A ripper’s lament
Nikklos
Posts: 1,411 ✭✭✭
Hello - just saw that a 1980 Topps baseball wax box was selling for $10k.
Well if there any old timers around, some may recall how I rabidly ripped everything, every year, wax, rack, cello and vending.
There were some who called me a fool and they turned out to be right!
Oh well. Had fun I guess
Nikklos
Nikklos
2
Comments
i've ripped plenty too - no regrets... but would love to have some back
Years ago Steve had an unopened case of 1975 racks for $20k - i knew it would be a great buy and hold, but alas, I too am a ripper - so did not buy.
Bosox1976
I too have ripped an obscene amount of material that would be worth quite a bit now if all had been kept unopened...I’ve had fun the entire way and continue to rip, just not nearly as often, and it’s only 80s and newer now. The days of ripping 70s packs have sadly passed.
Vintage unopened is best left that way.
I opened quite a few packs also, but glad I kept most of them sealed. I will open an occasional pack now and then but opening full boxes or high end packs is just nuts right now with prices the way they are unless you are selling slots and making a profit on it as a pack breaker.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Nikklos,
Your rips are legendary. 1970 topps was my favourite.
Also, fergie with the 1986 fleer basketball and 1979 opc hockey was so cool to see.
Opening packs is a priceless experience.
Nathanael
Thanks. I did manage to keep one thing unopened. A 1980 rack with Hendu on top. A prized possession!
That one is a beauty to keep! I'd pay 2K if you decide to sell it.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I blame you for the mess we are in.
Could be worse, could've sold it all dirt cheap! I never regret anything I've ripped, the experience is special (especially the hits)... but I've never ripped at your level, lol. Always purchased vending along the way, for future rips... but I do have a few "special" packs that will eventually get opened as well.
Handyman it would be highly presumptuous for me to think that. But don’t think the sentiment is lost on me.
For those of us who don't rip much of what we have, we thank you all. The pack breakers leave fewer unopened remaining which increases the value of what's left. Most of what I rip is damaged packs, i.e., packs that have splits or other damage to them. The rest I keep unopened.
I still think back to a guy I used to sell unopened to. He ripped through three 1961 series 1 cello boxes back in the late 90s/early 2000s. what would those go for these days??
A 1000 1961 Pack fresh 1st series cards at 1990s prices is very tempting!! Id love to have 10+ Pack fresh Maris cards and maybe he got the only PSA 10 to date. Or all 15 of the PSA 10 santos. Sounds like a good time in the 90s Gemmint.
He told me he got 2 9's on the Maris' as well as some lower graded copies (8s, O/Cs, etc). I didn't broker those boxes but one of the packs I sold him was a 1955 Bowman nickel pack. He pulled a Kaline that graded a 9. He ripped everything he got his hands on. He was a high tech executive, so money wasn't really an object during the dot com bubble.
Thats awesome!
I have ripped a lot;
Found many 10’s, I have not.
I love cello’s.
I love rack’s.
But now I do not touch my unopened packs.
I don't worry too much about the boxes I've opened that are worth 10x more now. I've spent far more money on much dumber stuff and with the rips, in most cases, I still have the cards. If this hobby was all about investment then it would bother me but this is all play money, couldn't care less what is left over at the end.