1987 Donruss Baseball wax box

MorrellMan

I have a couple of these laying around and I thought it might be fun to crack one open. What are the chances of pulling 10s out of a wax box? I've had these since I bought them at 7-11 in 1987.

DeutscherGeist

Wow, you are the original owner.....

I would say that if the wax boxes are sealed and have little if any shelf wear, then keep it that way. It is worth far more in that condition and will only rise in value as rookie stars like Maddux, McGwire, Bonds and even Kevin Brown will ensure it.

Donruss cards from wax packs might not even fetch a PSA 8. I have one that got a PSA 9, but I bought it graded. PSA 10 from a wax pack--no way. You get those kinds of cards from the factory set.

The problem is the chipping of the black border and the corner don't seem to survive well in a wax pack either. The cards from the factory set have nicely rounded corners and their edges appear to be cut with a different method than the wax pack versions---meaning NO chipping on the black borders.

My 2 cents

Stone193

Morrell


<< <i>I would say that if the wax boxes are sealed and have little if any shelf wear, then keep it that way >>


I concur with DG on this one - I have never had a factory set but have ripped a lot of wax and racks and very few look better than 9 - the chipping is rampant. I really like those black borders - when clean they look awsome - but finding them in wax/racks - IMO, if you can buy a nice 9 or a 10 of the stars you want, keep the box intact - it could fetch more that way. My big mistake - preordered 92 classic w/Shaq - cracked the case and sold the inserts but then I was left with a boat load of sets that I couldn't give away! With DG, now you have 4 cents.
Mike

MorrellMan

I'm getting rich! Thanks guys - one thing: the boxes are not sealed (I bought them off the shelves at 7-11s after the store clerks put them out, but nobody had gotten to them yet - in most cases, they were the box that sat below the pack sale box on the shelf).

estang

Personally, I think you'll derive more pleasure opening the box then you would not. However, you've waited 17 years what's another 40. It would be interesting to run a personality test on those who buy vintage / older unopened material and break down who opens and who doesn't. There must be some card collecting gene that runs through us on this particular issue. Me, I'd rather go to my grave knowing what was in that rack pack, case, cello pack, wax box, wax pack --- then just lettting it sit there. Now, I would say that if I had soooo much of the product that I already had what I wanted out of it, then having the unopened material would make the collecting quest that more "complete". I find this to be an interesting topic from a psychological perspective.

Enjoy!

Erik

Rainman

i'd rip it- but that's b/c i'm a huge maddux, palmeiro, and mcgwire fan- and all their rcs are in there. look at the prices of psa 10s (and 9s to some degree) of maddux and palmeiro over the past year. bonds just passed yet another hr record, maddux will pass the 300 win mark this season (barring any injuries), and palmeiro's on track to pass the 3000th hit mark...all great investment opps. maddux/palmeiro psa 10s over the past year have basically risen two-fourfold. bonds psa 10s are doing well also. i've opened 3 87 donruss wax boxes- and there was very minimal chipping (i.e., maybe 3 cards out of the whole box). centering's a far bigger issue w/87 donruss than chipping in my view. i've also opened 2-3 87 donruss factory sets over the past year or so- and again, centering was a far bigger issue than chipping. not to mention the corners tend to be pinched more easily in factory sets- at least in my experience.

ctsoxfan

For what its worth, I broke a 1987 Donruss wax box a few years back. I only found a few cards I thought were worth grading, and got back a Palmeiro PSA 10, and 2 Bonds PSA 8's. The rest of the box wasn't worth grading, but I love the Palmeiro card.

Rainman

looking to sell the palmeiro psa 10 ct?

ctsoxfan

At this time, no. I got lucky with it, and doubt I'd get another 10 unless I bought one on Ebay. Thanks for asking, though.

wick70

I just bought a sealed 1987 box off of Ebay a month ago. Trying for Maddux RC's. The condition of the cards were an 8 at best. The borders are very sensitive and tough to find in mint condition. There might be a better chance of more money selling the box rather than breaking it up. Right now, the boxes are selling for around $30 - $35, but that's mainly because of quick interest in Bonds. Palmeiro also has his rookie card in there and expect some more interest in him for his milestone coming up.

p.s.
I ended up getting three palmeiro RC's and two McGwire RC's. Not worth sending in (probably 8's or 7's)

Wick

BigKidAtHeart

save that box for just 2 or 3 more years
and then when BONDS breaks Babe Ruth's
home run mark... and then passes Aaron
to become the all-time home run king,
the box will sell for Big Bucks!

SlangNRox

I would keep the box unopened.

This thread almost tempted me into opening my 87 donruss box sitting on my shelf.

The last time I was tempted to open wax I opened 2 boxes of 89 donruss and got 0 ken griffey jr.
I wish I still had some 87 leaf boxes. Much easier to pull the rookies since there was like 1/2 as many cards in the set.

ctsoxfan

That's a great point...are there any 87 Leaf boxes floating around? I noticed the Bonds RC from that set being very scarce, and a nicely graded copy brings nice money. I didn't realize the set was smaller than the Donruss, is there still a Maddux and Palmeiro card in Leaf?

phreakydancin

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but back then I believe that Leaf was Donruss' Canadian brand, and therefore much more scarce (like Topps's O-Pee-Chee brand).

Stone193

<< <i>I believe that Leaf was Donruss' Canadian brand >>


Phreaky
Correct, Donruss was attempting to share in the Canadian market with this 'leaf brand' product with more of a concentration on star cards and feature the two major league teams.

On the crack'm or stack'm in the closet discussion - I do have a bit of older wax and it has been my contention that this stuff is better left untouched and sold as is - the chance of PSA 10 may be a real crap shoot. In a thread on the Vintage board someone asked what would you do if you won the box of 52T wax? The vintage guys would probably be skewed toward - put it away for later and sell it as is. Down the road, the wax will be relatively extinct while raw and PSA 52T cards are pretty plentiful. That's my take on it but I am no expert on wax or how much is out there for sure.
Mike

SlangNRox

Its too bad that my 87 leaf cards that I pulled aren't in gem mint shape or at least I don't think they are. They had all the diamond kings and rated rookies just like the regular Donruss set.