Schrödinger's Card

[JollyElm]

A new thought experiment illustrating when a baseball card is simultaneously a PSA 9 and NOT a PSA 9...

1972seaverkelloggscrack.jpg

[Cliff Bowman]

For nearly twenty years I would scour eBay or COMC looking for rare back variations of 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, and 1979 Kellogg's 3-D cards. I built up a pretty big collection and spent quite a bit of money on them. I have found somewhere between ten and fifteen of the very rare 74 Ron Santo Cubs back version. Every time I would look through my Kellogg's cards I would see some with cracks and continuously replaced them. It finally got to a point a couple of years that I just gave up. I don't even look for them anymore, it's just a waste of money and I'm depleting the supply of finite Kellogg's cards. This 1974 Wilbur Wood error version was perfect when I got it, now look at it.

[swarmee]

Those would be great to send back in under a PSA Grade Review... ;-)

[JollyElm]

It's such a shame about Kellogg's 3-D cards. Grabbing one out of a big box of flavored sugar (OK, I mean cereal) was one of the best things ever when you were a kid, but who knew how badly they would curl up and crack over time. Tony the Tiger kept that secret to himself. If that didn't happen, how frickin' awesome would it be collecting those thick, magically colorful sets with all of the star power and a wealth of variations?? The funny thing is, when I see those cards now (on the left coast) at shows or in shops (of course, I mean back before the end of the world came), they look perfect. The lack of humidity is such a beautiful thing for those cards, so I wonder if the ones that originated from boxes of Frosted Flakes out here will always remain perfect, unlike their New York (which seemingly has a 90% cracking quotient) counterparts?? Oh well.

Another curious thing to think about is the POP reports. Not necessarily PSA specific, but overall and in general. With the seemingly high percentage of Kellogg's cards cracking over time, if you have a really nice one (graded or ungraded) in your collection, chances are the number of equivalent cards out there is much smaller than you could imagine.

[gman]

Are y'all aware of any 1968 Topps 3D cards that have been encapsulated only to show signs of cracking years later?

[71buc]

I live on the left coast. I have a few hundred of these from my childhood. All of them remain untracked. Ironically I purchased a 1970 Bench and a 1971 Mays slabbed as PSA 9s. Both of them cracked within a year.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by 71buc

I live on the left coast. I have a few hundred of these from my childhood. All of them remain untracked. Ironically I purchased a 1970 Bench and a 1971 Mays slabbed as PSA 9s. Both of them cracked within a year.

That sucks. Did those come from sellers on the east coast? It's a shame what a crapshoot buying Kellogg's cards has become. Too bad.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by gman

Are y'all aware of any 1968 Topps 3D cards that have been encapsulated only to show signs of cracking years later?

My Swoboda PSA 6 has a developing crack running from the left border through his hands and I've seen others with it in this spot as wellas well. It also has pull marks and possibly a second crack developing between the team circle and cap.

[ALR-bishop]

I have a set of the Topps 68 3D cards. Only 1/2 of them are graded. So far no issues but wonder if they are more or less likely to crack graded.