how can you tell if cello/racks have been searched

Rainman

i realize that sometimes there are patterns (i.e., if joe schmoe's on top and bob schmoe's on the bottom, you'll likely find bill schmoe). but beyond that (and assuming the racks/cellos haven't been resealed), are there other ways to search them?

milbroco

Besides the pattern for Fleer you mentioned, there is also the fingering of rack packs. If the cards are a little loose like the 1981 Topps racks, you can use your fingernail to move each card to see either the card number or name. Found out the hard way from buying a few 1980 searched racks from ebay.

The cellos and wax should have neatly folded edges. If they don't, they might have been resealed.

There are a few exceptions like the 1985 donruss which had very sloppy edges on the wax packs.

It is a little difficult to explain without being able to show you but this is the quickest way I can explain during my lunch break at work.

Rainman

I have some 87 fleer cellos- wrapped fairly tightly/nothing looks amiss- you can't see any cards if you try to move them side to side. I also have some 85 donruss rack packs- somewhat looser, but it doesn't look like they were loose enough to actually see the cards. did donruss have the same type of patterns as fleer?

milbroco

The 1987 Fleer certainly has a pattern. If these were bought off ebay, I would suspect the seller may know the pattern for the Bonds.

I really have no idea if Donruss had a pattern or not. If you are not able to use your fingernail to move any of the 1985 Donruss cards, they are probably OK.

ctsoxfan

<< <i>Besides the pattern for Fleer you mentioned, there is also the fingering of rack packs. If the cards are a little loose like the 1981 Topps racks, you can use your fingernail to move each card to see either the card number or name. Found out the hard way from buying a few 1980 searched racks from ebay. >>



This explains my purchase last year of 15 1981 baseball racks from an Ebay seller with great feedback, but out of 15 packs, I didn't get one star or semi-star card! I didn't realize that this method was used, thanks for enlightening me.

jason045

I agree with milbroco. '87 Fleer definitely has a pattern. I recently opened a cello box and got 3 Bonds. Each of them was the 6th card in the exact same 14 card sequence. I have also opened some 87 fleer wax and it is just the same in that too.

Rainman

what's the pattern for the 87 fleer cellos? can you tell by the player that shows on top and bottom? how many madduxes/palmeiros did you get? if you're interested in parting w/them (those are my 2 favorite players), i'd be interested

milbroco

G. maddux and R. Palmeiro were not in the 1987 Fleer. Maddux was in the update but I am not sure about Palmeiro.

CADILLACN97

Rainman, not trying to sound like a know it all, or burst your bubble, but palmeiro wasn't issued in an 87 fleer regular issue card, and maddux was only in the factory update sets.

topps has sort of the same pattern for older issues. i opened 2 cello boxes of 90 bowman, and from both all the cards were in the same sequence of the pack. while fleer was very easy to know what was next by the the top card, the topps may have had joe blow at the top on one pack, and joe blow in the middle of another pack, every card after that was the same.

Rainman

sorry guys- i was so excited over 87 fleer/anything 87 fleer related that i got excited over maddux/palmeiro. at this point anything that says 87 maddux/palmeiro and i jump. pavlov would be proud.

DeutscherGeist

I own the 1987 Fleer Update set. There is a Maddux and Big Mac, but no Palmeiro.

DeutscherGeist

Are the cards really mint if they come out of cello packs and rack packs? The 1987 Fleer is very condition sensitive. One might go through a lot of trouble looking for a Bonds and then discover it has chipped edges and would get no more than a PSA 8, not a very efficient method. It would be cheaper to buy the 1987 Fleer Bonds PSA 8 from Ebay. Just my two cents.

magellan

Fleer also made rack packs with 3 wax packs in them in 1987. If you're going to open the packs , this is as good a way to go as any.

Jmnesq

In terms of Topps racks, it's pretty safe to say that if it's been around this long, SOMEONE has searched it. It's not tough to do.