Opening a 1979 Kellogg's Factory Set - Someone Opened It Before I Did

 Another set that I bought recently that was not sealed.  So, I decided to look through it today.  Many of the cards were still connected, but most of them loosely.

Here is what I saw when pulling the cards out.  It was obvious that the cards were not disturbed much by whoever opened the set.  Sadly, the Parker and Carlton were both badly cracked.  The bright colors on the cards were nice to see.

I kept a few of them together because they were firmly connected.  Only the Bruce Sutter was cracked.

Add these nine cards to the list of those cracked in this set.  10 / 60 were cracked.  I was lucky with the 1978s, but this group of 10 included better players including two HOFers - Sutter and Carlton.

Besides having nice colors, the cards are quite flat.  

The Ups and Downs of Kellogg's Factory Sets - I Was So Close

If I get a factory set that is sealed I keep it that way.  If I get one that is opened, it is really just a set in the original wrapper and/or box.  I keep the original packaging, but there really is now way to call it a factory set.

I am trying to collect a factory set from each year.  I don't expect to be able to get any of them before 1976 since (a) I rarely see them and (b) the price would be well beyond what I'd be able to afford.  

A few weeks ago I picked up two sets that were being sold as opened sets.  I don't know if I've ever seen a 1975 Kellogg's set in the original wrapper, so I picked it up since the price led to little risk on my part.   A 1975 set in the original wrapper - no shipping box was included.  

Sure, I was hoping for a nice Nolan Ryan and Pete Rose, but I was more interested in getting nice cards of Johnny Bench and Jon Matlack since I cannot find them in nice condition.

The wrapper looked okay,  I am finally seeing a 1975 set in the wrapper.  

The cards were fairly flat by Kellogg's standards.  One two of the cards were connected enough to keep them that way.

Corners and backs were good.  The cards were the corrected versions, but the Catfish Hunter seemed to be the wrong version.

Ryan and Rose were fully cracked.  EVERY card was fully cracked, some of them with a good portion of the coating coming off.  If this were a cheaper set, it might be worth trying to just peal the coating off of each card - they'd probably look better that way.    

One positive - I at least got to see this set for the first time ever.  Just like the one-card packs, I never see this set available online.

The second set got me different results - a 1978 set.  I already have a  sealed set so checking out this one was a bit more fun and less disappointing.  Here is the wrapper.  

Most of the cards were connected, at least lightly.  This panel was fairly secure, so I kept it together but the Dent card is the only cracked one.  A few other pairs were connected enough to keep them as well.  The ones connected lightly I got to separate, which was something I never did as a kid since we never had the money to send away for the set.

The cards were fairly flat too.

Amazingly, none of the 13 cracked cards were Hall of Famers.  There are three pairs below that are connected and two of the cards are not cracked.

I will need to keep looking for sealed factory sets from 1970 - 1975.  That should keep me busy for another 20 years.

Unopened Kellogg's One Card Packs - Are 1971s the Best Ones?

 I just picked up a 1971 Kellogg's baseball card in its original wrapper.  A nice Tony Perez.  I haven't made a list of which ones I need to complete the set yet because I probably only have 12 of these cards.

Sorry, I didn't scan the Perez yet.  Here is a 1971 Football card in its original wrapper.

I've seen the 1971s for sale frequently, but they are usually out of my price range.  A quick check of ebay shows that there are more than a few dozen of the 1971s available now.  That is not the case with every year.

I don't see any 1975s available in the one-card pack.  I have probably only seen them listed a few times.  In fact I still own only one 1975 in the wrapper and I can't even remember who it is.

Does anyone ever see 1975s in the original packs?  More about factory sets from these two years next time.  

Another Canadian Kellogg's Item -- 1992 All-Stars

 I stumbled onto the 1992 Canadian version of these Kellogg's cards before finding their USA counterparts.  Since then, I've seen the USA version of the set more than any other Kellogg's cards of any kind.  

The USA version was included in Corn Flakes boxes and it states that on the cards and the display.  The Canadian version was tossed into Froster Flakes boxes and the display shown above reflects that.  

I would still never choose to buy Corn Flakes over Frosted Flakes unless the prize was really good in the Corn Flakes box.

School is Out But Learning More About Kellogg's Basketball Cards From Canada is Just Beginning

In the past I had gotten a Kellogg's basketball card from Canada.  Now I have the whole set of five.  The 1996 cards were produced by Kellogg's.  I rarely see them available online.  That doesn't mean that they are rare or valuable.  Since they are so cheap, maybe no one bothers to sell them online.

Here are the Toronto Raptors issued with this set -

1 - Wille Anderson

2 - Damon Stoudamire

3 - Alvin Robertson

4 - Tony Massenburg

5 - Tracy Murray

Most of these guys didn't have long stays in Toronto although all had long NBA careers.

Back to baseball next time with a few things I learned about factory sets.

Does Anyone Collect Cards Cut From the Cereal Boxes?

and are there cards like the Tom Seavers that don't exist other than on the boxes?  I know that in the junk wax days there were four cards on the box bottoms that were unique

I have a few of the cereal boxes that advertise the Kellogg's cards found inside.  I don't see myself cutting the cards from them because I like the look of the complete box or back panel.  Here is one of the newer ones that I probably never bought.  Why?  I was in an apartment so Corn Flakes were never going to be purchased when there were so many good sugary choices.  Plus, Michael Jordan Wheaties boxes were everywhere.  I even won two MJ basketballs that I still have.    

The Tom Seaver cards are prominently featured on the back of the cereal box as shown above.  What I like about these cards, is that they really don't exist at all in the form shown on the box.  The 3-D card has a combination of both of these cards.

I also like that these Seaver cards are close to actual baseball card size.  Whoever cut these did quite a good job cutting them.  That's a skill I never have and if you don't believe me I can show you how poorly I cut Hostess cards in the 1970s.

The Schmidt card is not as large.  It is probably the size of the 1975 Topps Minis.  I'm too lazy to find the box to confirm, but the Schmidt must be on the top or bottom of the box.

The Palmer cards, like the others shown on the box, are small.  They are about the size of two postage stamps.  Someone really took their time to cut all of these cards out.  Luckily, they kept them since 1992 so I could have something to spend time on tonight.  

Are there variations of this box?  I doubt it.  The Canadian version looks to have the same layout.

Is every card available on the box?  Yes, but only Seaver and Palmer show two different poses.  Sorry, I didn't post both Palmers, which can be seen on the side panel.

There are no small versions of Seaver, but his cards are by far the best ones here.  

Valuable to My Collection - Probably Junk to Many Collectors

I love to add random stuff to my Kellogg's collection, even if is probably isn't considered valuable.  Do any of you do that? 

I picked up this group of unopened 1992 Kellogg's cards this week.  The cards don't sell for much, but these lot is different - the cards are all still connected to each other.  I didn't count how many are connected, but I was told that there are over 60 of them.  

Now I have a new project - figuring out how to display something like this.  Has anyone displayed cards connected like this?  Since these 3-D cards are heavier than the older ones, I want to keep them from damaging the packaging.