Whats the oldest unopened pack you ever opened and any luck?

[GrayGhost]

I can recall studying in 1984 for a college exam, and opening a 1963 Cello I got from Mr. Mint. Got A clemente and Staub rookie, gorgeous stuff.

Later. a 1954 bowman pack from a Mr. Mint find. Nine commons, but boy were they beautiful. wish I had em today.

Anybody else open any really old packs over the years and pull anything good?

[bcookie]

2 years ago i bought 1 pack of 1978 Topps from BBCE and pulled the Murray rc

[jerseygary]

My Mom just passed away last week and going through the house I found an unopened pack of '88 Topps baseball my Pop must have bought for me and forgot to give me (I was past baseball card collecting age in '88 but he would buy me 1 pack every summer and give it to me when I visited). It's sitting here on my desk now, I'm just trying to decide when is the best time to open it up...

[BleedinBlue]

Originally Posted by jerseygary

My Mom just passed away last week and going through the house I found an unopened pack of '88 Topps baseball my Pop must have bought for me and forgot to give me (I was past baseball card collecting age in '88 but he would buy me 1 pack every summer and give it to me when I visited). It's sitting here on my desk now, I'm just trying to decide when is the best time to open it up...

That pack is much more valuable as is. Leave it sealed and set it aside. As it is it retains sentimental value. Opened it's just junk.

[ullmandds]

I've never purchased old packs...so my answer would be 1978 topps...eventually I got the whole set...so probably the thurman munson was my favorite card!!!!

[rainier2004]

Originally Posted by BleedinBlue

That pack is much more valuable as is. Leave it sealed and set it aside. As it is it retains sentimental value. Opened it's just junk.

Definitely....

[sportscardpete]

Originally Posted by jerseygary

My Mom just passed away last week and going through the house I found an unopened pack of '88 Topps baseball my Pop must have bought for me and forgot to give me (I was past baseball card collecting age in '88 but he would buy me 1 pack every summer and give it to me when I visited). It's sitting here on my desk now, I'm just trying to decide when is the best time to open it up...

You have to leave that pack in tact!

[tedzan]

As a kid (growing up in the 1940's) my very first BB cards were from Bond Bread packages.




My first BB cards from waxpacks were purchased in the Spring of 1949 when the 1949 LEAF Gum cards were available.

In recent years (2001), I bought an unopened 1949 BOWMAN 5-cent pack from ebay. Upon opening it, I instantly realized it was a fake. It contained a
skinny slab of TOPPS gum and 5 varying condition cards of various series. Having collected the BOWMAN's as a kid, I knew this was a NO-NO !


TED Z

[GrayGhost]

Yikes Ted on the 49 Bowman. Wow.

One other from me. I used to run a card show w a friend of mine, and there was a vintage find of unopened boxes here in CT. one of our dealers opened a 1962 pack in front of all of us/customers too. He pulled a GORGEOUS Brock RC . That was prob early 90s

[dherm360]

I have a few 1951 topps red back packs that are still unopened, yesterday I opened a 77 topps, did ok, got a Munson, Ryan/Seaver, a Brett, Dwight Evans and Keith Hernandez. I actually bought it because 77 topps was the first pack of cards my mom ever bought me and got me hooked because of the Charlie Moore (Brewers) I pulled

[DixieBaseball]

Ok this is not exactly vintage, but it was a cool experience none the less... I was at a local mall card show a couple of years back, and I am standing at a dealer's table when a guy walks up with his kid and asked to see the wax box of 1986 Fleer Basketball and the remaining 4 packs in the box left. (I had already spotted this through the dealer glass and was very skeptical, as it looked fishy to me since all the packs were gone except for a scant few, so I thought perhaps the packs were picked over, etc.) The guy asked how much for one pack and the dealer told him since he had already sold each of the packs in the box except the last four, he would sell him each pack for $50 each or all four for $150. The guy waivered and said he wanted to buy just one. I noticed he would hold the packs up to the light, really look at them close, etc. So anyway, the guy was able to buy one pack for $40, and then he and his son opened the pack right there in front of me. Before he opened it he showed me that Ewing was on the back of the pack, and then as he got to the middle of the pack he pulled a gem Jordan RC. As soon as he pulled it, the dealer grabbed a top loader and that puppy made its way inside within 30 seconds of being pulled from the pack. It was centered very well and pretty obvious it was going to be a 9 or 10. Not a bad investment and really cool to see it in person.

