Best pack,you ever open!No inserts!

[hysell]

Way back in 1976,when I was 11 years old.I open a pack of baseball cards.Inside of it was,{not} in this order?ALL-TIME GREATS, Babe Ruth,550.Hank Aaron & 240.Pete Rose cards!Don"t think i have jump so high in my life at that time? Would be one hell of a start for a team!Again not counting inserts card here!ROB

[rfurnish]

Only one pack sticks out in my mind as being memorable. I grew up in Cincinnati during the Big Red Machine era. My Mom had this theory that Topps, in an effort to boost sales, would put fewer cards of the Reds in packs being sold in Cincinnati, forcing kids to buy more cards in the desire to land one of the hometown heroes. I was eight years old when the baseball cards came out in 1973. My Dad picked up two packs on his way home from work; one for me and one for my little brother. Sure enough, the very top card in my pack was Johnny Bench!

Another moment of disbelief for my Mom came in 1976, when I pulled a Pete Rose out of a box of Frosted Flakes.

I still have both of the cards.

[Republicaninmass]

Exhibit cello, pulled the Mantle with the 1951 rookie patch

[GasHouseGang]

We felt the same way your mother did Ron, except it was for our beloved Cardinals. I remember pulling a 1971 Gibson out of a pack. That was a great find for a young diehard Cardinal fan!

[Econteachert205]

Bought a pack of 78 opc for like twenty bucks last year on eBay. Pulled an Eddie Murray rookie. It was oc but still really awesome.

[pherbener]

1974 Topps Hank Aaron #1 Home Run King! I was 7 years old. I remember getting what seemed like 20 Aaron specials but could never get the big one. Can't tell you how excited I was to finally pull that one!

[clydepepper]

1964 - Checking out at the A&P, Mom gives me a nickel and I get my first pack- no Mantle, but a Bobby Richardson and that was good enough - at the time.

[EvilKing00]

opening packs with rookies of bonds and maddux were always exciting... at the time. A few years ago i opened a pact with a 1952 reprint willie mays which was signed.

[sycks22]

It was fun getting a '84 Topps Mattingly on the one pack I bought at the store that day when I was a kid.

[Leon]

I bought one "pack" of these 1930 Rogers Peet cards on ebay about 12-15 yrs ago....asked the seller if they had anymore and then bought 4 more just like them. They got them from their deceased relative, who worked for Rogers Peet, as they were going through one of his clothes drawers. They all had Cobbs and all ended up grading 6-8.... Each pack was $200...

[rjackson44]

75 topps minis ,,,don't remember what I pulled .got them from my dad who was candy and tabacco wholesaler ,,

[Rich Klein]

When Al Rosen made his famed Paris Tennessee Find I opened a few 1960 Topps Packs at John Broggi's store.

In the first few packs, I got a Mickey Mantle #350 card and realized I could not do any better. Such a thrill back the 1980's to get a Mantle from a pack.

Rich

[darkhorse9]

In 1974, opening a pack and getting THREE Washington Nat'l Lea. Cards.

I had only heard rumours about them until then.

[T205 GB]

Maybe 10 yrs ago I negotiated a large deal with a guy and it included an unopened 57 Topps pack. As soon as I got home I washed my hands and opened the pack up. Out came a mint Clemente. Sold it for a nice profit and was later told PSA gave it a 9. I think we both did very well on the deal. Wish I still had the cards

[Exhibitman]

In 1975 my friends and I were into hockey cards. I opened a pack after school and pulled a Stan Mikita, which was a very big card among my peers at the time. I don't have it any more but this is what it looked like:



I also recall the summers of 1975 and 1976 pulling Hank Aaron cards from packs. He was my favorite player at the time. I don't have the 1975 but this is the actual 1976 card I pulled in 1976:



In modern times, so to speak, my best pack pull was this:



It's an insert...but I really like it.

[jbsports33]

I was 8 or 9 and pulled a Ricky Henderson RC card from a 1980 Topps pack

After so many years of collecting, I still look back at that day

Jimmy

[mikemb]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

When Al Rosen made his famed Paris Tennessee Find I opened a few 1960 Topps Packs at John Broggi's store.

In the first few packs, I got a Mickey Mantle #350 card and realized I could not do any better. Such a thrill back the 1980's to get a Mantle from a pack.

Rich

Rich - Was that his store in Highland Park, NJ?

