Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Update for everyone. There has been a delay is some getting payments in. Steve confirmed with me yesterday that most of the packages went out on Thursday, and some yesterday depending on when payment was made.
There are still 2 individuals who need to get their payment in to BBCE. If they are not handled by the end of Sunday those packs will be available for anyone else. I don't think anyone intentionally isn't paying, just might be busy.
Edit: It is 3 packs of 75 Topps.
Thanks!
I'll take two of the 75 packs if they're not paid for. Thanks!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
If none of the corners are touched, I'd say the Lynn is a Mint 9...nice pull!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I apologize but I have to give up my two spots of 75 wax due to personal reasons. I see grote15 is willing to pick up at least two of them. Best of luck to all.
I do want them, just waiting for the ok from Mike (miconelegacy) to send payment.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Paid for 2 additional 1975 Topps wax packs...also added payment for 2 1977 Topps wax packs! Thanks again, Mike!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Got my 2 - 77 Cellos, I think I will leave them unopened for now. Also got an 80 Topps FB Wax Box and 2 - 81 Topps Baseball Wax Boxes. Is that last 75 pack available?
Received my packs today. I may open the 79s, however I am going to try and assemble a 1977 Topps Cello box, so I will probably keep the 77s sealed.
No real star power on the fronts, although I kind of consider Whitey a star, albeit a managerial one. I do like the fact that both packs have team checklists on the front. Wish the markets they represented were bigger, but still nice.
The back of one of the 79s (the scan is terrible, sorry) had Carlton Fisk. Pretty cool.
No package today. Maybe tomorrow. Actually I will have 2 packages coming now!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I have sent an email to BBCE about that last 75 pack and added a few more things to my order, so it will be paid when I get the total from them. Thanks again.
My first of two packages has landed via UPS! Will scan later!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Here are my 77 cellos...packs were really clean and tight. One had Blyleven on back. Will keep these sealed as I put together a full box. Will scan more packs tomorrow. I am going to open some (wax) and keep the rest sealed.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
That Yaz looks beautiful! Are you going to sub it?
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Agree with Grote that Yaz is stunning, looks like a 9 without disecting the scan. Way to go. Now I am at a crossroads with the 75's, they look great, and my plan was to keep them unopened.
I have been inspired over the last year or so first from Muggy and now Cpamike. So I too am working on a 77 Cello box, 77 Topps wax box, unopened graded run from 70 to 85. I have some nice packs left ungraded as well.
I hope to get my packs today from BBCE, we'll see what happens. I don't have the best self control when they are all lined up saying"Please rip me apart, I will give you a few seconds of excitement, most of the time I will dissapoint you, but don't you want to find out?, I might have a 10 for you!!"
Grote15- I like the Camp rookie, as I grew up in Georgia and a big Braves fan. Which is why I really wanted to pull a Murphy RC.
After getting so many really nice items from BBCE, I couldn't help myself and ordered three boxes of '89 Upper Deck low numbers (on sale!) as well as some '79 rack packs. We'll see how they all work out. Crossing my fingers for a PSA 10 Griffey!
Thanks again to miconelegacy for the group break. It was fun and I'm saving one of my '77 cellos as well.
I am an unopened collector and a pack ripper (a rare hybrid, lol) and usually rip wax or rack as the cards are usually in better condition than cello, especially from the 70s. Cellos also display more nicely, imo. Nothing beats the thrill of pulling a gem mint 10 card that you sub yourself to PSA!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Agree with Grote that Yaz is stunning, looks like a 9 without disecting the scan. Way to go. Now I am at a crossroads with the 75's, they look great, and my plan was to keep them unopened.
I have been inspired over the last year or so first from Muggy and now Cpamike. So I too am working on a 77 Cello box, 77 Topps wax box, unopened graded run from 70 to 85. I have some nice packs left ungraded as well.
I hope to get my packs today from BBCE, we'll see what happens. I don't have the best self control when they are all lined up saying"Please rip me apart, I will give you a few seconds of excitement, most of the time I will dissapoint you, but don't you want to find out?, I might have a 10 for you!!"
Let's see some more scans!!!! >>
Putting together a box is fun and cellos definitely display nicely, however, the constant handling of the packs does constant damage to the cards as they are less protected than their wax and rack counterparts.
