Topps Company Inc. released a deck of Garbage Pail Kids cards inspired by the obscenely popular Netflix series, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness. Topps, a manufacturer of baseball cards, collectibles, and bubble gum, initially released Garbage Pail Kids cards, a parody of the children's toy Cabbage Patch Kids, in 1985. The cards spawned a franchise of spinoff material, like toys, keychains, a live-action movie, and an animated television show. Each card features a character named for their wild abnormality or unfortunate fate, like Adam Bomb or Blasted Billy.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness became a smash hit for Netflix. The streaming giant released the seven-episode real crime documentary series on March 20th, 2020, and streamed more than 34 million times in its first ten days on the platform. The star, Joe Exotic, is a former Oklahoma zookeeper and owner of Greater Wynnewood Zoo before his 22-year sentence for counts of animal cruelty and murder for hire. Its popularity on the internet reached such heights that on April 12th, 2020, Netflix released a followup episode, "The Tiger King and I," hosted by comedian Joel McHale as he interviewed multiple subjects of the series.
With the widespread popularity of Joe Exotic and his associates, it makes sense that Topps would cash in on the series by offering a Garbage Pail Kid take on the Tiger King cast. The site provides a quick blurb, calling for all "cool Garbage Pail Kids fans!" a play on the catchphrase of Exotic's nemesis, Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida. The deck features ten cards, which feature five subjects from Tiger King: Joe Exotic, James Garretson, Jeff Lowe, Carole Baskin, and Doc Antle, a Southern Carolina zookeeper. In true Garbage Pail Kid fashion, each figure gets multiple cards with different quippy names and additions. The ten-character deck includes Joe Chaotic, Schmo Exotic, Jettin' James, Gansta' Garretson, Jeff Joke, Lowe Point, Cool Cat Carole, Batty Baskin, Disturbing Doc, and Party Animal Antle and all incorporate a tiger.
In addition to the series' success and Topp's card decks, a string of productions related to Tiger King are in the works, including a limited series adaptation based on the second season of the podcast Over My Dead Body. SNL star Kate McKinnon is confirmed to executive-produce and play the role of Carole Baskin. Within the week, Investigation Discover announced production on Investigating The Strange World Of Joe Exotic, and Ryan Murphy plans to launch a Netflix mini-series, with Rob Lowe starring as the titular Tiger King. There's even a comic book adaptation in the works.
Topp's Garbage Pail Kids: Gone Exotic proves how fast companies move, even in the middle of an international pandemic, which means the collector cards mark the beginning of an explosion of Joe Exotic paraphernalia to mark this strange time in entertainment history. Each card is chock-full of easter eggs and allusions to the various sketchy aspects of Joe Exotic and the other documentary subjects. It seems that almost a month after its release, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness frenzy won't die down anytime soon.
Source: Topps
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April 19, 2020 at 05:52AM
