1985 fleer baseball wax box

jaybyrd

I got sniped on this wax box tonight. Bid ended up around $110. Is that about the norm to pay for this or did a couple of bidders get into a bidding war? How tough is this box compared to other 1980's unopened stuff?

Stone193

jaybyrd
That's not terribly high - I believe I've seen them for about 90$ - if this is for opening now, the baseball card kid has vending boxes for 49$
Mike

jaybyrd

Thanks Stone - How many cards are in a vending box? That would probably be a better source for nice condition anyway.

Stone193

Can't say for sure on the condition - have busted a'78 and 79 and thought I did good - are you familiar with the kid?
Mike
500 cards/box

jaybyrd

I checked out his web site. I figure he has a good reputation and would not sell any searched through material.

Stone193

I will tell you, I have bought a lot of stuff from him over the past 10 + years and have never been disappointed - I bought a 78T vending back in '93 I believe, and I pulled a Molitor RC out along with a Murray RC,etc. By the way, when you open the box, it should look like no one has messed with it - I can tell you that if you were to take a picture of a clean box, take cards out and try to neatly put back, it's hard to get them back exactly the way they were stacked from the factory - he doesn't search - sells 52T packs etc. Real good reputation - some may have their war stories - but I have found, he will make good - altho, I have not dealt with him in a very long time.
Mike

jaybyrd

I can purchase two vending boxes for the price of one wax box. Thanks for the heads-up !! I usually do not buy anything pre 1975, but have always liked the 85 fleer and donruss. I would love to pull a Clemens or two.

ctsoxfan

I bought an 85 Fleer wax box back in December last year. Paid $105 for it from a local dealer, and thought about sitting on it for a while. That lasted about 2 days, so I busted it...and as usual with mid-80's Fleer, almost all the cards were terribly o/c. I did manage a nice Clemens which got a PSA 9, but that's it. The few other cards I thought were nice came back 8's (worthless). Lesson learned.

Stone193

ctsoxfan
Agree - that's why the vending route is much more economical if you are trying to put a nice set together - you should see all the OC's I have in my 78-79's - would never even consider sending them to PSA! It does take some of the lustre off ripping packs tho - also, tho, no wax!
Mike

jaybyrd

ctsoxfan - I guess that just goes to show us it is always better to sell the stuff unopened rather than bust them out. I guess the optomist in us all usually gets the better of us. I still have a couple of 87 Donruss boxes in the closet I purchased a long time ago. Could be time to look for Maddux, Palmiero or Bonds in PSA 10!! I know I will be sorry if I open them.

Stone193

jaybyrd
From my limited experience, and I think I probably opening at least 8 boxes, if you were to crack an entire case, you would be lucky to pull a few really good 10's - between the centering and the edges, it's a tough set - I will tell tho, when you get a really nice one, those borders are a beauty.
Mike

ctsoxfan

Mike, I didn't know that Fleer baseball vending boxes were still around...you never seem to see them like you do Topps vending. Thanks for that heads up, I should have bought 2 of those instead of my 1 wax!

jaybyrd - man, 85 Fleer and 87 Donruss...talk about two tough quality sets to go for! I don't know how you hold out, though...those boxes wouldn't last through the weekend with me (I never learn!)

Stone193

Listen guys, with the 87D or other stuff from that era - if you guys need commons - they're yours - if it's a lot - pay the postage
Mike

packCollector

jaybyrd, or anyone else, I have a dead mint unsearched cello box sitting around , pulled straight out of a case, if anyone is interested shoot me a pm or email me harvey0724@beld.net

Lothar52

when did topps start vending boxes?? and why??? were they strictly for the collector while the packs were for store owners??

Stone193

Lothar52
Now you are making me feel very, very old. I know for sure of vending machines back in 1957-8-9 time frame; someone more knowledgeable on the topic will have to say for sure but I believe Mr. Mint bought cards back around 1979 from a Topps distributor who saved the excess cards; I want to say he referenced vending. I have an exhibit vending machine from the very early 50's and of course those go way back. This was just another way to distribute the cards for profit. As the vintage guys would tell you, the original companies sold the GUM and the cards were the bonus incentive to get you to buy their product. On the food side, caramel and cookies were actually used besides gum.
Mike

magellan

Stone, you have an original exhibit vending machine ! How cool is that? Do you have a pic?

I've been heavily into unopened material for a few years now and sold on eBay quite a bit in 2002 and am just about to start grading some of my stuff for sale on there. It is a temptation to be sitting on all of this without opening it but I love the little neat colorful packs and the cellos with the cards showing, especially knowing what they contain. I have a bunch of them displayed on one of those stepped display boxes.

In regards to Mark Murphy I think he's really the best in the unopened field . I've bought from him & he's given me advice when I suspected packs of being resealed. Another good unopened dealer is Dave & Adam's Card world, they sell on eBay (dacardworld I think) but also have a huge amount of stock on their website.

This is a great hobby isn't it?

Dave

gameusedhoop

I know when Fleer started with the vending boxes that they were collated in such a way the 4 boxes would yield 3 complete sets. Each box was numbered 1-4 and you needed one of each. I know that this was the case in 81-83, did they change it by 1985? If not, there is one box # that there is no Clemens card guaranteed. You might ask any seller if the boxes are numbered, the cases were sold to dealers to make and sell complete sets.