I really, really can't wait until the holidays are over. Bah humbug and all that rut. Well, there are a million things to do around the actual house of Branded right now, so to almost complete this month of mostly un-in depth sticker postings (I'll probably have one more quick one next week) I'm going to toss up some scans of the weird over sized Garbage Pail Kids stickers that I have in my collection.

This is more or less a teaser for what's to come in January and February as I'll be spending those months sharing my collection of 80s Garbage Pail Kids stickers (probably my favorite stickers of all time) in the Peel Here columns. So without further ado, here are a few of the large stickers reprinted from the 1st series of GPK's…



The biggest difference between these and the original normal sized sticker cards (besides the size that is) is the fact that there is no die cut line and they aren't numbered on the front. I also believe these didn't have twin stickers either (for those who are unfamiliar with GPK stickers, all of the stickers come in sets with two different names, in essence making the characters twins; there were also a few sets of triplets as well, but we'll get to those next month.)



Instead of being numbered on the front like normal, these are numbered on the back. I'm not sure if the rest of the card backs are different than the original series, but I wouldn't be surprised.





There was at least one set of these oversized stickers that came out in 1986, but I think there might have been at least a second (I'm way too lazy to look it up right now.)






Though these are much easier to come by than the normal 1st series GPK's, I've always resisted buying them because I'm a stickler and I'd rather have the original cards than these reprints, even though they're almost as old, and the art is at least three times larger and much clearer. I think I'll probably eventually break down and buy this set of large stickers if only so I can finally get a good look at all of John Pound's awesome artwork for the set.


So anyway, in case I don't get a chance to post next week, I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season, and let's all hope we get what we want in the war of gift giving.

I've been gearing up for Christmas. Well kind of. It seems as year after year goes by I become more and more enchanted by Halloween, and less and less enchanted by Christmas. I'd have to say that I'm missing a vital aspect of the holiday, which is maturing a little bit out of the awesome gift receiver and into the awesome gift giver. Of course, when I say this I'm referring to the idea that there should probably be a kid involved in the equation somewhere. My wife and I aren't planning on having and rugrats, and my sister and her husband are still undecided. Since I'm not all that close with my cousins or my wife's family, there aren't any kids to get stuff for. As for the adults in my life, well lets just say I get one of two responses during this season when I ask them what they'd like: "Whatever you get me will be fine…" or the un-enchanting "Eh, I don't really want anything." Compounding this is the fact that most of the adults I know don't read, don't really get into movies or TV, and have hobbies that are either way too expensive (hamm radio equipment), or are sort of uninspiring gift-wise (like buying yarn for the knitters.)

This leads me to a practice that I am mostly opposed to which is gift card giving. I'm mainly of the mindset that if you don't know the person well enough that the best idea is a gift card, than you probably shouldn't be exchanging gifts. Of course, there is the familial obligation thing, which leads to much gift card buying. Heck, for the last few years, my wife and I have been deeply entrenched in a gift card battle with her stepbrother and his wife. It started when they got married and that next Christmas gave us a $50 gift card when we had only chipped in for a $25 one for them. The next year the tables turned with us upping the amount and them lowering. And on and on. Funny thing is you think it would even out, but it never does. Anyway, enough complaining chitter chatter. We're here for the sticker goodness, at least until after the holidays when I'll be able to free up some time for digging back into the cartoon commentaries.

So what's up this week? Well, since I just found a super cheap copy of Robocop 2 in the dump bin at Wal-Mart, I've sort of been in the mood to share the Topps sticker card subset from their 1990 set of trading cards…



I've always sort of closely identified with the first two Robocop movies because I saw them in the theatre growing up and they were (at the time at least) two of the most disturbing films I'd ever seen. It was around that time that my parents lifted my ban on seeing R-rated films (I think I was about 10 at the time) and it was kind of a novel thing in my circle of friends. Later on, after I became a comic collector and my friends sort of caught up on the R-rated movie watching, we sort of developed a weird cult of fandom for sci-fi/action flicks that also had comic book counterparts, in particular the Alien, Terminator, and Predator movies. For some reason, try as I might, I just couldn't seem to win everyone over on the Robocop films, love them as I did.

