Let’s face it, most of us adults collect baseball cards today because we did so as kids. There’s just something special about it that makes us want to go back and relive our childhood again and again. It’s not like we go back and watch the same shows we did when we were young or listen to the same music. It’s a special part of our lives that we just can’t do without.

That being said, it’s hard to find someone who collected baseball cards in the 80’s who didn’t have Garbage Pail Kids. You may not remember but the two actually had a couple of things in common. For one, they too came in wax wrappers like many of our favorite baseball brands. Second, they were produced by the Topps Company, an icon in the trading card industry.

Before we delve into the countdown there are two things you need to know. First, this list was put together by the expert of Garbage Pail Kids & the creator of Wayne’s Garbage Pail Kids References, Wayne. Second, all ten of these cards were drawn by John Pound. You can check out Wayne’s amazing site by clicking HERE and John’s by clicking here.

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10. All-New Series 7 – 32a Abandoned Andy / 32b Cast Away Jay – The concept for this character is not anything special, but the artwork is fantastic. The detail, texture, and color really grab me in. The character’s sun bleached hair and burnt skin were painted perfectly. It is also kind of funny to see the cruise ship going by off in the background.

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9. 15th Series – 593a Footloose Fred / 593b Lucky Lew – I like the bright yellow background, and combining that with the GPK character as a rabbit, it almost gives the the painting a storybook look. But, my favorite part about the painting is what happened to the character… his foot was cut off and made into a lucky rabbit’s foot, so the character hobbles on crutches over to the novelty store and buys it back… you see him leaving the novelty store dangling the lucky rabbit’s foot from a chain.

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8. 9th Series – 346a Peeled Paul / 346b Skin Les – I like the concept for this character… instead of removing his clothes, the character rips off his flesh (exposing all of his muscle tissue) as if it was a suit, and in his closet you can see he has other flesh suits just hanging there.

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7. All-New Series 3 – 20a Birdbrain Brian / 20b Cuckoo Chris – I like how the term “bird brain” has been taken to the next level with this painting. The character’s head has been hollowed out, and now a bird has taken control of him. The hypnotized/swirl eyes on the character are a great detail.

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6. All-New Series 6 – 20a Brady Back Ribs / 20b Spare Rob – I sent the idea for this concept to Topps, but they ignored it… and GPK artist coincidentally came up with the same concept. I really like all of the details, texture, and color that was put into this painting. The self-cannibalism is quite gruesome.

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5. 2nd Series – 53a Jolted Joel / 53b Live Mike – This is not only a classic GPK character, but it is also a very eye-catching painting. The character has a great 1980s heavy metal rocker look. The look of the GPK character always reminded me a lot of the Spider-Man villain Electro.

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4. 2nd Series – 62a Greaser Greg / 62b Chris Hiss – The plain orangish background really makes the character pop out at you for this painting. The character looks very cool and dangerous… a greaser with a slick pompadour hairdo, holding a switch blade and chain, wearing a leather jacket and smoking a cigarette… you cannot get much more rebellious than this.

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3. 1st Series – 4a Fryin’ Brian / 4b Electric Bill – This is another bright background painting where you really can focus on the character. The concept is somewhat morbid… a prisoner getting electrocuted. You can see that the switch for the electric chair is turned on, and the character is being shocked to death… his fingers point straight out, his teeth are clenched together, and his eyes are x-ed out.

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2. 4th Series – 137a Max Axe / 137b Deadly Dudley – The character has a slightly crazed and dopey look at the same time. The character’s chest hair is kind of a funny detail. This dangerous executioner has killed and dismembered his victim, and you can see the body parts in the basket and blood dripping off of his axe and down the stone steps.

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1. 2nd Series – 57a Tommy Gun / 57b Dead Fred – This is a very dramatic (and brutal) scene that was beautifully painted. The Al Capone-like character (Scarface) has a stitched scar on his face, and he is violently being gunned down. The bullet holes run across the wall and through the character. You can see by the bullet holes that a bullet went right through the character’s hat and his head. The character is killed, and he is falling back while shooting off a few rounds from his machine gun. His eyes are rolling back, which makes the scene even more dramatic. Even though the character was shot up, just a small blood spot is on the ground. This is a great concept, and the painting really captures everything.

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