Fritsch to Let Mastro Auctions Sell Vending Boxes!

JESSEJAMES

http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/

Barfvader

All I've got to add to this is

poppie

I have toured the warehouse! It is amazing what he has!

JESSEJAMES

poppie... how did you get this opportunity? can you describe the experience?? Very interested!

mcholke

Article says over 60 million cards. It will be interesting to see these work there way through the system and see what the pop reports look like in a year from now. That is a ton of cards to get into the market.

tennesseebanker

I wonder how good a shape the cards are in, I havent had very good luck with vending. I wonder what years they have for auction ?

RonBurgundy

"I wonder what years they have for auction "


That's the key. If it's 75 and earlier, Katy bar the door on some of the prices. Anything more recent than that can already be easily found.



Stay classy,


Ron

tennesseebanker

When did they start putting cards in to vending boxes ???

Barfvader

From the article

said Larry Fritsch. “Some of that stuff has been sitting there for 30 years and we felt it was time to make it available to collectors.”

Go back 30 years and you get 1976. Doesn't mean that is what will be auctioned though.

RonBurgundy

I think vending existed as early as the mid 50's.

Boopotts

I have no idea what all he has, but if the collection is as big as it appears to be I'd be very nervous if I was sitting on a bunch of high graded 60's-70's cards right now.

Incidentally, this really highlights the problem (IMO) with post-1960 graded sets. Every year the pop reports continue to outrun the demand. Where will it end? In addition to this warehouse of cards there are God knows how many shoeboxes still out there. True, most are in rough condition, but it would only take, say, 15 more PSA 9 1967 Hank Aarons or something like that to really screw up the value.

Griffins

I used to buy '59 vending boxes, that is the earliest I"ve seen.

poppie

<< <i>poppie... how did you get this opportunity? can you describe the experience?? Very interested! >>

I live about 20 miles from Stevens Pointe WI and have a good friend that knows Larry's son very well. Very nice people, who have a sound business philosophy (seems to be hold on to it until you get a fair price and dont sell it all). I dont know if what all I saw is confidemtial, but it is like a trip in a time machine!

poppie

<< <i> think vending existed as early as the mid 50's. >>

It did. I saw the machines that you would put a penny in and out came the cards that startrd in the middle 1950's as i was told. Should have bought the machine; it was at a huge flea market in Orange County CA about 10 years ago.

Griffins

that makes sense, hadn't considered vending boxes would actually be used for vending machines
I've seen '54 Bowman and '55 Topps and Bowman machines. And prior to that Exhibit and Mutoscope machines.

JESSEJAMES

poppie, did you see his good stuff like his wagner?

jayhawke

Wasn't Larry Fritsch requesting people fax him with want lists about a year ago, or something to that nature?

Sugar20

I've read and heard that he used to buy railroad cards of 1968 and 1969 baseball vending cases for the price of the freight. There are people that claim he's still got sealed vending cases of those years stacked up to the ceiling, along with maybe 1964 too. and it's not just limited to baseball. that picture above that everyone seems to like laughing at is just a shot of him going through singles, not searching vending cases...they are sealed.

ldferg

this will be interesting. i will be on the lookout to see the hammer on these.

Stingray

<< <i>I've read and heard that he used to buy railroad cards of 1968 and 1969 baseball vending cases for the price of the freight. There are people that claim he's still got sealed vending cases of those years stacked up to the ceiling, along with maybe 1964 too. and it's not just limited to baseball. that picture above that everyone seems to like laughing at is just a shot of him going through singles, not searching vending cases...they are sealed. >>




I would not say that he is just searching through singles, it is a vending box that he is looking through. I sure would not like having some look through a vending box prior to my purchasing it. Though I am not saying that he is actually doing more than just posing for a picture here.

Stingray

poppie

<< <i>poppie, did you see his good stuff like his wagner? >>

That one is definitely not at the warehouse, but in a bank in the middle of........

JESSEJAMES

Stingray/// those ARE singles. Trust me. BAck in the day he kept his singles in vending boxes. There were no such thing as monster boxes back then. Fritsch is the real deal!

brianwintersfan

It will be interesting to see what he puts up for auction. Someone else mentioned about how he was looking for buyers I believe last year.
I told him what I was looking for and never heard back. I know he is the real deal but I don't care for his business practices or a lot of his prices. I think he is caught in a timewarp when it comes to prices and doesn't want to realize that Ebay has changed the way people collect cards. I mean why would I pay him $80.00 for a pack of 80-81 Topps basketball when I can get the same thing from BBCE for half the price??

