42 replies to this topic

[Soupie]

Yes, that wasn't a typo...

Item number: 150220117850

I was bidder one.

 UK_Lot_One.jpg   36.75K   286 downloads

 UK_Lot_Two.jpg   135.26K   164 downloads

[Scumdogg]

Man, i had no idea these things were worth that much!! Is every figure pretty valuable on its own, or are there just some crazy-rare colors?

In case i should see any of these out in my various hunts, what's a good price on average to pay per figure?

[jkaris]

Why? What was worth so much?

[SaltLakeToyJunkee]

Why? What was worth so much?

I just took interest in these and this is my guess. There were two figures in that lot that were a part of the Canadian second series of figures. Based off what I have gathered shopping for these things is the the Canadian series are more rare than US versions. Not to mention the Second Canadian Series??? This is only a guess as I do not really no crap about these anybody willing to correct me?

[Soupie]

All 68 figures are 1st series figures. However, sixty six of the figures in the lot are made of a hard, light weight plastic that floats in water. Figures made of this plastic type are unique to the UK. They seem to have come in both Cheap Toys and Garbage Gang packaging. The green-colored figures in particular, UK Aqua Green, are highly sought after. Also, of the red figures, at least two of them may be a highly sought after slightly-translucent red that we call Cinnamon Red.

For the record, as rare and large as this lot is, these UK-type figures have only recently popped on the radar. There's likely lots more out there. (Come on Fitz, let's get busy at those boot sales! )

Anyhow, Philly, check out the following sites for info on Cheap Toys:

Soupie's Cheap Toys Archive

Cheap Toys Series One @ Toypedia

Cheap Toys Series Two @ Toypedia

[Ericnilla]

i bid $125 and that was way shy... dang, i had no idea it was gonna go that high.

[Soupie]

UK Cinnamon Red



UK Aqua Green, 2nd from the right

[meatcutta78]

I figured those were Aqua green figures.I was watching this lot hoping it wouldn't go as high as it did but they did.
I thought it was bad when muscle lots get up in price but these GPK figures go for some crazy cash.

[Strontium Dog]

check out the following sites for info on Cheap Toys:

Soupie's Cheap Toys Archive

So when is the Cheap Toys Archive coming back then!?

Anyway, the reason I'm asking is that I just started collecting this series too! I just picked up 20 series 1 figures off eBay (along with a "Garbage Gang" leaflet).

Happily I didn't pay hundreds though, they worked out about £2 per figure. They're waiting at home for me as I type this, and I'm likely going to need some help identifying what colours they are - just forewarning our GPK experts now

I guess the first thing I should be doing is seeing if any of them float, right?

[Strontium Dog]

Okay, I just checked, and all 20 of them are "floaters". Additionally, the red ones are speckly and slightly translucent when I hold them up to the light. I am no expert, but I think this is good?

I've attached pics of my new acquisitions; I was lucky to get each figure twice, and only one of them is a duplicate colour (green Crater Chris). I also attached the "Garbage Gang" leaflet that came with them:

 GPK20.JPG   106.28K   91 downloads  Gang020.JPG   60.07K   44 downloads

I would really welcome any input here as I don't really know what I have, or how common/rare each one of these is. All I can say is that I instantly love this line and I am definitely going to go on collecting them!

[jkaris]

Additionally, the red ones are speckly and slightly translucent when I hold them up to the light.

I believe those are cinnamons and worth $$$$$$$

[csmhoff]

nice find.

*points to rusvan* for rarity identification

[Soupie]

Geez, where to start.

I guess the first thing I'll say is I have no idea what the value of any of these may be. Cheap Toy collecting is a terribly small niche, but it seems to be well over-represented with crazy, deep-pocketed collectors.

"Floaters" are Cheap Toy figures made of a light, brittle plastic material that floats in water. It's almost 99.9% certain that they were exclusively distributed in the UK (and possible Australia). It's also almost 99.9% certain that the floaters were released as "Garbage Gang" figures instead of "Garbage Pail Kids" for legal reasons. Your Garbage Gang checklist seems to support the latter theory. (It's possible that both these things have been confirmed. Rusvan might be able to confirm that. Last I knew, it was possible that Garbage Gang figures were also made of the softer, heavier plastic as well.)

Though the floaters can be found in a green, blue, red, and peach that is very similar to the softer, heavier plastic of the US Cheap Toys, the color is slightly different.

However, there are two very unique colors that floaters can be found in, and you appear to have two of them: UK Aqua Green and Cinnamon. (I'm at work at the moment, I'll take a better look at the greens when I get home.)

The UK floater figures appear to be rarer than the common colored softer, heavier Cheap Toy figures. They are probably as rare or rarer than the rubbery figures such as Orange, Neon Red-Orange, Neon Yellow, Neon Green, Salmon, and Electric Blue.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the floaters. I don't care at all for the lighter, brittle (cheaper?) material. However, completionist collectors out there gotta have 'em.

Again, while I hesitate to put a value on these pieces, I will say that individual series one Cheap Toys/Garbage Gang figures have gone from anywhere between $50-125.

Edited by Soupie, 23 September 2009 - 10:57 AM.

