Best cards come from...

rbeaton

If you were buying unopened material, what would you buy?

1) Vending
2) Wax
3) Cello
4) Rack
5) other?

I got a 1979 vending box (500 cards) on ebay for $256 and noticed that 1979 wax boxes (432 cards) are going for $425 - $470. Are wax boxes that much better than vending?

Thanks,
Robert

mikeschmidt

vending is better -- but dealers can take a wax box and sell it to collectors by the pack.

69topps8

I think the best cards come from rack packs. With vending, the corners of every card could likely be "dinged" unless the box was carefully stored. Cello and wax also have corners exposed for potential damage and cellos are wrapped too tightly which can cause warping of the corners over time. Rack packs don't contain gum and the corners are somewhat protected by the thick cellophane seal that surrounds the three pockets.

mikeschmidt

Actually -- grocery tray packs might be a good bet, too. Besides the gum stain with the wax packs, I think that the tray protects the corners of all three packs. Just a thought -- I haven't owned a grocery tray pack in a long time.

With regards to vending, I should have qualified my statement to say "Vending case -- or a vending box that was recently taken from a sealed vending case".

FB

I would have to go with "other" when dealing with 60's and 70's material. I prefer to buy high end "pre-opened" material and save the money I pay for the mystique of opening it myself. Very rarely have I gotten PSA 9 quality material in unopened packs. I usually get a lot of corner nicks and the centering is usually questionable.

If I had to go with the type of unopened that I prefer, I have to say rackpacks because of the ability to see centering before I buy as well as the fact that the cards are held gently as opposed to tightly in both wax and cello.

69topps8

I've opened a few '79 wax trays over the years. Unfortunately the cardboard "walls" of the tray tend to pinch down on the corners of the packs damaging the cards. I haven't had much luck with them, but then again, I haven't had much luck with '79's in general since the factory cut was so terrible.

skylaneflyer

I'd have to say cello is the worst of all - corners are squeezed from tight wrap and centering has been poor.

Sky