FUZZ , I need your help and expertise

packCollector

Fuzz,

being a football god and formere pack god , hopefully you have any info on this item?

have you ever heard of a topps/philly rack ? this makes no sense to me , I don't get how cellos from 2 different companies from 4 years appart can end up together in 1 rack? I have seen the 59/60 topps racks and those make sense but this one baffles me.

thanks, pack

60/64 philly topps rack

Fuzz

Pack,
Yes I have heard/seen of such monstrousities and apparently from the Global grading, so has Paul.
It is true that Topps and Philly are seperate companies. Always have been and remain so today. They are competitors and as such have never issued any joint product like the one you reference.
This is probably a legitimate pack. Just like a Christmas rack that has been so abused on this board. If you look closely at the header card you will notice that there is no evidence of any manufacturer, copyright, logo, etc. And there in lies the authenticity of the pack. The current belief is that it is probably from the same people that made the Christmas racks just in the later phases of their existance. They would buy close outs from card manufacturers (Topps and Philly) both being known in those timeframes for dumping year end inventories to make room for next years models. This "repackager" obviously was able to get a number of standard cello packs from each and went for the variety route to increase sales.
So would I call it a really legit pack. No more or less so than a Christmas rack. I always felt my pack collections could live without them.
Now to the cards ....... I would not expect high end cards from such a beast. The extra handling of storage/closeout/ shipping/ more storage/ extra handling/ repackaging/etc. can leave a nasty little ding on the corner of a cello pack that otherwise lacks much in the way of protection. So not only are you liable to get the usual o/c cards but probably cards that would not grade over 7 if centered due to a corner ding. The Christmas rack cards I have seen (which were not cello wrapped but subjected to a similar process) grade no higher than 6 and often even a 4.
Now this seller seems legit, has good feedback and has taken every precaution to make sure this is a good item and hats off to them for that. However, I have alway been concerned over cellos as I have always felt that they were very easy to pop and restick. In addition to that, covered by the outer wrapping, it would be more difficult than usual to get a good look at the individual cello seals. Also these racks are found closed by staples (at least all that I have seen). Staples can be removed and replaced and if done well can be very, very hard to tell. The fact that it is a Brown on top only furthers a general concern. In this case, Global (I assume Paul Wright looked at) says it's good as far as they can tell and I think Paul's opinion is the best one out there.
If you want a pack oddity, buy away. This is as odd as they get. And Paul's seal of approval means quite a bit. If you want the cards, I'd move on along.
Fuzz

Fuzz

Oh and Pack, thanks for the compliments, where do I send the money too?
Fuzz