Stingray

<< <i>Stingray/// those ARE singles. Trust me. BAck in the day he kept his singles in vending boxes. There were no such thing as monster boxes back then. Fritsch is the real deal! >>



Oh, I did not know that and I really did not mean to imply that he was actually searching them.


Stingray

tennesseebanker

Arent these vending boxes in the Mastro auction going on now?? Or a later one ?? If they are in the one starting April 3rd we should be able to view the vending boxes.

JESSEJAMES

THERE is no mastro auction going on right now.

tennesseebanker

Look at the top of the page, it says you can preview thier upcoming April 3rd auction

JESSEJAMES

It must be wrong cus there is no preview on their web site yet.

tennesseebanker

I cant tell because the firewall at work keeps me from viewing the site. I thought it said somewhere in the article about when the vending boxes would be auctioned.

Barfvader

The article says



<< <i>A description of the Fritsch vending boxes being offered in Mastro’s April sale is included in the April 14 issue of Sports Collectors Digest. For more information call (630) 472-1200, or go to www.mastroauctions.com. >>

jimq112

<< <i>I've read and heard that he used to buy railroad cards of 1968 and 1969 baseball vending cases for the price of the freight. There are people that claim he's still got sealed vending cases of those years stacked up to the ceiling, along with maybe 1964 too. and it's not just limited to baseball. that picture above that everyone seems to like laughing at is just a shot of him going through singles, not searching vending cases...they are sealed. >>



I've read several times in the last 10 years that he bought 30-50% of all high series 1972 football. When it wasn't selling Topps gave it to him for the price of freight. If I remember correctly it was 50 cases. Maybe somebody can correct me but I think that was the number.

He's too smart to flood the market, right?

JESSEJAMES

I think you are right on target with that statement about the 1972 football...

you must have a good source.

JESSEJAMES

Fritsch doesnt need the money, so he wont flood the market. He is a collector first and foremost and understands what he has.

Sugar20

SCD has the full story up on its site now with a list of all the vending boxes in the april mastro auction.
Fritsch/Mastro story

Some pretty amazing stuff in there.

mikeschmidt

Untouched Treasure

1964 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 6 and 7 minimum bid $1,000
1968 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 5 $500
1968 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 7 $500
1969 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 6 $500
1969 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 7 $500
1970 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1970 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 1 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 2 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1972 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 3 $500
1973 Topps Baseball Wax Box – Series 5 $500
1970-71 Topps Basketball Vending Box – Series 2 $1,000
1970-71 Topps Basketball Wax Box – Series 1 $2,500
1971-72 Topps Basketball Vending Box $500
1972-73 Topps Basketball Vending Box $300
1974-75 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (2) available $200
1975-76 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1976-77 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (4) available $300
1959 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 2 $1,000
1971 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 1 $300
1972 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 1 $300
1972 Topps Football Wax Box – Series 2 $500
1972 Topps Football Wax Box – Series 3 $1,000
1973 Topps Football Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975 Topps Football Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975 Topps Football Cello Boxes (2) available $500
1968-69 Topps Hockey Vending Box $500
1971-72 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $500
1972-73 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $300
1973-74 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $300
1974-75 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975-76 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (4) available $300

baseballfanatic

Better than the unopened stuff, I would like to see the uncut sheet of the 61 Dice Game!

brianwintersfan

So I'm guessing those prices are the opening bids??
Wow! Four 75-76 Topps basketball vending boxes. What are the odds that they would be clean enough to grade 30+ years later??
That is my all-time favorite basketball set so I may have to bid on those.

chaz43

<< <i>Untouched Treasure

1964 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 6 and 7 minimum bid $1,000
1968 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 5 $500
1968 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 7 $500
1969 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 6 $500
1969 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 7 $500
1970 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1970 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 1 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 2 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1972 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 3 $500
1973 Topps Baseball Wax Box – Series 5 $500
1970-71 Topps Basketball Vending Box – Series 2 $1,000
1970-71 Topps Basketball Wax Box – Series 1 $2,500
1971-72 Topps Basketball Vending Box $500
1972-73 Topps Basketball Vending Box $300
1974-75 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (2) available $200
1975-76 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1976-77 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (4) available $300
1959 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 2 $1,000
1971 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 1 $300
1972 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 1 $300
1972 Topps Football Wax Box – Series 2 $500
1972 Topps Football Wax Box – Series 3 $1,000
1973 Topps Football Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975 Topps Football Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975 Topps Football Cello Boxes (2) available $500
1968-69 Topps Hockey Vending Box $500
1971-72 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $500
1972-73 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $300
1973-74 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $300
1974-75 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975-76 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (4) available $300 >>





