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Would you trust unopened packs from Fritsch?

What are your thoughts that packs from Fritsch are non-tampered? I was looking to purchase some and wanted to know. Thanks!

Comments

  • cpamikecpamike Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭


    << <i>What are your thoughts of the non-tampered packs from Fritsch? I was looking to purchase some and wanted to know. Thanks! >>



    He bought them directly from Topps. No hesitations at all. Go for it!!! image
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    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.
  • Thanks! Mike
  • cpamikecpamike Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Thanks! Mike >>



    No problem Dustin. His prices tend to be high, but you don't have to worry about his packs being no good.
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    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.
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,743 ✭✭✭✭✭
    As good as gold.


    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.
  • ergoismergoism Posts: 315 ✭✭✭
    I recently purchased some 82 Topps Traded sets from them. There was no indication they had been opened and no indication they were sealed. I assumed wrong and ended up with some searched sets. They are also incredibly inconsistent with returning any type of emails. I haven't purchased packs from them but I would assume legit as I'm sure we would have heard complaints if they weren't.
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,743 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I have heard mixed reviews, including some negative reviews about sets, but unopened product is solid.


    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've heard some of his unopened stuff stinks. Like mildew or old man smell


  • << <i>I recently purchased some 82 Topps Traded sets from them. There was no indication they had been opened and no indication they were sealed. I assumed wrong and ended up with some searched sets. They are also incredibly inconsistent with returning any type of emails. I haven't purchased packs from them but I would assume legit as I'm sure we would have heard complaints if they weren't. >>



    I have heard good and bad from Fritsch. It's terrible that they actually have had some tampered material. I use 'some' strongly. I know they have a lot of product that is untampered. However, I tend to question the items that are easily searched for sequencing,racks and cellos and ...vending. Was it done my an employee without the big guys knowing?The 82TT sets don't surprise me but the more expensive stuff does. I heard of the 71 Topps vending horror story so it doesn't surprise me that they are still sitting on the shelf with 10K and 20K price tags. I'm a buyer of certain items (PSA graded packs) from them but the only experience ordering online went terrible. Essentially, I caught a sale for a couple nice sets and wanted to order five. Of course, after a week, I called and was told they were processing the order. Another week went by, I called and they said they only had one....I wasn't happy bought that's the way they do business...
  • 1all1all Posts: 511 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I recently purchased some 82 Topps Traded sets from them. There was no indication they had been opened and no indication they were sealed. I assumed wrong and ended up with some searched sets. They are also incredibly inconsistent with returning any type of emails. I haven't purchased packs from them but I would assume legit as I'm sure we would have heard complaints if they weren't. >>



    I have heard good and bad from Fritsch. It's terrible that they actually have had some tampered material. I use 'some' strongly. I know they have a lot of product that is untampered. However, I tend to question the items that are easily searched for sequencing,racks and cellos and ...vending. Was it done my an employee without the big guys knowing?The 82TT sets don't surprise me but the more expensive stuff does. I heard of the 71 Topps vending horror story so it doesn't surprise me that they are still sitting on the shelf with 10K and 20K price tags. I'm a buyer of certain items (PSA graded packs) from them but the only experience ordering online went terrible. Essentially, I caught a sale for a couple nice sets and wanted to order five. Of course, after a week, I called and was told they were processing the order. Another week went by, I called and they said they only had one....I wasn't happy bought that's the way they do business... >>



    I have had the same experience with them - especially when you try to catch a sale. Multiple times, I've tried to order 5 of something and then get a package in the mail with only 2 and a note saying they didn't have as many of the item as they thought. Of course, I go to their website and still see the item for sale (often with a newly inflated price).

    I'm extremely confident in the legitimacy of their unopened material. Their customer service is simply horrid.

    -Doug
  • I ordered (5) Wax Packs today so I will keep my fingers crossed that I get them.
  • fiveninerfiveniner Posts: 4,111 ✭✭✭
    You might pay a high price but he is trustworthy.
    Tony(AN ANGEL WATCHES OVER ME)
  • gemintgemint Posts: 6,121 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>You might pay a high price but he is trustworthy. >>



    What others have said. Unopened should be fine but I wouldn't buy "factory sets" or vending from them unless it was an unopened case. I wouldn't say it's due to dishonesty on their part but I think those cards have been in their warehouse for so long, it's hard to say how much they were handled over the years, particularly back in the day when they weren't considered very valuable and were just inventory from which to pull from to build sets and fill orders.


