Cheap Toy collectors have noted that some colors seem to be available in several different shades beyond the four "common" colors of Peach, Green, Blue, and Red. I track 15 of these variations in the archive. These are the most popular colors, more attractive and easier to discern. However, some of the more abscure variations that aren't as attractive and thus desirable, I'll suffice to keep track of here on this page. Currently, there are an additional 7 color variations that us collectors have identified that are not being tracked in the main archive. These variations are often subtle, and, as I said, not necessarily the most attractive. Finally, I will also use this page to look more closely at some of the variations that are featured in the main archive as well. It is my hope that after looking over this page, you will have a good understanding of the many colors of Cheap Toys!

---------- Thanks to Joe Cool us collectors can now confirm yet ANOTHER color variaiton -- even if it isn't the most exciting and attractive one to date. Joe Cool recently purchased (5/07) a sealed box of 1st series Cheap Toys. They happened to be his first Cheap Toys as well! Anyhow, when opening the sealed bags within the box, he discovered that two of his Red figures appeared to be slightly different shades of red. This is an exciting discovery because us collectors had noted previously that there seemed to be two shades of regular Red -- a darker, dull red and a brighter, orangish red. However, we could never be sure that this difference wasn't simply due to sun fading or other wear and tear. Thanks to Joe's find, we can now confirm that this color variation is "official" and apparently orginated in the factory during production!

Regular Red: "Dark" Red and Orangish Red With this once-questionable variation confirmed in this way, I have reached the following conclusion: Each of the common four colors -- Peach, Red, Blue, and Green -- has a dark and light variation. Check out the following images!

Light (Bubble Gum) Peach and Dark (Dull) Peach. Don't confuse Dark Peach with Salmon Peach. See below!

Light Blue and Dark Blue. Don't confuse Dark Blue with Electric Blue. See below!

Dark (Pea) Green and Green. Don't confuse Dark Green with the various other Greens. See below!

Light (Red-Orange) Red and Dark Red.

Some of you casual collectors may, frankly, feel the urge to vomit right this moment due to extreme confusion. If you feel like you want to dive into traffic, leap off a bridge, pull out your fingernails with a pair of pliers, drop heavy appliances on your toes, poke out your eyes with a spoon, eat razor blades-- er, you get the point -- you should probably just stick with the colors covered in the main archive. But for the rest of us still breathing, it looks like this: Common Green = Dark (Pea) Green and Light Green Common Blue = Dark Blue and Light Blue Common Peach = Dark (Dull) Peach and Light (Bubble Gum) Peach, and Common Red = Dark Red and Light (Red-Orange) Red This leaves us with an astonishing array of "official" colors. Are you ready to see the list? Okay, you asked for it: (01) Bubble Gum Peach (Light varient) (02) Dull Peach (Dark varient) (03) Salmon* Peach (Rubbery) (04) Hard, UK Peach (05) Red (Dark varient) (06) Red-Orange (Light varient) (07) Neon Red-Orange (Rubbery) (08) Cinnamon Red (09) Green (Light varient) (10) Pea/Dark Green (Dark varient) (11) UK Aqua Green (12) Canadian Aqua Green (13) 2nd Series Green (14) Lime Green (15) Neon Green (Rubbery) (16) Blue (Dark varient) (17) Light Blue (Light varient) (18) Electric Blue (Rubbery) (19) Neon Yellow (Rubbery) (20) 2nd Series Yellow (21) Orange (Rubbery) (22) 2nd Series Blue *This color used to be known as "Dark" Peach. However, I think Salmon is a more-accurate, less confusing descriptor. Now pardon me while I go tighten my head in a vice!

---------- Guess what Galaxy and Robiero have managed to turn up? That's right, yet another color variation! Galaxy received some peach figures from the UK, and he noticed that they were made of a much firmer plastic than the other common-colored figures he owns. In a subsequent trade between Galaxy and myself, I ended up getting my grubby, little hands on one of these buggers. And sure enough, I found it to made of harder plastic than all my other figures except for... well, check out the pics below. (And don't worry, no rare Cheap Toys were damaged in the process, haha.) I placed each figure in the clamps of a bed lamp; It was the perfect strength for this "experiment."

Left: A Neon Red-Orange Muggin' Megan's legs bend easily in the clamps -- almost zero resistance. Right: A regular Green Muggin' Megan, while putting up a fight at first, soon succumbs to the strength of the clamps, squeezing together rather easily.

Left: Sure enough, the UK Peach Muggin' Megan I receieved from Galaxy simply REFUSED to bend in the clamps! A new color variation! Right: And, almost on a whim, I tried some of my other figures. To my pleasent surprise, I found that my UK Aquas and Cinnamons were also made of the SUPER plastic! (UK Aqua Muggin Megan above.) Conclusion: It's beginning to look like the Cheap Toys released in the UK were made of a different, harder plastic than the Cheap Toys released in the US and Canada. (My Canadian Aqua Muggin' Megan bends easily in the clamps. Sorry, no pic.)

---------- Have you seen the Cinnamon Reds yet!?

