1955 Topps Cello Ripped Open

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I also agree with Dan, I'm a little skeptical of the whole thing. It's funny how every card was OC with the exception of the Clemente.

Not sure I'm reading this right. Are you saying the pack had been opened before but that the real cards were replaced with 2 Mays cards and a Clemente RC?

Or that the guy who bought it didn't really get those cards and just pretended to?

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

Or that the guy who bought it didn't really get those cards and just pretended to?

Come on, would it really be the first time a CU member faked a pack rip?

https://forums.collectors.com/messag...rd1=jordan+rip

[vintagetoppsguy]

19 horribly off centered cards and 1 dead centered Clemente. It's a Christmas miracle.

[PM770]

Thanks for posting that CU link. It got threadjacked a couple of times but was still a $h!+storm all the way through

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

19 horribly off centered cards and 1 dead centered Clemente. It's a Christmas miracle.

It's a Festivus miracle, for the rest of us. And for the airing of grievances:

I know the pack was legit because the consignor was legit. That said, I gotta call BS on the rip itself as presented. I believe the two Mays cards were in there because they were horribly OC the same as the other cards and they had the same print defect [fish eye] in his name at virtually the same place, which means there was bit of dirt on the transfer roller that was gradually moving across, so they were probably printed within a sheet or two of each other then sent to cutting and collating together. But the Clemente has different corner wear than the cards before and after it. If the rip was depicted sequentially, the Clemente was not in there between those two cards. If the rip was depicted out of sequence, perhaps to create suspense, then the whole thing is about as real as an episode of American Pickers.

As for the money, I think the winner would do just fine off the items as shown. Assuming the Clemente is not altered, I don't think anyone would realistically label that card as less than a vg-ex specimen. I'd call it ex or better, and if I wanted one of them, I'd pay a grand for a card with that kind of eye appeal, and I'm a skinflint. And with the two Mays cards and the commons I think the bidder will get back his money readily and then some.

[bbcard1]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

19 horribly off centered cards and 1 dead centered Clemente. It's a Christmas miracle.

print mark is pretty bad IMO. Don't know how the grading companies would see it, but it ain't all that.

[bobbyw8469]

Like someone else said, probably a PSA 7 (PD).....still a nice card that will command alot of attention if/when he wants to sell it.
The Clemente has heated up substantially in a short period of time.

[batsballsbases]

ttt..

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Come on, would it really be the first time a CU member faked a pack rip?

https://forums.collectors.com/messag...rd1=jordan+rip

Wow! I see what you mean. And add to it the drama of the RC being the very last card!

[Donscards]

I opened a 1955 topps cello pack maybe 25 years ago---it had 24 cards--20 cards were high numbered and 4 were low---the centering was very nice and it was loaded--I will not say what I got out of the pack because u wouldn't believe me---but my point is the cello pack was mixed---Don

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Come on, would it really be the first time a CU member faked a pack rip?

https://forums.collectors.com/messag...rd1=jordan+rip

I am not a card guy, have enough problems with autographs, but why would someone do this? Over sized ego??

[GoudeyGum]

I hope this does not open the floodgates of packs with "popped seals" showing up at auctions. I do not mean to cast doubt on this specific pack.

[MULLINS5]

I've dealt with the ripper and would be shocked if I heard that it had been tampered with. Yes, it's true he pulled a Gretzky rookie (Topps) recently and received an 8.5 from PSA on it. It was a big hit and he shared it with the collecting community. He shared the '55 rip because, well it's a big rip. As for the "writing" on the back -- I'm a novice collector and can tell that that is NOT writing on the back. As for the rest of the cards, again a novice, but I remember busting tons of 1979 Hockey and the one card in the set that is notoriously OC is #161 Mike Bossy. Whenever I pulled a decently centered one the rest of the cards were garbage OC and miscut. In this case the Clemente is a notoriously OC card and, I'd assume, that in order to find one centered the cards cut around it would have to be butchered.

[vthobby]

This is the exact same photo he posted as the back of the card that he got from that pack!!! That is funny!

It is pretty funny watching the "believers" hail the Holy Grail. Even funnier seeing the initials clearly written on the back to the right of "Throws Right"!


Peace, Mike

2k25n4.jpg

[MULLINS5]

Originally Posted by vtgmsc

This is the exact same photo he posted as the back of the card that he got from that pack!!! That is funny!

It is pretty funny watching the "believers" hail the Holy Grail. Even funnier seeing the initials clearly written on the back to the right of "Throws Right"!


Peace, Mike

Attachment 213722

Yet here is an eBay auction with the SAME "writing"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-TOPPS-B...p2047675.l2557

[donniebaseball]

This was also from the CU thread. The card is currently being offered on eBay and has the same exact marking or "initials" on the reverse of another '55 Clemente. That mark is from Topps, not from a collector.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-TOPPS-B...p2047675.l2557

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by MULLINS5

In this case the Clemente is a notoriously OC card and, I'd assume, that in order to find one centered the cards cut around it would have to be butchered.

If the Clemente came from a single strip, I could possibly buy that theory. But, since it was from a sheet, I don't.

If that were true, that would mean other cards, either in the same row or column depending on the miscut, would be just as centered as the Clemente.

[slidekellyslide]

I'm not a member of CU so I can't ask myself, but why doesn't someone ask the "Ripper" if he recorded the opening, and if he did not record, why didn't he?