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So, is collecting unopened items and singles really the same hobby?
1957Braves
Posts: 318 ✭✭✭
Just a fun topic for Friday discussion.
I have unopened, which may contain valuable singles, but wouldn’t dare open them because they may not contain valuable singles. This sort of becomes a game of chicken as the unopened is passed around the hobby over the years. Who will have the guts to open it up (it can be anything for this discussion; pack, box, case, etc.)
I also have singles that I might have gotten from unopened for a fraction of the price.
What does everyone think? Two pieces of a hobby that sort of intersect? Unrelated? Something in between?
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I think there are two aspects to the unopened hobby...buying to rip and buying to collect unopened packs/boxes. The former is pretty much dead (for vintage at least) due to financial infeasibility, but the latter has grown very popular. Both are connected to the more mainstream sports card hobby.
Very nice. I agree; there seems to be a tipping point for unopened where the item is just that. The cards inside aren’t a factor anymore, possibly forever enclosed in a waxy tomb.
I love unopened and have quite a haul of it, but I would say at least half of my collection is earmarked to be open at a future date and time.
I went to the East Coast National down in White plains New York back in 1995 or so. There was a dealer Mark Murphy. He went by the name The Baseball Card Kid. He has a 1952 baseball pack. He was telling people around his table at the show, that if they bought the pack and opened it. He would sell it to them for $1000.00. No one went for it. I would have bought it and kept it unopened.
I have many vintage unopened packs that I would never open~not so much because of the potential cards inside, but because I get more enjoyment out of owning the pack in its original unopened form than of pulling high grade cards inside. For unopened collectors, the packaging provides more appeal than the potential cards inside the pack, though it's always nice to wonder about that, too, and every now and then I will open a pack or two from a year that's not too tough to find.
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.
From watching Big Bang - the idea of an "unopened" wax box reminds me of Schrödinger's cat.
Tho not theoretically accurate in terms of quantum mechanics, the box contains both "All 10's" and "No 10's" simultaneously provided ya "Don't" open the box.
I like both the interest and allure of unopened material.
Good morning! I disagree with the premise that packs are meant to be opened. I agree with Tim--as usual--and want the pack in its truest form. Same with racks and cellos--like this cello
It is all the same to me. Just one big treasure hunt and what you do with your findings is up to you. Some like sealed packs, some like raw cards, others like graded cards and many who collect each collect all three.
I don't have it in me to leave things sealed as my primary focus is graded cards but I totally understand the virgin nature of a sealed pack or box and understand why in many cases there is great value in the historical artifact.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE unopened... but I do enjoy collecting sets and opening packs. I do think it's the same hobby, just different focuses.
I have a few unopened packs. I won't open them because of my consistent crap luck.
YES! I said something Crisser agrees with. Do I get a Crisser Point?
How much does the year, product, etc. play into everyone’s choice to open or not to open? If a particular issue has notorious centering issues, for example, are you more or less likely to open it?