Schrödinger's Card

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by UKCardGuy

Interesting conversation. Is the assumption that slabs crack more than raw? If so, I wonder if that has anything to do with how slabs are sealed?

I'm putting together a Kelloggs run 1970-1983. I got my 1980-83 sets as a kid and I've been adding the 1970-79 sets over the past couple of years.

I place each card in a penny sleeve and then in a toploader. I haven't had any cracking across any of these.

The general rule of thumb is that it is all based on heat and humidity. In New York, it is hot and muggy as heck in the summer months and then it cools down and returns to 'normal.' All of my friends and I got our hands on as many 3-D cards as possible, and they all ended up curling and cracking over time. It was unavoidable and inevitable. Out here in California the weather is much more evenly mild, with no real extreme (to me at least) hikes or drops in the temperatures. (For instance, the thermostat in NY would go below zero in the winter and up over 100 in the summer.) Winters are much warmer than the east coast and there is a precipitous lack of humidity in the summertime. I don't sweat like a goat out here just walking around on a sunny day....which wasn't the case in NY. Anyway, I have seen untold numbers of Kellogg's cards at shows (I want to buy them, but don't because the fear of cracking is so ingrained in my soul) out here, and the cards 'all' lay flat without bends or cracks. Sure, the dealers would just leave the bad ones at home, I get it, but I honestly don't believe that's the case. It seems that if the Kellogg's cards were taken out of a Frosted Flakes boxes in 1972 and they have spent their entire lives out here, I don't believe they'll crack. (No, I haven't any science to to base that assumption on.)

Just an addendum. Were I to buy 3-D cards off of eBay, I would see where the seller resides AND ask him if the cards originated in his area, or if he bought them from someone from somewhere else.