Sealed Unopened Boxes and Sealed Sets

rana

Does anyone know what years Topps began sealing unopened boxes of their (esp Football/Basketball) packs? I believe it was in the late 80s or early 90s. I have several 70s boxes I bought from a very reliable source a few years ago that are sealed with clear soft/flexible wrap, but I believe the dealer was the one sealing them for added protection, not the Topps factory.

Similarly, does anyone know what year Topps issued their first regular issue set that was sealed. I recall someone posting pictures of a sealed set from 1983, but I assume there were some older ones as well (through the Sears catalog maybe?).

brianwintersfan

I believe wax boxes started in the early 90's as did complete sets. I know Steve from BBCEx shrink wraps some of his older boxes for extra protection.

rana

Semi-related findings:
http://forums.collectors.com/arcmessageview.cfm?catid=29&threadid=245410
1989 Topps Sealed:
http://www.teamfanatics.com/1989toppsbbfactoryset.html

Donruss had factory sealed sets back to 1983 at least.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8822879713

1985 Topps?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8821202078
1986 Topps?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8824467290
1981 Topps Traded?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8754134941
1984 Topps Tiffany
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8820683717
Boxes sealed in mid 90s?
http://forums.collectors.com/arcmessageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=223263&highlight_key=y&keyword1=factory

I once bought a 1987 topps football set claimed "sealed". It was in a plain brown box and sealed with tape. I think it was legit.

As you said, I know both Steve and Mark Murphy sell some older aftermarket/self-sealed wax boxes.

Stone193

Good questions and we have talked in the past.

The oldest factory set I know of is the 74T BB set. Not sealed.

I agree with Brian - I would guess Topps started using "sealed" products in the 90s.

Unless I'm wrong - you can tell - there's gonna be the "TOPPS" logo print on the plastic.

So all other shrinks are probably 'home' products.

mike

brianwintersfan

I know 1984 and 1985 Donruss would wrap their complete sets in individual bricks of say 50 cards each. The actual box they came in was not sealed but the actual cards were.
They may have done this for other years but I recently saw these two years so I know they did it.

Boopotts

<< <i>I know 1984 and 1985 Donruss would wrap their complete sets in individual bricks of say 50 cards each. The actual box they came in was not sealed but the actual cards were.
They may have done this for other years but I recently saw these two years so I know they did it. >>



Those little bricks are an absolute nightmare. If you get a bad batch you're just totall screwed. I've cracked factory set CASES- not just individual sets-- where basically every set had the dreaded rounded corners.

I'm still amazed that anyone ever finds a single gem mint card from the Donruss Highlight sets. God knows how many of these I've busted, and every one has been an utter waste of time.