Click on the above image to see larger, high-res version. Above is a Cinnamon Red Brett Sweat with a Neon Red-Orange Brett Sweat to the right and a Red Brett Sweat on the far right. Like the Neon Red-Orange colored plastic, the Cinnamon Red is quasi-translucent. However, very unlike the Neon Red-Orange, the Cinnamon colored plastic is hard. It's quite an exquisite color. Very smooth and subtle. It has all the normal GPK Cheap Toys trademarkings, and it does have the copyright (c) symbol.

Above is a Cinnamon Red Crater Chris with a Neon Red-Orange Crater Chris to the left and a Red Crater Chris on the right. The figure's copyright markings are to the left of its bum.

Above is a look at three Cinnamon figures in natural sunlight. Like the Neon Red-Oranges and Neon Yellows, Cinnamons are quasi-translucent! Also, note the little, brown specks in the plastic which really set this color apart from all others.

Two of the above Cinnamon figures came from a Garbage Pail Kid collector from the UK. He goes by the name UK Rob at the Garbage Pail Kids Underground. Here is what he had to say about these figures:

"Basically, before trading and buying Cheap Toys on the Garbage Pail Kids Underground, all of my Cheap Toys were sourced in the UK. I never bought any new in the shops because I never found them. I acquired one, with a badly worn UK garbage bag, back in 1986 from a school friend. This was the first one I got my hands on. The next lot I acquired was from a friend who lived round the corner from me. He went to Wales on holiday, and knowing I was a GPK fanatic bought me some GPK stickers and Cheap Toys. I remember the stickers were UK 5th and 6th series (a rare treat at the time, because by the 5th and 6th series of the UK release, the distribution and size of print runs were minimal, so were very hard to find). So I would put a date of late summer of 1987 on those figures. The third and last lot of Cheap Toys I acquired in the UK were part of a big GPK lot I won on ebay a few years ago. Everything in the lot was UK. In addition to the figures, I got an empty UK Cheap Toys box, and empty Cheap Toys wrappers (Garbage Pail Kid, not Garbage Gang) confirming the toys were also of UK origin. Exactly which figures came from where I dont know, but a bit of a give away is that the toys given to me by my childhood friend I scratched my initials into the bases of. This was to discourage thieves at school getting their dirty little hands on them. Whether I scratched my initials into the bases of all the toys I had at the time, I really don't know, but any that have my initials scratched into them, definitely came from Wales in 1987... I know that one of the Cinnamon Reds and two of the UK Aquas that I owned definitely had my initials scratched into them, and that one of the Cinnamon Reds and at least one of the UK Aquas definitely didn't have my intials... So whether I acquired the two Cinnamons together, and the 4 UK Aquas together, I really don't know. It's possible, but it's possible that they all came in different lots."

Wow, thanks for the information, Rob! I can report that the Cinnamon Brett Sweat pictured above does not have your initials scratched into it, but the Alice Island does, haha. If you ask me, it makes the figure all the more unique!

Click on the above image to see larger, high-res version. Above, on the left, are two "Electric" Blue figures featured with two regular Blue figures! As you can see, the Electric Blue figures are a shade darker. They are also quasi-transluscent, which, like all translucent Cheap Toys colors, makes them look different in various lighting. However, because their blue color is so dark, its translusence is not as pronounced as other translucent colors, such as Neon Red-Orange and Neon Yellow. Finally, these figures are made of a soft, rubbery plastic adding to their allure.

I once believed the "Dark Blue" Graffiti Petey pictured above was "normal" and that my other Blues were faded. However, as my collection has grown and all my other Blues have been consistenly lighter than the Dark Blue Petey, including ones pulled from sealed bags, I have had to reconsider the Dark Blue Petey.

Click on the above image to see larger, high-res picture of the Peaches.

The above picture features the three "official" peach colors. It's kind of amazing -- and a little frustrating -- that there seem to be so many color variations. However, there is no mistaking the differences in color. The names for the above color variations are from left to right: Dull Peach, Dark Peach, and Bubble Gum Peach. Note that all three colors are minty and shiny; however, the Dull Peach is flat and tan, the Dark Peach is somewhat salmon-colored, and the Bubble Gum Peach has a distinct pink hue to it.

The greens!

Click on the larger image above to see an even larger, high-res image!

Five green Cheap Toy color variations!

From left to right: Green, Lime Green, Neon Green, UK Aqua Green, and Canadian Aqua Green.

Here's an interesting look at four of the "official" green colors from left to right, Canadian Aqua Green, Neon Green, Green, and Lime Green.

Identifying the greens!

The green color currently represents the Cheap Toys color with the most variations. How does one tell the difference -- for sure -- between the greens? Well, the ideal situation for identifying your greens is to own at least 2-3 examples of each of the six (6) colors. If you are missing a few of the colors, it can be difficult to discern which you do have. For example, if you only have one of the Aqua Greens, it may be difficult to tell which one you have. However, if you have three of each Aqua Green color, you will be able to tell the difference easily. The same logic applies with the Greens and Lime Greens. Aqua Greens: If you have any of the two Aqua Green colors, you will know for sure because the color is an entirely different shade and hue from the other three greens, as you can hopefully see from the above pictures. Just as it's name implies, the Aqua Greens can be described as aqua colored as compared to the other green variations. You should be able to easily distinguish them from your other greens. Telling the difference between Canadian Aqua Green and UK Aqua Green is fairly easy as well (if you have both). The Canadian Aqua is a brighter, lighter aqua green while the UK Aqua is a duller, flater aqua green.

