Hobby Box question

[conor912]

Originally Posted by t206blogcom

A couple of years ago I bought a bunch of 80s and 90s wax to relive some childhood memories. The boxes I bought from reputable dealers tended to be in great shape and most of the cards would grade 9, perhaps even 10. Some random ones off eBay from non-dealers tended to be in various conditions, some even clearly resealed/previously searched. Overall though, most of the boxes yielded pack-fresh cards.

The biggest problem is what to do with all of the cards once you open the packs. I threw away several boxes of commons, donated a ton and still have a lot of HOFs/stars from the 80s and 90s just sitting here - straight from pack into top loader and I can't seem to get rid of them.

Jason,
I'm guessing you're around 35, as am I. This stuff, believe it or not, will come around. It's all cyclical. When our generation is 55 or 60, they will clamor for the those childhood moments you speak of. I predict 80's wax will make a big comeback. It will, however, be the last generation to do so.

[Zach Wheat]

Just curious...did you get any "star" cards? Or what you might have anticipated? One of the items collectors look for when trying to determine if a box has been opened and pre-sorted is if the star cards were pulled.

I think that might go a long way towards answering your question.


Z Wheat

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

Just curious...did you get any "star" cards? Or what you might have anticipated? One of the items collectors look for when trying to determine if a box has been opened and pre-sorted is if the star cards were pulled.

I think that might go a long way towards answering your question.


Z Wheat

Yes, I found stars but Im not sure that searching would have anything to do with it anyway. In hobby boxes, the corners of the cards sit tight right up against the inside corners of the thin, flimsy box. I have to assume that corner damage is prevalent in a large percentage of them, particularly as they get older and handled more.

[steve B]

Ok, I wasn't aware there were specific hobby boxes in the late 80's. And unfortunately I bought a lot of cards in the late 80's

What did I miss?


Steve B

[DaClyde]

Originally Posted by steve B

Ok, I wasn't aware there were specific hobby boxes in the late 80's. And unfortunately I bought a lot of cards in the late 80's

What did I miss?


Steve B

I'm thinking it's just a misuse of terminology. There weren't "hobby" boxes back then, just boxes.

[mawitzi]

You might be talking about vendor boxes. If the cards were not in packs it was a vendor box. I bought a vendor box of 1983 topps this year. The cards were mostly exmt condition due to the corner damage.

[HasselhoffsCheeseburger]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

Just curious...did you get any "star" cards? Or what you might have anticipated? One of the items collectors look for when trying to determine if a box has been opened and pre-sorted is if the star cards were pulled.

I think that might go a long way towards answering your question.


Z Wheat

Even this isn't infallible. The collation in the 80s was atrocious. I've opened 5 straight boxes of 1987 O-Pee-Chee that I knew were 100% legit without getting a single Barry Bonds card. On the other hand, I've opened a single box of 1985 Leaf that yielded five Roger Clemens and four Kirby Pucketts. I've seen a few collectors accuse a seller of resealing wax simply because they opened two boxes and didn't get a particular star card. You can't judge wax on whether you got the best card in the set.

The best thing to do is to learn what to look for in sealed wax so you can spot bad wax before you open it. Cellos and rack packs are an entirely different story as sequencing is available and many people are resealing those. I wouldn't buy vintage cellos or racks unless they came from a reputable dealer and it was a fresh box pulled from a sealed case.

[bnorth]

A lot of times it really is not the companies collation. Sometimes certain players cards just were not inserted into certain products. From personal experience I know Score would pull the star players and sell them in huge lots directly to large dealers. Leaving the packs with mainly commons. It has been too long to remember the year but if you say you pulled a Don Mattingly out of a Score pack that year you are a liar or really lucky as most got pulled.