While this will certainly be a money losing proposition, life is about experiences. I have only opened a handful of 1984 Donruss boxes over the years. These packs and boxes were simply out of reach for me as a kid. Everyone wanted the 84D Mattingly RC, and none of my friends had one...including me. The price on these boxes has really heated up over the past month, but I have the itch to hunt for arguably the most iconic card during the 1980s. Donruss was light years ahead of the market with this set. I am convinced this set served as the inspiration for the premium launch of 1990 Leaf all those years later. The unframed full-color shots that run right to the edge where they meet a thin white border is simply a classic look. When dead on, this set is truly a piece of artwork. Here goes the hunt for perfect examples...
Just as a great bourbon is a slow sipper 🥃 , 1984 Donruss is a slow ripper. This is a tough set to find perfectly centered, but when it happens they are like tiny pieces of art. The good news was that I pulled the big three rookies. The bad news is that none were dead centered. Here are the piles of stars and rookies that missed the mark...
Always a rush to pull these three iconic rookies. Sadly, the Strawberry will land as a solid MINT 9. The Mattingly is pack fresh and crisp, but has the annoying tilt so common with this set. The Joe Carter RC is notoriously O/C and this one is no different...
On a positive note, I landed a solid 17 candidates for PSA 10. Molitor was the lone name among them, but look how sexy these bad boys are when dead on...
That Dwight Evans is sick!!! Awesome rip I love that you chime in on the going rate as far as unopened goes. I wouldn’t blame you if you let the rest of your stash hide out.
A. 1980 Topps
B. 1984 Donruss
C. 1985 Topps
D. 1983 Topps
E. 1982 Topps
F. 1984 Fleer
All of these 80’s unopened are getting to the point where it makes no real sense to rip when current cost is factored in. Basically the first half of the 80’s are getting tougher.
@softparade said:
That Dwight Evans is sick!!! Awesome rip I love that you chime in on the going rate as far as unopened goes. I wouldn’t blame you if you let the rest of your stash hide out.
A. 1980 Topps
B. 1984 Donruss
C. 1985 Topps
D. 1983 Topps
E. 1982 Topps
F. 1984 Fleer
All of these 80’s unopened are getting to the point where it makes no real sense to rip when current cost is factored in. Basically the first half of the 80’s are getting tougher.
Yeah, the surge in prices has made it a bit harder to pull the trigger to rip the boxes you list. I knew it was only a matter of time until the kids from the 80s came back into the hobby for fun and nostalgia, but COVID put it on steroids. I am glad I salted all mine away years ago when prices were reasonable. The cost to replace items has gotten much crazier. I think this is the new normal for 1980s material for the next 20 years. We are all at peak earning power and looking for fun hobbies that we can relate to and share. Nothing better than talking past sports legends at a dinner party and then pulling out Bo Jackson, Jordan, Montana and Griffey cards to show your guests. Everyone can relate because they all collected them back in the day too. This just fuels the fire to recapture your childhood greats. All why I continue to love the 80s!
@JoeBanzai said:
Have any of you ever seen this? Smudged one looks to have come from vending as it is pretty warped.
Yes. The black ink plate on the press just ran low on ink in that area. Typically this happened as the printing ink was being changed out. The most famous version of this printing mistake is obviously the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas NNOF. There is a great thread about this on these forum. No real value for the one-offs like this Magadan unless you find a die hard player collector who chases down all oddballs and print variations. Thanks for showing this cool printing mistake!
@Yubum said:
1989 Fleer was the 1st box I ever bought, hunting for those sweet (and oh so valuable) Gregg Jefferies rookie cards!
Welcome to the boards and thank you for making this thread your first post. Looking forward to learning more about your collecting journey and what you are currently focused on! Please share...
Per mgugs46 request, here is a case fresh 1986 Topps rack box to kick off the weekend rips. This is one of my favorite set designs of the 80s. Super clean look, great star selection and a real challenge condition wise. Only downside is no major rookies this year. Here goes the first half of the box. I will separate these rips into two 12-rack rips...
Always a fun and challenging break. The nice part about searching for PSA 10 candidates in 1986 Topps is that they scream at you when you find one. That’s because they stand out like a sore thumb...a diamond amongst coal. Here are the growing piles of stars and rookies that miss the mark...
