1974 topps baseball cello pack

Dragnet

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone here knew about a 1974 topps baseball cello pack without the usual print on the front and back (topps baseball cards with 1 stick bubble gum). I came across a few on eBay that were graded by GAI and wondering if, 1. they are legitimate, topps cellos? and 2. how many cards they may hold?

Here is the listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-Topps-Unopen-Cello-Pack-Graded-/111547488434?pt=US_Baseball&hash=item19f8bf98b2

Thanks!

grote15

All so-called 12-card "grocery" cellos are not authentic Topps issued packs. They were mistakenly slabbed by GAI during a brief period several years ago (all of these packs have cert #s beginning with 102XXX) before the late Ryan Rutter (who was head pack grader for GAI at the time) admitted that they were not legit and stopped holdering them. They will not be holdered by PSA. They were made for years 1970-1974, with 71s and 72s being the more common years. The only authentic Topps issued cello packs produced in 1974 contain 22 caards and bear a logo on front with the 25c price on it and a product code ending in -2 (Topps used leftover wrappers from 1973 in early part of 1974) or -4 on back.

ETA: Here is what front & back of a 74 cello should look like:

Dragnet

Thanks Tim!!

dennis07

Tim,
Would this be an example of one of the non-authentic Topps packs mistakenly slabbed by GAI. I was looking at this one on Ebay because of the centering of the front and back cards but didn't
pull the trigger because of some advice you had given on previous posts.
Dennis

BaltimoreYankee

Dennis - That 1970 pack is also a bad pack. Topps did not make these grocery cellos in 1970. '70 cellos should have 33 cards.

grote15

<< <i>Dennis - That 1970 pack is also a bad pack. Topps did not make these grocery cellos in 1970. '70 cellos should have 33 cards. >>



Correct.

1970 cellos do have clear cello wrapping, but were housed in green cardboard boxes. Also, 1970 cellos, unlike cellos from other years during this era, do not have gum.

Here is card counts for Topps cellos from the 1970s:

1970: 33
1971: 30
1972: 30
1973: 27
1974: 22
1975: 18
1976: 18
1977: 18
1978: 21
1979: 18

The last year Topps produced a 12-card cello pack was 1969.

BaltimoreYankee

There were Topps grocery cello packs produced at least in 1983. I had a case of them and there were 3 cello packs with no printing in a printed overwrap. I think there were 10 or 12 cards per cello pack.

grote15

<< <i>There were Topps grocery cello packs produced at least in 1983. I had a case of them and there were 3 cello packs with no printing in a printed overwrap. I think there were 10 or 12 cards per cello pack. >>



Topps resumed producing 12-card grocery cellos in 1981, but none were produced from 1970-1980.

coinspacks

someone bought the grocery cello

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-TOPPS-BASEBALL-CELLO-PACK-NM-7-5-/282243390942?hash=item41b7045dde:g:dqgAAOSwx2dYG55d&amp;nma=true&amp;si=762wsuvwhjRm4odghgFfRrUXOnU%3D&amp;orig_cvip=true&amp;rt=nc&amp;_trksid=p2047675.l2557

ElvisP

So where did these "grocery" cellos come from? From a third party company? An individual/group of individuals for the sole purpose of being deceitful? Do these packs contain nothing but commons? Great info and thanks!

grote15

They were produced from about 15 years ago from a single source and a bunch of them were graded in error by GAI before they realized they were not authentic Topps packs. All of these grocery cellos graded by GAI bear a cert # beginning with 102XXX from that time.