Author Topic: Collation horror stories  (Read 621 times)

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Offline JailOJohn

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Collation horror stories
« on: January 01, 2025, 05:13:58 PM »
I recently opened half a box of the 1986 album series which i got cheap a few years ago. I was chagrined that out of 250 stickers, there were only 33 unique titles out of 77, i got 5-10 dupes of each title. I them read on Gregs site that there were 2 sheets for that series, one with 33 titles and one with the other 44. Further that each box contains only one half or the other of this set. WTH Topps? I’m an adult, do i only feel mildly cheated. My kid is now cursing Topps, after helping me open 50 packs of doubles. Maybe this is why the album never came out.Does anyone know how to tell from packs or boxes which half of this set they contain? Does anyone remember pulling packs as a kid and being P.O.ed that you kept getting the same titles? Has anyone discovered similarly abysmal collation on other series?
« Last Edit: January 01, 2025, 08:25:02 PM by JailOJohn »

Offline bigtomi

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2025, 08:20:19 PM »
Does anyone remember pulling packs as a kid and being P.O.ed that you kept getting the same titles?
Not sure why you would ask this question. On Greg’s page for this series, where the two different boxes and sheets are mentioned, the very first statement says the series was never released, so nobody opened these packs back in ‘86. The result you got is documented and fully expected, but sorry it disappointed you.

Offline JailOJohn

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2025, 08:29:40 PM »
Yes, upon re-readIng Greg’s site, it does say the series was never released. I misconstrued it to mean that just the album was never released. Maybe the better question is how a fair amount of packs and boxes got into circulation if the set was never released. Was the collation the problem, or was the entire set just a Mulligan for Topps?

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2025, 06:45:21 AM »
My recollection is that all or most of the product was dumped onto the market several years later.  Exactly when or through what means I don’t know, but I first saw them in a comic book & card shop circa 1993-94.  And I was there for comics too, never expected to see Wackys in any shape or form at that time.  By this time, shops of this type were plentiful, so there was no shortage of ways to unload the volume.  I remember paying a quarter a pack, but not sure how much I ended up buying.  They didn’t get much attention, customers were more interested in ripping current sport boxes to get those pricey rookies and chase cards.  For me the ‘86 albums were a bit confusing.  I noticed the similarity to the ‘82s right away, but I had never seen or heard of the ‘85 set, some of which was sprinkled into this set, so I wasn’t sure what these were all about.  Still pre-internet, so no way to research them.  But far as I know there is no exception to the 33/44 phenomenon; boxes with even collation do not exist.

Offline sco(o)t

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2025, 07:33:30 AM »
I know in the mid 90s these boxes were readily available on eBay. I was on the Prodigy service (kinda like America Online) at the time and traded boxes with other WP collectors once the collation was obvious so we could get full sets. Another interesting thing about this set, if I am rembering correctly, is that there are some back variations. I think there are 9 or 10 titles with the normal back and an alternate  with an advert for the album.
aka Scot Leibacher (no trademark)

Offline mikecho

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2025, 07:52:59 AM »
Yes, upon re-readIng Greg’s site, it does say the series was never released. I misconstrued it to mean that just the album was never released. Maybe the better question is how a fair amount of packs and boxes got into circulation if the set was never released. Was the collation the problem, or was the entire set just a Mulligan for Topps?
According to the Spreadsheet (and I found this out somewhere, but I can't remember where), production proof pages of the album for this series were auctioned off on the Topps Vault via eBay.

Offline mikecho

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2025, 08:04:55 AM »
Yes, upon re-readIng Greg’s site, it does say the series was never released. I misconstrued it to mean that just the album was never released. Maybe the better question is how a fair amount of packs and boxes got into circulation if the set was never released. Was the collation the problem, or was the entire set just a Mulligan for Topps?
By "mulligan", you mean "a second try after the first try has gone wrong", am I right?

Offline JailOJohn

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #7 on: January 02, 2025, 08:12:20 AM »
Yes, Mulligan is a golf term that you get a do over. Maybe not appropriate here, since Topps didnt do another album set or any set for 5 years after that . If anyone has a stash of the 44-cards, i have plenty to trade…I just wonder if they gave the boxes to employees, or shipped them to retailers and then asked them to be returned, or exactly how they went. Obviously having two different production sheets and the way they were packaged was a mistake….
« Last Edit: January 02, 2025, 08:15:33 AM by JailOJohn »

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Collation horror stories
« Reply #8 on: January 02, 2025, 05:26:08 PM »
I guess the situation is not entirely one-of-a-kind in Wacky history.  The hoard of 1979 Reissue Set 1 uncut sheets, which also flooded the secondary market, albeit not through the same commercial channels, was purportedly intended for insert into loaves of Bond Bread or something like that, a Wonderbread-type repeat.  Most of those sheets that surface now on eBay have been cut in half, due to the full sheet having two complete sets I guess.  IIRC, the die cuts on those are slightly different from 1979 Reissue 1 cards, but otherwise identical.