Deck Review – The Garbage Pail Kids Tarot.

Welcome to Dark Reads & Deck Reviews! Today I am bringing you a sneak peek of the upcoming Garbage Pail Kids Tarot from Insight Editions.

I have loved discovering this deck, it has taken me back to my childhood and I get the feeling it will do the same for many of you 80’s and 90’s babies out there!

If you aren’t familiar with the Garbage Pail Kids I’ll give you a quick run down. They were a parody of the much loved Cabbage Patch Kids back in the 80’s.

They came as collectable card/sticker packs and were totally gross. Each card had a character with a rhyming name such as ‘Luke Puke’ They were funny, weird and disgusting. All of the things I loved as a child (and still do!).

Looking back some of the cards were a bit risky and can see why many of our parents were not fans, but that’s part of the fun right!?

The characters have been reimagined into traditional Tarot illustrations. I must say Miran Kim has done a fantastic job in keeping the art so authentic to what it originally was. The illustrations make me ‘feel’ like the 80’s.

As well as old favourites such as Adam Bomb and Rob Slob there are brand new characters created specifically for this deck.

Release date is 09/08/2022 in the US and 30/08/2022 in the UK You can pre-order/Order here

The Packaging

The deck comes in a sturdy two piece box with thumb cutouts. It fits really nicely so it doesn’t fall out if you pick it up from the top and isn’t so tight you have to wrestle with it.

The guidebook and cards fit into the box perfectly and there is a ribbon pull to get them out.

The Guidebook

The guidebook is an 128 page paperback book in full colour. There is an introduction to the Garbage Pail Kids and a section on understanding the Deck.

For the Major Arcana each card has a full page colour image of the card and the character name along with another full page with the upright and reversed meaning for each card.

The Minors have 1 page with a colour image of the card, the character names and upright and reversed meanings.

The card meanings have been really cleverly written, I think Minerva Siegel has done an awesome job tying in these infamous characters to traditional Tarot archetypes.

The Cards

Ok let’s jump in! I will share 4 Major Acarna, 2 from each suit in the Minors and one of each of the court cards.

The card backs are pretty awesome, they are bordered and are suitably gross. Only thing I would possibly point out is that they are not reversible. I think with a deck that gives upright and revered meanings, it would have been nice to have a reversible image in the backs.

The cards are bordered which I actually really like, it’s more like a frame than a border. The sides are plain white but I think they will look great edged in black or snot green (let me know what you think!)

They are standard Tarot size and on a satin matte card stock. The card stock is on the thin size but I don’t mind that at all. They riffle perfectly, over hand they are a little sticky but less so the more I use them.

I think this is a brilliant deck, I know the theme isn’t going to be for everyone but as I said the 80’s and 90’s babies and anyone with a dark sense of humour is going to love these. The art is retro, the meanings are spot on for the characters used, what can I say. They are gross!

One small thing I would have loved is for the character names to have been incorporated into the cards as well as in the guidebook.

I would like to say a big thank you to Insight Editions for sending me the deck for review.

About The Author

Minerva Siegel is the author of Tarot for Self-Care: How to Use Tarot to Manifest Your Best Self. She writes about tarot, witchcraft, and living with disabilities for print magazines and online publications. When not writing, she practices divination and drinks rose lattes in the Victorian house she shares with her husband and their rescue dogs.

Instagram: @SpookyFatBabe.

About The Illustrator

Miran Kim is a painter, illustrator, and comic book artist whose numerous publishing clients include Marvel Comics, Absolut Vodka, Topps Company, Papercutz, IDW, and Éditions Glénat. In addition to commercial artwork, Miran’s personal paintings have been featured in group shows at the New Museum of Contemporary Art (NYC), the Museum of Cartoonist and Comic Book Art (NYC), Galerie Huberty Breyne (Paris) and more.

www.mirankim.com