Thought you might enjoy this little tale...
In July 2022, I noticed an eBay listing for a Mars Attacks! pack, starting at $5. I've learned through the years that if something seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true. There were some things about the pack that bugged me. The seller listed the manufacture date as 2012, which coincides with the Heritage reprints, but the packaging definitely resembled the 1962 series. There was also a seller at the time who had replicas of certain impossible-to-find packs - 3 packs in a replica of the box - for packs like Silly Cycles, Batman 1966, and Mars Attacks!. A printed "tear" on the back that went across the letters S and E in "SEE!" was identical to the replicas I saw. The big red flag, though, was the price.
Soon after, the seller deleted the listing, and then put it back up with a $400 "Buy It Now" price. This REALLY made me question the authenticity of it. I messaged the seller, addressing my concerns about the pack. They said it was legit, and "I got this along with a lot of other packs from my grand father who owned a card store who passed away."
Soon the listing was gone - someone had bought it. The authenticity of it still bugged me, so I checked back later to see if they had any other packs listed, since they did say that they "I got this along with a lot of other packs". I've yet to see any other packs listed from this seller, but I DID see something interesting in their feedback. It turns out that the "Buy It Now" sale was cancelled. The buyer was understandably upset, saying:
"NEGATIVE!!! After listing twice, Seller canceled my “buy now” purchase after I payed for item. Told eBay I wanted to cancel but messaged me saying it was worth more. Wasted my time and tying up my funds. Not a honest seller!!"
The seller retaliated by leaving negative feedback for the buyer. Yikes. On October 6th, I sent the seller this message: "I saw that you listed the Mars Attacks pack for $400, then pulled the listing when you realized it was worth more than that. I'm just wondering what ended up happening with the pack. Did you try to get it authenticated, or take it to another auction site?" They responded "Yes it's going to be on Goldin soon currently at PSA." So it looks like they at least BELIEVE that the pack is legit (which confuses me more about why they would try to sell it for so little without doing just 1 minute of research to see its value). I will be keeping an eye on Goldin to see if it ever comes up for auction, but my gut feeling is that it won't. Below is the link to that eBay listing. What do you think? Is it legit? Did I dodge a bullet, or miss the opportunity of a lifetime? https://www.ebay.com/itm/275386646339
The seller of the reproduction packs is still on eBay. I'm guessing that they make these reproductions themselves. They're definitely pretty to look at. https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_dkr=1&_ssn=buymesoonataol&_osacat=0&_odkw=reproduction+box&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313&_nkw=reproduction+display+box&_sacat=0
I ran across a posting on the Vintage card chat from 2008 where they showed a picture of a reproduction pack that appears very similar to the questionable pack above.
I don't think it's the same pack though.
Click the picture to go to the page - look for post #15
I agree with DJ. I think this is a pack made from the reproduction wrapper that DJ found..
Good Pick up! Aren't you glad you didn't "win" this auction!
Look below:
The image on the right is a section of the reproduction wrapper
The left image is the eBay pack flipped horizontally
I see:
1) a small horizontal line extending to the left of the top black star in both
2) the same diagonal dark line extending to the second star in both
3) the same "SEE" tear that you pointed out
Here's an image of the reproductions that I've seen. Notice how they all have that "tear" in the word "SEE". Images I've seen of legit packs do not have that.
Wow, DJ. Amazing story! Welcome to the forum!!
I check eBay pretty regularly and I missed this bit of drama!
For anybody interested, I've added pictures and an image of the feedback to the Mars Attacks page. (The eBay listing will eventually disappear).
Just click "rare stuff" then "rare packs" and then click on the Mars Attacks pack.
My thoughts:
1) This is not the PSA 8 pack we've been looking for - definitely too rough looking
2) The back of the pack looks funny to me. See my questions below.