Is nothing sacred? (Bad Rack Packs) WE DID IT! WE'RE GONNA BE OKAY!
ReggieCleveland
Posts: 3,818 ✭✭✭✭✭
In what appears to be an exercise in futility, there's a lot of bad junk era rack packs on ebay lately. It was pointed out to me that perhaps these are "practice" racks for people, testing methods before moving on to more expensive items. I've gotten a handful lately, all in the $5-$8 range (seriously) and from multiple sellers.
So far, they've been pretty easy to detect and their method has been to simply split the back of the rack length-wise right down the middle and then heat seal it back together. Pretty rudimentary. Also pretty easy to spot even in a halfway decent ebay scan, if you're looking for it.
I wasn't looking for it because, I mean, for the love of god, who would reseal '87 and '88 Topps rack packs? What kind of a world are we living in? Anyway, here's a scan with one of the bad racks next to a good rack. Pretty easy to spot. This was just an $5 purchase, clearly not worth the time of the resealer.
Arthur
Comments
Here's another, from a completely different seller. An '88 Topps rack? Why, god? WHY!?!?
It really makes zero sense, are we 100% sure nothing out of 87/88 was ever sealed up like this from Topps? Unless they are practicing on cheap rakes and the more expensive ones are about to hit or are being sold through other seller accounts this really is odd.
I believe I have some 1988 Topps racks that I acquired many many years ago that were sealed along the back like that. I’m not home and can’t check at the moment but I went through some things recently and thought I remembered one of the seals becoming loose and wondered if I should just rip it at this point. I’ll repost when I know for sure.
I would love it if it turns out that these are actually some messed up seals from the factory. I really don't want to live in a world where '88 Topps racks are suspect. If anyone has some info, please, in the name of all creatures big and small, step forward.
Arthur
maybe they were trying to "rack" their brains to see how many would fall for the bad packs? unless the packs came that way from the factory
i wrote in peeves..
not rack but 1983 box i was ripping and found a 1980 pack in the middle of the box...ugh...laughed actually
..is odd that they'd still sell the racks for 8 bucks but i guess its 8 bucks
False alarm, the rack I was referring to came apart between the normal seams between the sections of cards. None of my junk era racks have those seals on back. Sorry Reggie. Good luck in solving this extremely troublesome mystery...
Sad but makes sense. Buy a real one for 5-8, cherry pick the star cards, reseal and resell. For 5-8. Sell star cards for profit, resealed to recoup AND profit since many people wouldn't pay 50 cents if they knew they were only buying random 87/88 commons.
That's awful but that's reality; with a lot of worthless cardboard sitting around, terrible people will do terrible things like this. Part of me thinks we'll soon see a fresh find of 'unopened packs' of 1954 Red Hearts hit the market...
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
That's just it, there's nothing in an '88 Topps rack that's worth $5-8. I mean, I paid $8 because I'm crazy and it was a fun item for my collection with the Al Leiter error card on the front but virtually no one else would. A regular '88 Topps rack isn't worth the money it would cost to ship it to you. Nothing about this makes sense, unless these are the practice reseals. In which case, you folks who pay the good money should take note. It's an easy spot as long as you're looking for it.
Arthur
I was really surprised to find out how much some of the 1987 & 1988 Topps baseball cards have sold for in PSA 10, since I assume there are so many out there that no one who needs one doesn't have one yet. In recent sales, the highest base card for each of those sets, available in the racks in the OP, were $52 for 1988 Mike Schmidt, and believe it or not $168 for 1987 Twins Mgr. Tom Kelly.
https://ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=psa+10+topps+%281987%2C+1988%29+-traded+-mini+-big+-2017+-coins+-refractor+-heritage+-chrome+-archives+-2014+-tiffany+-kmart+-k-mart+-auto+-chrome+-dna+-lot+-case+-box+-pack+-2012+-stickers&_sop=16&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_osacat=213&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xpsa+10+topps+-glossy+-stickercard+%281987%2C+1988%29+-traded+-mini+-big+-2017+-coins+.TRS0&_nkw=psa+10+topps+-glossy+-stickercard+%281987%2C+1988%29+-traded+-mini+-big+-2017+-coins+-refractor+-heritage+-chrome+-archives+-2014+-tiffany+-kmart+-k-mart+-auto+-chrome+-dna+-lot+-case+-box+-pack+-2012+-stickers&_sacat=213
STAND DOWN! I REPEAT, STAND DOWN! TAKE US TO DEFCON 4, RE-OPEN THE TRAVELING CIRCUS, AND LET THE ICE CREAM TRUCKS OUT OF THE HANGER.
I just heard back from Steve and he says he's seen this seal before and that the rack packs are GOOD!
PHEW! I know these last 30 hours have been grueling on everyone but I want you all to know that I appreciate the professionalism and courage that you all displayed while we walked this tight rope of the apocalypse together. There were a few moments when, to be honest, I wasn't sure we were going to come out the other side. But every single one of you never faltered, never wavered in the face of obscene pressure. I'm proud to know each and every one of you. Today marks a new day though. A chance for all of us to view the world through new eyes, a second chance if you will. Let's not waste it, compadres!
I'd like to thank Steve Hart for saving us all from an '88 Topps rack-free world. Now, if you'll excuse, I've got to go down to the basement and let Mortiz know that it's all been sorted out. He's been on hold with BGS this whole time.
You remind me of oddrodz.
Whew, I'm glad this is sorted out so I don't have to go after the sellers I purchased these from. I'll be sleeping soundly tonight.
BTW- when we were going through this, I may have wet my pants while I was curled up in a ball in the corner.
Very humorous thread from beginning to end. You'd think after opening 100's of the 1988 racks back in the day I could've remembered how they were sealed. But then I barely remember the 80's.
Arthur, I think that the 1988 Frank DiPino card pictured may be one of these sophisticated forgeries that is currently circulating during recess and lunch periods in the eastern half of the United States.
"I'm sorry, too, Dmitri... I'm very sorry... All right, you're sorrier than I am, but I am as sorry as well... I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri! Don't say that you're more sorry than I am, because I'm capable of being just as sorry as you are. So we're both sorry, all right?... All right."
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