Maybe get 24 packs graded by PSA for the long haul? >>
Not sure PSA holders would help... they still allow for lots of movement with their pack holders
As far as desirability to unopened pack collectors, does the condition of the cards inside the pack (obviously not including wax, since you cannot see them) make much of a difference? The top card in most of the cellos I have seen in this rip look damaged. Does that make a difference in the marketability/desirability/etc. of these packs? Obviously, if there is a perfectly centered Nolan Ryan on the top and it looks pristine somehow, (or conversely if the top card is a totally miscut Ralph Garr) these things will affect interest in the pack. But for the run of the mill packs, is it accepted that there are going to be dings on the sides of the top card and bad corners?
<< <i>As far as desirability to unopened pack collectors, does the condition of the cards inside the pack (obviously not including wax, since you cannot see them) make much of a difference? The top card in most of the cellos I have seen in this rip look damaged. Does that make a difference in the marketability/desirability/etc. of these packs? Obviously, if there is a perfectly centered Nolan Ryan on the top and it looks pristine somehow, (or conversely if the top card is a totally miscut Ralph Garr) these things will affect interest in the pack. But for the run of the mill packs, is it accepted that there are going to be dings on the sides of the top card and bad corners? >>
The machine mark is very common to the top card for 1970's cello and rak packs. It does affect a superstar on top pack but IMO it's just a given for common player packs. John
For me, centering of the top card is important. I'm not concerned so much with corner dings, as it is understood that the top card will incur damage because Topps wrapped cellos very tightly during that era.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I agree with Grote. The cello and rack packs for that matter which have nicely centered cards are at more of a premium. Add a star player, even better. The top and bottom cards of the cello packs will almost always have dinged corners and that is expected. The other thing that goes without saying is to find packs without any small rips or tears to the cellophane.
The real key is to find some before Grote gets them all.
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting: Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
Nothing major to report from my 4 packs of '75 Topps. Is it odd that one of the packs had no gum, though?
I also added an 82 Topps vending box that was advertised as "1982 Topps Baseball Unopened Vending Box. We broke a sealed case and have untouched, unopened mint boxes. Box contains 500 cards! Possible Ripken RC!"
Unfortunately, what was received was a damaged box on which one of the bottom corners had been crushed pretty severely. It didn't look like it happened during shipping, either, because the edges of the box were also torn before they were shrinkwrapped by BBCE. When I unwrapped the box, the box itself fell apart around the cards so that tells me this was not an untouched, unopened mint box that BBCE pulled from a sealed case that they broke. About 40 of the cards inside were damaged from the crushed corner and there were only 488 cards in the box. I've been skeptical of buying vending boxes since picking up a vending box of '85 Topps on eBay many years ago that had been water damaged and searched, but figured I'd be in better hands with BBCE. Not this time I guess.
Thanks for the awesomely quick replies. Glad to hear what I heard. I have caught "completing an unopened cello box" fever and wanted to make sure my first three of the box were legit.
Second, relating to Gumby's post: What's the deal with BBCE?
Thanks to everyone who participated in this rip! As of this morning, the last shipment was sent out, so all should have soon.
And Whats Up with BBCE? Let me explain a few things.
When it comes to Topps vending, we only sell boxes that come from sealed cases we buy. I wouldn't dare to sell them any other way! We have a lady who comes in and shrink wraps all of our items. She knows nothing about baseball or baseball cards. We give her a case of 1982 Topps vending in one of our rooms and tell her "to wrap them up and put our sticker on the bottom". Topps used these vending boxes over many years. Upon opening a sealed case of these, you will sometimes (alot of times) find boxes that have blown out seams on them. Well, she obviously wraps those up too. Nobody searches them or looks at the cards. They come straight from sealed cases. Also, Topps did not "count" these boxes to put 500 in a box. They just randomly jammed them in there to put in approximately 500 cards. It can be 488 or it can be 511. Topps sold vending cases by the 1000's (or maybe tens of thousands) for the purpose of dealers to sort and make sets. There was no actual count to them. Just print them, jam them in boxes that were used every year and get them shipped out.
Also, there was a post the other day about "burn marks on the wax". These are not burn marks from being resealed. OPC later years and Donruss' earlier issues sometimes, not too often, have these marks on them from the wax sealing process. You can sometimes find these type of marks on boxes straight from Donruss, especially (83,84 and 85). Products that have these marks are not a representation of resealed packs. Now I guess this could possibly be a sign of resealing, if someone actually used a heat device that left marks. But very rarely have I ever seen "burn marks" from a re-heating source.
