The Five Most Expensive Garbage Pail Kids Ever Sold

Children and teens of the 1980s are likely to know a thing or two about the Garbage Pail Kids and the collectors’ cards associated with them. This highly controversial item was frowned upon by many parents when Topps introduced this series as they felt the content was inappropriate for the younger crowd. These cards were brought forth as a parody of the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls that were so popular when Coleco first introduced them to the consumer market in 1982. The dolls were so popular that there were fights among buyers as there were simply not enough of these dolls to go around, especially during the holiday season when it was the top toy request by children. Unlike the dolls, the questionable imagery used featured aggressive, grotesque, and violent themes that really rubbed parents the wrong way. However, because of the buzz, the popularity of the Garbage Pail Kids collectors’ cards surged among buyers who appreciated the dark humor. Now that four decades have gone by, some of those Garbage Pail Kids have become some of the most expensive collector’s items ever sold as they share the same appreciation value as some of the highly coveted sports cards like Mickey Mantle and Michael Jordan.

An interesting note about these cards produced by Topps, in the beginning, they were printed with a matte finish until they ran out of that card stock and had to make the switch to glossy paper instead. Among the most expensive Garbage Pail Kids collectors’ cards ever sold, because the glossier prints are rarer than the matte versions, they’ve been known to fetch a considerably higher price. Of all the Garbage Pail Kids characters ever created, the baby-faced Nasty Nick was the hands-down favorite. This vampire-like character is about to fast on an old-style, modified barbie doll, based on the artist’s illustration on the card. The biggest reason why this card was so popular, to begin with, was the fact it was the first of the Garbage Pail Kids created. Now at forty years later, Nasty Nick is still the most popular of the Garbage Pail Kids and still continues to see its dollar value go up as buyers continue to compete against each other to have this card for themselves. One thing you will notice in the listing of the five cards mentioned, each of the reports has come from PSA’s website and has each of these cards certified. Each card bought and sold was done through the eBay auction site online where the majority of the time the seller goes by the ID as pwcc_auctions.

5. 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Stickers Nasty Nick #1a PSA 10 GEM MINT ($11,940.69 USD)

December 1, 2020, saw a 1985 Garbage Pails Kids Nasty Nick stickers card sell for $11,940.69 USD at a slightly lower price than the previous price tag of $12,911.12 that was sold by the exact same auctioneer just over a month prior. This was done on the online auction site known as eBay as pwcc_auctions served as the seller on both occasions. The certification from PSA is 22827753, the exact same that was registered to the card sold on October 28, 2020.

4. 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Stickers Nasty Nick #1a PSA 10 Gem Mint ($12,911.12 USD)

For $12,911.12 USD, this 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Nasty Nick sticker card was sold on eBay’s online auction site on October 28, 2020. According to PSA, this particular PSA-certified card numbered as 22827753 was the exact same that sold by the exact same seller, pwcc_auctions.

3. 1985 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Stickers Nasty Nick #1a PSA 10 Gem Mint ($17,900.00 USD)

At $17,900.00 USD, a 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Nasty Nick sticker card rated at a PSA-10 gem mint was bought and paid for on eBay’s online auction site on May 28, 2021. The seller was pwcc_auctions, a familiar name on eBay for trading collector’s cards for big money. As reported on the PSA website that keeps track of these certified cards, this is among many that have fetched a hefty price from bidders who chase after cards like this like bunnies chasing carrots.

2. 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Stickers Nasty Nick GLOSSY #1a PSA 10 Gem Mint ($27,500.00 USD)

According to PSA, on February 6, 2021, the winning bid for a glossy 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Stickers Nasty Nick forked out $27,500.00 USD just to call this PSA-10 graded card their own. Details about the sale of this card come from the eBay auction site, namely through the seller known as pwcc_vault. The seller is well-known for buying and selling a number of high-priced collectors cards as this is how they do business, knowing the hobby of trading cards is just as popular now as ever. According to the PSA Certified card number 22557122, this is the exact same that sold for $8,049.00 USD just two years prior, also on eBay.

1. 1985 Topps Garbage Pail Kids #1a Nasty Nick PSA 9 1st Series 1 Glossy ($49,999.00 USD)

One would think the most expensive Garbage Pail Kids card would be a PSA-10, but this was not the case when a PSA-9 card sold on April 22, 2021, for $49,999.00 USD on eBay’s online auction site. The seller of this card was registered as lacoste4u704.

Final Note

Although the sign of the times sees an audience that is slightly more accepting of the Garbage Pail Kids, of the bids witnessed on eBay, the vast majority of people competing against each other to hold any of the cards in their collection are the very same who enjoyed these as kids and teenagers during the 1980s. With sellers like pwcc_auctions, they know there is big business in trading collector’s cards and other items, knowing many of those kids are adults now and don’t need the permission of their parents to grab a Garbage Pail Kid card for themselves, even if it should set them back by at least a few thousand dollars or so.