Here are the 4 candidates for PSA 10 in the first half of the rack box. Notice two of them don’t even have black borders 🤣
@saucywombat said:
Partial blackless Bobby Brown on top there ala you 87 Magadan
Saucy called it. I was going to point out the same thing for Joe’s benefit. Here are 4 cards that ran short on black ink right around the team name just like the 87T Magadan you posted. Notice the similarity in both the Hammakers. This is just like what happened on a small batch of 90T Frank Thomas RCs. Frank’s just happened to be across his name to make it more noticeable to the masses. Add that to an iconic rookie, and the NNOF is worth thousands. My 2/2 Hammakers however are headed to recycling 😕
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Saucy called it. I was going to point out the same thing for Joe’s benefit. Here are 4 cards that ran short on black ink right around the team name just like the 87T Magadan you posted. Notice the similarity in both the Hammakers. This is just like what happened on a small batch of 90T Frank Thomas RCs. Frank’s just happened to be across his name to make it more noticeable to the masses. Add that to an iconic rookie, and the NNOF is worth thousands. My 2/2 Hammakers however are headed to recycling 😕
From the 86 set, the Seaver and Clemens blackless blobs are collectible in the E/V community if you happen to run across either of those.
Time for a quick pause from the 80s. In the mood to hunt for a nice Shaq RC, even though I am much more of a Jordan guy. His stuff is absolutely on fire right now and it has been a long time since I pulled a pack fresh UD #1 Draft Pick...
Thanks for your continued efforts on this thread.
It's amazing to me how flawed the 80's cards are out of the pack.
Kid me saw a pristine cardboard piece (mid-late 80s). Funny how far from reality that was.
I think it's very cool how the market is giving them their well deserved recognition.
Thanks again for the tutorial
Erick
Man this set is all over the place with colors, subsets, inserts, holograms. Typical early 90s product with no clear cut focus. The irony is that the base cards and draft pick cards are gorgeous. Here are the rookies that I pulled...
So many Jordan’s. The base card is arguably top five images for me...MJ could truly fly!
Here are the Bird inserts and a hologram.
The 15,000 point subset is actually attractive. The odds of pulling a 15,000 point or Bird insert is 1:9 packs. At an odds ratio of 4 per box, I clearly beat the odds pulling a collective 8. Unfortunately it was the least desirable of the players (sorry Celtics fans)...
And then there were all the Shaq RCs. Love the look of the 3x motion Shaq. This one has clean corners, but the centering will land it as a PSA 8 best case. Still a fun pull...
@jordangretzkyfan said:
That might have been the ultimate 1983 Donruss box. That was a good way to end the day! Here are the piles that missed the mark...
This Sandberg RC was so close, if not for the print issue running up his sleeve...
This box contained a whopping 27 candidates for PSA 10. Here are the first 25 of them. Loving all the Diamond Kings that were in this box...
Hard not to love crisp, centered examples of these 2 HOF RCs...
the boggs looks better then the gwynn. great cards! hard to believe that they came out of wax packs. are factory sets easier to find tens of the big three rookies.
@emar said:
Thanks for your continued efforts on this thread.
It's amazing to me how flawed the 80's cards are out of the pack.
Kid me saw a pristine cardboard piece (mid-late 80s). Funny how far from reality that was.
I think it's very cool how the market is giving them their well deserved recognition.
Thanks again for the tutorial
Erick
Thanks for following the thread Erick! When I started this journey, I knew the 80s would present a condition challenge. What even I underestimated was the sheer quantity needed to build perfect sets. The candidate hit ratio of 0.5-2.0% on most sets has been really eye opening. I would have guessed 5-8% before I built all this data. In some ways, I see this thread influencing the prices people are paying for PSA 10s, since many are learning they can’t just open a box and pull a perfect card.
@lwehlers said:
the boggs looks better then the gwynn. great cards! hard to believe that they came out of wax packs. are factory sets easier to find tens of the big three rookies.
I have always found Donruss factory sets to have rounded corners from the cello bricks they wrapped them in. Topps and Fleer sets tend to have similar hit rates to rack boxes in my experience. Sets suffer from all the same centering and print issues that wax, rack and cello boxes do.
, I see this thread influencing the prices people are paying for PSA 10s, since many are learning they can’t just open a box and pull a perfect card.
.
>
Great point! I see more collectors using the CU board for informational purposes
Myself originally a big vintage collector, only several years ago ramped up on 80s/90s collecting mostly for nostalgia.
My assumption was the market would get swamped from the box break boom.
Re: 1990 Fleer update- Olerud had a career WAR similar to Will Clark and played in NY but seems he doesn’t get a lot of love. Always admired his swing and the way he played.
The day got away from me. Fun rip overall. Galarraga is such an underrated player! Here are the stars and rookies I pulled. Love this Gooden card and hit it three times in what was just under the equivalent of half a wax box...