<< <i>Second, relating to Gumby's post: What's the deal with BBCE? >>
This is my opinion and my opinion only, so take it for what it's worth. I think BBCE is a generally good dealer that provides excellent service. They buy in good faith and sell in good faith and are honest and reputable. Their knowledge of the industry and its history is outstanding, which helps them secure good product and reject bad product, but it's inevitable that bad stuff sometimes slips through the cracks.
As far as some people saying they are the ONLY dealer people should buy from or that 99.9% of their stuff is guaranteed to be perfect and awesome, I haven't had a sip of that Kool Aid yet, and I don't think I ever will.
<< <i>As far as some people saying they are the ONLY dealer people should buy from or that 99.9% of their stuff is guaranteed to be perfect and awesome, I haven't had a sip of that Kool Aid yet, and I don't think I ever will. >>
I have, and it tastes wonderful. Show me one other dealer that has the quality product, variety in years/sports, specials/discounts, product knowledge, and personalized customer service that BBCE has. They're more than worthy of my exclusive patronage when it comes to unopened product.
I totally agree with Jeff's comment. It was also great that Steve took the time to explain what happened with the vending box as well as the OPC packs. I don't think anyone is drinking Kool Aid, I prefer Mike's by the way , but enjoy dealing with Steve and BBCE because they stand by their product which is hard to find when dealing with vintage unopened material. Don't tell Steve, but I do buy from other sources as well, however, I need to be especially careful and have learned some valuable and expensive lessons along the way.
With that, I need to get back to work so I can make more money to spend on unopened packs.
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting: Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
<< <i>When it comes to Topps vending, we only sell boxes that come from sealed cases we buy. I wouldn't dare to sell them any other way! We have a lady who comes in and shrink wraps all of our items. She knows nothing about baseball or baseball cards. We give her a case of 1982 Topps vending in one of our rooms and tell her "to wrap them up and put our sticker on the bottom". Topps used these vending boxes over many years. Upon opening a sealed case of these, you will sometimes (alot of times) find boxes that have blown out seams on them. Well, she obviously wraps those up too. Nobody searches them or looks at the cards. They come straight from sealed cases. Also, Topps did not "count" these boxes to put 500 in a box. They just randomly jammed them in there to put in approximately 500 cards. It can be 488 or it can be 511. Topps sold vending cases by the 1000's (or maybe tens of thousands) for the purpose of dealers to sort and make sets. There was no actual count to them. Just print them, jam them in boxes that were used every year and get them shipped out. >>
Thanks for the info, Steve. I chose to open the box anyway after seeing the condition it was in, so I am not seeking a refund or a credit. I know that 30 year old products aren't going to always be in pristine condition, so I accepted what I received. However, if I had remembered that the boxes were advertised as "mint", I probably would have made a different decision. Not the end of the world by any means, but it reinforced my previous position on never buying vending boxes.
I took a few pictures of the vending box before I opened it. Sorry for the low quality pictures. I'm sure this isn't what anyone here would consider an "untouched, unopened mint box".
Crushed corner:
Bottom edge near crushed corner torn under shrink wrap:
Front of box torn at perforation under shrink wrap:
The inside flap was torn as well, but I didn't take any more pictures once I took off the shrinkwrap.
Comments
77 OPC Brett, Rose, Fisk, Carter (rose, brett both OC)
77 Topps Yaz (OC), Catfish Hunter (bent gum card)
75 Topps Brock (74 Highlights) NICE
79 Topps Munson NICE
Pack moved to BST
"Live everyday, don't throw it away"
https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/pdub1819/othersets/6204
77 topps-eckersley,schmidt hr leaders,seaver(oc)
78 opc hernandez,sutton,mccovey as, schmidt mostly oc
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
There are still 2 individuals who need to get their payment in to BBCE. If they are not handled by the end of Sunday those packs will be available for anyone else. I don't think anyone intentionally isn't paying, just might be busy.
Edit: It is 3 packs of 75 Topps.
Thanks!
I'll take two of the 75 packs if they're not paid for. Thanks!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
If Tim (grote15) doesn't want the two 75 packs anymore, I'll take them.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
We should see many scans tomorrow as most should receive theirs including me!
Happy Father's Day to all the dads on here!!!
