Garbage Pail Kids: Juvenile Delinquent Riffraff

I don't want you hanging around Chris Hiss.  In fact, I forbid you to associate with that hooligan.  He is a mysterious juvenile delinquent in a black leather jacket.  People are probably more familiar with his twin, Greaser Greg.

Garbage Pail Kids Wall Plaque

In the Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987), Greaser Greg was voiced by Jim Cummings (well known to animation fans as the voice of Darkwing Duck, Taz, Winnie the Pooh, Bad Pete, and countless other famous characters).

Marshy Marshall's twin, Ali Gator, also starred in the live action Garbage Pail Kids Movie.  In the film, the Garbage Pail Kids were played by actors in costumes with puppet faces.

Only a small number of Garbage Pail Kids were in the movie, and they interacted with human actors (including "Facts of Life" star Mackenzie Astin).  I never saw the movie, but I understand it is legendary (not necessarily in a good way).

The Garbage Pail Kids were extremely popular in the United States during the 1980s, and decided to invade the rest of the world.

The Garbage Pail Kids were also known as "The Trashlings" (Latin America), "Snotlings" (Italy), "The Totally Broken Kids" (Germany), "The Filthies" (Belgium and France), "The Trash Gang" (Brazil), and "The Garbage Gang" (the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand).

Chris Hiss and Greaser Greg also have the name "Pepe Leador" in other countries.

Topp's Chewing Gum originally came up with Garbage Pail Kids in 1985 as part of the "Wacky Packages" line of trading card stickers.

You can find Topps Wacky Packages and Topps Perlorian Cats trading cards here at Dizmentia.

Wanted posters could be found on the backs of Garbage Pail Kids cards, where the names of school Principals or Big Sisters or Kid Brothers could be filled in to satisfy frustrations.

I never saw a wanted poster for a Convenience Store Clerk.  Most of the Garbage Pail Kids I saw were sold at 7/11 or Circle K stores.

The creators of Garbage Pail Kids had to think of two different names for each character, and they were very clever.

The names were usually a play on words, or a pop culture reference or a spin on a celebrity's name.

The Imperial Toy Corporation put out quite a bit of Garbage Pail Kids merchandise, and most of it was (by their own description) cheap.

Is that Bruce Willis on that key chain?  I think this is from an episode of "Moonlighting."

New Wave Dave's twin, Grafitti Petey (which I think is the better name of the two) was featured in a set of PVC Garbage Pail Kids figures.

This set was blind-bagged in tiny trash bags.

You could feel what you were getting, which is how I did not wind up with any duplicates.

I failed to get three of the figures.

Imperial also made Garbage Pail Kids Pop-Ups (plastic figures inside trash cans) and Stick-Ons (Puffy Stickers).

Kennel Kenny's twin is Mark Bark.  Doug Food better stay away from them.

Large, postcard-sized stickers were also sold of some characters.

Vampire Nasty Nick's twin is named Evil Eddie.

Smart, organized children used Garbage Pail Kids folders for school.

There were at least 12 different folders to collect.  Teachers loved them!  Especially the fussy old lady teachers.

Stormy Heather and Live Mike were on Folder #6.

Live Mike's twin is Jolted Joel.

There was a special Garbage Pail Kids Sticker Album.

I got this at a yard sale, and it already had a few rare (to me) stickers inside.

I was too lazy to write my name or any information in this album.

Notice Ashcan Andy, the Star Wars R2D2 spoof.

Bazooka Joe had been a mascot for Topp's Chewing Gum since the 1950s, and starred in his own comic strips.

Liberty Libby's twin is Alice Island.

These are some of the stickers that had already been placed in the album when I found it at the garage sale.

Sadly, I can relate to Shorned Sean.  Ouch!

There is something fantastic and outrageously absurd going on with Janet Planet.

Janet's twin is Spacey Stacy.

Many of the earlier Garbage Pail Kids are tame compared to the cards issued in later sets.

Eventually, the characters and logo were redesigned.

The inside back of the Sticker Album shows some of the earliest characters.

Disgustin' Justin is one of my favorites.

More Classic Garbage Pail Kids can be seen on the back cover of the Sticker Album.  Among the famous faces like Greaser Greg, there are lesser known characters like Slimy Sam and Creepy Carol.

You'd better watch out for Kim Kong and Mad Donna!

Wacky Packages spoofed Garbage Pail Kids with Garbage Pail Geezers in 2007.  The Circle of Life is complete.

The Garbage Pail Kids are still showing up on stickers after all these years.  Some characters, like Greaser Greg, have returned to appear on new cards.

Chris Hiss and Greaser Greg were also spoofed (or "ripped off") as part of another series of stickers that aped the Garbage Pail Kids at the height of their popularity.

Doug Thug was part of the "Trash Kan Gang" sticker set from Steiner MFG.  These stickers were sold in vending machines and restaurants to confused consumers.

What sort of person would collect these cards and save them for so many years?

What kind of twisted mind would you have if you did a blog post about them?

I used to have a huge box of Garbage Pail Kids when I was a kid.  When I stopped collecting them, a certain family member took the opportunity to get rid of my collection.  They thought they got rid of all of them.  They were wrong.