"Glossitis"

[kgpittm]

I was opening a box of 1996 Fleer Ultra II and was dismayed that most of the cards were sticking together, resulting in gloss damage when pulled apart. I imagine at least 50% of the basecards were made uncollectible by this. I call it "Glossitis" (not to be confused with tongue inflamation for medical people out there).

I've had this happen once before - 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice were very bad about this as well, but I thought the gloss upgrades from 1994 to 1996 would protect the 1996 cards. Also very odd that Fleer Ultra went from not having a problem with this is 1992-93 to having one in 1996 - couldn't they have predicted this would happen to cards left in boxes?

I know humidity, etc. plays a role, but some set/cards seem immune from it while others it is almost always present after a couple years. Anybody care to comment/enlighten me on why this happens to some sets and not others? While I'm sure not much can be done once it happens, if anybody has input on how to prevent/lessen the extent of it, I would appreciate it.

Also, if there's anywhere out there where there is a master list of sets that it happens to frequently, I'd love to see that. It's very annoying to get a box of cards and have >50% made worthless by gloss damage. Luckily all the inserts seemed to be spared (guess they were made with different gloss or something).

Thanks, Ken

[LakersMC]

I have some 1993 Classic hockey cards. I can lift a stack of 100 cards together as one brick, since they all stick together. Another example of the card companies only caring about short term, and not long term.

[tutall]

i have that with the leaf rookies and stars sets... also 02 topps and 02 fleer genuine sticks and peals off the paint when pulled apart

[Star_Cards]

I buy a lot of bulk boxes of commons and usually get some 90's stuff that get stuck together. I think environment conditions play a part, but sometimes it seems that there are just too many cards stuffed in a row. However, I rarely have the cards end up damaged once I pull them apart.

[kgpittm]

There are ALOT of sets that stick together, but most come apart rather easily without any damage. A fine example of this is a 1996 Upper Deck Box I opened right after the Ultra Box - these were somewhat stuck together, but came apart with just a little sideways pressure and didn't have any damage at all. The 1996 Ultras left gloss streaks on both cards stuck together (often cards were damaged on both sides since multiple cards were stuck together) and required a fairly significant amount of effort to get them apart.

The cards like the 1996 Upper Deck don't bother me at all, the ones that result in damage bother me alot.