1972 Grocery Cello Rip

Beezer12

As a pack collector who didn't know better at the time, these aren't much good to me but I was curious about the quality of cards in these cellos. I've never heard anyone say what they found in them. Range of centering overall and a couple of corner touches that appeared due to the tight cello wrap. Here are 7/12.

Dboneesq

Beezer .. When these were first sold on eBay back in 2005 by eBay seller "RED-ZONE" from Castleton, NY I spent THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on them. Just like you and I, many people thought they were legit. As we have come to know these were AFTER MARKET CELLOS and we got ripped off. I still have more than half of them left. I did open a couple. Although there were no super stars (surprise surprise) the condition of the cards was not too bad. I sent a couple of them in and got "9s", but even after I sold the graded ones I got killed as far as money was concerned.

IMO, RED-ZONE should have purchased all of these cellos back from the purchasers. They are a BIG eBAY seller and once they realized what they sold was GARBAGE, they should have sent a eMail to the purchasers offering to buy them back. I still have all my invoices from every pack I bought from them. WOW! HATE looking at all that money down the drain.

vladguerrero

<< <i>Beezer .. When these were first sold on eBay back in 2005 by eBay seller "RED-ZONE" from Castleton, NY I spent THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on them. Just like you and I, many people thought they were legit. As we have come to know these were AFTER MARKET CELLOS and we got ripped off. I still have more than half of them left. I did open a couple. Although there were no super stars (surprise surprise) the condition of the cards was not too bad. I sent a couple of them in and got "9s", but even after I sold the graded ones I got killed as far as money was concerned. >>



That's brutal...

Dboneesq

I also must add that these were ALL GRADED by GAI!

When it was discovered that these were fakes I think GAI should have been held accountable as well. I did send an email to them back in the day but never heard back from them.

RipublicaninMass

between X-mas racks, grocery cellos, and PRO graded cards, you have to very careful!

Dboneesq

Anyone else?

grote15

I recall that Ryan Rutter (now deceased) was the GAI authenticator at the time these "grocery" cellos were being slabbed and that he attempted to defend their authenticity despite all the evidence until he finally admitted they may have been slabbed in error.

Dboneesq

<< <i>I recall that Ryan Rutter (now deceased) was the GAI authenticator at the time these "grocery" cellos were being slabbed and that he attempted to defend their authenticity despite all the evidence until he finally admitted they may have been slabbed in error. >>


Tim ... back about 5 years ago I was on the phone with Ryan for over an hour talking about these cellos. That was when we were all very active in our WaxPacks Group on eBay. He gave me the ENTIRE STORY about the cellos ... maybe he was making it up ... I am not sure. I wrote about it in our eBay group when it happened ... not sure if you remember it. In a nutshell, he said a retired Topps employee bought a wrapping machine from Topps along with a lot of their "Excess Inventory" sometime in the early to mid 70s and would make these cellos at the end of the year for distribution to grocery stores.

grote15

<< I recall that Ryan Rutter (now deceased) was the GAI authenticator at the time these "grocery" cellos were being slabbed and that he attempted to defend their authenticity despite all the evidence until he finally admitted they may have been slabbed in error. >>


Tim ... back about 5 years ago I was on the phone with Ryan for over an hour talking about these cellos. That was when we were all very active in our WaxPacks Group on eBay. He gave me the ENTIRE STORY about the cellos ... maybe he was making it up ... I am not sure. I wrote about it in our eBay group when it happened ... not sure if you remember it. In a nutshell, he said a retired Topps employee bought a wrapping machine from Topps along with a lot of their "Excess Inventory" sometime in the early to mid 70s and would make these cellos at the end of the year for distribution to grocery stores.

Thanks for the info, Doug. To the best of my recollection, Rutter never mentioned that story when he was posting on this board several years back about these packs. It's hard to know exactly what the real story is, but the important part that came out of all this discussion was that the only authentic cello packs produced by Topps in 1970-1972 were the gumbo packs that came housed in the outer cardboard box. As a result of this realization, GAI stopped slabbing these grocery cellos and that is why the only ones you'll see in GAI holders are the ones with the old silver flip and a serial number starting with 102xxx, which is when Rutter was at the helm.

WinPitcher

Another reason not to do any business with Baker and co.


Steve

summerof68

<< <i>

<< <i>I recall that Ryan Rutter (now deceased) was the GAI authenticator at the time these "grocery" cellos were being slabbed and that he attempted to defend their authenticity despite all the evidence until he finally admitted they may have been slabbed in error. >>


Tim ... back about 5 years ago I was on the phone with Ryan for over an hour talking about these cellos. That was when we were all very active in our WaxPacks Group on eBay. He gave me the ENTIRE STORY about the cellos ... maybe he was making it up ... I am not sure. I wrote about it in our eBay group when it happened ... not sure if you remember it. In a nutshell, he said a retired Topps employee bought a wrapping machine from Topps along with a lot of their "Excess Inventory" sometime in the early to mid 70s and would make these cellos at the end of the year for distribution to grocery stores. >>



Two extremely important points to contemplate regarding the above:

1) Just one person with just one old Topps wrapping machine has at his fingertips the capacity to pretty much destroy the integrity of the vintage unopened hobby.

2) Because one person was able to successfully fool Rutter at Gai with respect to early '70s cello seals then one MUST seriously ask how many more '50s & '60s cellos made it past Rutter as well?. After all '50s & '60s cellos had no graphics and 12 cards--the same amount as the "grocery" cellos. We already know a lot of bad '58s made it past Gai. Was this the same person making the '58s and "groceries"? If this one person or persons, who was lacking integrity, was slipping hundreds of these bad cellos past Rutter and Gai are we supposed to believe he/they stopped there? Of course not. Greed ALWAYS escalates to more greed. This is why I have maintained for years that there is a substantial amount of '50s & '60s Topps cello packs, from all sports, in Gai holders that are "bad"--and unfortunately many of these have stars showing and found their way to major prestigious auction houses!

slantycouch

Ugh. I guess I'm glad I've stayed away from GAI and vintage cellos. What a mess. Sorry for everyone who lost money with these.

Dboneesq

Yeah slanty ... it does suck!

Dboneesq

Anybody else buy from Red Zone?

justmichael

<< <i>Anybody else buy from Red Zone? >>


Doug did you ever ask Tommy for a refund?In my dealings with him(we live in the same area) he has always done right by me.I do know of others who have had various issues with him.Most of which seem to be oversights on his part due to the large collections he purchases and some things slipping by.
Mike

Dboneesq

Mike ... PM sent.

Dboneesq

Keeping it alive to see if anyone else has any experience with these.

bking

Bumping this since auctions for these cellos won't seem to die