From left to right: Three Canadian Aqua Greens and three UK Aqua Greens.

Neon Green: Neon Green is also fairly easy to tell apart from the other colors namely because Neon Green figures, like Neon Red-Orange and Neon Yellow figures, are made of a softer, rubbery plastic. Thus, if you are having a difficult time indentifying a Neon Green figure, compare it in texture and firmness to your other green figures. You should notice that it is softer and that its limbs bend easily. Finally, if this does not help, try shining a bright light on the figures or take a photo of them using the camera's flash. The Neon Green figures will glow a bright green. Lime Green, Pea/Dark Green and Green: Telling the difference between Green, Pea Green and Lime Green can be a lot tougher, especially, as I said above, you only have one or two of each of these three variations. Anyhow, if you find that you do have a lighter Green figure and a darker Green figure, you may confuse the darker Green figure for a Lime Green. I've done this myself several times with two Double Heather and Brainy Janey figures I have. It turns out that these darker greens are Pea Green figures, though they would be nearly impossible to identify without Lime Greens to compare them against. The Pea Green color could be described as smack in the middle of Green and Lime Green as you'll see in the pictures below. In any case, dark, Pea Green figures are not Lime Green figures! Lime Green figures can be identified by their distinctive yellowish hue, and they can be identified at a glance. In fact, this may be the best way to identify them! (Try it with the image below!) If you find yourself staring for several minutes at a green figure trying to determine if it has a yellowish hue, it probably doesn't! Finally, one way to tell for sure is to mix a pile of green figures together and ask a non-collector to divide them up by color. I did this with a friend and she correctly and quickly picked out the Lime Green figures. Once you've identified the Lime Greens, you can work on picking out the Pea Greens. My experience with the Pea Greens is that they are harder to come by than the regular Green and Lime Green figures. I hope these tips help! Good luck!

From left to right: Lime Green, Green, UK Aqua Green, and Canadian Aqua Green.

From left to right: Lime Green, Pea Green and Green (natural light).

From left to right: Aqua Green, Lime Green and Neon Green (natural light).

From left to right: Green, Lime Green and Neon Green (natural light).

A closer look at the Neon Greens!

Are the Neon Greens truly Neon like the Neon Red-Orange and Yellow? I think so if only due to the fact that all three seem to be made of a softer plastic. However, they all three seem to shine brighter than other Cheap Toys colors as well. Check out the two cool images below! One features a Neon Green and Neon Red-Orange side by side without a flash and the other is with a flash. You decide if the green is truly Neon!

From left to right: Green, Neon Green, Neon Red-Orange, and Red (indoor without flash).

From left to right: Green, Neon Green, Neon Red-Orange, and Red (indoor with flash).

A closer look at the Neon Red-Orange.

Currently, there seems to be some "debate" about whether there may be Neon Red and Neon Orange figures! Personally, I believe that there are only 3 Neon colored figures: Neon Yellow, Neon Green, and a Neon Red/Orange. In other words, I think the real "debate" is whether the figure commonly known as Neon Red is truly red or orange. There are several reasons why I believe there is so much confusion: (1) Neon Reds look differently in pictures taken indoor and outdoor, with a flash and without a flash, and taken close up and further away! (2) Neon Reds look very different "in the flesh" than they do compared to almost ALL pictures! (3) And perhaps most maddening of all, as you can see above, the color of a Neon Red really is somewhere between an Orange and a Red Cheap Toy! Adding further confusion to the Neon Red/Orange discussion, is the fact that there are some who don't even consider Neon figures to be "neon." Therefore when someone mentions Neon Red, they assume it refers to a figure color other than theirs. Update: The Cheap Toy collecting community appears to have reached a compromise! The "official" name of this color variation is now Neon Red-Orange. ---------- On top of all of this, there are times when collectors need to identify figures that are still sealed in the green trash bags. Of particular interest are the Reds and Neon Red-Oranges. Below are images of each.

A common Red Crater Chris allows no light to pass through the figure.

A Neon Red-Orange Crater Chris, on the other hand, allows light to pass through its quasi-transparent plastic!

Click on the above image to see larger, high-res picture of the sale sheet. Special thanks to Nicodemus of GeePeeKay.com for providing the image!

This apparently is a 1st series Cheap Toys sale sheet. While it's interesting in and of itself, one can also see what appear to be yellow and purple Brainy Janeys! Does this mean that there are yellow and purple 1st series Cheap Toys? Not necessarily, but... interestingly, a few non-Neon Yellow 1st series Cheap Toys have been seen and acquired by collectors! However, I also think it's possible that the colors featured on the sell sheet are the rare Neon Red-Orange, Neon Yellow, and Electric Blue. Be sure to check the archive for images of 1st series Cheap Toys!