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Adventures in resealing (Star Wars)

AwfulBitsAwfulBits Posts: 191
in Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum
A few years ago I bought a group of 5 boxes of 1977 Topps Star Wars. One box of each series. (No, not from Captfisch) When I received the boxes they were each shrink wrapped. I took the wrap off the first series box and found that the packs were all reseals. I contacted the seller telling him that the first series was resealed, but I did not take the shrink wrap off any of the other boxes and would like to return them. At first he agreed. Then a few hours later he emails me back going totally ballistic and telling me to go pound sand.

I opened a case with eBay and through emails he pretty much admits the first series box was resealed but why should I care because all the cards are there. We go back and forth a while. And ultimately eBay ruled in HIS favor. I contacted eBay by phone and come to find out the reason they did was that the box was in shrink wrap. And I opened it. They won’t budge on this. I'm stuck with it.

So now I the shrink wrap off the other 4 boxes and luckily they were all good. So my loss wasn’t as big as I first had thought. So here I sit with the resealed first series box for several years wondering what to do with it. Do I just sell it as resealed? Do I open it and make sets? Well I finally broke down and opened it. And the cards were the best centered and conditioned Star Wars cards I’ve ever opened. By the looks of it I think someone back in the day opened the packs and took the gum out so it wouldn’t ruin the cards and then put them back in the wrappers. The guy I bought them from stuck in a stick of Topps gum from the 80’s and resealed them.

From the full box of 252 cards I pulled 117 cards on the first pass that I though were a 9 or a 10. On second pass I ended up with 89. I sent in 38 a while ago and they just popped. In this batch I ended up with 12 PSA 10’s & 21 PSA 9’s.




Line # Item # Cert # Grade Description Type
1 1 23860993 MINT 9 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 2 John Adams Card
2 1 23860994 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 4 James Madison Card
3 1 23860995 MINT 9 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 11 James K. Polk Card
4 1 23860996 MINT 9 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 18 Ulysses S. Grant Card
5 1 23860997 EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 27 Woodrow Wilson Card
6 1 23860998 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 28 Warren G. Harding Card
7 1 23860999 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 32 Harry S. Truman Card
8 1 23861000 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 33 Dwight Eisenhower Card
9 1 23861001 MINT 9 1972 Topps U.S. Presidents 39 John Lindsay Card
10 1 23861002 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1977 Star Wars 1 Luke Skywalker Card
11 1 23861003 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 2 See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo Card
12 1 23861004 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 3 the Little Droid, Artoo-Detoo Card
13 1 23861005 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 4 Space Pirate Han Solo Card
14 1 23861006 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 4 Space Pirate Han Solo Card
15 1 23861007 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 5 Princess Leia Organa Card
16 1 23861008 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1977 Star Wars 7 the Villainous Darth Vader Card
17 1 23861009 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 9 Rebels Defend Their Starship! Card
18 1 23861010 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 11 Artoo Is Imprisoned By the Jaws Card
19 1 23861011 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 12 the Droids Are Reunited! Card
20 1 23861012 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 15 Artoo-Detoo Is Left Behind! Card
21 1 23861013 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 16 Jawas of Tatooine Card
22 1 23861014 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 17 Lord Vader Threatens Princess Leia! Card
23 1 23861015 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 19 Searching for the Little Droid Card
24 1 23861016 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 20 Hunted By the Sandpeople! Card
25 1 23861017 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 24 Stormtroopers Seek the Droids! Card
26 1 23861018 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 26 A Horrified Luke Sees His Family Killed Card
27 1 23861019 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 27 Some Repairs for See-Threepio Card
28 1 23861020 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 28 Luke Agrees to Join Ben Kenobi Card
29 1 N6: MINIMUM SIZE REQUIREMENT 1977 Star Wars 29 Stopped By Stormtroopers Card
30 1 23861022 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 31 Sighting the Death Star Card
31 1 23861023 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 34 See-Threepio Diverts the Guards Card
32 1 23861024 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 36 Blast of the Laser Rifle! Card
33 1 23861025 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 39 Steel Walls Close in on Our Heroes! Card
34 1 23861026 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 40 Droids Rescue Their Masters! Card
35 1 23861027 NEAR MINT 7 1977 Star Wars 41 Facing the Deadly Chasm Card
36 1 23861028 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 45 the Light Sabre Card
37 1 23861029 NEAR MINT 7 1977 Star Wars 46 A Desperate Moment for Ben Card
38 1 23861030 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 47 Luke Prepares for the Battle Card
39 1 23861031 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 49 the Rebels Monitor the Raid Card
40 1 23861032 GEM MINT 10 1977 Star Wars 51 See-Threepio and Princess Leia Card
41 1 23861033 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 52 Who Will Win the Final Star War? Card
42 1 23861034 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 53 Battle in Outer Space! Card
43 1 23861035 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 55 Han, Chewie and Luke Card
44 1 23861036 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 56 A Day of Rejoicing! Card
45 1 23861037 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 59 Alec Guinness AS Ben Kenobi Card
46 1 23861038 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 61 Mark Hamill in Control Room Card
47 1 23861039 MINT 9 1977 Star Wars 64 Governor of Imperial Outlands Card
48 1 23861040 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1977 Star Wars 65 Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill Card
49 1 23861041 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1978 Topps 315 Tony Dorsett Card
50 1 23861042 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1979 Topps 115 Nolan Ryan Card

