If you remember the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards of the ’80s, chances are some primordial lizard-brain memory will kick in when you see these new "Hollywood Zombies" trading cards being released by the same company, Topps. Harmless but pointed fun, gross-out humor without the R-rated sting, "Hollywood Zombies" depicts cartoon versions of celebrities such as "Paris Hellton," "Tom Ooze," "Sanjaya Malakarcass" (left), and "Scary-Kate and Trashly," the Olsen twins.
Drawn to resemble horror-movie versions of celebs, "Hollywood Zombies" (collect all 72!) actually have a semi-noble heritage. Topps, a trading-card company that made its fortune with baseball trading cards, branched out into non-sports cards starting in the ’70s, and employed for its parody cards such eventually-famous artists as future Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Spiegelman (Maus), frequent EW illustrator Drew Friedman, and underground cartoonists old and new such as Jay Lynch, Mark Newgarden, and James Warhola.
(After the jump, see "Britney Speared." Eww!)
The question is, of course, do you or your friends collect tradingcards anymore? "Hollywood Zombies" (seven cards per pack) may be your wayback into this fine nostalgic enterprise. I’ll trade you a Tom Ooze(featuring a green, eyeball-dangling Cruise-like figure emerging from acoffin) for a "Deadly Show" card (that’s Jon Stewart, of course, withthe flesh melting off his face)… Ick; ha-ha!
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Um, who’s going to buy this?
Can you say hideous??? Who thought this was a good idea?
Wow. Britney looks so much better now than she has recently.
Anyone who thinks these won’t sell must not remember the success of Topps Wacky Packages from the 70s.
Kids will eat this up.
Wasn’t there something like this in the 80s? Like Garbage Pale Kids or something. I remember there was a movie of it as well. And the trading cards were awesome. I think if those were popular then, these should be popular now.
Those are totally brilliant. Yay Topps!
So, do the celebs depicted get a cut from sales? Did the Topps Co. have to get permission to parody them? Curious minds want to know.
I’m not a professional attorney but I am an amateur attorney, and I’m pretty sure that they don’t need permission to use their likeness (or have to pay them) specifically because it is a parody. At least that’s how I understand the law from watching People Vs. Larry Flynt.
Yeah, I’m not so positive that kids will eat this up.
I mean, I have a 13 year old brother, and I think I would have a hard time dragging him away from his PC/Wii/PSP to mess around with trading cards.
Anyway, LOOK at these cards…are they even for kids? Or is this more aimed at nostalgic fans of the Garbage Pail Kids phenomenom. Methinks it’s probably the latter. But the question remains…what am I supposed to DO with these cards?
Agreed with Ceballos. Like comics and role playing games, methinks the non sports trading cards hit a peak in the 1990’s. Unless these are EXTREMELY limited in production or if one of the celebs becomes some sort of ghoul in real life, I can’t imagine these are going to do super well.
On the other hand, I still have my Garbage Pail Kids boxed set (they re released the series a few years back) and could imagine purchasing these on an impulse purchase at an FYE or video game store. That is, if they are cheap and still come with the jawbreaking two year old bubble gum…
Man, if I were nine years old again, I’d probably think these were cool… I’m sure they’ll sell – most likely to parents of said nine-year-olds who remember the Garbage Pail Kids and are for some reason waxing nostalgic.
Man, if I were nine years old again, I’d probably think these were cool… I’m sure they’ll sell – most likely to parents of said nine-year-olds who remember the Garbage Pail Kids and are for some reason waxing nostalgic.
To Chuck A – I LOVED Wacky Packy stickers when I was a kid – I had so many of them it was insane. I went to a party a year or so ago and the host had a poster with all of the stickers on it framed – I wish I had one.
To Chuck A – I LOVED Wacky Packy stickers when I was a kid – I had so many of them it was insane. I went to a party a year or so ago and the host had a poster with all of the stickers on it framed – I wish I had one.
Obviously, since I am an old timer now, I don’t really collect trading cards anymore. That said, given my disdain for the fame-hungry people mentioned in this article, I think I might be all over this collection.
Oh, please do one for Fergie, give K-Fed his own, throw in Whoretney Love, include Lindsey, go after Wilmer, and don’t let up on Anna Nicole simply because she is dead. Oh, please!!!
Am I really in the minority because I think these are super fun? Zombies? Celebs? ZOMBIE CELEBS?!?! What’s not to love??
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Hi Ron! Come back to the SJP comment board, I miss you!
To ??- Because of Hustler v. Falwell and New York Times v. Sullivan, Topps can publish those cards as long as someone can’t prove they had “malicious intent.” Their right to publish the celeb cards is protected by the first amendment.
Anna, honey, I don’t think they will let us post there anymore. At least they won’t let me. Sorry.
I didn’t like Garbage Pail kids much when they hit (what can I say? I was a wimp), but I have to believe that if any collectable trading cards were going to be popular again, these would be it. After all, does the mind of your basic nine-year-old boy ever really change?
No, daisyj, it doesn’t. Not even when the nine-year-old boy becomes a thirty-something man. LOL!!!
I think Ron’s correct. My taste as a 9 year old was for things that were gross and movies that featured lots of explosions and high body counts. Sad to say my tastes never evolved beyond that.
Just when I was starting to have my fun with you! Oh well, thanks for the entertainment…And remember; when you make another unfunny joke or use the wrong word, I’ll be there!
Anna, stop teasing me. You know you give me crap because you want me. You posts dripped with sexual tension. DUH!!! LOL!
In truth, I did mean to say irrespective, but, once you called me out, I had to defend it to the death. But the point was well taken, as I also cannot stand bad spelling, poor grammar, and general misuse of the English language.
Here is my olive branch.
Anna, gotta ask was “i’ll be there” a tribute to the Tom Joad quote at the end of Grapes of Wrath?
Riiiight, that’s *exactly* what that was..sexual tension..mm-hmm. I have to say Ron, your admission caught me off-guard! But I appreciate & welcome it. In turn, I apologize for saying you are uneducated. I’m sure you are far from that. I accept your olive branch, and extend you mine. Although what are we to do now to entertain ourselves?
Ep Sato-Of course! Whereas Tom’s speech came from a need to defend the common man from oppression, the injustices in our case refer to our having to be subjected to Ron’s use of the word “irregardless” and his Dee Snider jokes. So it was only fitting.
Peace out!
Oh, trust me, Anna, as long as posters think Paris Hilton is more important than John Steinbeck, and as long as they keep butchering the English language like Roman Maronie, you and I will have plenty to do.
You cannot even fathom the number of times I have been called snarky and uptight for calling people out for even the most basic of spelling and grammatical errors. Trust me, we will always be entertained.
And what that young lady has against poor Dee, I will never know. You know he’s opera-trained, right? LOL!
I still have a big sheet of Wacky Packages stickers up on my wall. This stuff used to be funny to the ten and under crowd…and interesting for about ten seconds.