Post by rusVan on Jul 16, 2010 16:28:57 GMT -5
Garbage Gang Cheap Toys are different than Garbage Pail Kids Cheap Toys.
1) They come in a different box.
2) They come in a completely different wrapper
3) The toys themselves where the first to be made of hard plastic.
4) The colors of the toys are even different!
Recently, due to a landmark find on eBay.uk, we have learned more about the distribution of this obscure release. Things that many people have been saying about Garbage Gang Cheap Toys over the years were wrong, but a few individuals were right the entire time. (I was wrong)
The following sentence is a sentence that those ‘few people’ have been waiting a long time to hear….
Garbage Gang Cheap Toys were made and distributed in 1986, probably late 1986.
We know this now because we seen the back of a GG wrapper, and the sides and bottom of a GG box, for the first time last month! And, the Uk Seller is a witness, and lucky for us, he has a great memory.
As if Cheap Toys needed yet another Uk Cheap toy collector named “Rob”, lol, Robert Cox rediscovered a box in his attic from his past; a Pandora’s box for our hobby. After his auctions ended, I interviewed Rob thoroughly on any memories he might still have of purchasing these rare items. This is what he remembers…
In 1986, during Series 2 of the Uk Garbage Pail Kids (minis) release, he saw a box of Garbage Gang Cheap Toys on the counter near some Garbage Pail Kids*. Half the box remained, and he decided to buy them all and asked the clerk if he could have the display box to store all his GPK cards and Cheapies after he opened them. The clerk didn’t mind. Rob doesn’t remember why he saved one of the wrappers, but remembers being impressed how GG Cheap Toy packs were opened. There is no yellow twist tie on them, like in all the other Cheap Toy packs! The bags are sealed with a thin wire threaded through the top of the bag, sort of like a bag of dog food, but instead of string, he remembered it being a thin metal wire. This explains why his wrapper stayed in nrmt to mint condition!
The Garbage Gang wrapper has proven to be the greatest artifact of all, perhaps in all of Cheap Toys. When I, and probably other collectors, saw the back of it (on eBay) I literally lost my breath(and mind, when I entered ‘that’ bid). First, let’s cover the facts: the wrapper’s front displays the, then new, Garbage Gang logo at top in a rainbow arc. The logo looks surprisingly natural, and could be missed because of it. The weight of the contents is in grams, instead of ounces.
The back of the wrapper is crowded with 4 translations of the candy’s ingredients. There is also the printing date of “1986” in a new font. Ask yourself, had GG Cheap Toys been made and distributed in 1987 or 1988 or 1989 or 1990 or 1991, then why would the NEWLY designed wrapper have a NEWLY designed 1986 printing date…if 1986 was the wrong year? Besides, Rob bought these during Uk Series 2, which were distributed in 1986 in England. We are making this point to officially disprove the old theory that GG Cheap Toys came out in …gulp....1991. UkRob has ALWAYS argued that he saw Aquas and Cinnamons in the 1980s. Sorry UkRob!
And, about those translations…
The first of 4 is in English. But could it be in ENGLISH, English? For example, the USA wrappers say:
INGREDIENTS; SUCROSE, DEXTROSE, MALTO-DEXTRIN, FUMARIC ACID, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS AND CERTIFIED COLORS, YELLOW NO. 5
The GG wrapper says:
INGREDIENTS: SUCROSE, MALTO-DEXTRINE, MALIC ACID, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURS, NATURAL COLORS E100 E141 E160
Hmmm..what’s with the “flavours” instead of “flavor”, damn sexy no doubt, but strange…interesting…
The second translation is in German, the third, Dutch, and last in French.
An old unsolved mystery surrounds whether or not GG Cheap Toys were distributed to New Zealand and Australia, such as the Garbage Gang cards were in the early 1990s. That search seems a bit silly now with the distribution date as 1986 and them, now with possibility that these might have gone to Germany, Netherlands, and France!
However, the Garbage Gang box were distributed by Topps Ireland, Cork. It says it right on the wrapper and the bottom of the box. You know, I’m starting to wonder if these aren’t Irish, lol! Hey…Thin Lynn does have red hair! (Though all Cheap Toys were MADE in Hong Kong)
Of all 5 Cheap Toy boxes, the Garbage Gang box is the most simplistic. Information was taken off not added. The lid has the new logo of course, but the white printed circle, as on the Uk box, was deleted. The box’s weight in grams was left. However, the sides of the GG box were stripped down to a picture of Leaky Lindsay, the logo, and 24 ct. Even the ingredients were omitted! These Irishmen could have put pub crackers in the box and you’d never know it until you got home! The box bottom is the biggest disappointment of all; it’s identical to the Uk box. 579… 5 7 9 …the combination to my heart lock btw.
The greatest aspect of the GG CT release is the 4 new, exclusive colors. These colors are known to collectors as UK Peach, UK Blue, Cinnamon Red(or sometimes UK Red), and UK Aqua. The plastics are much harder than the denser, rubbery USA examples. Garbage Gang toys also float, such as in a cup of water, which is especially helpful in sorting UK Peach and Blue from USA Base peach and blue colors. Uk Peach is most similar to USA’s Dull Peach, but Uk Peach is more neutral (gray added). Uk Blue is slightly more dull than the USA colors too, and is a mid-range blue. Uk Aqua is lighter than Canadian Aqua, and white appears to have been added. Cinnamon Red is, likewise, lighter than the USA reds. Overall GG Cheap Toys come off as a pastel color set of Cheap Toys!
Cinnamon is the oddest of all CT colors. This color has tiny, random sized brown flakes that seem to float in the slightly translucent reddish, orange murk. Unfortunately, Cinnamons are prone to fading and a significant portion of known Cinnamons have light damage. All plastics decay in long exposure to sunlight, but this is a color pigment issue, and not common dry-rot.
Recently another Rob from the Uk, Robiero, pointed out that Garbage Gang Cheap Toys are rarer than Novo Bonbons. This statement sent me reeling and searching through my records only to find that was true! IT WAS!!
Or, at least, it was. Strangely, 3 separate, large GG CT lots appeared on eBay, 2 since his claim. According to my log, Novos and GGs are now too close in number to call, both in the 150 + or – 10 range.
The point is, with all the drama surrounding Novos over the years, combined with Robiero’s findings, and with the new market prices smashed for GG toys, especially Aqua, this might be a signal for new collector interest in British…….or should I say, German, or Dutch, or French, or Irish, or Chinese, or whatever the f**k these cool toys are.
“The History of Cheap Toys” will thus be edited SOON, thanks for your support and patience!
No, he FAILED to mention that. !@#$%^&*(*&^%$#@ 
I had to put UkRob on the spot, but I'd like for him to reply first(while I go bang my head against the wall 
.
You ROCK Rob!! Btw, what do you mean, by "Merlin" 
. 
Nice! ;D 
Really cool box. I wish they had the Nasty Nick box too though