Which rack is fake?
KurtisJoseph
Posts: 214 ✭✭✭
Was doing some house cleaning today and decided to cut out some old 1970s rack packs from their God aweful GAI plastic holders. I have always had two fakes in my collection (that I purchased. . .I certainly did not create). Thought everyone would enjoy viewing one of them. Which one is fake? The Yount or Bench???
We have discussed some of this before, but thought a review would be helpful.
1) The Yount is fake. Upon closer inspection, the counterfeiter did a great job of sizing the plastic, crimping, and resealing. However, you can't re-create yellow, old, brittle plastic. The Yount plastic is clear white and smooth as a baby's butt. When handling, the plastic almost feels like a ziploc bag. . . very soft.
2) Some of you knew this right away, but the Yount is always next to the header card. There are rare exceptions, but I do not risk rare exceptions when I purchase on ebay.
3) I did not include a picture of the back, but the star sequence is *, *, *. It should be *, *, ** or *, **, **.
4) The header is also on the wrong side of the rack. I have read claims that this 'can' happen, but I do not have one in my collection, for whatever it's worth.
5) Upon closer inspection of the cards within the rack, the cards are not NM. . they are VG+. Looks like the counterfeiter grabbed some out of a shoebox to fill the rack out. Remember, even NM commons are worth a lot now days - especially from the 1970s. It isn't productive to fill a rack with a bunch of expensive NM cards now days.
6) A couple of other misc observations. Sequencing did occur in the 70's, but it wasn't perfect. For example, I have four Johnny Bench 1975 racks where he is on top. In EVERY case John Johnston is on the backside of the Bench. However, this sequencing can get off. For example, I have four Willie McCovey's on the front of 1975 racks. And the back card is different for three of them. Therefore, don't freak out if you have a different card on the back of two different Rose racks. The sequence is somewhat predictable, but not perfect from top to bottom.
Does anyone else have any fakes they purchased?
We have discussed some of this before, but thought a review would be helpful.
1) The Yount is fake. Upon closer inspection, the counterfeiter did a great job of sizing the plastic, crimping, and resealing. However, you can't re-create yellow, old, brittle plastic. The Yount plastic is clear white and smooth as a baby's butt. When handling, the plastic almost feels like a ziploc bag. . . very soft.
2) Some of you knew this right away, but the Yount is always next to the header card. There are rare exceptions, but I do not risk rare exceptions when I purchase on ebay.
3) I did not include a picture of the back, but the star sequence is *, *, *. It should be *, *, ** or *, **, **.
4) The header is also on the wrong side of the rack. I have read claims that this 'can' happen, but I do not have one in my collection, for whatever it's worth.
5) Upon closer inspection of the cards within the rack, the cards are not NM. . they are VG+. Looks like the counterfeiter grabbed some out of a shoebox to fill the rack out. Remember, even NM commons are worth a lot now days - especially from the 1970s. It isn't productive to fill a rack with a bunch of expensive NM cards now days.
6) A couple of other misc observations. Sequencing did occur in the 70's, but it wasn't perfect. For example, I have four Johnny Bench 1975 racks where he is on top. In EVERY case John Johnston is on the backside of the Bench. However, this sequencing can get off. For example, I have four Willie McCovey's on the front of 1975 racks. And the back card is different for three of them. Therefore, don't freak out if you have a different card on the back of two different Rose racks. The sequence is somewhat predictable, but not perfect from top to bottom.
Does anyone else have any fakes they purchased?
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Comments
Edited to add: I didn't finish reading your entire post, LOL. Yes, that wrapper gives it away even if the cards were in the right sections. I have also heard that the header card could be on either side from a couple of sources, but like you all of mine are on the right side. I once bought a raw 1975 rack off eBay, but promptly returned it once I saw it in a wrapper like your Yount rack is in.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Yount for sure. He's in wrong section and header is on wrong side, too. >>
Which side the header is on only makes sense for years where there are no "upside down" cells, right? Because if some are upside down, you could just flip the pack and the header would be on the other side, only now what was right side up would be upside down, right? What year did racks start having uniformity to the orientation within the cells?
<< <i>
<< <i>Yount for sure. He's in wrong section and header is on wrong side, too. >>
Which side the header is on only makes sense for years where there are no "upside down" cells, right? Because if some are upside down, you could just flip the pack and the header would be on the other side, only now what was right side up would be upside down, right? What year did racks start having uniformity to the orientation within the cells? >>
That is true, but the way to check on those is to check the section next to the header card as that section should contain only those cards with one * on back (on racks from 1975 through 1977 at least).
1975 is really the first year in which cards from certain sheets were inserted in particular sections of the rack. There are some rare variations to these rules but in those cases, both cards on front AND back should be uniform at least as it relates to the sheet.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Four posts w/o a lame and predictable boob joke? Maybe we are advancing. >>
Just obeying forum rules
<< <i>Four posts w/o a lame and predictable boob joke? Maybe we are advancing. >>
Lol. Was thinking the same thing.
Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06