I was happy to land 9 candidates for PSA 10 in these packs. Not the Jose Rated Rookie I was looking for, but pretty happy with the big Cecil RC...
Landed a Glavine RC and pair of Alomar RCs, but no more Grace RCs this round. This really is a decent looking set that screams late 80s with the “laser” like border design. Once again, the condition challenge of 1988 Donruss rears its ugly head. Not a single contender in this entire rip. Here are the key cards pulled...
This really is an attractive design. Super clean looking cards and solid photography. I especially like the Mattingly, Gooden and Davis cards from this set. Here are the growing piles that miss the mark...
Was happy to land these 5 candidates for PSA 10 from this half of a rack box...
These two racks are going to stay intact. I really like this Clemens 2nd year card. Happy to have one nicely on top of a rack. Have to keep the Dalton RC rack too...
1986 Topps was everywhere. All the time. Come to think of it, it still is. Good work finding some 10s with your rack packs. Nice to think that in 2020 the hobby is starting to think fondly of them. How times have changed.
I was never a fan of the traded or update sets back in the day and I dislike them even more now. They did a great job of torpedoing their parent sets at times when you talk about rookie cards.
@JWBlue said:
My opinion has changed twice on 1986T. Didn't like. Then liked. Then didn't like.
I wish they had the team logo in the lower right hand corner.
Team logo would make the design pop more...agree!
@Frozencaribou said:
1986 Topps was everywhere. All the time. Come to think of it, it still is. Good work finding some 10s with your rack packs. Nice to think that in 2020 the hobby is starting to think fondly of them. How times have changed.
Thanks. Yes, they were the most plentiful unopened for a long time, since there wasn’t any key RCs to pull from the set. Lots of great looking 2nd year cards though (Gooden, Davis, Clemens, Puckett).
@softparade said:
I was never a fan of the traded or update sets back in the day and I dislike them even more now. They did a great job of torpedoing their parent sets at times when you talk about rookie cards.
I am mixed on them. I still have a bias for the RC vs. the XRC, but the 84F Clemens and 86TT Bo are majestic cards🙂
Comments
While this will certainly be a money losing proposition, life is about experiences. I have only opened a handful of 1984 Donruss boxes over the years. These packs and boxes were simply out of reach for me as a kid. Everyone wanted the 84D Mattingly RC, and none of my friends had one...including me. The price on these boxes has really heated up over the past month, but I have the itch to hunt for arguably the most iconic card during the 1980s. Donruss was light years ahead of the market with this set. I am convinced this set served as the inspiration for the premium launch of 1990 Leaf all those years later. The unframed full-color shots that run right to the edge where they meet a thin white border is simply a classic look. When dead on, this set is truly a piece of artwork. Here goes the hunt for perfect examples...
>
SWEET!
Good luck with the 1984 Donruss rip! Let's see a Mattingly 10
Just as a great bourbon is a slow sipper 🥃 , 1984 Donruss is a slow ripper. This is a tough set to find perfectly centered, but when it happens they are like tiny pieces of art. The good news was that I pulled the big three rookies. The bad news is that none were dead centered. Here are the piles of stars and rookies that missed the mark...
Always a rush to pull these three iconic rookies. Sadly, the Strawberry will land as a solid MINT 9. The Mattingly is pack fresh and crisp, but has the annoying tilt so common with this set. The Joe Carter RC is notoriously O/C and this one is no different...
On a positive note, I landed a solid 17 candidates for PSA 10. Molitor was the lone name among them, but look how sexy these bad boys are when dead on...
That Dwight Evans is sick!!! Awesome rip I love that you chime in on the going rate as far as unopened goes. I wouldn’t blame you if you let the rest of your stash hide out.
A. 1980 Topps
B. 1984 Donruss
C. 1985 Topps
D. 1983 Topps
E. 1982 Topps
F. 1984 Fleer
All of these 80’s unopened are getting to the point where it makes no real sense to rip when current cost is factored in. Basically the first half of the 80’s are getting tougher.
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
Yeah, the surge in prices has made it a bit harder to pull the trigger to rip the boxes you list. I knew it was only a matter of time until the kids from the 80s came back into the hobby for fun and nostalgia, but COVID put it on steroids. I am glad I salted all mine away years ago when prices were reasonable. The cost to replace items has gotten much crazier. I think this is the new normal for 1980s material for the next 20 years. We are all at peak earning power and looking for fun hobbies that we can relate to and share. Nothing better than talking past sports legends at a dinner party and then pulling out Bo Jackson, Jordan, Montana and Griffey cards to show your guests. Everyone can relate because they all collected them back in the day too. This just fuels the fire to recapture your childhood greats. All why I continue to love the 80s!
