Author Topic: Rares are rare because….  (Read 1828 times)

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Offline JailOJohn

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Rares are rare because….
« on: July 15, 2021, 05:34:08 PM »
I apologize if this is rudimentary, but can some of you experts enlighten us as to why the Original series rare (lower number produced) titles are so rare? I get that no one saved their stickers, but i mean specific titles like Cracked Animals, Choke Wagon, Scoot, Pupsi, etc…exist in such lower numbers….i dont THINK Topps was trying to make them chase cards. Or were they? Was it just their placement on the sheets meant fewer copies? I have heard several of those rare titles were pulled after Topps received cease and desist letters from attorneys for the companies that made those products… But i have also heard that Topps got cease and desist letters all the time and always ignored them. I would think parody gets you some legal protection, but Topps was profiting from the stickers. I have also heard that is why Topps kept coming out with a new series every few months, to constantly change parodies and stay ahead of potential lawsuits. Can anyone confirm any of this, or have other theories on why a few titles in a few series are truly rare???

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Rares are rare becau
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2021, 08:32:01 PM »
Some of the rarities are believed to be somewhat overhyped.  They may have been taken off production sheets toward the end of the print run, whereas others maybe earlier.  Others like Band-Ache and Mutts don’t repeat enough on sheets so their production was low relative to other titles from the same series.  It has been stated before that the timing of new series releases was in part designed to mitigate the exposure to litigation in the face of C&D requests based on whatever the statutory requirements were.  For example, if production must stop within 90 days of a request and new series are released every 3 months, compliance is basically a lock.  So the impacts of C&Ds on the “rarities” is debatable.  It might boil down to increased demand because of the desirability factor, the perception of rarity.  Then there are the Big Daddy titles, the Ratz and Cracked Animals die-cuts, and Good n Empty Wacky Ad.  These must have been pulled from production very early on, because populations are very low and values run in the 100s to 1,000s.

Then there’s the crazy stuff that’s been reported, like getting a Pupsi from a 10th pack whose checklist had Pupsi removed - what to make of that?

I think most would agree that Run Tony, Spit and Spill variation and Pupsi can be had for lower prices, maybe $25 in decent condition.  Others like Choke Wagon, Bum Chex, Grime Dog Food variation seem to start at around $50.  And the priciest ones were not necessarily C&D titles.  That’s also where the different card backing paper types come into play.  Personally though I’ve never been all that interested in the Ludlows, so I can’t offer much by way of specifics.

Offline JailOJohn

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  • Sticking Wackys on Furniture since 1973...
Re: Rares are rare because….
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2021, 09:05:30 PM »
Looking at Spit n Spill on eBay…i can see why that sticker was pulled…they left the words of the actual product…”Spic n Span” on the side and top of the box….

Online mikecho

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Re: Rares are rare because….
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2021, 10:28:03 PM »
Looking at Spit n Spill on eBay…i can see why that sticker was pulled…they left the words of the actual product…”Spic n Span” on the side and top of the box….
That's the Spit n Spill variation that MoldRush just mentioned.

Offline bigtomi

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Re: Rares are rare because….
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2021, 02:01:38 PM »
Looking at Spit n Spill on eBay…i can see why that sticker was pulled…they left the words of the actual product…”Spic n Span” on the side and top of the box….
This one was not pulled, it was "corrected" (the words were air-brushed out).

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Rares are rare because….
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2021, 07:18:57 PM »
This one was not pulled, it was "corrected" (the words were air-brushed out).
Is it just me, or is even the corrected version of Spit N Spill a bit harder to find than other 3rd titles?  I built my 3rd set by buying several assorted lots on eBay, and that title just seemed elusive.  I guess same logic as Windhex/Mess Claroil - since they joined the fray at some intermediate point in the production run, fewer of them were made compared to the unchanged or uncorrected titles.

Offline bandaches

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Re: Rares are rare because….
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2021, 06:12:24 AM »
Is it just me, or is even the corrected version of Spit N Spill a bit harder to find than other 3rd titles?  I built my 3rd set by buying several assorted lots on eBay, and that title just seemed elusive.  I guess same logic as Windhex/Mess Claroil - since they joined the fray at some intermediate point in the production run, fewer of them were made compared to the unchanged or uncorrected titles.
both versions would be harder to find because of the change.  Let's say 100 of every sticker was produced, 80 blank tops, 20 Spic and Spans...Well there are 80 blank tops to go with 100 of all the other titles.  Now this of course doesn't hold true as not all titles were produced equally due to # of times appearing on a sheet but that is the gist of it.
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Offline MoldRush

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Re: Rares are rare because….
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2021, 10:53:16 AM »
Yep, pretty much what I was trying to describe.  Also just checked a 3rd sheet image and it looks like S&S is only on there twice.  So that reduces the overall population as well.  I never really committed to memory what the over-produced titles are in each series.  The Topps parodies are consistently among them, that much I know.  Beyond that, I’d have to study the sheets to confirm.  I think one of the handbooks also spells out what the over-produced titles are in each series.

Offline Paul_Maul

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Re: Rares are rare because….
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2021, 11:22:08 AM »
On the left side of the double sheet, S&S will be there only twice, but on the right side it will be there three times. Titles that are in rows 1 and 2 always appear five times per double sheet, whereas the ones in the third row appear only four times.

 

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