"Live everyday, don't throw it away"
Paid for 2 additional 1975 Topps wax packs...also added payment for 2 1977 Topps wax packs! Thanks again, Mike!
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Good luck and let us know once paid for.
"Live everyday, don't throw it away"
No real star power on the fronts, although I kind of consider Whitey a star, albeit a managerial one. I do like the fact that both packs have team checklists on the front. Wish the markets they represented were bigger, but still nice.
The back of one of the 79s (the scan is terrible, sorry) had Carlton Fisk. Pretty cool.
Expecting to find the packs.
No Luck
Just the PSA welcome package.
I guess it was card related.
Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Joe
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Current obsession, all things Topps 1969 - 1972
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Great looking 77 cellos John and Grote!!! Glad to see them stay unopened.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
That Yaz looks beautiful! Are you going to sub it?
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I have been inspired over the last year or so first from Muggy and now Cpamike. So I too am working on a 77 Cello box, 77 Topps wax box, unopened graded run from 70 to 85. I have some nice packs left ungraded as well.
I hope to get my packs today from BBCE, we'll see what happens. I don't have the best self control when they are all lined up saying"Please rip me apart, I will give you a few seconds of excitement, most of the time I will dissapoint you, but don't you want to find out?, I might have a 10 for you!!"
Let's see some more scans!!!!
"Live everyday, don't throw it away"
After getting so many really nice items from BBCE, I couldn't help myself and ordered three boxes of '89 Upper Deck low numbers (on sale!) as well as some '79 rack packs. We'll see how they all work out. Crossing my fingers for a PSA 10 Griffey!
Thanks again to miconelegacy for the group break. It was fun and I'm saving one of my '77 cellos as well.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>
<< <i>Agree with Grote that Yaz is stunning, looks like a 9 without disecting the scan. Way to go. Now I am at a crossroads with the 75's, they look great, and my plan was to keep them unopened.
I have been inspired over the last year or so first from Muggy and now Cpamike. So I too am working on a 77 Cello box, 77 Topps wax box, unopened graded run from 70 to 85. I have some nice packs left ungraded as well.
I hope to get my packs today from BBCE, we'll see what happens. I don't have the best self control when they are all lined up saying"Please rip me apart, I will give you a few seconds of excitement, most of the time I will dissapoint you, but don't you want to find out?, I might have a 10 for you!!"
Let's see some more scans!!!! >>
Putting together a box is fun and cellos definitely display nicely, however, the constant handling of the packs does constant damage to the cards as they are less protected than their wax and rack counterparts.
Maybe get 24 packs graded by PSA for the long haul? >>
Not sure PSA holders would help... they still allow for lots of movement with their pack holders
<< <i>As far as desirability to unopened pack collectors, does the condition of the cards inside the pack (obviously not including wax, since you cannot see them) make much of a difference? The top card in most of the cellos I have seen in this rip look damaged. Does that make a difference in the marketability/desirability/etc. of these packs? Obviously, if there is a perfectly centered Nolan Ryan on the top and it looks pristine somehow, (or conversely if the top card is a totally miscut Ralph Garr) these things will affect interest in the pack. But for the run of the mill packs, is it accepted that there are going to be dings on the sides of the top card and bad corners? >>
The machine mark is very common to the top card for 1970's cello and rak packs. It does affect a superstar on top pack but IMO it's just a given for common player packs. John
Current obsession, all things Topps 1969 - 1972
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
The real key is to find some before Grote gets them all.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
I also added an 82 Topps vending box that was advertised as "1982 Topps Baseball Unopened Vending Box. We broke a sealed case and have untouched, unopened mint boxes. Box contains 500 cards! Possible Ripken RC!"
Unfortunately, what was received was a damaged box on which one of the bottom corners had been crushed pretty severely. It didn't look like it happened during shipping, either, because the edges of the box were also torn before they were shrinkwrapped by BBCE. When I unwrapped the box, the box itself fell apart around the cards so that tells me this was not an untouched, unopened mint box that BBCE pulled from a sealed case that they broke. About 40 of the cards inside were damaged from the crushed corner and there were only 488 cards in the box. I've been skeptical of buying vending boxes since picking up a vending box of '85 Topps on eBay many years ago that had been water damaged and searched, but figured I'd be in better hands with BBCE. Not this time I guess.
Second, relating to Gumby's post: What's the deal with BBCE?
"Live everyday, don't throw it away"
And Whats Up with BBCE? Let me explain a few things.