Time to head back to where it all began for me. 1987 Topps...
Always a nostalgic rip for me. This is one condition sensitive set! Here are the stars and rookies that missed the mark...
Pulled these key RCs, but none make the PSA 10 grade...
Of the 2 candidates for PSA 10 in this vending box, I was happy to find Pete Rose to be one of them...
Up next, 1988 Topps...
Have any of you ever seen this? Smudged one looks to have come from vending as it is pretty warped.
Yes. The black ink plate on the press just ran low on ink in that area. Typically this happened as the printing ink was being changed out. The most famous version of this printing mistake is obviously the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas NNOF. There is a great thread about this on these forum. No real value for the one-offs like this Magadan unless you find a die hard player collector who chases down all oddballs and print variations. Thanks for showing this cool printing mistake!
That was a tough box when it came to candidates for PSA 10. Here are the growing piles of non-contenders...
Pulled this Glavine RC, but it didn’t make the cut...
Here were the only 2 candidates for PSA 10 in the entire box...
Going to rip the last 1989 Fleer box from this “black box” Ripken case...
Tough box. Not a single candidate for PSA 10 in this entire box. Here are the piles that continue to grow...
Here were the key RCs in this box...
1989 Fleer was the 1st box I ever bought, hunting for those sweet (and oh so valuable) Gregg Jefferies rookie cards!
Any 86 Topps?
Welcome to the boards and thank you for making this thread your first post. Looking forward to learning more about your collecting journey and what you are currently focused on! Please share...
Absolutely. I will add that to the rip list this weekend. Great set, tough borders and a fun rip. Love the request!
Per mgugs46 request, here is a case fresh 1986 Topps rack box to kick off the weekend rips. This is one of my favorite set designs of the 80s. Super clean look, great star selection and a real challenge condition wise. Only downside is no major rookies this year. Here goes the first half of the box. I will separate these rips into two 12-rack rips...
Partial blackless Bobby Brown on top there ala you 87 Magadan
saucywombat@hotmail.com
Always a fun and challenging break. The nice part about searching for PSA 10 candidates in 1986 Topps is that they scream at you when you find one. That’s because they stand out like a sore thumb...a diamond amongst coal. Here are the growing piles of stars and rookies that miss the mark...
Here are the 4 candidates for PSA 10 in the first half of the rack box. Notice two of them don’t even have black borders 🤣
Saucy called it. I was going to point out the same thing for Joe’s benefit. Here are 4 cards that ran short on black ink right around the team name just like the 87T Magadan you posted. Notice the similarity in both the Hammakers. This is just like what happened on a small batch of 90T Frank Thomas RCs. Frank’s just happened to be across his name to make it more noticeable to the masses. Add that to an iconic rookie, and the NNOF is worth thousands. My 2/2 Hammakers however are headed to recycling 😕
From the 86 set, the Seaver and Clemens blackless blobs are collectible in the E/V community if you happen to run across either of those.
I’m still waiting for the 5000 card sub results !!!!! 👍😎😀🤠😇
Time for a quick pause from the 80s. In the mood to hunt for a nice Shaq RC, even though I am much more of a Jordan guy. His stuff is absolutely on fire right now and it has been a long time since I pulled a pack fresh UD #1 Draft Pick...
Thanks for your continued efforts on this thread.
It's amazing to me how flawed the 80's cards are out of the pack.
Kid me saw a pristine cardboard piece (mid-late 80s). Funny how far from reality that was.
I think it's very cool how the market is giving them their well deserved recognition.
Thanks again for the tutorial
Erick
Man this set is all over the place with colors, subsets, inserts, holograms. Typical early 90s product with no clear cut focus. The irony is that the base cards and draft pick cards are gorgeous. Here are the rookies that I pulled...
So many Jordan’s. The base card is arguably top five images for me...MJ could truly fly!
Here are the Bird inserts and a hologram.
The 15,000 point subset is actually attractive. The odds of pulling a 15,000 point or Bird insert is 1:9 packs. At an odds ratio of 4 per box, I clearly beat the odds pulling a collective 8. Unfortunately it was the least desirable of the players (sorry Celtics fans)...
And then there were all the Shaq RCs. Love the look of the 3x motion Shaq. This one has clean corners, but the centering will land it as a PSA 8 best case. Still a fun pull...
the boggs looks better then the gwynn. great cards! hard to believe that they came out of wax packs. are factory sets easier to find tens of the big three rookies.