[t206blogcom]

I recently bought a partial case of 89 Bowman and bought a couple of 87 Topps and 86 Topps wax boxes - some of my favorites from my childhood collecting years - for the purposes of cheap entertainment. It was neat opening packs again, smelling the fresh cards, gum and wax - a very distinct smell that reminded me of spending youthful summers opening baseball cards. I was tempted to even try the old sticks of gum, but didn't feel like adding a trip to the dentist to my things to do, or giving myself stomach cramps from hell.

I ended up pulling at least one (in many cases 6 or more) of all the cards, stars and rookies you'd expect to find from these years. I know they're not worth much, but I've always been the collector and am in this hobby for the entertainment, not the profit.

Sadly, I ended up just donating most of the cards to a local thrift store as I had no use in stacks of commons nobody wants. I tried to get a local shop to buy some, but they laughed and said they had enough packing materials for their shipments.

In the end, it was a couple of days of entertainment for me that made me feel like a kid again and I got some pack fresh cards from it that mean something to me.

[pawpawdiv9]

this year, i bought a 1953 Xmas rack pack.
But i remeber i opened one of those 5 cent packs, having 1 card, forgot the year.

[Chris-Counts]

In the mid 1970s, I opened an entire box of 1957 Topps football. I paid $15 for it. It was filled with cello packs, along with rookies of Unitas, Starr and Hornung. I probably could buy a house today with the proceeds from selling it — if I hadn't opened it. I was about 14. About the same time, I also opened a pack of 1951 Bowman football and got Buddy Young and a stick of gum that turned to powder in my hand ...

57 topps and pulled a mint Clemente

[poytor]

1970 Toopps Packs

[Donscards]

I opened a 1955 topps cello pack around 15-20 years ago there were 24 cards----I can still remember going to my sports room and with a little penknive opened the pack carfully----one of the first cards i saw was a Roberto Clemente RC---then Yogi Berra---Duke Snider--and yes another Roberto Clemente Rookie---all the cards were near mint-mint---I would think the clementes would be at least a 8---there was not grading then----I had the pack at a Ed Keetz show in Albany for $1500 with no takers---on the way home, I thought what the heck, even if I get all commons, they are still worth $20 each---the pack was high numbers----it was the greatest pack I opened---I sold all the cards and kept the better Clemente until a friend offered me $2600 plus tickets to Aerosmith (and also to meet them)--he did the lighting for Aerosmith---I also gave Joe Perry a Larry Bird Rookie for his son at the concert.----I hate to tell the story because most people would think (oh yea--right---2 Clementes in a pack---but it did happen. Don

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by Donscards

I opened a 1955 topps cello pack around 15-20 years ago there were 24 cards----I can still remember going to my sports room and with a little penknive opened the pack carfully----one of the first cards i saw was a Roberto Clemente RC---then Yogi Berra---Duke Snider--and yes another Roberto Clemente Rookie---all the cards were near mint-mint---I would think the clementes would be at least a 8---there was not grading then----I had the pack at a Ed Keetz show in Albany for $1500 with no takers---on the way home, I thought what the heck, even if I get all commons, they are still worth $20 each---the pack was high numbers----it was the greatest pack I opened---I sold all the cards and kept the better Clemente until a friend offered me $2600 plus tickets to Aerosmith (and also to meet them)--he did the lighting for Aerosmith---I also gave Joe Perry a Larry Bird Rookie for his son at the concert.----I hate to tell the story because most people would think (oh yea--right---2 Clementes in a pack---but it did happen. Don

Great story, Don.

[atx840]

Nice Ted, my fathers 52T Mantle was picked by him from a pack in 53', he was 9 or 10, small town Listowel Ontario. Great stories everyone.

[shernan30]

I started collecting in the late 80s and as you all know nothing of any value. Had a lot of fun opening wax with my younger brother. We would buy hobby boxes at kMart....well Mom would buy them for us. Always excited when she would get us an Upper Deck box.

[jbsports33]

1980 Topps Ricky Henderson RC - I was only 9 years old and already hooked by the hobby - by 14 I was selling at shows! Crazy how the years just fly

Jimmy

[Stampsfan]

1966 Batman Black Bats; followed by Red and Blue.

First sports card packs were 1967-68 Topps Hockey.

First baseball card packs were 1968 OPC baseball.

Don't remember who I got, as it was in the 60's. However, I do recall little to no premium on stars, as our objectives were to complete sets, something I still prefer to do today.

[Gary Dunaier]

A few years ago I bought a pack of 1982 Topps from a supermarket vending machine and pulled a Ripken "Future Stars" rookie. Don't remember what I paid for the pack but it wasn't any more than a dollar.