Childhood or adulthood rip off stories

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Jlighter

And they still do this today?

To some extent. I've gotten the same partial pack sequence a couple times.
But the "rack packs" are just the regular packs inside a sleeve so it's nearly impossible to see who's on top of any pack.

The packs no longer have stiffeners that are as thick as the uniform/bat/whatever cards, so they can be felt inside the pack. I don't bother since I mostly want the regular cards and if I get a special one it's a bonus. But the Target near me has a guy that's there regularly feeling the packs. Which is kinda creepy when you think about it. (Another reason I don't do that. ) So I usually buy racks or the blaster boxes which are tougher to mess with unless it;s a set I collect and they don't have anything but loose packs.

Steve B

[packs]

There's something on the packs that indicate whether or not it will contain an insert as well. If you do a search on eBay you'll see a lot of auctions for "hot packs." I'm sure a large percentage of the hot packs are just re-sealed packs with a crappy bat card in them. But I bet there are some legit ones too that people have figured out how to spot. They never tell you how they know its a hot pack in the description of course.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by packs

There's something on the packs that indicate whether or not it will contain an insert as well. If you do a search on eBay you'll see a lot of auctions for "hot packs." I'm sure a large percentage of the hot packs are just re-sealed packs with a crappy bat card in them. But I bet there are some legit ones too that people have figured out how to spot. They never tell you how they know its a hot pack in the description of course.

I don't know if it's true or not as I haven't bought a new pack of cards since around 1991, but I've heard the "hot packs" might be a slightly different weight then the regular packs.

[bender07]

I had to look no further than the room next to me to find the one who would rip me off. At around 10 years old I was into vintage cards and had bought a nice 59 Topps Clemente that my brother was able to procure from me with an 84 Topps Update Rose (the one with him in an expos uni). We still laugh about it today...well at least he does!

[packs]

A lot of the "hot packs" on eBay now are auto hot packs. I would say the weight issue would come into play for the memorabilia cards. But I'm not sure how you spot an auto hot pack. Unless of course you've resealed the pack. There must be something on the pack that identifies it as having an autograph inside if they are legit.

[SetBuilder]

What happened to the days when cards were inserted inside products? MLB should revoke Fleer's licensing rights in favor of a company that will insert cards in cereal boxes instead.

On the topic at hand, I don't think I was ever scammed as a kid with baseball cards. At least not seriously enough that I can remember--or maybe I didn't realize it. My primary MO was to attend a bunch of card shows at Joe Robbie stadium and one large one during Super Bowl XXXIII. I took home a bag full of giveaway packs and cards and got 8 x 11's signed by a ton of pros. I still have a 1998 Bowman Peyton Manning rookie with a Super Bowl impression on its surface. I guess its a rare variation since it was only distributed during this SB event. Yawn...

Luckily, I was really poor at the time so I couldn't afford the overpriced junk sold during this era. That was probably the best thing that happened knowing what became of them. Ah, the nostalgia of the toxic subprime card era and the bubble that burst.