Trick or Treat Through 31 Days of Toy Terror: Jack O. Lantern from PIX! Garbage Pail Kids by Thrilljoy

   I am always down for a character with a Jack o' Lantern for a head so I made sure to preorder the PIX! Garbage Pail Kids Jack O. Lantern for this year's "Trick or Treat Through 31 Days of Toy Terror" since he fits the theme perfectly. Thrilljoy is a newer company (founded in 2024 by former Funko CEO Mariotti) and PIX! seems to be their signature line. Like Funko, they're releasing vinyl figures of multiple different pop culture characters at fairly reasonable prices. Thrilljoy's PIX! figures are a bit less stylized, a bit more expensive, and I believe they all have a set edition run. Each figure has at least one chase variant, too, and the figure comes in a blind box. Well, they actually come in a nice display box but there's a cardboard sleeve that you tear open to reveal whether you received the standard edition or the chase variant. Jack O. Lantern is based on a Garbage Pail Kids character who appeared in the collectible cards back in 1986 and is essentially a pumpkin headed guy carving his own face. That's pretty wild! The variant of Jack O. Lantern has a pumpkin pie head with a piece carved out, which is also funny, though I do prefer the regular version of this guy. Ready to check a pumpkin who carves himself? Then let's take a closer look after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 4 1/2 inches

Articulation: None

Accessories: Collector card

Edition Size: 6,000 (5,000 regular, 1,000 chase variants)

Non-Scalper Price: $20 dollars

The Packaging:

* Here's a look at the packaging since this is the first PIX! figure I've purchased This is the exterior sleeve that covers the inner box. You know you're buying this item but you won't know if you're getting the standard or chase variant until you tear the sleeve in the back (there's a perforated strip). I'm not too bothered by this, especially if you know you're getting the character you want and know you're not getting a duplicate, but it seems like Thrilljoy sometimes locks characters as chases (there are chases, super chases and ultra chases, I kid you not) behind the regular figure. You know I love Universal Monsters. Well, they have Dracula. Awesome. But guess what? The Wolf Man is a chase of Dracula and the Invisible Man is a super chase. Want to know why I haven't bought any of the Universal Monsters Pix! figures at retail yet? That's why. Two of my favorites are chase variants. Want both? Well, you're likely going to end up with a lot of Draculas. That's a real shame.

* Here's Jack O. Lantern in his package. The black and red looks really nice and the edition number is a plastic piece attached to the front window. These guys really feel like you're not meant to open them, though I did anyway. 

 

The Positives:

* I first saw the preorder for this guy on Big Bad Toy Store but he was waitlisted, so I jumped on and he ended up arriving in stock in September. I honestly didn't known he was a Garbage Pail Kids character until I got him home and looked at the package. He just looks like a really cool pumpkin guy in a green suit. He's not as stylized as a Funko POP! vinyl, reminding me of a cross between a POP! and a Vinyl SODA figure. He's still got a larger head but the body is slightly more proportionate. 

* Jack's portrait is great. It really is a weird, anthropomorphic pumpkin sculpt that definitely captures some of the lurid appeal of the Garbage Pail Kids art. It's not just a regular smiley jack o' lantern guy. The pumpkin is shaped with some facial features like cheeks and a nose and it just comes across as being actual skin. I love the dark reddish-orange as it contrasts so nicely with the yellow of the inside of Jack's noggin. The slightly lifted lid of his pumpkin head is also a cool little detail.

* Check out Jack O. Lantern's carving knife. What's he got on there? Barbacoa? Sashimi? Nope! Those are... well, they're pieces of his own face. Yes, as shown on the original Garbage Pail Kids card Jack O. Lantern carved his own face. That's wild. 

* He also has a candle, which is his equivalent of a brain. So is he holding his own brain? Well, he already seems to have glowing yellow eyes, so is it someone else's brain? Is he going to make another pumpkin person or did he take this from someone. Maybe he's going to transplant it? 

* Apparently each of the PIX! figures comes with a laser printed, spot-varnished certificate of authenticity. It actually has the specific edition number, too. I'm not a nut about these things or anything but it does make this feel like a more "sophisticated" product than your average vinyl figure. I guess I should keep this in my wallet in case anyone tried to doubt the status of my Jack O. Lantern. 

   This is a cool little figure and I'm giving him a Good and a 1/2. I do wish his neck swiveled, but otherwise he's a perfectly neat little vinyl figure. It feels like you're paying more here for the smaller edition size and the packaging, both of which don't really mean a lot to me but apparently they're a selling point for others who collect these. I do like the design of the figure and the style. That color is also really nice, especially the reddish-orange of Jack's noggin. I don't see PIX! around too much (only at GameStop once or twice) but if I did, and if they weren't blind boxed, I could see grabbing a couple more of them. 



This is the first figure of Jack O. Lantern that I've reviewed on the site.