Firestone Walker Brewmaster Matt Brynildson is officially a Garbage Pail Kid.
Topps tapped 20 of the world’s most innovative and esteemed breweries to participate in their new series, Garbage Pail Kids: Taste Buds – Series 1, and Matt is featured on one of the cards. Secure yours here.
Garbage Pail Kids is a series of sticker trading cards, originally released in the 1980s as a parody to the popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. The cards grew in popularity over the years, and Matt considers it a honor to become part of such a cultural icon. “I never thought that being a brewer would one day result in having my own GPK card. Pretty mind blowing!”
The artwork on these cards was designed by Keith Shore, Art Director at Mikkeller Brewing, which was part of what appealed to Matt. “Keith Shore is an amazing artist, and I’ve been a fan of his work ever since I was introduced to him through Mikkel and the Mikkller crew,” he said. “I was able to meet him at a Mikkeller Beer Celebration event in Copenhagen a few years back and have followed him ever since. It’s a real honor to be involved in a project with Keith and double the honor to have it be a Topps playing card GPK Project.”
In the card’s illustration, Matt is depicted as “Metronome Matt.” As a nod to his nickname, Merlin, his character is dressed like a wizard and controlling a drum set with a magic wand. But why the drumming?
“My Dad is a musician, and he always encouraged music in the house,” Matt explained. “I’ve played drums since I was very young. I played in the school marching band, jazz band, and later a few college rock and funk bands. I even played in a local Paso Robles rock band. I still have my drums set up at home and have a small kit set up for my kids. I’m infamous for tapping out a beat on the table in the middle of a meeting.”
Packs of the Garbage Pail Kids: Taste Buds – Series 1 cards are available at Topps.com, and on our online store.
“I’m a big fan of all the breweries that are included in this project, and I’m close friends with a number of the participating brewers,” Matt said. “I’m thinking we need to put together a GPK Brewers event to celebrate this in the flesh with a real beer in hand!”
The other 19 breweries featured on the cards are Alchemist, De Dolle, Half Acre, Oxbow, Sante Adairius, Jester King, Other Half, Foam, Grimm, Omnipollo, Keeping Together, Bottle Logic, Saint Mars of the Desert, Crooked Steve, Forest & Main, Fox Farm, Toppling Goliath, Mikkeller, and Stillwater.