  • << <i>You might pay a high price but he is trustworthy. >>



    Who is "he"?
    Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all "right-thinking" people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

    This is known as “bad luck.”
  • 70ToppsFanatic70ToppsFanatic Posts: 2,106 ✭✭✭✭
    My experience is that their individual packs are good, but I would not be
    a buyer of any of their cello boxes. They are offering way too many 1975
    graded cello packs with stars on top than is proportional to what one would
    expect.


    Dave
  • handymanhandyman Posts: 5,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would be very confident in buying a pack with a star player showing from them. The Pack will be authentic as they say, they seem to be in it for profit. Thier packs are the real deal but I wouldnt open them looking for 10s. I feel they look at every pack. Just my opinion. But they always have a chance to hold 10s of course.



  • << <i>My experience is that their individual packs are good, but I would not be
    a buyer of any of their cello boxes. They are offering way too many 1975
    graded cello packs with stars on top than is proportional to what one would
    expect. >>



    That's interesting coming from an experienced collector. I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary but it seems all the cellos that I've seen raw are horribly diamond cut or off center. I still trip out about the no credit card, money order only thing. I suppose every percent counts and with their stuff, they can do it.
  • StingrayStingray Posts: 8,843 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>You might pay a high price but he is trustworthy. >>



    Who is "he"? >>



    Larry Frisch
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,743 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>My experience is that their individual packs are good, but I would not be
    a buyer of any of their cello boxes. They are offering way too many 1975
    graded cello packs with stars on top than is proportional to what one would
    expect. >>



    David, I don't really see that--the number of common graded packs dwarfs the star packs, proportionately, at least. I see roughly 20 common packs for every star pack, for 1970 and 1975, their two most plentiful years. I wish they'd get some 73 packs in again. Been a long while since they had those in stock.


    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.
  • handymanhandyman Posts: 5,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "David, I don't really see that--the number of common graded packs dwarfs the star packs, proportionately, at least. I see roughly 20 common packs for every star pack, for 1970 and 1975, their two most plentiful years. I wish they'd get some 73 packs in again. Been a long while since they had those in stock. "

    I disagree with this as we do not know the number of product FF owns.
  • 70ToppsFanatic70ToppsFanatic Posts: 2,106 ✭✭✭✭
    I have no doubt that Fritsch packs are legitimate and untampered with. At the same time, no one has a way to know
    for sure whether their full cello boxes are searched or unsearched. There is nothing preventing the substitution of a
    geuine pack without a star showing for another one that has a star showing.

    While there is no evidence that such activities are occuring, the 1975 graded cello packs offered on Ebay seem to have
    a lot more HOF names showing than I have seen in boxes that are supposedly unsearched. Go take a look at what is
    on Ebay from them right now for 1975 baseball. Almost 1/3 of the packs have HOF names showing (not even considering
    the Indians Team card packs with Frank Robinson).

    Given some of the business practices that we have seen from this vendor (e.g. advertising mechandise and then refusing
    to sell it, partial shipments claiming they had less than they thought only to continue offering and selling the same items
    to others, etc.) we have pretty solid evidence that this organization values maximizing selling prices over being completely
    honest.

    As for the 1970 cellos, the ratios are much more reasonable (but they seem to have quite a bit more 1975 product than they
    do 1970).

    Bottom line for me is that their individual cellos are not a problem. I am sure that their cello boxes (when they actually choose
    to sell a full box) have 24 legitimate packs, but I have some concerns as to whether or not all 24 packs were originally packed
    in that specific cello box.





    Dave
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,743 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"David, I don't really see that--the number of common graded packs dwarfs the star packs, proportionately, at least. I see roughly 20 common packs for every star pack, for 1970 and 1975, their two most plentiful years. I wish they'd get some 73 packs in again. Been a long while since they had those in stock. "

    I disagree with this as we do not know the number of product FF owns. >>



    What are you disagreeing with, D? That they haven't had 73 cellos in stock for a long time?

