam Bomb is a direct reference to the atomic bomb. Adam Bomb became so popular primarily because this character appeared on the cardboard boxes and packaging of Garbage Pail Kids cards for the first five series.
Not only is the card the second most expensive on this list, the cumulative sales value is considerably higher for this card as well. It is also one of Garbage Pail Kids' best selling cards. the card wassold for $7,643 on June 2, 2022🇧🇷 Previously, the highest price for this card was $7,500.
did you know
The Adam Bomb card has been reprintedin all new series 1🇧🇷 Several variations of this card appeared in the Flashback series. The character was also honored at thetrash can trollsSeries. However, despite all the fame, this popular character was absent from theChildren's Film Trash Bucket.
1. Nasty Nick #1a
sold to:$ 19.000
Total auction price:$242,550 from 241 sales
Release year:1984
photo source:psacard.com
Nasty Nick is the most expensive junk card ever sold at auction. This card has agrand sum of $19,000 at auctionheld on October 28, 2020.
The card resembles Evil Eddie's design, but is much more popular than its counterpart. Probably because this card is numbered 1a and is therefore considered to be the first Garbage Pails Kids card ever produced. The name is a reference to the phrase "what a nasty nick".
did you know
Garbage Pail Kids was invented by famous cartoonist Art Spiegelman, who later won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his comic strip about the Holocaust.mausoleum.