Topps Parody Trading Cards

Topps Parody Trading Cards is the collective term for trading cards produced by The Topps Company that parody aspects of the Ghostbusters franchise. Generally, they are produced for Topps' Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids lines. It should be noted that these cards are not officially-licensed by Sony, but are perfectly legal as they fall under the auspices of parody.

Wacky Packages[]

Wacky Packages is a series of humorous cards/stickers featuring parodies of consumer products. Numerous series have been produced from 1967 to the present.

1991 Series (1991) - Card #35: The Real Gross Blisters
- Artist: unknown
- Parodies: The Real Ghostbusters cereal
- Variants: None
2015 Series (2015) - Card #110: Gutbusters
- Artist: Joe Simko
- Parodies: Ghostbusters II Movie Poster and Ghostbusters III
- Variants: Red Border, Pattern Border, Artist Autograph.
All New 2019 Old School Series 8 (2019) - Card #30: Ecch-to Boozer
- Artist: David Gross^[1]^[2]
- Parodies: Hi-C Ecto Cooler
- Variants: Pencil Rough.
- Notes: This set was an online-exclusive release sold through Topps' On-Demand program. It was only available on the company's website for one week starting on November 7, 2019 for a cost of $150.00. The total print run is 477 sets.^[3] Rather than traditional packs and boxes, Old School Series 8 is more of a premium set. In addition to the full 30-card base set, each also came with 30 parallels and three sketch cards. Half of the parallels in each set are Pencil Roughs. Others look back to Wacky Packages' past and are centered on the backs. These include Tan (six per set), Ludlow Black (six per set) and Ludlow Red (three per set). The Tan and Ludlow parallels are stickers.^[4] Do note that the regular cards have blank white backs, as confirmed by Topps via e-mail to Paul Rudoff. The Pencil Rough cards have a puzzle piece on the back, with the "Ecch-to" Boozer card having a checklist instead. Also, the pencil rough card shows the original parody name to be "Ecch-to Drooler", with a Proton Pack wand coming out of the box top instead of a straw.

Garbage Pail Kids[]

Garbage Pail Kids is a series of stickers/cards featuring a Garbage Pail Kid character with some kind of comical abnormality, deformity, and/or suffering a terrible fate with a humorous word play character name such as Adam Bomb or Blasted Billy. Numerous series have been produced from 1985 to the present. Garbage Pail Kids was based on an unreleased Wacky Packages sticker, created by John Pound in 1985, as a parody of the Cabbage Pail Kids dolls.

30th Anniversary, '80s Spoof Subset (2015) - Card #4A: Marshmallow Manny^[5]
- Artist: unknown
- Parodies: Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
- Variants: None
- Notes: As is the case with Garbage Pail Kids, there is a "A" and "B" version of this card. Each features the same artwork, but a different character name.
30th Anniversary, '80s Spoof Subset (2015) - Card #4B: Ghost Buster^[6]
- Artist: unknown
- Parodies: Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
- Variants: None
- Notes: As is the case with Garbage Pail Kids, there is a "A" and "B" version of this card. Each features the same artwork, but a different character name.
Oh the Horrible, Wave 6 (2024) - Card #26A: Spewing Sigourney^[7]
- Artist: David Gross^[8]
- Parodies: Dana Barrett possessed by Zuul in Ghostbusters
- Variants: None
- Notes: As is the case with Garbage Pail Kids, there is a "A" and "B" version of this card. Each features the same artwork, but a different character name.
Oh the Horrible, Wave 6 (2024) - Card #26B: Discharging Dana^[9]
- Artist: David Gross^[10]
- Parodies: Dana Barrett possessed by Zuul in Ghostbusters
- Variants: None
- Notes: As is the case with Garbage Pail Kids, there is a "A" and "B" version of this card. Each features the same artwork, but a different character name.

Unofficial Artist Commissions[]

Some of the artists who worked on the Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids lines have created custom artwork for paying patrons. These are not official Topps-produced artwork, but are of the same style and quality.

Garbage Pail Kids: Slimy Snot Buster (date unknown)
- Artist: Tom Bunk
- Parodies: Slimer and Peter Venkman
- Commissioned By: Miguel Pulido
Garbage Pail Kids: Betrayal Blues (date unknown)
- Artist: Luis Diaz
- Parodies: Ghostbusters and the Blues Brothers
- Commissioned By: unknown
Garbage Pail Kids: Slimed Stantz (date unknown)
- Artist: Luis Diaz
- Parodies: Slimer and Ray Stantz
- Commissioned By: unknown
Garbage Pail Kids: Scooby Busters (2012)
- Artist: Joe Simko
- Parodies: Ghostbusters and Scooby-Doo
- Commissioned By: GPK Customs^[11]