Holiday Rack Packs?

[ALR-bishop]

Murphy and Mathews ( see correspondence above) claimed that they came upon on a stash of them back in early 2000s. They said the cards were excess Topps cards that were obtained by a 3d party who packaged them for sale in retail stores at Christmas. I think the packs Murphy started selling originally were from 54 to 63. Later 52s and 53s surfaced.Now you see them into the 70s

Were there some packaged in the 60s or 70s or even 80s, or were all of them later creations ? I have not come across anyone who can conclusively say they bought them in the 60s or 70s or 80s at some retail store. Nor is is clear who was the original packager and how they got the cards ( from secondary market or Topps)

None of the cards seem mint, but some look to be in the 5-7 range

I find the interesting from a hobby history standpoint. Who originally packaged the ones Murphy sold, when did it occur, where were they originally sold ( if anywhere) and what was the source of the inventory used ?

There is no doubt they are still being churned out today. Is it being done by the same person(s), or a new group, or possibly multiple groups ?

I just find the lack of clarity on the origin and ongoing history of these things interesting and am surprised no one has ever come forward with the whole story, if there is one

[mrmopar]

I have never looked any deeper, but several seller accounts (may have been linked or the same owner) are selling them currently. All of the locations seem to be Canada of the ones I see come up. I only took notice because the s/h is higher than "normal". I decided that I would buy one of each year showing Garvey on top as a novelty, knowing full well they were made in the recent past. I am not convinced otherwise, given the seemingly endless supply, that they are not being made fresh as they are being listed either.

They all have stars on top in heavy quantity, which just screams "made intentionally and recently", as the random factor seems to have been removed from the equation.

Anyway, tried to get them for under $10 delivered or as close to it as possible, which is more than the raw cards inside are probably worth in most cases. It seems the asking prices are up a bit lately though, some around $10, others around $20 now for those I see. I stopped buying them after getting most between 1971-1980.

[rlorenz]

I only have this for funsies...they would grade from 6 to a solid 8. This is actually now mounted on my wall with other psa graded 59 packs. but it was a fun thing just to have. I got this a while back :-)

The reality is they are not topps created...they are well known to be packaged in the 80's....great for fun but i have not seen one opened where there is a legit good card hidden. What you see is what you get essentially. I can tell you they are real cards and at least in my case unaltered from what i can tell under a loop and taking measurements.


Mantle.jpg

[ALR-bishop]

Do you have a source for the “known”packaged in the 80s. They are obviously still being packaged today, and Murphy did not surface them until the early 2000s, but I have still not seen any concrete info on when they were first packaged, by whom, or where they were actually retailed ( if at all )

[JackW]

Any thoughts to the "100 Genuine" claim in the description?

https://auction.lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=94957

[rlorenz]

Bishop - I do not have a source right off hand....But here is what i do remember. I specifcally remember seeing these on ebay from Mark M in 1995. I also remember these card shows and conventions 92-93. So I could be off on my years but I do distively remember them.

That said they are for sure being made still, there is no question the only reason i got mine is it looked cool. and frankly did not cost me a arm and a leg :-)

[ALR-bishop]

In the notes above I received from Murphy and his partner Mathews both say they came across them in 2001, and their SCD ads started shortly thereafter. But they could not or would not say who they got them from, or where they came from originally, when they were packaged or where, nor could they name any stores were they were know to have been retailed at Christmas or otherwise

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Do you have a source for the “known”packaged in the 80s.

The bottom line though is these packs do not consist of new unsold Topps cards repackaged by a jobber just weeks after the end of that year's baseball season to be sold as rack packs by mass market merchandisers such as F.W. Woolworth, S.S. Kresge, W.T. Grant or Zellers. No one to my knowledge has vouchsafed that he remembers seeing these Xmas rack packs in five-and-dime stores or supermarket checkout lines in the 1950's or early 1960's. Moreover the cards contained are not necessarily pack fresh. Therefore they're a fraud.

[swarmee]

Welcome to the party. Did you bring Zima?

[Balticfox]

Huh?! Who's Zima?



If you're talking about the drink (I looked it up), it's not sold in my neck of the woods. But if you absolutely, positively need to get there fast, you might try this beverage:

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Murphy and Mathews ( see correspondence above) claimed that they came upon on a stash of them back in early 2000s. They said the cards were excess Topps cards that were obtained by a 3d party who packaged them for sale in retail stores at Christmas. I think the packs Murphy started selling originally were from 54 to 63. Later 52s and 53s surfaced.Now you see them into the 70s

Were there some packaged in the 60s or 70s or even 80s, or were all of them later creations ? I have not come across anyone who can conclusively say they bought them in the 60s or 70s or 80s at some retail store. Nor is is clear who was the original packager and how they got the cards ( from secondary market or Topps)

None of the cards seem mint, but some look to be in the 5-7 range

I find the interesting from a hobby history standpoint. Who originally packaged the ones Murphy sold, when did it occur, where were they originally sold ( if anywhere) and what was the source of the inventory used ?

There is no doubt they are still being churned out today. Is it being done by the same person(s), or a new group, or possibly multiple groups ?

I just find the lack of clarity on the origin and ongoing history of these things interesting and am surprised no one has ever come forward with the whole story, if there is one

I found it interesting Skip Mathews said the story about Sy throwing excess 1952 Topps high numbers on a barge was true. However, he didn't provide any reasons

Good stuff Al, thanks for sharing