What would you do if you found a box of 52 Topps?

Bunker

Say you came across a box of them in your attic or something.

Would you rip them or get them graded and sell them? It would be a tough decision for me. I am not sure if the odds would be on your side or not for finding the Mantle. Of course if I knew their was a Mantle in every box I would rip them, but if Mantles came in every 10th box I think I would have them graded and put up for auction

What would you do?

themetalsign

I would probably die of a heart attack............


I would rip them and have a few packs graded.


Dave D.

drewsef

sell them, cause I only collect football

calaban7

I would probably do something really stupid, no matter what I did. When I was 10 , we moved into a 175 year old farm house. At the time we found some real neat , old, old cards , mostly from the 30's , in the attic. They looked real nice in our bike spokes. If I somehow found THE box, I'd probably spontaneously combust or something like that. Its been said that Love is for the lucky and the strong, Finding such a box , surely wouldn't fall in the hand of a fool. GOD save me from finding the box.

AlanAllen

I'd consign the box as-found to Robert Edward. It would be fun as heck to bust some 1952 Topps wax, but it would almost certainly be a money losing proposition and there are cheaper thrills out there.

Joe

RonBurgundy

They would remain unopened. If I found 10 boxes, I might open one.



Ron

digicat

I'd sell the thing and use the money to buy a house!

kcballboy

I'd wonder how in the hell there was a box of unopened 52 Topps in my attic without me knowing.

Then I'd open the crap out of it.

bri2327

<< <i>I'd sell the thing and use the money to buy a house! >>





Although even that wouldnt come close to buying a house near me

fsjeter

If it looked like it came from the 400 or so cases that got dumped in the east river, I wouldn't open it. If it was a nice clean box, I would rip it and grade the singles and get a helluva jump on the set.

Scott

tennesseebanker

Lets just say I would need to be in here if I found it !

lostdart58

Trade them for some late 80's stuff!!

Bunker

<< <i>Lets just say I would need to be in here if I found it !

>>

fsjeter

<< <i>I am not sure if the odds would be on your side or not for finding the Mantle. Of course if I knew their was a Mantle in every box I would rip them, but if Mantles came in every 10th box I think I would have them graded and put up for auction >>



Is there any way of knowing what series you have without opening one of the packs? It's my understanding that most of the 1952 Packs/boxes turning up these days are 1st or 2nd series packs. I don't recall seeing too many high series packs available lately although I could be wrong. Then again, some nice 1st series black backs would be nice.

Scott

Edited to add: I thought that is why the Double Printed Mantle is so scarce because the high series boxes were the ones that got dumped in the river. Maybe I would open it anyway!

Barfvader

<< <i>I'd sell the thing and use the money to buy a house! >>



I'd sell it and pay off what we owe on our house.

But if I could I would sure enjoy opening it.

mkg809

I would open the first pack, pull a mint Mantle, then sell the rest!

RipublicaninMass

open it. share the gum with Lothar

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

Grade 10 of the best ones. Sell 5, save 5 and open the rest. Slowly.

lawnmowerman

I would rip away. While I understand some's logic that it would be a "money losing" venture to rip 'em, I see it differently. If I "found" it I would not be losing money by ripping it.

I would lose the chance to make money by selling the box or packs but that loss would be well worth it to me knowing I ripped a box of 1952 Topps!

PROMETHIUS88

"It would be fun as heck to bust some 1952 Topps wax, but it would almost certainly be a money losing proposition ..."
It wouldn't be a money-losing proposition, cause you found them and they were free!!!

Rip, Rip, Rip away!!!

RobMM77

I would .....................FREAK OUT...............and ...........then call up Memory Lane.........It would probably pay for a nice home.............

stown

After cleaning my pants, I would rip 1/4 and see what I pulled.

If it was bad, would just rip the whole thing hoping for a major pull. Worst case, get a ton of commons and either sell or build a set.

If I pull a couple of Mantles (hey, why not ), would grade the rest and sell them.

TJMAC

I would definitely sell it. Then I would save a 1/3 of the money, give a 1/3 to my daughter and wife and blow the rest on graded cards. I am not much of a risk taker and would be afraid to open it.

Bunker

How many packs were in the boxes anyway?

AlanAllen

Opportunity costs are still costs . I hear you guys about how fun it would be to break that box, but would it be tens of thousands of dollars fun?

Joe

Stone193

Hmmmm....

Well as long as we're hypothetical?

I found the box?

First thing I would do is call for my wife! Oh...Shana!



Call our friends - we're havin' a parteeee!

This is our house:



Oh BTW, Shana, called Marshall - our private pilot - and tell him to crank up the family jet - cause we're flying with our guests to our beach house!





And then I'll just sit back and admire the packs for a bit!



Ahhhh...the best nation on the planet? The imagiNation!

ArnyVee

I don't know if I could resist the temptation. I might just open one pack and see the condition of the cards. If I liked what I saw, maybe I send off a few to get graded and get some cash generated by selling them. But, if the condition were good on the packs, I would definitely have to open at least half of the box.

larryallen73

Would be tough but I think I would sell. The amount of money they would bring would be pretty substantial to a regular guy like me. Ok, maybe rip one pack and sell the rest.

Bunker

If you did decide to sell would you want to know what cards you could of had if someone opened them? Or would you rather not know in case he pulled two PSA 9 Mantles?

