My First Case

helionaut

I've been wanting to rip a whole case for years. In 2002 I was about to buy a case of Topps 206 but lost my nerve at the last minute. Too bad, I would've made out on it. In 2003 I decided I wasn't going to miss out again and ordered a case of Topps 205. I paid via paypal, but I never heard from the seller. My payment sat there in Paypal for a week, and I finally cancelled payment because the seller, who had very good feedback, stopped selling and soon was NARU'd. Narrow escape there, I think. Fast forward 8 months, I went ahead and pre-ordered a case of Topps Cracker Jack. It just arrived. Now, though, since it doesn't seem to be a big hit, I'm debating if I really want to rip it. I had been prepared to lose money on this, as it came out of my tax return, which was found money to me. I normally spend about $20 per week opening random packs at shops and shows with little return, so I figured this is just like 20 weeks in one, and I might get lucky. However, I'm disappointed to find that Topps didn't make a little holder for their original CJs like they did with the T cards. They appear to be just unmarked, regular cards, which doesn't help their value. Also, there are no marquee rookies, the autos are nothing special, and the GU stuff is typical GU stuff. I'm wondering if I should be a man and go through with it and rip it like I planned, or if I shouldn't just take the hit for $50 or so and resell it, and look for a case of something else later on. I'm leaning 75/25 to ripping it.

70chip

I say Rip Em', its "free" money....Otherwise they will be sitting there wispering your name and you won't be able to focus, work or have any other thoughts except "whats inside those little boxes".....At least thats my experience, but those could just be mysterious voices in my head that only pop up when I have unopened in the house. Good Luck with your decision.....

CON40

Don't forget, bust it on an empty stomach so you can eat the Cracker Jacks!

envoy98

From what I've heard, the originals are falling about one per case. The autos are about 1:3 boxes. I pulled a Vazquez and got $25 on the buy it now for it. That paid for half the box. The game used is, like you said, just regular game used. The short prints are ok, not great. Heritage is definately a better product, at least so far. I know the Arod #'d is getting 10-15 on ebay right now and those seem to pop out every two boxes or so. I don't know what size case you bought but it might be worth ripping if you don't have too much into it. The sets (base +sp's) seem to be going for 150 or so. OUt of 3-4 boxes you might be able to make a set and recoup some of your money that way.

Just my .02

I don't have a lot of experience with this new Cracker Jack. I did a lot of heritage because everyone else did a lot of heritage. It was a fun set to put together though. I would say if you don't like building sets and aren't that impressed by anything else, then I would sell it now while the set builders are still looking for some cards. Maybe try it as a case with a reserver of what you paid. Do a 5 day auction. If it doesn't sell, sell each box individually and try to make it back that way. Maybe do a few at a BIN of $40-50/box and do some others with no reserve starting at varying prices. You should get a feel for what you can get.

ldferg

i purchased a case of 86 topps baseball a few weeks ago and me and my 2 sons were ripping them left and right. we had a blast...may see some on ebay in the near future. these cards seem to be very difficult to get without the chipping on the black borders.

joestalin

If you are only going to be ripping once this year I would sell the Cracker Jack and wait for
something much better. Any of the rookie sets are great if you like that thing, if you were
looking for a retro look heritage is going to be the best this year. I really think topps
cut a few corners on this product and who they included on the autograph checklist. I would
want to bust something with a pujols insides but thats only me. Let us know what you
finally decide to do.

Kevin

MrRookie

rip

highend

rip into like a wild animal, then throw all the dupes into big lots and sell them on ebay then buy vintage.

BigKidAtHeart

sell the case and buy 1 good vintage, PSA graded card!

helionaut

Often when I can't decide, I resort to random chance. I flipped a coin saying,"Heads I rip it, tails I don't." Five times in a row it came up tails. But I was using an "Indiana" quarter where the back just shows an Indy car. This throws off the center of gravity greatly compared to a regular quarter, giving the heads side much greater torque and thus increasing the likelihood of the heads side landing down. I did it again with a regular quarter and it came up tails the first time, heads the second.

I would ask the Magic 8 Ball if it was working.

Bighurt4

Rip it, I did a case of Heritage this year and a case of 91 Upper Deck. It was a blast.

Brent

Stone193

<< <i>91 Upper Deck. It was a blast >>


Brent
Back in 93 I was buying boxes for like 12-15$ and busting them with my son - it was fun, cheap entertainment - did the same with 92UD - but now the closet is full of that stuff and no place to go!
Those were good times.
Helionaut,
I bought two boxes of CJ - not bad cards but as Kevin said, the autos leave a little and in my case, I got 43 defective cards! That over 5 packs - I'm not talking about corners or centering - somehow the cards got indented.
Mike

ldferg

in the 86 topps i opened, i had several cards that had major indentions, basically creased the whole face of the cards. but i really enjoyed it.

DrNguyenVanFalk

Helionaut,

My story is extremely similar to yours - I've only owned two cases in my life (1989 Topps Rack and 1989-90 OPC Hockey), but this year I decided to take the plunge and buy a case. I ended up choosing Cracker Jacks, and I got the case last Monday. I'm in the process of moving, so I won't rip it for a couple weeks, but I'm very excited about this product. Sure, the autos and GUs won't make you rich, but it's a nice looking base set with some neat parallels (I'm going for the blue parallel set). If I pull an original CJ card, I'll be delighted, but for $490 a case, I'd be happy if I ended up with close to a full set along with some inserts to sell on the 'bay.

My vote is that you open it. Good luck!

DrNguyen

Griffins

I just bought a case of it last nite too. I really don't care at all for modern cards, but these looked so cool I had to go for it. And I'm really close to completing the '15 set and about halfway into the '14 I figured this was a cheap diversion of the same thing. If you rip and want to do some trades let me know.

helionaut

I ended up ripping it, or 7 boxes worth, anyway. I ended up with 50 SPs, including 10 dupes, so I'll need a little help with the set master set. If anyone is also working on this set, I'll list my needs/extras in the "Official Heritage Trade Thread" tonight along with my final Heritage needs/extras. I did hit the biggest names like A-Rod, Pujols, and Prior, so I was a little lucky there. In addition to being slightly ahead on the SP ratio, I came out a little ahead on the insert ratio. I pulled 2 autos, a Brian Giles and a Marcus Giles (what are the odds?). I got 15 or 16 blue parallels when they supposedly come 2 per box, but I think at least a couple are SPs. Jersey/bat cards also came out a little ahead of schedule, but no major names there, and nothing from the really short groups. I don't think I got any dupes in the sticker set, either.

As to the CJs, it was a decent product for the price. The cardstock is thin but fairly stiff, and I only had one card that was in really poor condition out of the pack, though there were some cards off-center. What really irritates me is the way half the set is printed with the backs upside down. I appreciate trying to emulate the original, but did they not think people would be building sets and actually looking at the backs?

Overall, it was fun tearing and tearing. I am a little disappointed not to hit a really tough card, as the odds were so long for both the white BGs (1 in 31 cases) and the originals (one in 12.5 cases). Since I had been lucky enough to hit a Topps 206 Bazooka Cobb and a buyback 205, I kind of assumed I would, but those are the breaks. While I am tempted to open the last 3 boxes, I am more tempted by the $100 or so I'll get for them on ebay. I'll definitely be opening a case of something else this year, budget permitting. Too bad I'm boycotting UD, they have some interesting stuff coming out.