Spotted Online – A Pair of Garbage Pail Kids Book Reviews at Nerd Lunch
Just like the Wacky Packages book that was released a few years ago (reading post here) Topps now has a Garbage Pail Kids book* out there to remind us all of those gross trading cards of the eighties.
And, fortunately, none of have to buy the book without any ideas of what to expect. Why? Because there are now two reviews over at Nerd Lunch. CT posted this review way back in April and gives us a look at the book through the eyes of a parent who was never a Garbage Pail Kids fan. It’s a very honest review and I especially love this section of the review:
Somehow this cultural phenomenon that appealed to all boys my age in the mid-80s completely passed me by and now I can’t seem to generate any interest in the book. In fact, I am slightly repulsed. These cards were meant to be parodies of the Cabbage Patch Kids and in essence, these images represent the worst things imaginable happening to your little sister’s baby doll. And that baby doll represents a pretty realistic-looking kid. And now I’m a parent and I cannot find this stuff funny at all without a nostalgic hook to hang on it.
For another opinion on the book we now have this review by Paxton that was posted yesterday. And as a fan of Garbage Pail Kids, Paxton comes out with what I think is exactly the opinion of many who will buy the book:
. . . I am a little disappointed with the history of these cards as it’s presented. I know the paintings like the back of my hand, so I wanted a really good in depth discussion on how these cards came about and what it took to finally get them on the shelves. What is given to us is more of a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the story. And that’s a bit disappointing.
The book still hasn’t been one that I ordered, but seeing that it’s less than $14 on Amazon.com I suspect that I’ll own a copy soon enough. I may not be a collector of the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards, but I am a fan of books and pop culture so this feels like a title that really should be in the library here at home. And, soon enough, it will be.
Related articles
- Epic Garbage Pail Kids Back Tattoo (neatorama.com)
- ‘Disgusting, rebellious’ era of trading cards (cnn.com)
- Ron English’s Stickable Art Offenses: Wacky Packages meets AdBusters (boingboing.net)
I recently found that Topps is also selling GPK magnets. They have them in 4-packs and they’re original card art on a magnet. Nothing too fancy but I was tickled to see them at the store and couldn’t pass it up. They are now in a place of honor on my fridge.
While I loved GPK and had a couple shoe boxes of them, I can’t say a coffee table book would be on my top buy list. I think GPKs might be one of the (many) things that is better in your memory than seeing them alive once again.
@Brain – I’m just a book fan and would often rather flip through a book than shuffle through a bunch of cards. (That’s why I like to get cards into sleeves and then into binders.)
I picked up the book a few weeks ago. I also wish it had more detail and full cardbacks, but for what it is, nice images of the first several series of GPK art, it’s great. Highly recommended.