SICK....SICK... SICK... UNBELIEVABLE FREAKIN' STUFF HE'S GOT. I was just on Fritche's website. His stuff is overpriced and maybe he feels Mastro can move it for him. I think this is the tip of the iceberg. Guys that go out in April and bid like crazy on this stuff are going to overbid. I think it's best to lay back and pick your spots over time like in August. Remember the 20% buyers premium including shipping which is brutal. chaz

chaz43

<< <i>

<< <i>Untouched Treasure

1964 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 6 and 7 minimum bid $1,000
1968 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 5 $500
1968 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 7 $500
1969 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 6 $500
1969 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 7 $500
1970 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1970 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 1 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 2 $500
1971 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 4 $500
1972 Topps Baseball Vending Box – Series 3 $500
1973 Topps Baseball Wax Box – Series 5 $500
1970-71 Topps Basketball Vending Box – Series 2 $1,000
1970-71 Topps Basketball Wax Box – Series 1 $2,500
1971-72 Topps Basketball Vending Box $500
1972-73 Topps Basketball Vending Box $300
1974-75 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (2) available $200
1975-76 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1976-77 Topps Basketball Vending Boxes (4) available $300
1959 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 2 $1,000
1971 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 1 $300
1972 Topps Football Vending Box – Series 1 $300
1972 Topps Football Wax Box – Series 2 $500
1972 Topps Football Wax Box – Series 3 $1,000
1973 Topps Football Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975 Topps Football Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975 Topps Football Cello Boxes (2) available $500
1968-69 Topps Hockey Vending Box $500
1971-72 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $500
1972-73 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $300
1973-74 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (2) available $300
1974-75 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (4) available $500
1975-76 Topps Hockey Vending Boxes (4) available $300 >>





SICK....SICK... SICK... UNBELIEVABLE FREAKIN' STUFF HE'S GOT. I was just on Fritche's website. His stuff is overpriced and maybe he feels Mastro can move it for him. I think this is the tip of the iceberg. Guys that go out in April and bid like crazy on this stuff are going to overbid. I think it's best to lay back and pick your spots over time like in August. Remember the 20% buyers premium including shipping which is brutal. chaz >>





I am also wondering what these will do to the POP reports and prices. If demand stays high though....... nothing?......who knows ??? chaz

Sugar20

You have understand Fritsch a little more. He generally doesn't care if he sells something or not and will never discount. If he's got a card that books for $100 in his catalog for $175 and he sells four of them in a year, it's a good year. If he sells eight of them, he raises the price to $200. He could have moved this stuff thousands of times in the past, but he's never given in to take a lesser price. I'm guessing (ok, i'm sure of it) that mastro has sold him on the fact that they get maximum prices for stuff and that's the only reason they are giving this a shot. I gotta believe he's thinking a little bit of his age and that it would be nice to move some stuff before getting much older, but he would never discount so selling box by box through mastro is a great option. He loves the hobby too much to destroy it by flooding it. I'd be a little nervous if i had a ton of money invested in 1972 topps high number football or 72-73 basketball, but he's a smart guy who has had the potential to flood the market for a long time and hasn't.

chaz43

<< <i>You have understand Fritsch a little more. He generally doesn't care if he sells something or not and will never discount. If he's got a card that books for $100 in his catalog for $175 and he sells four of them in a year, it's a good year. If he sells eight of them, he raises the price to $200. He could have moved this stuff thousands of times in the past, but he's never given in to take a lesser price. I'm guessing (ok, i'm sure of it) that mastro has sold him on the fact that they get maximum prices for stuff and that's the only reason they are giving this a shot. I gotta believe he's thinking a little bit of his age and that it would be nice to move some stuff before getting much older, but he would never discount so selling box by box through mastro is a great option. He loves the hobby too much to destroy it by flooding it. I'd be a little nervous if i had a ton of money invested in 1972 topps high number football or 72-73 basketball, but he's a smart guy who has had the potential to flood the market for a long time and hasn't. >>




I know he could move his stuff at any time but he wants too much for it and that's another reason why it's sitting plus he's getting older like you said. Just the mere fact that the stuff is there makes me uneasy and like I said it's probably the tip of the iceberg. If we really saw everything, it would boggle our minds. I will not go crazy bidding on it though. chaz

mikeschmidt

It's a lot of money for essentially a baseball card lottery ticket. You can end up with a vending box where many cards have corner dings, bad centering, etc. - or you can get a box where you get a lot of potential 9s, a few 10s and a majority of 8s. But there is a very large inherent 'crapshoot' factor involved.

