The vintage unopened wax pack market

TheCARDKid

I'm specifically wondering about Topps nickel and penny packs from the 1950's. Does anyone have a rough estimate as to how many unopened packs are still in the market place?

Let's take a look at the following years:

1952 Topps Low Number 5 cent pack. These still appear every so often on Ebay or in a Mastro auction. If I had to make a guess, I'd estimate there are still at least a few dozen of these floating around.
Estimated price, $5,000 and up.

1953 Topps 5 cent pack. The rarest Topps pack of all time. Even a decade ago, this pack sold for an extraordinary amount of money. Do any still exist?

1954 through 1959. Again, virtually none show up. I remember reading in SMR a year or two ago about a dealer finding a '59 Topps box, but then opening it.

Any estimates on '48 through '55 Bowman packs? '52, '54, and '55 use to be the easiest years.

mikeschmidt

Not too much of an incentive to open penny packs....

That being said -- I have seen a grand total of four 1955 Bowman packs (in good shape) sell publically in the last four years. I have not seen any penny packs sell. The most interesting was a GAI graded Cello pack that Leland's auctioned off.

gemint

CardKid - The BBCKid purchased around 80 1952 Nickel packs from a lady in Washington state about a decade ago. I believe there have also been a few smaller finds. Ironically, 1952 is one of the easier packs to find from the 50s. Of course you'll still have to shell out $5-$10k for a quality untampered with pack. I know of a cello brick of 1952 5c packs that are still unopened. I've been bugging a particular source for the past several years about trying to obtain some of these. To date, they remain under lock and key.

1953 5c is the toughest pack to find period. I've never seen one. Someone claimed a dealer in Canada found and opened a full box in recent years. BBCKid stated in his first pack guide that he has never seen a legitimate 1953 nickel pack. Others I've talked to have said they've seen them but I'm not sure if they checked for tampering.

1954-57 are very tough. If they ever come to market, it's usually through Mastronet or another major auction house. Expect to pay $5-10k per pack for '54, '56 or '57. 1955's are slightly more readily available due to the Mr Mint find. But most of those packs have some degree of water damage. I think Shoebox had one for sale for around $3-$5k. I think it was a GAI 6 and the gum had discolored the wrapper. It may still be on the market. I have no clue how many of these packs are left but if I had to take a wild guess, I'd say:

1954 - 30 or less (I believe some were located in the Mr Mint find but most were opened or locked away in private collections)

1955 - Somewhere between 50-100 packs, most moderately to badly water damanged

1956 - Less than two dozen

1957 - Less than 20

1958 is quite rare as well. I haven't seen one for sale in recent years. There are a lot of cellos out there from '58. 1959 is more common but I can't seem to find a decent pack which would allow me to extend my collection back to the 50s. 1959 cellos are quite common. I've owned two. Sold one and kept one for my collection. A 1959 wax box was indeed opened a few years ago. The box yielded two mint Mantles and a gem mint Mays. I was fortunate to pick up a common from that find. It was a PSA 8 and I paid dearly for it ($75). It was mint but slightly outside the 60-40 criteria. I like to think of it as an 8.99.

1954 and 1955 Bowmans are still fairly common. The Mr Mint find included alot of Bowman boxes. If you look diligently, you should have no problem locating nice packs from these years.

TheCARDKid

I've always been fascinated by rare unopened packs but never had the money to invest in them (until recently).

I remember many years ago (1990 or 92), Darren Prince and Mark Murphy were two of the leaders in the field. Some incredibly rare stuff like '51 Bowman or '53 Bowman nickel was available. There was a '54 Topps unopened cello with Hank Aaron on the front that sold for a small fortune I believe.

I think the '58 and '59 Topps cellos are still a good buy. The numerous Topps Christmas rack packs of the 50's have been discussed many times on this board and I wouldn't put them in the same category, investment wise.

Didn't Mark Murphy lose alot of rare packs in the fire that destroyed his office? I remember the cardboard poster that he brought to card shows displaying a run of packs from 1952 to the early 90's. I think they were all nickel packs except for a '53 penny pack.

Hubcap

A corner store owner here in town still has a lot of unopened 50-70's boxes and cases. He stored them for years and then some becuz they didn't sell once FB came out. Have tried to get him to sell, but he said he's not ready. He amazingly has an unopened 1958 and 1971 wax cases. Series unknown. It is still out there. You just have to be in the right place with money at the right time.

radiationguy

Hubcap is right. I know of someone that has 3 boxes from the mid 50's and also some 48 and 49 Bowman packs. I have been working on them for a while. It takes timing and a lot of money.



Billy

Buccaneer

Changing the subject slightly, I remember when I was in the card business in the early 1980s and seeing the Fritsch ads in magazine listing packs, boxes and cases for each year going back to the late 1960s. If I recall, they weren't too expensive either (like $250 for a 1970T wax box). I really wish I had the money and smarts back then.

Tipem

Buccaneer,


Don't we all!!!!


Hindsight really is 20/20

Vic

toppsgun

"A 1959 wax box was indeed opened a few years ago. The box yielded two mint Mantles and a gem mint Mays."

I saw the results of that box at the National, in 2000 or 2001. He had them spread out in a display case, with the original box. Two PSA 9 Mantles and one Mays 10. I recall him saying it yielded 3 Mantles, but one had already sold. He hadn't graded the commons because nearly all were o/c. I think there were two or three Sniders #20, all were 80/20 or worse. But, boy, did they all have that nice shiny gloss!!

CardCrazy

Rumor has it that an awesome pack collection is going to be listed in the next Mastronet auction. Twenty packs of 1954 Topps Hockey, an unknown # of 1957 Topps Hockey (none were known to exist) and numerous packs from 1960 and 1961. Also, a huge hoard (as Mastronet likes to call them) of 1952 AND 1953 Topps Baseball among others. If this does happen it will be a great conversation piece on this board. Can anyone confirm or deny? I guess we will have to wait and see!