[Soupie]

Yes, although a lot of the discussion in the Cheap Toys section is unorganized, inaccurate, and confusing. I'd say a better source is Nico's Cheap Toys section on his site GEEPEEKAY.com, especially his literally beautiful figure archive: http://www.geepeekay...agearchive.html



And those do appear to be UK Aquas. Scroll up in this thread and you can see some high-res pics as well.

Edited by Soupie, 23 September 2009 - 11:53 AM.

[Strontium Dog]

Thanks so much for all the info, everyone. I did do a bit of reading about these before buying them, and I always had a feeling these figures might be the rarer UK ones. To be honest, I was a little mystified that the auctions didn't go higher and that nobody else had a real punt on them; I only shelled out around £40/$70 for the lot. When I got them and they all floated I had an idea that I'd snagged a bargain, but it's nice to get confirmation! I understand the Cinnamon Megan is especially uncommon?

Anyway, apart from the duplicate UK Aqua Chris, I am not getting rid of these any time soon, unless I get silly offers. Like Soupie though, I think I would prefer the feel of denser, rubber figures to these light plastic ones. They're great sculpts, but without wanting to besmirch these rare figures too much, they are vaguely reminiscent of something you'd get out a Christmas cracker

[Canucklehead]

WoW! that's a lot of money even if it was 64 guys... $1800 (and US bucks too lol!)

I had no idea they could go that high. Makes me glad this guy who was looking for them never emailed me back for about 2 months. I was going through some old boxes back in May and found my "disgusting toy collection" - like a big yellow nose shaped ring called "Pick 'N Chews" (yes, you pick pink bubble gum from the nostrils lol) a chocolate pooping pig and my first ever score - a little green sac of garbage pail kids I bought 20 years ago when I was traveling down east. I had collected the cards when I was a kid (still have a few stickers in my old photo album) so when I saw the toys at a gas station... well you must know, because you all collect "memories" too

Anyway I found Garbage Pail cards on ebay but not the toys back then, and the only real place I found any interest was a google hit for hoobly - but the want-ad was really old, I figured what the heck and answered 'cuz maybe I could make a few bucks since my hockey cards were worth squat and I was dead broke at the time. Turns out by the time he answered me I had an income and had totally forgot about him.

Long story longer...

Now I started looking harder for information and this time found out I had a pretty unique toy! Had that guy emailed me back the same week I would have given it up for $10 - so how LUCKY was I??

Oddly enough I actually bought the toy because of the little green garbage bag and it's connection to my GPK stickers, I didn't even know the toy inside was going to be based on the stickers. On the down side, it remained unopened for 20 years until the day I emailed that guy...

I didn't know about leaving things in packages so I guess I messed up royally there - but now I got a cool guy, and I found this forum which has other people who like "mutant art" as it were. And who knows? after finding my 9 headed MIMP I might be able to collect tiny toys again after the extreme disappointment I felt when the Kinder Egg toys turned to crap!

oh yeah, and the other reason I started yappin' everyone's eyes off here - the Canadian GPK toys float too - at least mine does

[Soupie]

oh yeah, and the other reason I started yappin' everyone's eyes off here - the Canadian GPK toys float too - at least mine does

Haha, yeah, shouldn't have opened that.

[nicodemus]

I just love reading about collectors snagging insanely rare lots of toys for incredibly low prices! Your story is the second one like that in just the past two weeks (another collector just picked up what will end up being thousands of dollars of Cheapies at a Flea Market for around $5.00!!)

Anyway - congrats on starting your collection off on the right foot. And while the material is different and not quite as solid as the US toys, I feel it gives them a unique place in a collection. With all the bazillions of color variations, it can get confusing knowing which one is really which...but with the floaters you can be 100% certain you have a specific variation.

Also - the Crater Chris is the only figgie missing from my UK Green Set - so if you're open to discussing trade/sale, I will probably send you a pm.

Thanks for the pics and information!

Nico

PS. Throw that Garbage Pail Gang checklist in a toploader! Those are fairly rare as well!!

[rusvan]

Yes, that wasn't a typo...

Item number: 150220117850

I was bidder one.

 UK_Lot_One.jpg   36.75K   286 downloads

 UK_Lot_Two.jpg   135.26K   164 downloads

I've always wondered who bidder 10 was! I mean, someone was willing to pay the exact same price!! Cory told me he threw away those G candy cans after they got the package!

[Strontium Dog]

Wowsers, this is kinda crazy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/...em=330409548409

 GPK7.jpg   29K   37 downloads

£560/$850 for 7 GPK, 4 of which are commons, so it's really just the middle three that everyone was bidding on.

[Soupie]

Hm, very interesting. If the bottom middle figure is a floater, it is either a UK figure (most likely) or a 1st series figure made of 2nd series plastic. The presence of the two 2nd series figures are the only reason to believe it might be. Second series figures were only available in Canada. Odd to see the 2nd series figures in a UK lot.

[Ericnilla]

thats crazy...

[rusvan]

thats crazy...

Not really, we got a good deal actually. That Series 1 Novo Blue Lynn is a 1 of 1. The Green Kirk is a 1 of 2 and the Red Mickey is a 1 of 2.