One thing missing from vintage collecting: opening packs

[CJinPA]

I'm in the same boat, kinda. I collected a ton back in the mid-late 80's and early 90's during high school and college. My friends and I were so serious we sold at shows and traded 50's through junk era stuff - even got a booth at the National in Atlanta (91 or 92, can't remember which year). At the national, I had with me a very large display Louisville Slugger bat made from balsawood or some other very light wood - it was maybe 5-6 foot tall. A fellow dealer came over and wanted to trade for the bat... his bait was a pretty rough shaped e92 Dockman Wagner batting. I took the card over to a dealer I trusted at the time and asked if it was authentic, in his opinion..... He said it was and the deal was done - I didn't care about the value, just loved the look of that vintage card.

Life happened and I stopped collecting for almost 30 years. This past fall I had the urge to look at some of my prised cards - A '54 Aaron, '73 Schmidt, '68 Carlton and that Wagner. None were graded but it was time to see if the old East Coast Philly show was still running. It sure was! At the Valley Forge expo center (I remember in the 80's when it was still at the Washington Motor Lodge in Fort Washington, PA).... I took my Aaron and Wagner to the PSA booth and submitted them. Back came a 4.5 Aaron and a Wagner graded at a 2. But the spark was rekindled, and this time my focus was on the e92's and wax of my youth!!

So to the topic of the OP, one of the downsides to collecting vintage is the lack of opening packs.... I do have a wax box of '78 and '79 Topps from back in the day but now buy the '81-86 T/F/D to open and scratch the itch. Just last week I won an '84 Fleer BBCE box but will probably keep that in the collection. Regardless, I love the e92's and any wax that I can afford reasonably. I simply cannot get into the modern stuff. It looks great, but it's actually too pristine for my tastes - do look awesome though!

And speaking of pristine, I'd love to add a PSA 1973 Topps 3rd series pack to my collection. It would be an awesome display next to my Schmidt rookie!!

Thanks for reading - I love this site and have done a couple deals with members here all great transactions. Maybe someone can tell me, is net54 a tag form the old Sportsnet dialup dealer group from the late 80's, early 90's? I use to be a member and have been curious over the past several months....