I love 1983 Topps...such a great design and what a rookie class! This might have been the best condition vending box I have ever opened. First, here are the rookies and stars pulled...
Two of the three key RCs made an appearance. The Gwynn is a solid MINT 9, but neither are 10s.
Amazingly, there were 33 candidates for GEM MINT within this vending box! Some decent star power in the mix too. Maybe Mr. Peanut can let me know if any of these are difficult...
Nothing super tough there. The Chili Davis, Ed Ott and Dave Garcia probably the toughest.
"I think the guy must be practicing voodoo or something. Check out his eyes. Rico's crazier than a peach orchard sow." -- Whitey Herzog, Spring Training 1973
Andy’s well wishes worked! That was an amazing first half of the box. These babies were coming out crisp and many were centered for a change. First, here are the piles of stars and rookies that continue to build...
This “Holland Tunnell” rack made me smile...
Pulled these three RCs. The first two are solid MINT 9s, but none are 10 worthy...
Check out this sweet rack...second one in the case. Love when nice racks come in pairs 😉
And an amazing 27 candidates were found for potential PSA 10 status...
I have a stack of like 100 84T Ryans and I'll bet there's zero 10s.
One thing of note yesterday.
I went back and checked all the racks in a 3 box 81T case - no Baines on top; did find "one" on the bottom - unfortunately it was damaged in packaging.
I have a stack of like 100 84T Ryans and I'll bet there's zero 10s.
One thing of note yesterday.
I went back and checked all the racks in a 3 box 81T case - no Baines on top; did find "one" on the bottom - unfortunately it was damaged in packaging.
Hey Mike...always fun sifting through a 1981 Topps rack case. Feel free to share some pictures since I always love seeing great cases, boxes and packs from the 1980s!
@TheThrill22 said:
Holy smokes, well done on the '84 racks. That has to be one of the best potential 10 yields yet.
@softparade said:
Double Gems on Brunansky! Love when that happens.
Thanks Tom and Dan. It was certainly a lucky run of strong candidates which makes me excited for the second half of that rack box! But to continue the run, up next is a case fresh vending box of 1985 Topps...
Awesome results on that 84 rack box! Mattingly showing rack is icing on the cake.
When I get around to busting out boxes to rip it’s always with friends who collected during the 80s. And we tend to focus more on the Stars then on the condition. Pulling the big rookie of our favorite players / cards still has some of the juice it did when we were kids. That’s what it’s all about for me.
Looking forward to some gem 85s, however difficult they seem to be. In my opinion 1985 Topps Production is right up there with worst quality control of the 80s. Good luck!
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
@coinspacks said:
do you ever submit for grading? i;'m curious how many psa 10 cards youve received so far
I have submitted plenty over the years, but not yet from this project. I am waiting to get full sets so I can sub them with consecutive serial numbers. I know they won’t all get 10s, but based on my sub history and the high level of scrutiny I am giving these I am guessing 2 out of 3 should be 10s.
Ouch...talk about a brutal vending box! The same pattern of 100-150 cards just kept repeating, and none of the key rookies were in this run. If I hadn’t broken the seal on this case myself, I would have thought it was possibly tampered. It just proves that factory fresh vending can hit a repeating run. Unfortunately for me on this one, it was a John Franco RC hot box. Here are the stars and rookies that continue to pile up from my breaks, but most of the ones pictured this time were from other boxes...
There were 5 contenders for PSA 10 in this box, but not sure they will make my final cut when I take another look in a few days. I am not in love with one corner on 3 out of these 5. One corner is just shy of perfect...
@NJ80sBBC said:
Awesome results on that 84 rack box! Mattingly showing rack is icing on the cake.
When I get around to busting out boxes to rip it’s always with friends who collected during the 80s. And we tend to focus more on the Stars then on the condition. Pulling the big rookie of our favorite players / cards still has some of the juice it did when we were kids. That’s what it’s all about for me.
Looking forward to some gem 85s, however difficult they seem to be. In my opinion 1985 Topps Production is right up there with worst quality control of the 80s. Good luck!
Amen to both of your points! Ripping with friends and pulling the childhood RCs is what it is all about. And yes, 1985 Topps quality control sucked 😉
Wow that’s great info on the ‘85 vending case you cracked yourself. Obviously distribution of cards evenly wasn’t a priority and what a great point about thinking this could be searched material if you hadn’t verified it’s factory sealed condition yourself. Have to admit I LOL’d at your John Franco Hot Box comment!