[bbcard1]

During the height of Murphy mania, I'm guessing 87 or so, I bought a 1977 pack and pulled a nice Murphy rookie. I was happy about that. Also chewed the gum. Was less happy about that.

[btryin]

Bought packs at the little neighborhood produce stand/convenience store when I first started collecting. I still remember that thrill when opening a 1970 Topps and getting Denny McLain, the "hero" for my Tigers! Future developments would change his hero status, but the thrill of first seeing that card in the pack as an eight year-old remains a great memory!

[Batpig]

My first ever pack - a 1984 Donruss rack that had a Mattingly, my favorite player. I was hooked.

These were opened by a vendor in front of me at Columbus Flea Market, NJ in the early 80's and selling on the spot

[MacDice]

Not vintage but pulling an Upper Deck Griffey Jr in 1989 was pretty exciting for a 15 year old

[FourStrikes]

earliest recollection was 1972 Topps- WTF was a "boyhood photo of the "stars" when the first card I ever recall seeing from an unopened pack was Bob Bailey??? was BOB BAILEY ever a "star"?????

didn't have ANY clue (SABR-wise, etc) what determined what a "star" was, but...1972 Topps devirginized THIS (at the time) 7-year old to cards, and it's been (lovingly, in so many ways) all downhill (?) since then.

DS

[paul]

In the early 1980s, I bought two packs of Japanese baseball cards, containing one card each. I opened the first one, and it was Sadaharu Oh. I kept the second one sealed because I knew it couldn't get any better. I still have both.

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by MacDice

Not vintage but pulling an Upper Deck Griffey Jr in 1989 was pretty exciting for a 15 year old

That was fun in 89...the whole 80's was fun opening all that junk wax.



One of the coolest pack openings for me was in 1991. I was not collecting at the time and was with my wife shopping. Bored I found a box of wax packs at the mall and bought a couple packs. Hated the cards immediately, haha. A couple packs in I pull a 1970 Topps Cito Gaston (semi-high) card. I was SHOCKED. It was super crisp, but severely OC. I then read on the wrapper that they were inserting vintage cards in packs as a promotion. I went home and threw the little stack of cards in a drawer and forgot about them. When I got back into collecting vintage sets I remembered that pull...dug until I found that Cito, and made sure that card was in my 1970 set. That was the year I was born...so to me it is SUPER cool I have a 1970 card in my set I pulled from a pack. Kind of geeky...but I love it, it's my favorite card in that binder.

[bigfanNY]

1969 about this time of year I was in the Pharmacy in my town I had not purchased any cards since the school year had ended back in June but the counter guy told me and my friend that this was the Mantle series so I was all in with my quarter allowance. We both pulled one and my neighbor the Met fan traded me his for a Tommie Agee. And as the miracle of 1969 unfolded every kid in my class said I got the short end of the deal. Tough being a Yankee fan when I was a kid but it built character...lol
J

[almostdone]

Here is a fairly recent story. I bought tons of packs of cards before I ever got into vintage collecting and I'm sure I pulled some great cards but one thing I was never able to do was pull a Griffey rookie from a 89 Upper Deck pack. I am a huge Griffey fan and have always wanted to but for some reason never picked the right pack or even box.

Flash forward to this past summer. Myself and five others, including my 20 year old son, went on a road trip to Cooperstown to see the Hall Of Fame. Being it was Griffey's induction year it made it fitting. I bought a box of 89 Upper Deck from a board member to split up and break while we were up there. Each of us got six packs to open and we ended up making up a game of what we pulled. In the back of my mind I was hoping that I might be lucky enough to pull the Griffey but the odds were against me.

We sat around a table at the hotel after going to the HOF on day one and discussed how to pick the packs. My son says "I think we should go oldest to youngest" trying to give me the honors of first pick. I replied "No. Youngest to oldest" letting him go first. He pulles out a pack opened it up and the third card in pulls the Griffey. He shows it to me then apologizes knowing how much I hoped I could get one. I couldn't be happier.

My son and I are very close and share a lot of interest but he isn't much of a baseball fan and never collected cards. That pack was the very first one he ever opened and he got a Griffey!

I know you can get raw examples for very little but the fact that he is the one that pulled it and then thought of me before him makes me so proud of the man he is becoming.

