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1986/87 Fleer Basketball pack bust.......

I had a monster month at work so I decided to treat myself to something I've always wanted to do- Bust some 86/87 Fleer packs. I bought two from BBCExchange at $250 each, and the suspense was literally beating me down for the next 3 days. I honestly couldn't concentrate on anything else. So when they got here I couldn't wait an extra second, so I busted them right away. This was the best card in the first pack:

86F1


At this point I'm immediately regretting my decision, but you only live once. Pack two played out a little better:

86F2

86F3

"Note: If you want to see an enlarged pic of the cards hit "Original" at the top of the page"


I can't complain about a nice Olajuwon (that black speck on the top left is on the scan not the card) and several stars/semis that should grade 9 with a few having an outside shot at 10 (Cooper, Cooper, and Cheeks). The centering and edges of the 2nd pack was incredible, making it almost worth it to buy a few more and maybe get a centered Jordan. Buying these definitely takes more balls than brains, so me having no brains I bought another two packs after fairing well in a recent poker tournament. I'll let you know how I did.

Lee

Comments

  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,054 ✭✭✭
    Nice but where's the MJ?
  • julen23julen23 Posts: 4,558 ✭✭
    power to you brother!

    thanks for sharing something i cannot afford!

    Julen
    image
    RIP GURU
  • CDsNutsCDsNuts Posts: 10,092
    larryallen: Is Jordan in the set? I thought the Mullin rookie was the card to shoot for.

    Lee
  • julen23julen23 Posts: 4,558 ✭✭
    do those packs come w/ stickers?

    Julen
    image
    RIP GURU
  • CDsNutsCDsNuts Posts: 10,092
    Oh yes, forgot about them. Adrian Dantley and Alex English. They'd grade 8 I think, but not sending them in.

    Lee
  • KnucklesKnuckles Posts: 2,512 ✭✭✭
    Could always be worse.. I would love to open some packs of those.. Nice Olajuwon image

    Good luck with round 2
    image
  • MeferMefer Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭
    Good for you on the pack busts. These are a lot of fun and are loaded with great stars. I busted a bunch in the late 90s at 175 to 200 a pop and had a blast doing it. Most of them I bought from the BB Card Kid. I did pull a number of Jordans, graded them and sold them. The prices of Jordan at the time were so high that I about broke even on the deal. With the prices cooling off on the set (relatively speaking) from that time compared to the increase in pack prices, it is a little tougher deal. However, would I do it again today? Absolutely! It is a lot of fun.

    Out of curiosity, does Steve have a full box he is selling from? I may pick one of these up and charge a portion of my debt to you for planting this seed. image
  • tennesseebankertennesseebanker Posts: 5,428 ✭✭✭
    Geez, everytime I see an 86 fleer bkb I want to kick my own arse. A buddy of mine and I while in high school used to get them at the local Piggly Wiggly by the box, we would sit in my 78 T-bird and open every one of them. I bet between us we had a dozen Jordan cards. We peeled off the stickers and stuck them various places, inside our locker, on the wall, around our bic lighters. I remember glueing several of these to a piece of wood! I dont have them anymore, boy if I had only known!
    image

  • CDsNutsCDsNuts Posts: 10,092
    Steve told me he was selling them from a box he bought from somebody. He had about half the box left as of last week. By no means did I think I would in any way profit from these, but I just had to do it.

    Lee
  • gosteelersgosteelers Posts: 2,668 ✭✭✭
    How many Jordans can you realistically expect from one box?
  • MeferMefer Posts: 1,156 ✭✭✭
    My experience has been three to four Jordan cards and three to four Jordan stickers on average. Just doing the math, with 132 cards in the set, you could conceivably fill out a set with just 12 packs. With thirty six packs per box, that is about three sets on average with some duplicates.
  • dunerduner Posts: 625
    So it's effectively impossible to break even on a box? If you drop 9K on a box and don't pull a gem Jordan or a couple of gem Malones you're in a world of hurt....it seems like on average you'd pull one mint/mint+ set, and a couple nrmt sets, which would most likely result in a 3-5K loss on the box...OUCH!
    Duner a.k.a. THE LSUConnMan
    lsuconnman@yahoo.com

    image

  • softparadesoftparade Posts: 9,267 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Lee,

    Having more BALLS then BRAINS is what truly makes life more fun. I am of your makeup trust me brother image

    I remember that Mantle duo card you pulled way back ....... you made out like flies on $hit with that pack. Easy come and easy go having fun all the way

    ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240

  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Lee

    Nice job! I think ya did good in a sense that part of the fun "is" the anticipation and excitement.

