1991 Topps Traded Set in BBCE Wrap - I requested the wrap

DeutscherGeist

Part of my recent order from BBCE. The purchase price was just $5, and to have it wrapped, $8. I thought, what is the point of the unopened set if it cannot be substantiated in some way? It was my only opportunity to request it or else it could never be done afterwards.
It features the USA baseball team, rookies of Jeff Bagwell and Ivan Rodriguez, and Darryl Strawberry when he was traded to the Dodgers. The price of the set had been stagnant for about a decade since I have been following it. I don't know if this will take off with the rest of the baseball card surge in prices, but it was the right time to buy. This is for my own personal collection. It will look good next to the factory sealed flat 1991 Topps Traded Set.

RedHeart54

What exactly does a BBCE wrapped set imply? Just that it is complete? Or that it has never been removed from the box as determined by BBCE? I've seen sets such as 1984 Fleer Update or 1984 USFL bring healthy premiums when BBCE has wrapped them.

DeutscherGeist

@RedHeart54 said:
What exactly does a BBCE wrapped set imply? Just that it is complete? Or that it has never been removed from the box as determined by BBCE? I've seen sets such as 1984 Fleer Update or 1984 USFL bring healthy premiums when BBCE has wrapped them.

Glad you asked. We learn from each other. BBCE specializes in unopened material. They get sealed cases of stuff all the time. In my case, they had a sealed case of 1991 Topps Baseball Traded sets (maybe 100 per case?). I requested the special wrap before sending it to me so that it clear to everyone that this set was never opened. Since the set does not have a factory seal on it, BBCE was willing to do this at my request even though it is such a low dollar set. If I did not get the BBCE wrap, who is going to know for sure that it was never opened or tampered with in anyway? Granted, I bought the set for myself, never to sell, but I thought it would be nice to get it BBCE wrapped for my own amusement and pride of ownership.
You cannot send a boxed set to BBCE to get it wrapped, though. They can only do it if they know the origin (if they remove it from the case). Also, if a set already has a factory seal on it, they will not put a BBCE wrap around that. It is already factory sealed, so it defeats the purpose.

RedHeart54

Thanks. I guess I do remember Steve writing "from a sealed case" (on a business card placed underneathe the set's box) or something to that effect on some sets I've seen..but not all.

DeutscherGeist

The designation "From A Sealed Case" applies to wax boxes that have been obtained from a sealed case. There are also wax boxes not obtained from a sealed case, but BBCE will wrap them if they can confirm that the individual packs in the box were unopened. This is assuming the box itself never had a factory seal, which characterizes many vintage boxes.

I looked at my 1991 Topps Traded Set again and on the bottom, it does have Steve's business card, but nothing about "From A Sealed Case." However, there is no other way to authenticate the "never been opened" status without taking it from a sealed case to begin with. One can always contact BBCE to find out more details about their authentication process.