Besides collecting baseball my other hobby is building display cases. I told him I would design and build a case for him containing memories of our trip including tickets, pins (which he collects), and of course the Griffey. I'm looking forward to making it and giving it to him.

Drew

[Beatles Guy]

The fist pack I ever opened in '79 had a Mike Schmidt. I was more excited about the John Urrea because he was a Cardinal.

During the FF Bill Ripken craze I took a chance on a $2 pack (big money in '89) and pulled one. The dealer offered me $200 on the spot and I should have taken it. Ended up trading it for a friend's entire collection a few years later.

[mikemb]

It might sound silly but I think I was the most excited when I pulled Jimmie Hall out of a first series 1969 Topps pack.

My cousin and I collected baseball cards and we always traded our duplicates with each other. One day, we were trading and he needed a Jimmie Hall. I had one but no duplicate. I thought about it and broke my own rule and traded it to him, a card I only had one of. I thought I'd easily get another one.

As the days went by, got all the cards in the first series except Jimmie Hall. Would go to the corner store, lay my nickel on the counter, take my pack outside, open it up, put gum in mouth, not get Jimmie and threw cards (and wrapper) into garbage can on corner and go back in store.....

As a 12 year old I started to panic. Not only was the second series just about to start but my supply of nickels was going down!

Finally pulled him from a pack. Major relief. All was right in the world again.

Mike

[Leon]

Great story, Mike (and others too). Thanks for sharing...

Originally Posted by mikemb

It might sound silly but I think I was the most excited when I pulled Jimmie Hall out of a first series 1969 Topps pack.

My cousin and I collected baseball cards and we always traded our duplicates with each other. One day, we were trading and he needed a Jimmie Hall. I had one but no duplicate. I thought about it and broke my own rule and traded it to him, a card I only had one of. I thought I'd easily get another one.

As the days went by, got all the cards in the first series except Jimmie Hall. Would go to the corner store, lay my nickel on the counter, take my pack outside, open it up, put gum in mouth, not get Jimmie and threw cards (and wrapper) into garbage can on corner and go back in store.....

As a 12 year old I started to panic. Not only was the second series just about to start but my supply of nickels was going down!

Finally pulled him from a pack. Major relief. All was right in the world again.

Mike

[tedzan]

I know that some of you have seen this before on this forum....but, I think it's worth repeating for those who have not.

In the Fall of 1952, I opened up a 1952 TOPPS Hi# waxpack to find these 5 cards......







After 64 years they remain in my 1952 Topps 525-card (Master) set. Need 30 more mid-Series Gray-backs to complete.



TED Z
.

[JasonD08]

Ted Z

What about the Sweet Cap pack? JK.....That is neat you kept those all these years.


Jason

[philliesfan]

I bought a cello pack of 1980 topps about three years ago. The cello on the back was loose so I figured it was searched..............until I opend it and pulled the Henderson rookie. It graded a PSA 9. Needless to say, I was very happy.

Also in the early 1980's at a local flea market, I opened a few packs of 1967 Fleer Football. The packs back then were only $5.00 I think. Pulled several stars but I can't remember which ones other than a Paul Horning.

Robert

I purchased two boxes of 1986 DonRuss in 1990 and pulled a Canseco and a McGriff in the same pack. As soon as I hit those two I told my buddy he could have the last two packs. Of course what does he immediately pull? You guessed it, another Canseco. I ended up pulling two Canseco's, two Fielders, and a McGriff. Sold the other box at a show a couple weeks later and purchased my first 89 UD Griffey and a box of 1990 Leaf which yielded me my first Frank Thomas. Man did I have the bug. Of course any one of these cards can be purchased for $10-$15 everyday all day on Ebay.

[argpdt]

About 10 or 12 years ago I bought one pack of 1986 Topps football at a card shop for 18.00 and pulled a Jerry Rice rookie. It was worth 100.00 at the time.

[GrayGhost]

My late friend had a big deal w Mr. Mint years back and the day before, he sold me some 1965 cello packs for ten bucks each

ended up opening them of course and getting Clemente,Maris, McCovey and Koufax among the cards. Damn, wish I had those gorgeous cards or the packs still.

I know you are resting in peace too Famous Neil. We all miss you.a One of a kind person

[Buythatcard]

Back in 61 when I started collecting, every pack that had a Mantle or Maris card were the best packs. Collected everything and anything to do with the M&M boys.