Question about card distribution in vending boxes

Aaronman

Given a 500 count vending box what woud you say, on average, would be the number of different cards you would get? Does it vary by year, sport, series, # of cards in a set/series? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Doug

Mefer

It depends on the number of cards in the series or set. Also, it has been my experience that vending boxes have more than 500 cards in them (more than 500 to assure a tight fit). Just to give an example, I opened up a number of 85 Topps baseball vending boxes when the McGwire rookie was on fire. Those boxes averaged about 520 cards in them. The 85 set has 792 cards. Thought I did not specifically count, it seems I got around 400 to 450 different cards in each box. I hope this helps.

fiveniner

I have come across vending boxes in which there were no dupes in the 80s stuff.

zef204

I have gotten some boxes that weren't issued in series and there were 4-5 of a few of the same card.

Fuzz

There are probably as many answers to this as there are issues, but if the "way back" machine is working properly, then this should be close.
By series boxes. Most boxes issued pre-1973 were issued in series. So the number of cards was a function of the number of cards in the series. But even then they were not even. With about 100 cards in the series, some numbers would have as little as three and others as many as eight. During this time there did also appear to be some inventory cleaning boxes where more than one series could be in a legitimate box. At this point they seem to pack whatever they had left in packs. These are not common in years in this timeframe but are common in the 80's and might be called "closeouts".
All in one series boxes were issued at the end of 1973 and after. They may or not may not have good collation depending on the manufacturer and the year. Topps always has had poor colation. To the point this may have been a business strategy to keep you buying to get the last card. When Fleer and Donruss started they were using this as a selling point by having much better colation and in general they did. I believe that Donruss was better than Fleer but both were by far better than Topps.
If it wasw late 70's to early 80's Topps, I would believe as few as 150 to 200 different is possible. If it were the others, I would guess 450+.
Fuzz

fsjeter

Actually, Fleer issued their vending boxes in sequential set order. The boxes were numbered and two consecutive boxes yielded a complete set and a half. In a typical Fleer vending case you should have 18 complete sets plus a few extras (12,000/660 = 18.19). Fleer vending is easy to cherry pick which is why I suggest staying away from box sales if you don't know the dealer. Buy cases only of Fleer vending. As far as I know, Donruss did not distribute vending cases, only set cases.

Scott

Wabittwax

I opened about 70 1980 boxes and I would say just about all of them contained 500 (or more) different cards. I never got 2 Hendersons in one box. I either got 1 or 0.

Ripken

I was a regular buyer of Topps cases from 1979-87. Generally you could expect 11-12 complete sets in a case of 12,000 cards. You were close enough to to completing 15-16 sets to create lists and trade or buy what you needed. 12 sets left you with about 3700 duplicates in the 726-card issues. If you were lucky enough to put 15 sets together from a case that left only about 1200 doubles but I don't recall that happening more than once or twice. Of course, the double prints in '79-81 were a nightmare. You had plenty of Willie Norwoods but usually needed several Rose, Yaz or Brock.

zef204

<< <i>I opened about 70 1980 boxes and I would say just about all of them contained 500 (or more) different cards. I never got 2 Hendersons in one box. I either got 1 or 0. >>

Yeah but can you tell me how many Mike Ivie's you got in hat box? I opened a ton of 80 vending and I know that there were many multiples of single cards. Maybe not the Hendo, but of someone.

joemaggio

Actually, Fleer sorted their vending boxes so that any two different numbered boxes would yield a complete set - they didn't have to be consecutive. But, as mentioned earlier, that left the door wide open for cherry pickers since the same 495 cards were in every box with the same number (there were 5 extra cards to get to 500 and I think they were on the top of the other 495). Each Fleer vending box had a "1" "2" "3" or "4" stamped on it.

bri2327

<< <i>It depends on the number of cards in the series or set. Also, it has been my experience that vending boxes have more than 500 cards in them (more than 500 to assure a tight fit). Just to give an example, I opened up a number of 85 Topps baseball vending boxes when the McGwire rookie was on fire. Those boxes averaged about 520 cards in them. The 85 set has 792 cards. Thought I did not specifically count, it seems I got around 400 to 450 different cards in each box. I hope this helps. >>





Interesting for sure, I have either never gotten or did get and never noticed any vending with over 500 cards.

Wabittwax

<< <i>

<< <i>I opened about 70 1980 boxes and I would say just about all of them contained 500 (or more) different cards. I never got 2 Hendersons in one box. I either got 1 or 0. >>

Yeah but can you tell me how many Mike Ivie's you got in hat box? I opened a ton of 80 vending and I know that there were many multiples of single cards. Maybe not the Hendo, but of someone. >>



Yeah, your right, I forgot about the double prints. I didn't really pay much attention to those because they were all nobodys.