    I have followed Fritsch's offering for the past 15 years. There is little doubt in my mind that they have plentiful product from certain years (1968, 1970 and 1975 Topps baseball cellos, for instance) and very little comparatively from other years. At one point 5-6 years ago, they were routinely grading and putting up for sale 1973 Topps baseball cello packs, but they haven't offered any for sale now in quite a long while. In the past 15 years, we have seen the same offerings from Fritsch with very little exceptions--1973 and 1975 Topps baseball wax boxes, 1968, 1970, 1975 and (until recently) 1973 Topps baseball cellos, as well as some 1979 rack and cello boxes. I have never seen them sell 1972 or 1974 Topps baseball cellos, for instance, or 1976 or even 1977 Topps baseball cellos, for that matter. My guess is that Frank stockpiled product from certain years and was very thin on others.


    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.
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,743 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I have no doubt that Fritsch packs are legitimate and untampered with. At the same time, no one has a way to know
    for sure whether their full cello boxes are searched or unsearched. There is nothing preventing the substitution of a
    geuine pack without a star showing for another one that has a star showing.

    While there is no evidence that such activities are occuring, the 1975 graded cello packs offered on Ebay seem to have
    a lot more HOF names showing than I have seen in boxes that are supposedly unsearched. Go take a look at what is
    on Ebay from them right now for 1975 baseball. Almost 1/3 of the packs have HOF names showing (not even considering
    the Indians Team card packs with Frank Robinson).

    Given some of the business practices that we have seen from this vendor (e.g. advertising mechandise and then refusing
    to sell it, partial shipments claiming they had less than they thought only to continue offering and selling the same items
    to others, etc.) we have pretty solid evidence that this organization values maximizing selling prices over being completely
    honest.

    As for the 1970 cellos, the ratios are much more reasonable (but they seem to have quite a bit more 1975 product than they
    do 1970).

    Bottom line for me is that their individual cellos are not a problem. I am sure that their cello boxes (when they actually choose
    to sell a full box) have 24 legitimate packs, but I have some concerns as to whether or not all 24 packs were originally packed
    in that specific cello box. >>



    You may be correct, Dave (no one but the Fritschs know for sure), but when they last put up for sale the most recent batch of 75 cellos, the % of packs with HOFers on front or back was about 10% of those newly listed packs, which I would say is about average for an original box, most of them (except for a pair with Reggie on top were on back, too). The % may APPEAR to be higher, but that is also due primarily to the fact that a number of their star packs, like the two with Ryan on top and even the one with the Indians team card on top, have been listed for sale on ebay for a very long time now.


    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.
  • thenavarrothenavarro Posts: 7,497 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>You might pay a high price but he is trustworthy. >>



    Who is "he"? >>



    Larry Frisch >>



    Larry Fritsch is dead
    Buying US Presidential autographs
  • handymanhandyman Posts: 5,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "What are you disagreeing with, D? That they haven't had 73 cellos in stock for a long time?"
    I was not talking about 1973s, but more on the heart of the conversation.
    Im sure the 73s will be back but I have no clue.
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,743 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"What are you disagreeing with, D? That they haven't had 73 cellos in stock for a long time?"
    I was not talking about 1973s, but more on the heart of the conversation.
    Im sure the 73s will be back but I have no clue. >>



    I sure hope so--it's been several years since they last had them in stock. I'm tired of seeing the same years over and over again--1968, 1970, 1975, recycled--time for a little variety (if they even have it).


    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.
  • handymanhandyman Posts: 5,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Well it will happen.


  • << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>You might pay a high price but he is trustworthy. >>



    Who is "he"? >>



    Larry Frisch >>



    Larry Fritsch is dead >>



    Bingo. Exactly who in that organization is qualified to be deemed "trustworthy"?
    Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all "right-thinking" people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

    This is known as “bad luck.”
  • bishopbishop Posts: 2,917 ✭✭✭
    His son Jeff. I agree with most of what has been said here...over graded and over priced cards, poor customer service ( including "convenience" surcharge on fax card and phone orders) , but honest old time dealer
    Topps Baseball-1948, 1951 to 2017
    Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
    Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007

    Al
  • Just an update. I ordered (6) 1972 Basketball packs and I couldn't be happier with the customer service. Super nice and very responsive.
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