Question for the unopened guys

lamontcarter

I've got the bug but don't rip anything I buy. One thing I've noticed is that you guys seem to have an easy time telling who is on the back and sometimes the front of a wax pack. I look at the back of my packs and for the life of me can't even begin to make out who they might be.

Is there a secret or technique that I'm missing?

Thanks.

Scott

lamontcarter

or does it just come from years of looking at them to the point where you can just say.........oh that's Joe Zdeb on the back.

cpamike

Certain years are harder than others. I had a couple of 1974 wax packs that I couldn't make out the players names, but could tell what team they were on. I broke out my 1974 set and searched each player on the team until I found the card that matched the pose. A little time consuming, but I did identify Lou Brock on one of the wax packs so it made it worth while. 1977 is another year I find easy to figure out. A lot of the money cards you are able to tell just by recognizing a small piece of the card.

There are some packs that are impossible to tell IMO though.

gemint

What Mike said. Sometimes it takes some detective work to tell who's showing. For my 1964 wax pack, it had a combo card on the back but I couldn't see the card number or player names. What I could see was some text showing through the wrapper. So knowing what series it was, I looked at Combo cards with Giants players that were in that series (I could see a reference to 'Giants' on the back. I honed in on the Mays/Cepeda Giant Gunners card and pulled an image from eBay that had a scan of the reverse to compare the story line. Matching up several words to words I could see through the wrapper confirmed the card. I sent the evidence with the pack when I had it graded and got it labeled with the 'Giant Gunner - Back' notation. If you have a tough to verify pack and you want to grade it and get the card highlighted on the label, provide the evidence. Steve appreciates this help in order to ensure he can verify it and have it put on the label.

BaltimoreYankee

I bought a few 1978 OPC wax packs from the last BBCE group purchase. The wrappers are pretty thin and slightly transparent. I can see Jim Rice (face out) on the back of one pack, just because I recognize the photo. The other one I can't tell who it is, but if I looked through the set it would be easy to identify. The fronts of the packs show the cards as well - one is a checklist. I can't tell who the other is, but it's a Padre and I think the first name is George. Again, if I looked through the set, I'd be able to identify it.

miconelegacy

What others have already said. Seeing the number certainly helps. If the team is showing shouldn't be to hard. Sometimes holding and tilting against light helps, I mean right up next one. You can gently press on the wrapper, gently. Sometimes that will show more details too.

Good Luck!!

lamontcarter

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Much appreciated.

Scott