Quote:
Originally Posted by T.S. OConnell
I don't believe that any major retailer would offer a product with no clear indication on the packaging of origin, authenticity, etc. I also don't believe the repackaged cards could ever have done at a large-enough scale to tempt such retailers in the first place. I believe that the stories about the cards having been found at retail are part of the "legend" used to afford some additional authenticity to the effort.
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The christmas packs are a puzzle, the "cellos" in the original post seem to be two different groups depending on how well the header cards are done.
The cellos are almost for sure some flea market type thing.
Im unsure about the christmas packs. Repacking stuff has been going on a long time, both by third parties and manufacturers. (Halloween fun packs anyone?)
The big repacker is Treat Entertainment co. which from the little I can find was/is a stamp and coin dealer started in 1964. Their repacked products have been available pretty much everywhere, especially in the late 90's.
I don't think a major retailer would handle the christmas packs without a barcode,* but a small toy shop like the one I went to as a kid would. The main store was a fabric/sewing store, and the basement was a toystore. A small shop like that would probably have bought something similar. They did carry the mesh stockings full of repacked cheap trinket type toys. The same ones that could be bought for a few cents from the toystore equivalent of the penny candy section.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...mas-3783171282
But, while looking for those just now, I found what may be a suspect or partial suspect for the christmas packs. Retrocandyonline sells stocking packs of candy that use a nearly identical plastic sleeve.
http://www.retrocandyonline.com/cand...stockings.html
And just an interesting thing in the "yeah, like weird stuff never happens at retail" category... The box of Topps holiday series cards I bought - a Wal-Mart exclusive came from a K-Mart. for slightly over the wal-Mart price. Apparently they were buying stuff at retail from Wal-Mart marking it up slightly and reselling it.
*The UPC barcodes were fist used in 74, a different system was tested in 72. But they didn't become almost universal until the mid 1980's