Mike those bad edges are common on these racks I do believe. I remember the EPIC 78 rack case I busted was littered with that on the bottoms.... I picked up a couple sweet racks from grote recently. Same thing on a couple bottom cells. It’s just indicative of these older racks. No idea why but it’s pretty wide spread it looks to me.
Mike...thanks for sharing the pics of that sweet 1981 rack! Sorry for the edge notching on the Baines. Still a sweet rack. I think this was fairly common and caused by the loading of the cellophane rack process. I cannot confirm this was part of a metal loader, but notching on the top and bottom cards in the first and third cells is somewhat common.
Man the condition of 1986 Topps is a mess. Finding these cards dead centered is a serious challenge. Of the few that are centered, print spots are rampant on this issue...not to mention the black borders show any hint of wear. This set is truly a condition challenge, but an amazing looking set none the less. Here are the stars and rookies that keep piling up...
I only managed to find 5 contenders in the top 12 racks of the box, but I LOVE the ones I found...
Up next is a case fresh cello box of 1987 Topps. Always nice to crack the lid for the first time and see a beautiful Mark McGwire glaring right back at you...
My hypothesis that the production quality gets worse as the decade goes on continues to be supported by my ripping data. 1987 will always have a special place in my heart and is the most nostalgic year for me to rip. I vividly remember each card from this set. Here were the stars and rookies from this box...
It just goes to show that Topps set distribution was really poor. Sometimes you lose, like the 1985 Topps vending I just ripped, and sometimes you win...
There were two star cellos that will remain unopened...
99.9% of the cards were off-center in this box. Couple that with tons of print flaws and you have virtually no contenders. Here was the lone card with a shot at PSA 10...
wow, that's harsh...one sole contender from an entire box....pretty amazing when u think about it...congrats on the Cal and Eric the Red cards from the '86 opening...very fun to get the mega stars in tip-top condition
I was just thinking today how blessed I am to be able to rip these boxes like when I was a kid. Such a fun rush of nostalgia that I did not fully anticipate all these years I have been storing away unopened material. In staying true to the run of Topps, up next is a 1988 cello box fresh from a sealed case...
Lots of fond memories every time I break this set. The rookie cup cards of McGwire, Burks and Nokes always catch my eye. Similar to the 1987s, the production quality was terrible in 1988. Here were the rookies and stars in this box...
I did manage to find 4 contenders. I had forgotten how cool the All-Star subset looked this year...
The production quality of 1989 Topps was abysmal. The ones I open consistently look like they were laid together before the ink fully dried, which was likely the case for as fast as they were printing them. Here were the stars and rookies in the box...
Just 1, yep 1, contender in the entire 500 card vending box. At least it was one of the key RCs from 1989...
I am going to try to find something creative to rip next...let me dig a little...
@Kep13 said:
wow, that's harsh...one sole contender from an entire box....pretty amazing when u think about it...congrats on the Cal and Eric the Red cards from the '86 opening...very fun to get the mega stars in tip-top condition
Yeah, I loved that 1986 Topps Davis as a kid. Thanks for commenting...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
The rookie cup cards of McGwire, Burks and Nokes always catch my eye.
I love the rookie cups, too, especially from 1988. 1987 is close second.
I’m right there with you Andy! Those, along with the 1987 and 1989 Future Stars, were pack opening delight to me in the 1980s. I loved the 1987 Bo and 1989 Jefferries back in the day!
After finishing out the Topps run, thought I would break something different for the first time in this thread. Up next are a pair of case fresh 1983 Topps Traded sets. I always loved Strawberry as a kid and this set contains his often overlooked XRC...
I always love breaking Topps Traded sets, because I feel they are the lesser seen and often forgotten cards. The 1983 set is such a good looking design and has a handful of stars and rookies within the set. Here are the few notable stars...
Neither Strawberry XRC was grade worthy, but this is still such a sweet card to see. I don’t recall ever owning one as a kid...
Amazingly, the condition of the cards coming out of these sets was really nice. I found 35 contenders for GEM MINT in these two sets. Here they are...check out some of these cool images...
Comments
I love 1983 Topps...such a great design and what a rookie class! This might have been the best condition vending box I have ever opened. First, here are the rookies and stars pulled...
Two of the three key RCs made an appearance. The Gwynn is a solid MINT 9, but neither are 10s.
Amazingly, there were 33 candidates for GEM MINT within this vending box! Some decent star power in the mix too. Maybe Mr. Peanut can let me know if any of these are difficult...
Really nice.
Centering is really a challenge and the Gwynn and Boggs are as nice as they come.
I was opening vending when it was 60 per box and the amount of OCs was off the chart.
My take? If the box started OC, it ended OC all over the place.
