Question for those opening 1990s boxes and sets

ReggieCleveland · September 30, 2015 12:26AM

I'm curious to read what experiences others have had opening the high-gloss/UV coated/foil cards from this era. Do the cards stick together? If so, what would you say your success rate is?

I cracked some mid- to late-90s boxes last year and the cards were fused together like bricks. Separating them was easy enough but it always left noticeable surface damage (many times it was severe). I had read about the trick where you freeze the packs and that it should help separating them but I had no success with that. Tried many different time periods in the freezer. The boxes I tried were Skybox products but I'm also curious about the results others have had opening the earlier Stadium Club/Fleer Ultra products.

Arthur

waxman2745 · September 30, 2015 12:37AM

I have complete sets of 95, 96, and 97 Donruss baseball that I put together from packs back at the year of issue. I have them stored in 660-count boxes. Fast forward 18 years and the cards are fused together.

Pulling them from packs 18 years ago and leaving them stored for that long has allowed them to fuse together in my experience. I opened a bunch of 93 Donruss packs earlier this year with similar fused-together results.

mtcards · September 30, 2015 6:59AM

I had a guy walk into my store with a 600 count box of 1996 Leaf Limited Ken Griffeys. Granted these things are only a buck each, but over the years they turned into a 600 card brick. Unless they are in a stable, temperature controlled environment, they will stick. I bought a box of 1998 Skybox Thunder Football last year and when I opened a few packs, virtually 80% of the cards were destroyed because of them sticking together.

ReggieCleveland · September 30, 2015 9:17AM

I'm wondering if most of the remaining unopened from this period is like this, what will come of the pop reports? Have we seen all the PSA 10's we're going to see?

mgugs46 · September 30, 2015 10:55AM

I opened a ton for a group break that all came from bbce ... Roughly 20 boxes or so, and 99% were not stuck at all. There were a few, but overall, no sticking.

byronscott4ever · September 30, 2015 11:06AM

Definitely have seen it in a variety of sets like Classic, Stadium Club, Ultra and others in basketball products. I think it has to do with how they're stored and humidity. I buy stuff with that in mind when it comes to shops or stores.

royalbrett · September 30, 2015 11:54AM

I've actually been wondering about the sticking issue with these type of cards for over a decade now.
I put all of mine in penny sleeves many years ago just because of this issue.

rcmb3220 · September 30, 2015 12:09PM

When I reopened my hand collated 95 Donruss base set they were stuck together pretty well. I took them out in three separate bricks.

3BoyzTrading · September 30, 2015 6:37PM

I bought a couple boxes of 2001 Bowman at what I thought was a deal(About half price) from someone on this site. They were all fused together. The seller said he wasn't responsible and that they came from a friend. I still think he's a d*ck. Nonetheless, I pulled a fused Pujols and plan to submit it in the hope of a PSA 1.

alifaxwa2 · September 30, 2015 7:55PM

<< I bought a couple boxes of 2001 Bowman at what I thought was a deal(About half price) from someone on this site. They were all fused together. The seller said he wasn't responsible and that they came from a friend. I still think he's a d*ck. Nonetheless, I pulled a fused Pujols and plan to submit it in the hope of a PSA 1. >>

i agree with the seller.

DrFong · September 30, 2015 8:38PM

<< I bought a couple boxes of 2001 Bowman at what I thought was a deal(About half price) from someone on this site. They were all fused together. The seller said he wasn't responsible and that they came from a friend. I still think he's a d*ck. Nonetheless, I pulled a fused Pujols and plan to submit it in the hope of a PSA 1. >>

Even if he said he was the original owner, he isn't responsible.

ndleo · September 30, 2015 11:46PM

I cracked a box of 1996 Ultra BKB and they were mostly stuck together. I have another box and may try the freezer trick. How long do you keep the box in freezer?

ReggieCleveland · October 1, 2015 2:46AM

<< I cracked a box of 1996 Ultra BKB and they were mostly stuck together. I have another box and may try the freezer trick. How long do you keep the box in freezer? >>

I tried an hour, a day, and a week, and none of it made any difference in how they were fused together.

Arthur

tntdynomite · October 1, 2015 9:15AM

Never tried the freezer trick,but I just slightly bend a stack like a deck of playing cards.You'll hear crackles and then you have to gently pull each card one by one.It works for me.

ReggieCleveland · October 1, 2015 9:49AM

<< Never tried the freezer trick,but I just slightly bend a stack like a deck of playing cards.You'll hear crackles and then you have to gently pull each card one by one.It works for me. >>

Yeah, I tried that with multiple boxes and it still left damage.

tntdynomite · October 1, 2015 9:59AM

Sometimes you have to go super slow.I've never really had it not work.I did hear from someone several years ago,never tried it,that you could put them in a ziploc bag and hold them over a pan of boiling water.I'd say try it with commons,if you actually want to try it.

aaandrewww · October 1, 2015 10:55AM

I've opened a bunch of boxes of 92-93 Upper Deck Basketball. These are not very high gloss (similar to 1989 baseball) but I had two boxes where every pack was fused together. I was able to rescue about 10% of the cards, but even these weren't gradable. Still fun to pull a Shaq, but not as much fun when it has white dots of paper loss all over the front.

EDIT: I tried the freezer and the bending and the bending helped a bit, but not enough to salvage and 9s or 10s. I wouldn't buy another box of glossy 90s unless they were cheap and/or refundable.

ndleo · October 1, 2015 11:05AM

[unless they were cheap and/or refundable

This is why I stopped selling these boxes on ebay. I actually bought my Ultra boxes from BBCE, but I didn't return the boxes (even the unopened one) because it wasn't the sellers fault that Fleer decided to use a coating that would degrade over time.

Has anyone had experience with Chrome boxes from the same period?

ReggieCleveland · October 1, 2015 11:22AM

<< Sometimes you have to go super slow.I've never really had it not work.I did hear from someone several years ago,never tried it,that you could put them in a ziploc bag and hold them over a pan of boiling water.I'd say try it with commons,if you actually want to try it.

>>

This is something that I was thinking about trying. With the complete lack of help that the freezer provided I contemplated going the opposite route.

The bending certainly helps you separate the cards but if they're fused together well enough it doesn't save them from the damage. I guess it depends on how the boxes were stored over time but finding a box that the bending can be used and done without damage is like finding a needle in a haystack. I've had luck successfully separating Bowman Chrome cards that I bought relatively new and then had stored in a monster box in my closet for a few years but buying a box that was 10+ years old and opening them has yet to return quality results.

My concern is factory sets from the 90s. There are many cards that have gotten little PSA submissions due to lack of demand to this point that I'm thinking aren't going to be yielding gradeable cards from this point forward. This was my thinking recently when I purchased a '92 Stadium Club Members Club Shaquille O'Neal PSA 10.

Arthur

LarkinCollector · October 1, 2015 9:49PM

<< Has anyone had experience with Chrome boxes from the same period? >>

I've opened a lot of Bowman Chrome (97-00) the past few years. Cards are typically stuck together, but can be peeled apart easily without any damage. I'd guess maybe 1 of 15 boxes doesn't have the cards 'bricked'.

Question for those opening 1990s boxes and sets

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