Anyone ever open any 1972 Topps Baseball Wax packs?

jason045

Has anyone had any luck pulling high grade cards out of '72 wax. Several '72 packs are listed on ebay right now and I'm thinking about picking one up. I'm more interested in the experience of opening a 33 year old pack than I am hitting the jackpot. Just wondering about the quality I can expect out of a GAI 9 pack.

Onlypsahockey

jason,

I was contemplating doing the same thing last week but with GAI '72 topps hockey packs.

I talked myself out of it when I figured:

1.) Cost of pack
2.) Cost of grading
3.) Chance of all commons
4.) Chance of poor centering
5.) Chance of pulling 8's & under

I figured it's probably not worth it 9 out of 10 times.

But then again there's that chance of pulling that gem key card.

JMO, Bob

jason045

Like I said in my first post, I'm not looking to make a big profit. I think it would be a lot of fun to open one of these old packs. I wouldn't even mind if i got all commons as long as a few were PSA 8-9 candidates. The only real bummer for me would be if every card in the pack was OC or there was a dinged corner on the whole stack. I'd just like to hear from someone else who has cracked a pack or two and what their results were.

softparade

I am one who loves opening packs, especially 78's. BUT it is amazing what the price difference is between 6 years. A 78 rack pack costs generally 30 - 40 bucks. Wax boxes anywhere from 450-575 dollars. If there is any wax, cello, or rack boxes of 72's around I would be afraid to see the price. Even 1975 Topps is crazy. 76 on up are still somewhat affordable to obtain and rip away

dude

<<Anyone ever open any 1972 Topps Baseball Wax packs?>>

Yep, probably at least 150 to 200 packs. That was in 1972 of course.

I managed to keep those cards until about 15 years ago. I kept about half and upgraded the rest because the centering was bad. Based on that, I would expect at least half of the cards in a pack to be non-gradable due to centering and then several more will probably have some wear on a corner which would knock it down to an 8. If you get three card to grade straight 9s, then I think you did fine.

stevek

There's no profit whatsoever in consistently opening unopened packs. If there was profit to be made - then they'd all be opened. They are always worth more unopened because of the "mystery" value. But once in a while, to take at shot with an unopened pack from a series where there is a card you badly need - why not?

Onlypsahockey

Here ya go jason...

72 Wax box

it's opc tho.


Bob

softparade

<< <i>There's no profit whatsoever in consistently opening unopened packs. If there was profit to be made - then they'd all be opened. They are always worth more unopened because of the "mystery" value. >>



yeah, but its FUN FUN FUN

1967topps

a GAI 9 might actually be legitimately sealed. I got some 1967 GAI 7.5's that were obvious reseals - since the gum
in it wasn't 1967 gum...

rvc

i have opened about 20 gai 9 packs . although none were 72 topps baseball , the packs all seemed legit and the cards were mostly near mint. the bottom card will have the wax stain and the top card usually has a dinged corner . all bets are off if its graded less than 9. its worth the thrill , go for it and let us know how you do.
jmo

jason045

There are a few on ebay going off this week. Also some at bbcexchange. Would really like a high series pack but any will work for me. If I decide to get one, I'll let you guys know what I pull.

BTW: These packs go for $150-$250 depending on series and grade.

gemint

I opened a handful a few years ago from a wax box I purchased. The cards were all sharp and I did get a decent amount of 9s. I don't recall the exact percentage but there were the usual O/C problems and also some cards had black print dots on them.

NeilDowney

Hi Guys, I once sat there as a good friend of mine started to open wax packs from a 1972 OPC box. It was a complete horror show. He expected the last card to have a gum stain. However, what happened was the gum somewhat liquidfied and ran down the sides of the cards. All of the cards were stuck together and were damaged when he tried to take them apart. This box was probably stored in a warm room at some point in time. I felt so bad for him. I think that it is like playing russian roulette. I did try the gum though. It turned to dust in my mouth. A bad taste in both of our mouths ;-( Neil

JonB

I busted open a pack of 1960 Leaf about a year ago (the very pack that is my icon actually). The pack was graded unopened by GAI (at the moment I forget the grade, something like 8.5 I think.

At any rate, it was a series 1 pack. I ended up pulling two cards out of that pack that were from series 2... go figure

jason045

Well,I went ahead and bought a pack. Series is unknown, because you can't see a card through the wrapper. When I get it in, I will post my results.

packCollector

I opened a bunch of 72's last year , all series. your better off buying a gai 7 and opening it becasue it will be cheaper and the cards will be the same. centering is going to be your big issue but you will have fun. don't expect to get more than a couple 9 quality cards. also, if the box is a poor run on centering , you are screwed. I had a box that I openedthe last 6 packs and got 1 9 quality card.

lostdart58

<< <i>Well,I went ahead and bought a pack. Series is unknown, because you can't see a card through the wrapper. When I get it in, I will post my results. >>




That's weird............You can usually always with the right light make out one card.

I have a 72 pack in my Topps pack colllection (68-95). I can see its a series one ......I can make out card #93 NL Pitching Leaders (3 HOFers!!)

packCollector

if the back card is not face up , you will not be able to tell. I had a whole 1st/2nd series box like this. also , there are a lot of mixed series packs 1/2 , 3/4 and 5/6 from 72 so even ifyou know the back card , it may be a mix of the 2 series

RedHeart54

Speaking of which, did anyone see this?? As a collector of these, I about blew chunks when I saw it.

rvc

i have opened some trays and never found anything gradable

who is ballowax?

jason045

Got the pack in yesterday. It was a second series pack. The cards were absolutely pristine except for the top and bottom cards which had the wax and gum stains. BUT, almost all were OC top-to-bottom about 80/20. Only one card worthy of grading was #195 Orlando Cepeda. It has a very good chance at a 9. All in all, not a very good investment for $100, but it was a lot of fun ripping it.

P.S. I couldn't resist. I had to eat the gum. YYYEEEECCCCHHH!!

ajw

<< <i>Speaking of which, did anyone see this?? As a collector of these, I about blew chunks when I saw it. >>



Blew chunks because it's a good item or a bad one? Is it really rare or really fake? As you can tell, I'm not a collector, but I'm curious...

RedHeart54

Really rare. This is the first '72 tray I've seen and the second oldest I've seen since a 6 pack 1969 baseball tray a few years back.

Ripken

Really rare, no doubt and I guess the buyer is a 'pack collector' because you can't possibly expect to recoup your investment by opening them. I think old packs are cool..and I have several from the '60s and 70s that I bought when prices were a little more reasonable..but I think now most pre-1980 packs are WAY, WAY overpriced..even if they're hard to find. I just don't understand the logic, but I guess we all collect whatever makes sense to us...and pay whatever we can afford.