Nothing super tough there. The Chili Davis, Ed Ott and Dave Garcia probably the toughest.
Thanks Mike. I remember ripping these at $60/vending too and they were just as OC then 😕
Thanks for letting me know. I was just happy to find 33 contenders in one box, so you won’t here a complaint out of me!
Awesome results on the '83 vending, great stuff!
Thanks Tom...nice to hear from you.
As anticipated, up next is the top half of a case fresh 1984 Topps rack pack box...
Ah, my favorite set. Looking at a rack box of '84s makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Hope you pull some gems!
Andy
Andy
Andy’s well wishes worked! That was an amazing first half of the box. These babies were coming out crisp and many were centered for a change. First, here are the piles of stars and rookies that continue to build...
This “Holland Tunnell” rack made me smile...
Pulled these three RCs. The first two are solid MINT 9s, but none are 10 worthy...
Check out this sweet rack...second one in the case. Love when nice racks come in pairs 😉
And an amazing 27 candidates were found for potential PSA 10 status...
That's pretty good Chris.
That's gonna be one BIG sub!
I have a stack of like 100 84T Ryans and I'll bet there's zero 10s.
One thing of note yesterday.
I went back and checked all the racks in a 3 box 81T case - no Baines on top; did find "one" on the bottom - unfortunately it was damaged in packaging.
Hey Mike...always fun sifting through a 1981 Topps rack case. Feel free to share some pictures since I always love seeing great cases, boxes and packs from the 1980s!
Holy smokes, well done on the '84 racks. That has to be one of the best potential 10 yields yet.
Double Gems on Brunansky! Love when that happens.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Thanks Tom and Dan. It was certainly a lucky run of strong candidates which makes me excited for the second half of that rack box! But to continue the run, up next is a case fresh vending box of 1985 Topps...
do you ever submit for grading? i;'m curious how many psa 10 cards youve received so far
Awesome results on that 84 rack box! Mattingly showing rack is icing on the cake.
When I get around to busting out boxes to rip it’s always with friends who collected during the 80s. And we tend to focus more on the Stars then on the condition. Pulling the big rookie of our favorite players / cards still has some of the juice it did when we were kids. That’s what it’s all about for me.
Looking forward to some gem 85s, however difficult they seem to be. In my opinion 1985 Topps Production is right up there with worst quality control of the 80s. Good luck!
I have submitted plenty over the years, but not yet from this project. I am waiting to get full sets so I can sub them with consecutive serial numbers. I know they won’t all get 10s, but based on my sub history and the high level of scrutiny I am giving these I am guessing 2 out of 3 should be 10s.
Ouch...talk about a brutal vending box! The same pattern of 100-150 cards just kept repeating, and none of the key rookies were in this run. If I hadn’t broken the seal on this case myself, I would have thought it was possibly tampered. It just proves that factory fresh vending can hit a repeating run. Unfortunately for me on this one, it was a John Franco RC hot box. Here are the stars and rookies that continue to pile up from my breaks, but most of the ones pictured this time were from other boxes...
There were 5 contenders for PSA 10 in this box, but not sure they will make my final cut when I take another look in a few days. I am not in love with one corner on 3 out of these 5. One corner is just shy of perfect...
Amen to both of your points! Ripping with friends and pulling the childhood RCs is what it is all about. And yes, 1985 Topps quality control sucked 😉
Love these pickups. Good stuff, man.
Wow that’s great info on the ‘85 vending case you cracked yourself. Obviously distribution of cards evenly wasn’t a priority and what a great point about thinking this could be searched material if you hadn’t verified it’s factory sealed condition yourself. Have to admit I LOL’d at your John Franco Hot Box comment!
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
My run goes to 1987 Chris.
I have no interest in opening the case. Maybe down the road?
Too bad on the run - I have found - anecdotally - that if I open a box and they start OC, they finish that way.
I don't remember where I posted this but when Baines went into the HOF, I went to a 3 box rack case of 81T I have.
Nothing on top but then I hit a Baines on the bottom until I saw this:
Here's the rack - too bad - would've been nice to have an RC on the bottom that was OK.
Mike those bad edges are common on these racks I do believe. I remember the EPIC 78 rack case I busted was littered with that on the bottoms.... I picked up a couple sweet racks from grote recently. Same thing on a couple bottom cells. It’s just indicative of these older racks. No idea why but it’s pretty wide spread it looks to me.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Mike...thanks for sharing the pics of that sweet 1981 rack! Sorry for the edge notching on the Baines. Still a sweet rack. I think this was fairly common and caused by the loading of the cellophane rack process. I cannot confirm this was part of a metal loader, but notching on the top and bottom cards in the first and third cells is somewhat common.