Comments

  • gregmo32gregmo32 Posts: 2,648 ✭✭✭
    That is an awesome story . I'm glad for the happy ending !
    I am buying and trading for RC's of Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Bob Cousy!
    Don't waste your time and fees listing on ebay before getting in touch me by PM or at gregmo32@aol.com !
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow, congrats! It turned out those packs were worth more resealed than authentic, LOL!


    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.
  • PM770PM770 Posts: 320 ✭✭
    I'm glad it ended up working out for you, AwfulBits.

    Is this individual still selling "unopened" Star Wars boxes on ebay?
  • mtcardsmtcards Posts: 3,340 ✭✭✭
    This brings up an interesting question. I sold a box of non sport cards to someone, who opened ALL the packs, then emailed me to tell me that the corners were damaged on a third of the cards and he wanted a refund. Obviously, I did not know anything about the damage to the corners as they were all sealed and the box did not exhibit any signs of damage. In the end, he just dropped it when I told him to inspect to see if there was any obvious damage via the postal service and if so, that might explain the problem and I would file a claim.



    So the question is, say someone buys a box of 1982 Topps baseball, doesnt get a Ripken and assumes a reseal, even though the packs are authentic and your odds are a hair under a 1 per box ration for getting the Ripken, but then requests a refund on that basis. Does he win his claim? Since he has ruined the value of the item, can he still send it back as a SNAD request even though he cannot send back the original item?
    IT IS ALWAYS CHEAPER TO NOT SELL ON EBAY
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,728 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would think you would need compelling evidence, or at least you should need compelling evidence, to prove that the packs are resealed. In most cases, you can ascertain that prior to opening the packs. In the case of the box described above, I would question why it took 36 packs to arrive at that conclusion. If the box is truly resealed, that would be evident after opening one or two packs. Not pulling a particular card is not evidence that a box is resealed.


    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.
  • MULLINS5MULLINS5 Posts: 4,517 ✭✭✭
    I remember years ago being in the customer service line at Target and watching someone return several boxes of opened baseball cards.
  • seebelowseebelow Posts: 1,643 ✭✭✭
    In what way were they shrinkwrapped? Any stickers on the wrap claiming authenticity or sealed, or just plain, clear plastic? bbce, dougs etc?

    Congrats! It never works out that way for the buyer. Just a weird case. And also, the seller was correct, innocent in his assertation?
    Interested in higher grade vintage cards. Aren't we all. image
  • AwfulBitsAwfulBits Posts: 191


    << <i>Is this individual still selling "unopened" Star Wars boxes on ebay? >>


    No. Although he still does sell racing (NASCAR) related cards the last time I checked.



    << <i>In what way were they shrinkwrapped? Any stickers on the wrap claiming authenticity or sealed, or just plain, clear plastic? bbce, dougs etc? >>


    He shrink wrapped them himself. He did it to all the boxes he was selling at the time.
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