 In the wake of the success of the Cabbage Patch Kids series of dolls , Spiegelman created the card series Garbage Pail Kids for Topps in 1985 . Similar to the Wacky Packages series , the gross @-@ out factor of the cards was controversial with parent groups , and its popularity started a gross @-@ out fad among children . Spiegelman called Topps his " Medici " for the autonomy and financial freedom working for the company had given him . The relationship was nevertheless strained over issues of credit and ownership of the original artwork . In 1989 Topps auctioned off pieces of art Spiegelman had created rather than returning them to him , and Spiegelman broke the relation . 
