BBCE Packs - Early 80's

[Marchillo]

Every year my buddies and I go to Cooperstown for induction weekend. Only a couple of us still collect cards but last year we had a good time opening some junk late 80's and early 90's stuff. This year I was going to step it up a bit and maybe grab some stuff from the late 70's early 80's - 78 to 83 - nothing crazy / nothing too valuable. So I was going to pick up some stuff from BBCE. I am assuming that this site is pretty legit? While at the end of the day it doesn't matter who is in the packs - the worse the players the better the stories, I still don't want searched/previously opened packs.

So 1st can I feel confident that the packs are legit and unsearched?

Second - Is there any difference between wax and cello packs in terms of the randomness of what they put in? I know with cello you can see at least 6 of the cards, but with 51 cards versus 15 cards and a price tag of $8 versus $15 the 51 seems a lot more fun and just a better deal overall.

Any knowledge on the topic would be very helpful. Looking to make a purchase in the next few days so I am ready to go in a couple of weeks.

Thanks!

[bnorth]

They are far from perfect but also your best bet of getting factory sealed wax packs/cellos. They are similar to PSA. For the most part they are correct but sometimes stuff gets buy them that shouldn't.

Have fun, I also love ripping cheap wax/cello packs.

[Beastmode]

Almost all of my unopened is from BBCE, and a few case breaks from CU, via BBCE. IMO, wouldn't buy from anyone else. But that's just me, I don't have time to be screwed over.

I have ripped some stuff. I find Cello to be the least likely to have minty cards. Would be curious to hear what others think about likelihood of mint cards in other types of packs.

[Marchillo]

Good to know but the minty card part isn't a deal breaker in this case. We will probably be 6-8 beers deep at the point of opening these by a camp fire. Obviously I will try to prepare to maintain the best condition possible under the circumstances. But no guarantees.

With that being said if I buy an 80's cello pack 42 cards versus a 15 card wax pack - do they insert the Henderson cards at a different rate? I would assume not. I would assume that besides seeing a few cards in the cello the randomness would be the same. Obviously if the Henderson is showing they aren't sending that to me.

Like if I bought those Christmas packs those are basically hand selected. I can get 1975 packs for $15 with a Yaz showing. Obviously I am not pulling a Brett out of that pack. But I am assuming that Topps Wax/Cello from the early 80's are really no different in randomness?

[vintagetoppsguy]

Racks and Cellos were packaged in a certain sequence. They can be sequenced searched without ever tampering with the packs. In other words, if you know the top or bottom card and you know the packaging sequence, you know the rest of the cards in the pack.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=234449

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=202888

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=162027

I don't think Steve is dishonest at all. In fact, I would trust his products over most any other dealers. However, he does make mistakes and I don't think he has near the knowledge that most here give him credit for.

[bigfish]

Steve is an honest dealer and a stand up guy. He can be trusted 100 percent. I trust his products 100 percent. People that bash him most likely had their packs kicked. I prefer that an authticator exercises caution.

My example... I had 22 86 fleer basketball packs kicked at the national a few years ago. I opened them all. They were fine. I got two Jordans and a bunch of other decent cards. Those packs were worth 10k plus. I wasn't thrilled but if Steve exercising caution is a perceived weakness...I wish others authentications would follow his lead.