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Posted By: Anonymous

It's a shame that the bidders can't somehow be warned -- or at least made to be more informed.

It's obvious that you know whereof you speak. While we have zero knowledge about unopened cigarette packs (or any cigarette packs, for that matter), we still would be far more inclined to trust your opinion than the seller's.

We learned about the auction through your post. Now even if we HADN'T read your post first, we still would have found the auction page itself to be ridiculously overhyped. Promoting an item is one thing, but that page practically screams used car salesman. (It reminds us of those Crazy Eddie's commercials from the 1970's.)

We wrote to the seller, and actually brought the post to his attention. His reply was friendly enough, but unfortunately (and not too surprisingly), he did NOT elect to post our question and his reply on the auction page as he had done for a few other questions. Not that we expected him to make it publicly available -- after all, reading your post would have undoubtedly given his bidders a great deal of pause.

Anyway, thanks for sharing the auction and your knowledge on the subject -- we'll probably never have the occasion to put it to good use, but then again, you never know.

In case you're interested in seeing what the seller had to say, here's our question and his reply:

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Item: HONUS WAGNER UNOPENED BASEBALL PACK T206 PIEDMONT GAI (8747168667)
This message was sent while the listing was active.
josepheenella is a potential buyer.

We don't doubt the authenticity of the pack itself, but at this point do have strong doubts as to the possibility of a card existing within the pack. This is not our realm of expertise, but please read the posting here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1137041181/last-1137076241/The+Problems+with+Slabbing+%26quot%3Bpacks%26quot% 3B+-+Piedmont

The above posting is how we found your auction. Again, this is beyond our own field of expertise, but there are those who would say that your auction is excessively hyped-up and overindulgent, given the myriad of questions it raises. [Writing off the absence of a tax stamp by saying, don't ask for one, for some reason there isn't one, seems odd.] According to people in the know, so to speak, the very probability (or impossibility) of the insertion of a card -- comes down to the year of production, which is determinable by the tax stamp. Just wanted to bring the thread to your attention, and would be interested in your response.

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Response from jayco31bh
Item: HONUS WAGNER UNOPENED BASEBALL PACK T206 PIEDMONT GAI (8747168667)
This message was sent while the listing was active.
jayco31bh is the seller.

THANKS FOR THE EMAIL. THE REASON I SAY DON'T ASK ABOUT A TAX STAMP IS THAT I EXPECTED 10,000 PEOPLE TO ASK AND FOR WHATEVER IT HAS NOT BEEN STAMPED, AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. OF COURSE I WAS NOT BORN AT THE TIME AND MY KNOWLEDGE OF THAT IS 0. I WAS NOT TRYING TO MISLEAD, JUST DON'T KNOW. IS MY LISTING OVER HYPED? WELL I DO TRY TO GET THEM MOST FOR MY $$, SINCE EBAY DOES NOT CHARGE US BY THE WORD.

I TRY TO BE HONEST IN MY WRITE UPS. SHOWING ALL PICTURES AND SAYING THERE MAY OR MAY NOT BE A CARD IN THERE. WHAT I HAVE FOUND IS JUST LIKE MY BUSINESS, PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE IN THE KNOW--MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT BE. WHO REALLY KNOWS.

I DO APPRECIATE YOUR EMAIL AND ALWAYS TRY TO ANSWER AS HONESTLY AS POSSIBLE. BEST OF LUCK. THANKS