Need Opinions On Unopened 1987 Leaf Baseball Packs

BeatleBoy

Hey guys I could really use some opinions from those experienced with opening 1987 Leaf packs. I recently purchased four unopened boxes with the intent to open and build a high grade set. The top four packs from the first box all seem suspicious to me. They have a dark stain on back in middle of pack where it seems the wax was melted for resealing. I also included a side view to show the corner folds which seem questionable. Some of the packs also feel like they are wrapped a little loosely.
Are any of these characteristics normal for legit factory sealed 1987 Leaf baseball packs?
Here are a couple pics:








Muchas Gracias!

BeatleBoy

OK failed effort on the pics. I am working on that now.

tsalems1

Hard to tell from the scans but I think they are fine.

I have seen stains on 1987 donruss/leaf before on the back sides, so I think that is normal

tsalems1

87's are not tightly wrapped up

ReggieCleveland

How are the roller marks?

BeatleBoy

Thanks for the info guys.
I'm not sure on the roller marks. Maybe the yellow stain in middle is the original roller mark? Can you tell from the picture if that location and size looks correct for the original seal?
I have not opened any 87 Leaf packs but did open 87 Donruss packs back in the day. I don't remember such a dark and distinctive roller mark. But then again it has been probably 20+ years since I opened those 1987 Donruss was boxes!

ReggieCleveland

In my experience, roller marks don't leave a colored stain. But (no offense) it also sounds like you don't know what a roller mark looks like. There will be two "bars" running across the back of the pack that were placed there when the pack was facotry sealed. You have to hold the pack at an angle in direct light to see them but they're there. For lack of a better term, they're like a pack's fingerprint and they should line up EXACTLY where the two flaps intercede.

BeatleBoy

Thanks again for the help and you didn't offend me. I'm not too fat headed to ask for help when it comes to something I'm not real familiar with. This board has a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate your willingness to share.
I will take a look at the packs again and try to get better feel for where the roller marks line up.
So here is a dumb question. Does the roller normally run side-to-side or top-to-bottom when sealing wax packs? Or is that not always consistent from year to year and company to company?

Foo3112

I just opened a box of 85 Leaf about a week or 2 ago and that yellow stuff was common. I think you'll be alright.

ReggieCleveland

There certainly are vintage packs that were sealed top to bottom but for everything (I believe) remotely modern (1970s-end of wax era) they are side to side.

I'd be willing to bet that you're fine with the 87 Leaf. While there's been a slight uptick in their popularity recently, prior to that they really were the redheaded step children of modern sets (not just 1987, all Canadian releases). So I don't see someone going through the trouble of opening and resealing wax from that issue in the past. That's obviously not a lock of security but I'd say the odds are greatly in your favor.

BeatleBoy

OK thanks again guys for the info. I will probably give one box a go and see how it turns out. Was hoping four boxes might provide reasonable shot at building a nice nm-mt set.

ReggieCleveland

I haven't opened any 87 Leaf but the box of 85 Leaf I opened was a collation absurdity. I got 5 Clemens and 4 Pucketts and not a single Gooden or Ryan. I wouldn't cut bait on the boxes just because one or two yield "abnormal" results.

Largentcollector

I just opened up three boxes of 85 leaf. One was diamond cut so bad two thirds of the cards were crap. Only two Puckett's in three boxes, on top of that I was watching tv opened a pack with Puckett on back. I also found one with Clemons rc on back and left it sealed. The other two gave me some very mint cards! (And built a great set)

MrVintage

I have opened several cases of 87 leaf and the packs that you posted seem fine to me. If you pull some awesome looking Maddux and Bo's post them so people can give you opinions on grading them. PSA 10's of those 2 sell for good money. Good luck!!!!

sportscardtheory

The "dark stains" you see are just maple syrup. That's what they use to seal packs in Canada. No worries.

BeatleBoy

You know I thought you were joking about the maple syrup but thought what the heck. I threw one of the wrappers in microwave for 30 seconds so the maple syrup was nice and gooey then dipped my french toast sticks in it. Dang..tis tasty!

ldferg

If u r ripping, we r waiting for scans.