Thanks for the 86 rip. I love that set, despite it not really having any chase cards to speak of.
Thanks for following the thread Erick! When I started this journey, I knew the 80s would present a condition challenge. What even I underestimated was the sheer quantity needed to build perfect sets. The candidate hit ratio of 0.5-2.0% on most sets has been really eye opening. I would have guessed 5-8% before I built all this data. In some ways, I see this thread influencing the prices people are paying for PSA 10s, since many are learning they can’t just open a box and pull a perfect card.
I have always found Donruss factory sets to have rounded corners from the cello bricks they wrapped them in. Topps and Fleer sets tend to have similar hit rates to rack boxes in my experience. Sets suffer from all the same centering and print issues that wax, rack and cello boxes do.
.
>
Great point! I see more collectors using the CU board for informational purposes
Myself originally a big vintage collector, only several years ago ramped up on 80s/90s collecting mostly for nostalgia.
My assumption was the market would get swamped from the box break boom.
I woke up this morning thinking about The Big Unit....errrr, ummm...1989 Fleer Update sets. Here goes two...
No love on the Unit, but the only man with more Ks made a strong showing. Here are the piles that don’t make the grade...
Here are the 5 candidates for PSA 10. The Nolan has the smallest print dot on the “0” in 5000 Ks, but I will sub it and see...
From the Big Unit to the Big Hurt...
Still cannot find a centered Frank Thomas RC from this case yet. There really isn’t any other worthwhile card in this entire set...
I have some loose racks and wax from 1986 Donruss that are screaming to be ripped. A perfect McGriff RC would be nice...
Re: 1990 Fleer update- Olerud had a career WAR similar to Will Clark and played in NY but seems he doesn’t get a lot of love. Always admired his swing and the way he played.
The day got away from me. Fun rip overall. Galarraga is such an underrated player! Here are the stars and rookies I pulled. Love this Gooden card and hit it three times in what was just under the equivalent of half a wax box...
I was happy to land 9 candidates for PSA 10 in these packs. Not the Jose Rated Rookie I was looking for, but pretty happy with the big Cecil RC...
Sticking with Donruss. Here are 8 racks from 1988...
Always a condition nightmare. Here are the stars and rookies in these racks...
Only 1 single candidate for PSA 10 in all those case fresh racks...
Time for the last 1988 Topps box from the case I cracked a few months back. The cards have been coming out well centered from this case so far...
Always a fun rip. Here are the massive piles of stars and rookies that missed the mark from my breaks...
No Glavine RC in this box, but I was happy to find these 6 candidates for PSA 10...
Going to do another 8 racks from my 1988 Donruss case and hunt for the Mark Grace RC. Such a good looking card and one I coveted as a kid!
Landed a Glavine RC and pair of Alomar RCs, but no more Grace RCs this round. This really is a decent looking set that screams late 80s with the “laser” like border design. Once again, the condition challenge of 1988 Donruss rears its ugly head. Not a single contender in this entire rip. Here are the key cards pulled...
Time for the second half of the 1986 Topps rack box...
This really is an attractive design. Super clean looking cards and solid photography. I especially like the Mattingly, Gooden and Davis cards from this set. Here are the growing piles that miss the mark...
Was happy to land these 5 candidates for PSA 10 from this half of a rack box...
These two racks are going to stay intact. I really like this Clemens 2nd year card. Happy to have one nicely on top of a rack. Have to keep the Dalton RC rack too...
My opinion has changed twice on 1986T. Didn't like. Then liked. Then didn't like.
I wish they had the team logo in the lower right hand corner.
1986 Topps was everywhere. All the time. Come to think of it, it still is. Good work finding some 10s with your rack packs. Nice to think that in 2020 the hobby is starting to think fondly of them. How times have changed.
I was never a fan of the traded or update sets back in the day and I dislike them even more now. They did a great job of torpedoing their parent sets at times when you talk about rookie cards.
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
Team logo would make the design pop more...agree!
Thanks. Yes, they were the most plentiful unopened for a long time, since there wasn’t any key RCs to pull from the set. Lots of great looking 2nd year cards though (Gooden, Davis, Clemens, Puckett).
I am mixed on them. I still have a bias for the RC vs. the XRC, but the 84F Clemens and 86TT Bo are majestic cards🙂
Speaking of Traded sets, let’s go Maddux hunting...
Man these sets are tough to pull perfect cards. Not a single candidate for PSA 10 in either set. Here are the stars and rookies...
Here are the 2 Maddux XRC. The one on the left should land as a MINT 9...