In retrospect, I find it kind of weird that there was any merchandising off of these films at all because of how adult they were. I mean there was a Marvel comic, a cartoon series, a line of toys (which were cool because they incorporated not only caps, but also removable helmets), scratch and sniff stickers for the first film (I have to assume they smelled like motor oil), and probably lunchboxes though I can't remember for sure. The second film has always felt very hard edged, what with the drug addicted cyborg baddie, the evil little kid, and the extent to which Murphy (Peter Weller) is beaten down. I don't think the director (Irvin Kershner of Empire Strikes Back fame) handled the black comedy aspect quite as well as Paul Verhoeven did in the first (though I'm sure it didn't help that Frank Miller is the credited screenwriter on the second film, and he surely isn't know for his comical writing style.)

As far as the stickers in this set go, they're your pretty standard Topps fare. There were 11 in the subset, all of which had a badge like border and a huge logo that sort of distracted from the overall sticker (much like the similar Batman the movie stickers from a couple years earlier.)



I have to say that out of all the possible imagery they could have pulled from I'm glad they focused on Murphy for most of the cards. I just think it would have been even less kid friendly had they stuck in a bunch of the other characters. I'm also glad there was an E.D. 209 sticker as well. I'm not quite sure why, but I've always been fascinated with the chicken walker stylings of both the E.D. 209 and the AT-ST from Star Wars.

Like most Topps sticker sets, these also had puzzle poster backs, though the choice of the picture is a little weak considering they already used it as a sticker, and it's not all that interesting to begin with…





I wonder why there was never a set of Topps Terminator cards and stickers? I mean they did Alien (and the Alien Queen sticker from the Fright Flicks set), Robocop, and there was also that one Predator sticker in the Fright Flicks set as well. Maybe it was a studio property thing…

Again, I suck. If it's not lightening frying my modem, it's work getting stupid busy and taking up all my blogging time. Sigh. I did take part in a round table discussion on Christmas memories last night with Jerzy Drozd and Hoover on the Saturday Supercast podcast. We talked about all things gift related as well as going on many fine tributaries (which I do have to admit that I am a fan of tributaries.) You can find the podcast here (it's number eleven.).

So for Peel Here this week I'm going to throw up some more quick stickers, Shirt Tales stickers to be exact. I chose these because we talked a little about them on the podcast last night. I watched a decent amount of the show growing up, but I was almost completely oblivious to the fact that they originated as a series of Hallmark cards, stickers, and trinkets. I think there were also a series of stuffed animals as well. Anyway, here are a couple of sticker sheets to peruse…

So I'm a little in the dark here, what is the deal with the little tags hanging off all of their shirts?

Hopefully I'll be getting back on track with a more semi-daily posting schedule soon.

I'm taking part in recording a new episode of the Saturday Supercast podcast tonight at 7 p.m. EST, and you are all invited! Join myself, HooveR, and Jerzy Drozd as we discuss some of the best X-mas mornings of our respective youths. This episode is designed for any reader (of Branded in the 80s or of the Sugary Serials comics) to attend, with no cartoon geek card required.

What was the best X-mas present you ever received as a kid? What was the lousiest?

It's easier than ever to participate. Here's how you do it:

Option 1 - Call in via phone:

Dial: (724) 444-7444
Enter: 38795 # (Talkcast ID)
Enter: 1 # or your PIN (No worries if you don't have a PIN. Just hit 1 and the # key to enter immediately.)
Regular phone charges apply, though! So if you don't have free long distance/minutes after 7 p.m., please stand warned.

Option 2 - Call in on your computer:

Become a Talkshoe Memeber if you aren't already.
Download the Talkshoe Live Client.
Go to the Saturday Supercast Talkshoe page and click the "Join Now" button at 7 p.m. or after. Once you've launched the Talkshoe Live client, click the "Shoe Phone" link to dial in and talk on the show. You will need a mic and headphones to participate this way. However, you can instead use the Talkshoe Live client to listen live and participate in a chat room. We will respond to any thoughts and questions posted there. So you don't have to "go on the air" to participate.

I know it's on short notice, but I hope to see some of you there.