Another Reason to Dislike the 1980 Kellogg's Card Backs

 The 1980 Kellogg's set has a good selection of players and the cards are generally nice.  That ends for me when I check out the back of the card.  I've complained before about the small print that didn't bother me as a teen in 1980, but it's a different story when trying to read them today.

To add to the small text, the back has a tendency to be discolored.  Check out these, which I see constantly.

I placed cards that were not discolored on the left and right in order to highlight these ugly discolorations.  Even the cards that do not have this issue can still have some discoloration on the top edge as seen by the rightmost card.

An unopened pack from 1980 is shown above.  What an ugly mess.  This is not uncommon for the 1980 packs.  The 1979 and 1980 packs were assembled differently, with two separate, flat wrappers that must have been glued together.  It must have been cheaper to produce that packs from 1978 and earlier?  

As shown above, these two pieces separate easily today on the top and bottom.  It looks like they had those issues even when produced because I think that the top stains are from the cereal.  

I don't see these stains on the 1979 cards, so either the glue didn't work as well or it was related to the cereal.  The 1980 set looks to be only put in Raisin Bran cereal.  Was the Raisin Bran to blame, was it the wrappers or a combination of both?

This is What Happens When Procrastinating Work or Waiting for Mike Hargrove to Get Back in the Batter's Box

Warning - this is a boring story about a print mark on a card.  I am just curious to know if others have seen this mark in different places on Hargrove's card or on other cards.  

When looking for cracks in my 1976 Kellogg's cards, I noticed a mark on one of the Mike Hargrove cards.  I assumed at first that it was a normal bubble on the surface, but then I saw it on the next card. 

Look to the left of his autograph to see it.  It shows up in two locations as shown above.  I also have it on the red mark and on the blue border. 

Then I remembered that he had a variation.  Problem solved?  No, this mark appears on both variations.  

Above is the third one I saw.  Were they trying to cover up the red?   Whatever is above his shoulder is not part of the card - maybe it was my lunch?

There are always discussions about old Topps cards and print marks but I hadn't seen any marks like this on Kellogg's cards.  Rob, who I traded with and happened to e-mail today, showed a 1976 Gregg Gross and a print mark on the back.  Has another heard of other related issues with Kellogg's cards?

Kellogg's Prices Haven't Dropped to Pre-COVID Levels at All

Before COVID, I'd be able to buy Kellogg's cards at good prices.  1971s and 1975s certainly didn't always come in good condition, but most anything else was around.  I really wanted to buy four of the five lots that ended yesterday.  Why?  First,  these type of lots rarely show up.  

Second, and yes this should be first, I have a problem.  Since I am not a regular dealer at shows or online, what would I do to recoup my money quickly?  That never mattered a few years ago because buying a lot was almost always at a price that didn't break the bank.

These lots below, other than the huge 1982 lot, would not have been overly expensive three years ago.  I put in a few bids and watched as the amount quickly flew far beyond a price that I could afford. 

1972 Kellogg's Lot

1974 Kellogg's Lot

1975 Kellogg's Lot

1978 Kellogg's Lot

1982 Kellogg's Lot

I was especially stunned by the prices of the 1974, 1978 and 1982 lots mainly because of the players shown.  

On a positive note, a 1974 set that looked really nice sold for $99.  By the time you would buy a Ryan, Rose and Jackson individually, you'd be close to $100.  

Have you noticed that I want to be buying Kellogg's cards and I am having less luck with that in the last few years?

Making a Set vs. Buying a Set - Challenges of Small Sets

 I've always been a set builder.  Ever since I traded for a 1971 Billy Martin to complete that set back in 1971 (or 1972?), I enjoy that part of collecting.  Many collectors comment online about building Topps sets by hand even though it would be cheaper to buy the entire set.  I'm enjoying that with the 1961 Topps set.  I'm not sure about this approach with Kellogg's cards.

Yesterday I went through my doubles to see about making additional sets.  Why?  The sets are small and it is a fun way to stay involved. 

What did I think after making a want list?  It seems like for most sets, if I need the 2-5 most expensive cards it makes more sense to just buy an entire set.  If I didn't have the two 1972 Babe Ruths I could probably buy a set for about the same price as getting those two cards.  I did that with the 1972 All-TIme Greats a few years ago when those sets were usually $40 - $50 on ebay.

1973 is a perfect example.  For an extra set I need Rose, Ryan, Jackson and a few other Hall of Famers.  If I buy an entire set I will still have a partial set missing these stars.  Knowing me, I will still look to complete the set, so there is no need to buy the set.

Kellogg's sets other than 1970, 1971 and 1975 were quite affordable until a few years ago.  Does anyone think that these set prices will drop back to the old price levels of a few years ago?

