2016 Topps Garbage Pail Kids American as Apple Pie in Your Face Info
By Ryan Cracknell | Hobby Editor
2016 Topps Garbage Pail Kids American as Apple Pie in Your Face trading cards take on pop culture with a big and varied base set and pool of inserts. From presidential hopefuls to some of America’s most sacred treasures, nothing is safe from satire in the product.
Like several recent Garbage Pail Kids sets, American as Apple Pie in Your Face has both hobby and hobby collector configurations. Each has their own focus and exclusives. Regular hobby boxes target those looking more at the base set with 24 packs of eight cards and no guaranteed hits. Hobby collector boxes have fewer cards with just six cards per pack. However, they also promise one premium card per box.
Base Set and Basic Inserts
Americana comes in many different forms. As such, the 2016 Topps Garbage Pail Kids American as Apple Pie in Your Face is broken down into nine distinct themes. As American as Apple Pie (84 cards) spoof many of the thing the country is known for like cars, cowboys and food. This is numbered as the main base set.
However, there are a couple of simple inserts that are numbered separately but included in packs in a similar fashion. Americana Swept Under the Rug (18 cards) and America Devolved (18 cards) both confront those embarrassing moments.
2016 has a couple major events scheduled that are getting the GPK treatment as well. First up is the presidential election. 2016 Presidential Candidates (ten cards) don’t take sides. The cards poke fun at top candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties. 2016 U.S. Summer Olym-Picks (18 cards) bring back original Garbage Pail Kids at cast them in Olympic events.
Keeping with the sports theme is America’s Pastimes (18 cards), which parody the country’s most popular sports.
American Icons (18 cards) take some of the country’s greatest achievers and puts their egos in check.
The last two subsets are American Inventors (18 cards) and U.S. Historical Moments (18 cards).
All told, it’s 220 cards once you combine the traditional A/B name variation format.
Each has several parallels. Spit Splatter (/99) are exclusive to hobby boxes and have a blue spit pattern around the border. Hobby collector boxes have some exclusive parallels of their own. Bruised fall one per premium pack. Bloody Nose (/75) have a red-pattern border. Non-exclusive parallels include Gold Dust, which have 50 copies each, and Printing Plates.
Hobby Inserts
In addition to the Spit Splatter parallels, regular hobby boxes have some additional inserts not found in Hobby Collector or retail packs.
Comic Cover Stickers recreate key artwork from the recent IDW comics. The set has eight cards, one of which is inserted in every box.
Eight Horror Stickers are also inserted one per box.
Hobby packs are the only place to find Die-Cut Sketch Cards. These have original artwork done on them. Rather than being shaped in the traditional rectangle, the cards are shaped. Approximately 500 total Die-Cut Sketch Cards are included in the product.
Hobby Collector Inserts
Aimed more at those looking for premium inserts, hobby collector boxes promise one such card per box. These come in several forms. Dual Artist Panoramic Sketch Cards fold out to be double the size of regular sketch cards. Artwork is done by a pair of artists rather than just one.
Patriotic Patch cards (ten cards, /50) have manufactured patches featuring various slogans.
Artist Relics (six cards, /99) have swatches of clothes worn by Garbage Pail Kids artists.
Autographs
GPK artists are featured on autograph cards. A total of 110 signed cards can be found, each numbered to 25.
Resurrected GPK “Friends”
A couple of retail exclusives reach into the Topps archives and breath new life into some short-lived products. Gross Bears, which were buttons that spoofed Care Bears, and Bathroom Buddies are both back with separate six-card sets.
2016 Topps Garbage Pail Kids American as Apple Pie in Your Face at a glance:
Packs per box: 24 (Hobby), 24 (Hobby Collector)
Boxes per case: 8 (Hobby), 8 (Hobby Collector)
Cards per pack: 10 (Hobby), 6 (Hobby Collector)
Set size: 220 cards
Release date: January 20, 2016
What to expect in a hobby box:
- Comic Cover Inserts – 1
- Horror Stickers – 1
What to expect in a hobby collector box:
- Relic, Patch or Panoramic Sketch Card – 1
- Bruised Parallels – 24
So are these all cards now? I remember back in the day they were all stickers.
Sorry but Topps has lost the GPK feel.
30th anniversary set was rubbish and this new format of pack em full of sub sets and inserts is making it too expensive now to justify the money for effortlessly done kids with absolutely no gpk vibe to them.
Have the artists just run outta ideas or what.
Kids are lame and the general sets are boring.
Im a die hard collector right from back when they started but now its seems to be same kids diffrent scenario and poor attempts at new kids.
What was wrong with just a set of all new kids no theme, no inserts just good standards of art and puns????
Topps seems to be focused more on quantity than quality.
Plus this upcoming set is American themed… Hmmmm was there not alot of that in the 30th set???? With star wars hitting the screens before this release topps if it insits on doing themed sets then they missed a trick there…should of been a space or star wars theme not a lame yet another american themed set.
Topps you’ve lost touch with your consumers and you’re gonna kill the line if you dont get back to source and give us real feal GPK
Topps,
I don’t mind subsets as long as there is a regular base set- but the 30th Anniversary Set was the worst set I’ve ever seen as far the numbering system. Also losing the die-cut on the stickers is an astonishingly horrible idea! What were you thinking?! Bring back the old numbering system and reinstate die-cutting.
I agree that the subset base set configuration is not a good way to do these cards and makes creating a set nightmarish. I also agree that the non-die cuts is a major detractor from the overall feel of GPK. I don’t know if the sets can be considered rubbish though. They are not as good as the nostalgic cards of the 80s or even the early 2000s, but the sets have maintained a GPK feel to them, although it does seem to be geared for a newer audience. There is good and bad in that. Topps as a company is trying to get the current youth to get into this hobby so they are doing what they feel with resonate with them. The older crowd that enjoys them is not going to be around forever and if the brand has any chance to survive long term then some changes need to be made to appeal to today’s younger crowd. I am not saying Topps is getting it right, but I can understand why they are doing what they are doing. A smaller card set with less parallels would be nice, but it is the way it is. To the point that this set is rubbish because it is an American themed set, I have two points. First Topps is an American based company that makes cards for their primary customers which are Americans. The 30th set was not American themed throughout, but of course it had American themes and elements as it is made by a company in America. Also the whole missed the Star Wars trick is not necessarily true. Topps tried to make a Star Wars Wacky Package themed set and they had taken pre-orders for it, however the set was canceled. It may have had something to do with Disney, who now owns Star Wars not wanting their product parodied. Topps also makes Star Wars movie cards and makes a nice profit from them and that is probably a relationship they want to keep, so perhaps they are shying away from anything that ties into Star Wars that is not specifically non-parody content. So, if you are no longer into them, then enjoy what you have from your past. If you are new give them a try and if you are still a fan since the 80s like me then good for you!
I’m loving the collector’s sets. The inserts really make you feel special. I just have no idea where to get them locally. It’s nice to be able to walk into my local hobby/comic book shop and pick up a few packs. I do miss the simpler number system, “C” varietals, and the old sticker cut (die cut?) system. Keep on chugging GPK!