Early 80's boxes- bust or keep?

larryallen73

I have a few boxes from the early 80's which I bought new and then put them away. I sold the best one, '84 Donruss, back in '91 but have a bunch of others 81-83 Donrss, 82-84 Fleer, 82-84 Topps, etc.... I keep seeing threads suggesting the market will be flooded with this stuff one day so it makes me want to bust them, grade the good ones, sell the 10's, and clear out some space in the safe for other stuff. Thoughts?

CDsNuts

For investment sake I would keep anything from that era and before unopened. I feel it's the one sure thing that will continue to go up in value, simply because it's the one thing that goes down in supply as people like me keep busting them. While you may make a few bucks or lose a few bucks right now depending on the condition of the cards coming out, your best bet is to keep them sealed. the will never go up in value monumentally, but over time you should see an incremental rise, maybe 10-15% every decade. Or if you don't like them all that much you can sell and buy what you like.

Lee

jrdolan

The market is already being flooded. 4_Sharp_Corners and DLS will run out of early '80s unopened wax and vending cases to break open in about 2019. I would sit on yours until then.

larryallen73

Ok, let's say I really want to open ONE of my boxes for grading. Which would you for sure KEEP and which would you BUST? All boxes are in same condition so that's not an issue. Choices: 81 D, 82 D, 83 D, 82 F, 83 F, 84 F, 82 T, 83 T, 84 T, 86 T.

CDsNuts

Open the 81 Donruss. Right now is the only time I feel you will be able to get value out of it, as PSA 10s are not in great abundance yet and as mentioned in another thread, PSA 10s of HOFers' otherwise worthless cards are going for silly prices right now. Down the line, I don't see a set with no RCs (except Baines) increasing in value. If you do get a 10 of any HOFer you should do well with it. You could open the 86 Topps for the same reason. I would definitely keep the 82s and 83s sealed.

Lee

ctsoxfan

jrdolan is correct - except maybe the year should read 2029.

But, isn't the 84 Fleer box somewhat "rare" by 80's standards? There should be a Mattingly RC in there (not as desirable as the Donruss, but people still like his RC's in PSA 10) - and a few HOF's have cards in that set as well. Might not be a bad break.

SoFLPhillyFan

<< <i>Open the 81 Donruss. Right now is the only time I feel you will be able to get value out of it, as PSA 10s are not in great abundance yet and as mentioned in another thread, PSA 10s of HOFers' otherwise worthless cards are going for silly prices right now. Down the line, I don't see a set with no RCs (except Baines) increasing in value. If you do get a 10 of any HOFer you should do well with it. You could open the 86 Topps for the same reason. I would definitely keep the 82s and 83s sealed.

Lee >>



I would use caution on the 81D. I opened two boxes a while back and found most cards to be in horrible condition. A first year for Donruss, terrible cuts, worse printing and centering. Edges looked like they had been cut with a bandsaw.
It was dissappointing to pull some great players cards that are useless.

Unless the thinking here is to rip the box that will hold the least value over time. I can see that.

For success in the contents I may go for the 82D or 82T.

Keith

Stingray

I bought a pack of 81 Donruss awhile ago and the first three cards were fused together, because of the gum. They were were all terrible cuts. If you are looking at taking a chance of getting any good cards go with the 83 Topps.


Stingray

kingraider75

<< <i>I bought a pack of 81 Donruss awhile ago and the first three cards were fused together, because of the gum. They were were all terrible cuts. If you are looking at taking a chance of getting any good cards go with the 83 Topps.


Stingray >>



stingray experience is probably the norm. Unless the boxes have been stored properly in a very cool area, the gum will probably ruin a lot of cards. Maybe the entire box, if the gum has become indented in the cards. As for keeping them or opening them. I would say it's probably "cooler' to keep them sealed. Monetarily, unless you can get some 9 or 10's it might be worth more to have a sealed box. Space is another consideration. Sealed wax takes up a lot of space.

spazzy

I think that you should keep your favorite box for yourself unopened or if you like open it . The rest of the boxes sell them or trade them for older sets or unopened packs of 1960s to 70s stuff. I believe quality is better than quantity for this situation. IF You sell them, you may be able to get some nice psa graded cards you like too instead of the crap shoot.

CDsNuts

Yeah Phillyfan, that was my reasoning- since the 81 D set will most likely never rise in value, and the others will probably incrementally go up because of RCs of HOFers, that would be the one to go with from an investment standpoint. Right now would be the time to sell a PSA 10 1981 Donruss Mike Schmidt and I'm not so sure that these otherwise meaningless cards in PSA 10 slabs will continue to bring the prices they are now. Even if 2-3 cards per pack are ruined, you're really only risking $40 and still have a reasonable shot at a 10 or 2 if the box is clean.


Lee

SoFLPhillyFan

That's what I figured Lee.

In general the cards were garbage, but I did salvage some good ones. About 30 in all.

Funny that you mention the Schmidt. The one card I had graded from the two boxes is a Schmidt. Graded a PSA 9, one of 6(?).

Keith