    Ya never know, the next ones could be the Jordan!

    I opened them in 86 - nobody wanted them! The centering was awful - if I want to say that there was 3 or 4 Jordans/box - the quality next to Topps that year was awful - a lot of OCs and rough cuts.

    I traded most of the stuff from the boxes and still have a bunch of the commons - not worth much - much OCs. I did this when this stuff wasn't worth squat BTW.

    The candy distributor had x'ed out the name on the box and was selling them cheap - and there were no takers - this was late 86 - early 87 in St. Louis.

    Who knew? I even traded a box with my neighbor across the street for a box of 87Topps! This was, of course, 1987.

    Good luck on your next pickup - considering one Jordan per 9 - 12 packs? Well - it's no worse than going to Vegas and hitting the slots?

    Very nice cards.
    mike
    Mike
  • CDsNutsCDsNuts Posts: 10,092
    Soft: I also made out on that 78 rack box you generously sold to me, and that was without pulling a Murray or Molitor/Trammell.

    duner: While it seems like it's impossible to make money on an 86/87 Fleer box, you can really tell within opening two packs whether the box will be good or not. You'll get your 3-4 sets, but centering is the key. In the 80s Fleer basketball boxes, the centering is fairly consistent throughout the whole box, so if you get a box where all the cards are 55/45 or better and the box hasn't been handled much so corners are sharp, you could make a killing, as any PSA 10 of a star or semi will bring good money. That's a lot of ifs and coulds, but I'm just saying it's possible. I believe the two packs I bought came from different boxes (the gum was a little different and the centering was different).


    It's funny because I've broken a lot of stuff I've always wanted to in the past year or so, but this was the first time in a while I got the butterflies. It really proves that money's not everything. Sometimes the experience is better than having the money- kind of like seeing a once in a lifetime ballgame. This is something I've always wanted to do, and I'm doing ok financially, so why the hell not. Of course, next time I struggle with money (and I hope there's no next time), I'll probably wonder what the hell I was thinking, but that's life I guess.

    Lee
  • RedHeart54RedHeart54 Posts: 2,267 ✭✭✭
    The obvious question- did you eat the gum?
  • CDsNutsCDsNuts Posts: 10,092
    I thought about it, then I realized it would probably taste like every other 20 year old piece of gum I've eaten from an old pack of cards. Fool me once, shame on you.....

    Lee
  • Yeah I uh had a boxful of experience with old gum....it was a funny time in my life...nothing like cracking a hobby box while have the munchies if ya get what I'm saying. Needless to say I learned slow that 20 year old gum...no matter how many peices you put in your mouth....it ain't new.
    Collecting;
    Mark Mulder rookies
    Chipper Jones rookies
    Orlando Cabrera rookies
    Lawrence Taylor
    Sam Huff
    Lavar Arrington
    NY Giants
    NY Yankees
    NJ Nets
    NJ Devils
    1950s-1960s Topps NY Giants Team cards

    Looking for Topps rookies as well.

    References:
    GregM13
    VintageJeff
  • Now that's what I'm talking about, Topps!

    Could you imagine a nice box bust with the munchies?

    If you submitted in that state, you'd have quite a few PSA 3s on your hands!

    Fun thinking about, though.
  • ^^Well as it happened it turned out to be the worse wax bust for a box I ever had. Not 1 star rookie(Not superstar, not semistar, not even just a regular starter). Needless to say the seller made up for it by sending me 5 rackpacks and some other stuff to make up for the "bad" box. Needless to say after that, f 20 year old gum.
    Collecting;
    Mark Mulder rookies
    Chipper Jones rookies
    Orlando Cabrera rookies
    Lawrence Taylor
    Sam Huff
    Lavar Arrington
    NY Giants
    NY Yankees
    NJ Nets
    NJ Devils
    1950s-1960s Topps NY Giants Team cards

    Looking for Topps rookies as well.

    References:
    GregM13
    VintageJeff
  • ...
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