10 more years until the 1980s are featured in Heritage sets.
This is seriously one of the all time best threads on this forum! Thanks for sharing this crazy awesome journey with us!
So you could argue that I am ahead of my time...😂
You’re welcome...thanks for following along and commenting along the way. It’s what makes it even more fun!
Up next is the first half of a case fresh 1986 Topps rack box...always love cracking the seal on a mint factory case...
Would like to see a "10" Ryan please.
Wow! Case fresh schmidtty right on top!
Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06
Man the condition of 1986 Topps is a mess. Finding these cards dead centered is a serious challenge. Of the few that are centered, print spots are rampant on this issue...not to mention the black borders show any hint of wear. This set is truly a condition challenge, but an amazing looking set none the less. Here are the stars and rookies that keep piling up...
I only managed to find 5 contenders in the top 12 racks of the box, but I LOVE the ones I found...
Thanks for the wishes Mike. I was pretty stoked with the Eric Davis and Ripken, so thanks for bringing me luck!
Good eye David. Always fun to see an elite HOFer on top right out of the gate...
Nice 86 Davis. Those are a rarity. Check out the past PSA 10's for that one. $$$
Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06
Davis and Ripken?
Yahtzee!
Looking forward to the sub and results.
Up next is a case fresh cello box of 1987 Topps. Always nice to crack the lid for the first time and see a beautiful Mark McGwire glaring right back at you...
My hypothesis that the production quality gets worse as the decade goes on continues to be supported by my ripping data. 1987 will always have a special place in my heart and is the most nostalgic year for me to rip. I vividly remember each card from this set. Here were the stars and rookies from this box...
It just goes to show that Topps set distribution was really poor. Sometimes you lose, like the 1985 Topps vending I just ripped, and sometimes you win...
There were two star cellos that will remain unopened...
99.9% of the cards were off-center in this box. Couple that with tons of print flaws and you have virtually no contenders. Here was the lone card with a shot at PSA 10...
Good to see Bonds, Chris.
I have something like a 700 ct box of him - back they were like 20 cents per or less.
wow, that's harsh...one sole contender from an entire box....pretty amazing when u think about it...congrats on the Cal and Eric the Red cards from the '86 opening...very fun to get the mega stars in tip-top condition
I was just thinking today how blessed I am to be able to rip these boxes like when I was a kid. Such a fun rush of nostalgia that I did not fully anticipate all these years I have been storing away unopened material. In staying true to the run of Topps, up next is a 1988 cello box fresh from a sealed case...
This is awesome
Lots of fond memories every time I break this set. The rookie cup cards of McGwire, Burks and Nokes always catch my eye. Similar to the 1987s, the production quality was terrible in 1988. Here were the rookies and stars in this box...
I did manage to find 4 contenders. I had forgotten how cool the All-Star subset looked this year...
I love the rookie cups, too, especially from 1988. 1987 is close second.
Andy
Time to round out the decade with a 1989 Topps vending box...
The production quality of 1989 Topps was abysmal. The ones I open consistently look like they were laid together before the ink fully dried, which was likely the case for as fast as they were printing them. Here were the stars and rookies in the box...
Just 1, yep 1, contender in the entire 500 card vending box. At least it was one of the key RCs from 1989...
I am going to try to find something creative to rip next...let me dig a little...
Thanks for continuing to follow along Tom!
Yeah, I loved that 1986 Topps Davis as a kid. Thanks for commenting...
I’m right there with you Andy! Those, along with the 1987 and 1989 Future Stars, were pack opening delight to me in the 1980s. I loved the 1987 Bo and 1989 Jefferries back in the day!
I admire your tenacity Chris.
Those 88T AS's look really nice.
This year I'll be going thru 1000s of cards that are stacked and collecting dust.
After finishing out the Topps run, thought I would break something different for the first time in this thread. Up next are a pair of case fresh 1983 Topps Traded sets. I always loved Strawberry as a kid and this set contains his often overlooked XRC...
"This" I'm looking forward to.
+1
Andy
I always love breaking Topps Traded sets, because I feel they are the lesser seen and often forgotten cards. The 1983 set is such a good looking design and has a handful of stars and rookies within the set. Here are the few notable stars...
Neither Strawberry XRC was grade worthy, but this is still such a sweet card to see. I don’t recall ever owning one as a kid...
Amazingly, the condition of the cards coming out of these sets was really nice. I found 35 contenders for GEM MINT in these two sets. Here they are...check out some of these cool images...
Wow that’s a load of Gem potential! That’s great to see 😃
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240