When it comes to Topps vending, we only sell boxes that come from sealed cases we buy. I wouldn't dare to sell them any other way!
We have a lady who comes in and shrink wraps all of our items. She knows nothing about baseball or baseball cards. We give her a case of 1982 Topps vending in one of our rooms and tell her "to wrap them up and put our sticker on the bottom". Topps used these vending boxes over many years. Upon opening a sealed case of these, you will sometimes (alot of times) find boxes that have blown out seams on them. Well, she obviously wraps those up too. Nobody searches them or looks at the cards. They come straight from sealed cases. Also, Topps did not "count" these boxes to put 500 in a box. They just randomly jammed them in there to put in approximately 500 cards. It can be 488 or it can be 511. Topps sold vending cases by the 1000's (or maybe tens of thousands) for the purpose of dealers to sort and make sets. There was no actual count to them. Just print them, jam them in boxes that were used every year and get them shipped out.
Also, there was a post the other day about "burn marks on the wax". These are not burn marks from being resealed. OPC later years and Donruss' earlier issues sometimes, not too often, have these marks on them from the wax sealing process. You can sometimes find these type of marks on boxes straight from Donruss, especially (83,84 and 85). Products that have these marks are not a representation of resealed packs. Now I guess this could possibly be a sign of resealing, if someone actually used a heat device that left marks. But very rarely have I ever seen "burn marks" from a re-heating source.
Just a little FYI for everyone. Thanks, Steve
<< <i>Second, relating to Gumby's post: What's the deal with BBCE? >>
This is my opinion and my opinion only, so take it for what it's worth. I think BBCE is a generally good dealer that provides excellent service. They buy in good faith and sell in good faith and are honest and reputable. Their knowledge of the industry and its history is outstanding, which helps them secure good product and reject bad product, but it's inevitable that bad stuff sometimes slips through the cracks.
As far as some people saying they are the ONLY dealer people should buy from or that 99.9% of their stuff is guaranteed to be perfect and awesome, I haven't had a sip of that Kool Aid yet, and I don't think I ever will.
<< <i>As far as some people saying they are the ONLY dealer people should buy from or that 99.9% of their stuff is guaranteed to be perfect and awesome, I haven't had a sip of that Kool Aid yet, and I don't think I ever will. >>
I have, and it tastes wonderful. Show me one other dealer that has the quality product, variety in years/sports, specials/discounts, product knowledge, and personalized customer service that BBCE has. They're more than worthy of my exclusive patronage when it comes to unopened product.
With that, I need to get back to work so I can make more money to spend on unopened packs.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
Collecting:
Any unopened Baseball cello and rack packs and boxes from the 1970's and early 1980s.
<< <i>When it comes to Topps vending, we only sell boxes that come from sealed cases we buy. I wouldn't dare to sell them any other way!
We have a lady who comes in and shrink wraps all of our items. She knows nothing about baseball or baseball cards. We give her a case of 1982 Topps vending in one of our rooms and tell her "to wrap them up and put our sticker on the bottom". Topps used these vending boxes over many years. Upon opening a sealed case of these, you will sometimes (alot of times) find boxes that have blown out seams on them. Well, she obviously wraps those up too. Nobody searches them or looks at the cards. They come straight from sealed cases. Also, Topps did not "count" these boxes to put 500 in a box. They just randomly jammed them in there to put in approximately 500 cards. It can be 488 or it can be 511. Topps sold vending cases by the 1000's (or maybe tens of thousands) for the purpose of dealers to sort and make sets. There was no actual count to them. Just print them, jam them in boxes that were used every year and get them shipped out. >>
Thanks for the info, Steve. I chose to open the box anyway after seeing the condition it was in, so I am not seeking a refund or a credit. I know that 30 year old products aren't going to always be in pristine condition, so I accepted what I received. However, if I had remembered that the boxes were advertised as "mint", I probably would have made a different decision. Not the end of the world by any means, but it reinforced my previous position on never buying vending boxes.
I took a few pictures of the vending box before I opened it. Sorry for the low quality pictures. I'm sure this isn't what anyone here would consider an "untouched, unopened mint box".
Crushed corner:
Bottom edge near crushed corner torn under shrink wrap:
Front of box torn at perforation under shrink wrap:
The inside flap was torn as well, but I didn't take any more pictures once I took off the shrinkwrap.