I Can See Why Many People Recommend COMC

 I received my first order from COMC.com yesterday.  My second order arrived a few weeks ago.  I wrote about that on my Sportscaster blog since it contained mostly track and field cards. 

I was close to finishing the 1961 Topps set in the 1980s.  Now I've got a long way to go, but it is fun to have a project.  I will try to grab all of the low-numbered commons before summer.   If I get to a big show in Chicago or the National, I should be able to find some of the other cards I need in VG-EX condition without too much effort.  

I am also going to work on the 1968 Topps baseball card set this year.  Why?  I think that I might have almost all of it, but I've never tried to find out.  When making sets in the 1970s and 1980s, I ended up only going back to 1969.  

Stop N Go Cowboys from 1979 and 1980 don't come around too much.   These are also Xograph cards, and lots of them I see are curled.   

Someone mentioned that COMC seemed like a card show.  So true.  It was so helpful to be able to grab lots of these cheap Kellogg's cards on my own time.  When I go to a card show, I rarely have lots of time to dig for hidden cards.  

I hope to use COMC again.  I still need to find some affordable Johnny Bench cards (1975, 1976), most cards numbered 1 to 9 from 1974 and a few 1975 Jon Matlacks. 

Kellogg's Didn't Use This Company from 1970 - 1983

 

I love these cards from 1992, as well as the ones from 1991.  They are much thicker than the other cards Kellogg's issued.  I never paid attention before, but it makes sense since they were issued by Sportsflics.  These cards don't seem to crack or curl (much) and the borders don't chip - just like the 1980s Sportsflics baseball cards.   

I picked up a few of these today in their unopened packs.  I don't speak French, but I will just assume it repeats what is said in English.   It is a great set to collect - 10 cards and none are expensive.  Now I only need a Mike Schmidt to complete the set.  That makes sense since I have problems getting Mike Schmidt cards from every year even though I am in Chicago.

1998 Kellogg's Basketball Packs Oddities and a Question

 

When I found out that there were packs of these cards and that a pack with Kobe Bryant on the front was only around $10, I figured I could chase all 56 possible packs.  I've seen other packs available for about $4 - $7 each.  

It's great that the back of the pack has a checklist.  They even separated the players of the NBA and the WNBA.  What I didn't notice was the difference in the cards.  The NBA cards were made by Upper Deck and the WNBA cards were created by Pinnacle.  The Upper Deck Logo can be seen (barely) on the bottom left while the Pinnacle logo jumps out on the top right of the card below.

I got a pack with John Stockton on top and I've seen about 20 more including the ones I picked up recently shown above.  I also opened a few packs and that led to my question.  Is it possible to find all 56 cards from the set on the top of a pack?

Why do I ask?  In each of the four packs that I opened, the WNBA players were the last three cards in the pack.  That's got to be due to the cards coming from two different companies, right?  Any ideas on this.

I've seen a variety of players on the top of a pack, but none of the WNBA players.  Has anyone seen this?

Off Topic Help - Michael Jordan Card and Autograph

I picked up these two cards in the late 1990s if I recall correctly.  I didn't think much of them since I got them in a trade.  I also don't seek out autographed cards.  

This Jordan card is from the 1996.  I just looked up the card and it doesn't seem to be valuable at all.  A certificate of authenticity is included from a place called Howards Sports Collectibles.  Someone told me that this is not enough to deem the autograph to be legit.  I don't find anything online that helps me confirm this.  Any ideas?

I picked up the Jordan card below at the same time.  Both came from someone I used to trade Starting Lineup figures with frequently. 

I heard that there were reprints of this card but I never found out when it was reprinted and how one can determine if the card is legit.   The only information I found mentioned that the reprint was done on thinner card stock.  I don't know what that means since I have nothing to use as a comparison.  Any ideas on that?

I have some graded cards, but I've never sent a card to any grading company.  What financial risk would I have if I send these two and if the autograph on the first card is fake and if the second card is a reprint?  I was thinking about this because there is usually some on-site grading at the big March show in Rosemont, IL.  

Would You Consider These to Be Cards?

 

I picked up the Steve Blass at a card show this weekend.  Not much else though.  I picked up the others from ebay recently.  These cards from the boxes come in different sizes, depending on the box layout and the size of the box.

Can I call them cards?  What do you think?  The Rozema is quite small, but it was on the box. 

I see lots of the 1970 Seavers on ebay that were cut from the cereal box.  Did any of you do this as kids?  I never even thought of something like that.

I am trying to collect complete boxes, but I never considered collecting the cards cut from the boxes.  Does anyone collect these?