Marc

Sugar20

I totally agree. I think the guys that cut the sheets for Topps were doing LSD a lot ...realistically they didn't care because they were the only card maker and quality control costs money. It is totally hit and miss with that stuff. I've seen vending boxes of stuff from the 60s and 70s and you get one with everything poorly centered and printer marks, etc. and wind up with 10-20 gradable cards total and the next one you get 250 of them that are 7s or better. I've always been blown away by the prices of sealed wax, vending, etc. It goes for so much that the person buying it really can't open it because they are almost guaranteed to lose money. It is the tip of the iceberg though and i totally agree with chaz that it would be a bad mistake to overpay for the first boxes because there should be plenty more to come.

mikeschmidt

<< <i> I've always been blown away by the prices of sealed wax, vending, etc. It goes for so much that the person buying it really can't open it because they are almost guaranteed to lose money. >>



Depends-

1952 Topps #1 Andy Pafko PSA 10 GEM MINT sells for $86k or so

Very recently - someone [on these forums] busted a 1970 Topps wax pack and got a PSA 10 GEM MINT Pete Rose.

In many ways - especially when you consider the price differential between PSA 7s and PSA 10s - this has many similarities to a lottery enterprise.

~ms

brianwintersfan

For someone like me who loves that 75-76 Topps basketball set it's hard not to get excited at seeing four vending boxes. I mean I can only think of one or two wax boxes that have popped up on Ebay over the last five years. For a set that isn't considered that great it's one of the tougher ones for sealed product. That being said I'm sure these vending boxes will fetch big $$$.

Fabfrank

I think you have to remember onr thing. This is not some unknown find. Larry has had these cards for years, and they have been available through his catalog for years. The supplied didn't suddenly increase. It's always been there. It's just that few people wanted to pay his price.
Now enter Mastro, with some slick marketing and hype, and suddenly cards that sat in the catalog are now auction material. I would be interested in finding out from the winners the condition of the cards. Remember another key nuggett. Larry was the dumping ground for Topps. When no other dealer wanted this material, Larry would take it off Topps' hands. I have the feeling that since most of this material was either going to larry or the dump, it wasn't handled in the most loving fashion. I would bid if I knew the vending came from the middle of the case, rather than from the corner or bottom.

spazzy

I tend to agree that Larry does not care about the collector. If he did he would have used his own catalog to promote this stuff at whatever high prices he already has in the catalog for his other stuff.He should have given the collectors first a chance instead of some millionaire who will outbid our bids. And if we do win a lot, we have to kick in another 10%!!!!Its all about greed...and thats ok .. Dont tell us it will get into the real collectors hand....

CollectorChris

Years ago, long before the internet age, I ordered baseball and football cards in packs or boxes from him and was consistently disappointed in their condition. I think he advertised in the Sporting News. This was when I was very young and would spend virtually all my extra money on cards. My collecting friends experienced the same thing with the sad condition where card after card after card was dinged or warped or badly off center or.... We just gave up ordering from him.

I also seem to recall they may have had flood damage to a lot of inventory.

Don't throw your money down the drain by playing the fool's game... or else chances are that you're going to end up with trash.

Chris

chaz43

<< <i>I tend to agree that Larry does not care about the collector. If he did he would have used his own catalog to promote this stuff at whatever high prices he already has in the catalog for his other stuff.He should have given the collectors first a chance instead of some millionaire who will outbid our bids. And if we do win a lot, we have to kick in another 10%!!!!Its all about greed...and thats ok .. Dont tell us it will get into the real collectors hand.... >>




10 % ??? Try 17 1/2 % plus shipping and insurance is the buyers premium. I just round the whole thing off to 20 % ----- a ripoff if you ask me. For example, say you buy one of those vending boxes and you win the bid of say 4 grand for one of the 1960's vending boxes. So it's $4000 + $700 (17 1/2% buyers premium ripoff) + $30 for shipping and insurance = $4730.00 and guess what........ ALL SALES FINAL (listed in Maestro rules and regulations). chaz

julen23

Mastro is a pretty upscale auctionhouse/dealer, what are chances they never even looked at cards Larry's selling and just went on his good word?

I am sure whoever buys any of those boxes will not be dissatisfied.

Julen

packernut

I have been to Fritsch's place. I've been in the offices but not in the back. I know that he opened boxes of 1959 football wax a few years back. I bought almost a whole set of it. Every once in a while the cards surface in the area for sale. One dealer out of Oshkosh recently offered me some of the cards from the opening. He submitted several to PSA and got several 8's and 9's. Fritsch's warehouse is legendary. I have heard that he has skids of 70's baseball wax. Legend goes that he used to buy up all of the wax boxes returned to Topps in the 70's in bulk. I haven't seen it, so I don't know for sure. He is located in Stevens Point, WI.