BTW Stone can I be your friend? That would be the way to roll!

RipublicaninMass

I think if I knew the packs were untouched and unsearched the possiblity of hi grade psa 10 cards would compell me to crack the box. ONE psa 10 could be worth the price of an entire sealed box. Seems like a no brainer to me, but I am a gamblin man!

Stone193

I remember a few years ago a full box from the hi series sold at auction...

I think it was rumored that the packs were water damaged?

When packs have been opened in the past - many have had really bad gum problems along with infestation of bugs that ruined the cards.

So, though I would like to say rip...

I think I would sell and use the money to take a long, long, long vacation.

mike

roastedcat

I once had two unopened boxes of 1963 Topp's my dad bought at a yard sale for $2.00

lilmule

Sell the gum and throw away the cards lol just kidding, open the packs until I came across the Mantle then grade the rest, and the Mantle.

Bunker

<< <i>I once had two unopened boxes of 1963 Topp's my dad bought at a yard sale for $2.00 >>



That is pretty awesome, did you rip them?

JackWESQ

To answer the original inquiry, I would sell the box without hesitation. But now to take all the fun out of the question, I have to wonder, with all the technology currently available, is there no device/scanner/whatever that can actually see through the wrapping on a pack of cards and identify what exactly is inside the packs? Of course, this is not practical while shopping at Target/Walmart, but what about if you had complete access to JPL, NASA, Caltech? I have to imagine there is some kind of device that could get the job done. Any scientists out there?

/s/ JackWESQ

NickM

In past catalog auctions, some of the pictures have been hi-res enough that you could see portions of the top card, and people identified many of those cards from the pictures.

Oh, and I'd consign it to one of the major auction houses.

Nick

Alfonz24

I would give one pack to each of my friends.

Then I would have the surgery to fix the pigs flying out of my a$$.

Then I would rip away!

softparade

I would $hit myself if I stumbled on a box like this.

yankeeno7

I would hire famous psychic Miss Cleo to tell me what packs the Mantles were in, rip those then sell the rest!

Ummm....and no, I dont really believe in psychics!

roastedcat

That is pretty awesome, did you rip them?


I was about 11 years old at the time, and we did open a box, I wasn't interested in BB cards back then,
I was interested in Comic and my BB gun and firecrackers. I remember my dad gave us one of the box to
me and my brother to play around with and one box he just put away in the closet somewhere. I could remember opening packs
and didn't know who these people were. I had no interest in cards back then, I remember setting them up and using them
for target practice with my bb gun. As well as blowing them up with firecrackers. I remember my dad caught me destroying the
cards and took them away from us, he put all the opened ones in a photo album and told us to just look at the pictures. And
then took the album and hid it from us. some years later, when my dad was no longer around. I just finished college and got into
collecting cards I found the cards I once had in the album, as well as learned about PSA grading, PSA was just starting out and In their 2nd year of business. I remember submitting a bunch of 1963 Topps to the company because I liked the holders, which I recieved a bunch of 8's and a few 9's many were returned unslabbed because they had bb holes in them. I'm still kicking myself in the head because I destroyed 3 really nice Mantles, and a bunch of other HOF'ers.

Downtown1974

If I had a 52 Mantle already, I probably would not rip them. But I dont have one so I would rip like there is no tomorrow. If I got the Mantle early in the box, I would save 1 pack unopened for next years secret santa.

BigRedMachine

<< <i>What would you do if you found a box of 52 Topps? >>



After some personal time with a moist towelette, I'd have to crack a pack or two.

Lothar52

<< <i>open it. share the gum with Lothar >>



YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tsalem

No doubt about it....


I would crack it!

RipublicaninMass

<< <i>

<< <i>open it. share the gum with Lothar >>



YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >>



+1

Griffins

<< <i> But now to take all the fun out of the question, I have to wonder, with all the technology currently available, is there no device/scanner/whatever that can actually see through the wrapping on a pack of cards and identify what exactly is inside the packs? >>


DaveMRI is a frequent poster on this board, and an MRI tech. Last summer I asked him if I sent him a few packs if there was anything that could scan them. He looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world. Figured as much, but I had to give it a shot.
If I found a box I would trickle out one pack at a time after getting them graded. Every REA auction would have one of my packs consigned, and I would probably trade a few to finish out an unopened pack run.

PuertoRicanFogBank

First, I would thoroughly soil my small clothes.

Not too terribly intelligent when it comes to these type of scenarios/hypotheticals (wife claims that I'm impulsive/compulsive), so I'd probably just allow my alter-ego, NJMH, to open the whole darn thing.

Then probably lament about the cash I could have made selling.

I feel like a complete nerd when I fantasize about garage sale finds of this nature, etc.

RipublicaninMass

I think NJMH would like....very much

djspann

If I found a box of 52 Topps, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep for a day or two. I'm sure I couldn't resist opening at least one, just to do it, but then again, it'd be hard to stop. I'd have to force myself to leave it as-is for a few days until I could think straight and then decide.

Doug

Stingray

Would probably open two packs and get the rest graded and sell them off. I might keep one each for my daughters to have once I'm gone.

stevek

<<< What would you do if you found a box of 52 Topps? >>>

I would search for the rightful owner, or the descendant of the owner, and then promptly return the cards to them, expecting nothing in return other than perhaps a handshake or a word of thanks!