I am not familiar with this set, is the centering this "low" on all the cards?
Thanks Joe! I have been spending way too much of my spare time chasing some vintage icons, since this market is moving incredibly quickly. Was nice to rip the 1990 Score set to scratch the itch.
The Rob Moore above is a perfect example of what ideal centering is for this set. Thanks for continuing to comment and follow this thread.
@ArchStanton said:
You alright, man? Starting to worry. Hope all is well.
Thanks for checking on me! Yes, alive and well. Been focused on picking up some vintage cards before I get priced out in this fast moving market, so haven’t prioritized ripping lately. Not to worry, the mission continues. I have just been on hold lately.
Let’s rip a 1990 Score Supplemental Set. I have always loved the look of this iconic Emmitt RC...
I have found that when this set starts off centered, it pretty much cements the entire set will be off. Still love the look of the four iconic XRCs in this set, but no PSA 10 love this round...
Boy, that set was huge. No one would have thought back then that there would only be 3 HoFers 35 years later, only one of whom is a big enough star to be pictured above. As an aside, I really hate that Seaver. Might be my least favorite of his.
With all the sudden Henderson hype, it seems like a good Valentine’s weekend idea to rip a 1980 Topps vending box and see if I can find some Rickey love...
Crazy price run-ups have resulted in another hobby casualty. I can't bring myself to rip any of my unopened hoard either
This unopened market has been crazy!! I have suspended the breaks for the past month as I reposition some of my collecting goals. When I started the journey, the most expensive boxes I was ripping were 82T/83T/84D/85F....all of which were under $300/box. At that cost and ease of replacement, I was ripping away. I have zero regrets as it was all about the amazing nostalgia. Now the break value is considerably different, unfortunately. While I still have tons of unopened, I have been focused on picking up some vintage that I procrastinated on too long. For now, the unopened hoard will remain intact to be revisited later. Still planning to rip more vending, but wax, rack and cello are going to stay on the shelf at these prices. I will share the vending rips as I go. Have no fear...there will be plenty of early 80s vending in the mix.
Thanks for revisiting this thread. It is fun to go back and look at all the great pulls!!
Crazy price run-ups have resulted in another hobby casualty. I can't bring myself to rip any of my unopened hoard either
This unopened market has been crazy!! I have suspended the breaks for the past month as I reposition some of my collecting goals. When I started the journey, the most expensive boxes I was ripping were 82T/83T/84D/85F....all of which were under $300/box. At that cost and ease of replacement, I was ripping away. I have zero regrets as it was all about the amazing nostalgia. Now the break value is considerably different, unfortunately. While I still have tons of unopened, I have been focused on picking up some vintage that I procrastinated on too long. For now, the unopened hoard will remain intact to be revisited later. Still planning to rip more vending, but wax, rack and cello are going to stay on the shelf at these prices. I will share the vending rips as I go. Have no fear...there will be plenty of early 80s vending in the mix.
Thanks for revisiting this thread. It is fun to go back and look at all the great pulls!!
I knew this was coming Only a matter of time! Once I saw you go into football and 90's stuff the writing was on the wall.
Good luck Chris! I ripped too many of those '78 wax boxes to care to remember LOL. But I have a bangin complete graded set to show for it haha
Crazy price run-ups have resulted in another hobby casualty. I can't bring myself to rip any of my unopened hoard either
This unopened market has been crazy!! I have suspended the breaks for the past month as I reposition some of my collecting goals. When I started the journey, the most expensive boxes I was ripping were 82T/83T/84D/85F....all of which were under $300/box. At that cost and ease of replacement, I was ripping away. I have zero regrets as it was all about the amazing nostalgia. Now the break value is considerably different, unfortunately. While I still have tons of unopened, I have been focused on picking up some vintage that I procrastinated on too long. For now, the unopened hoard will remain intact to be revisited later. Still planning to rip more vending, but wax, rack and cello are going to stay on the shelf at these prices. I will share the vending rips as I go. Have no fear...there will be plenty of early 80s vending in the mix.
Thanks for revisiting this thread. It is fun to go back and look at all the great pulls!!
Thanks for all the sharing in this thread, onward and upward, nice pick ups. I have been on a Kennedy Half dollar binge of late so the cardboard is on the shelf for a while. Great to go over the rips in this thread. Cheers.
Wow, my FSC of 1991 Upper Deck low numbers baseball has tripled from the last time I checked. 1990 Score Wax box with the BO card in it, damn. Even the lowly 88 Donruss Baseball wax box. Only took 30 years or so, Holy Cardboard Bat Man!
@In4apenny said:
Wow, my FSC of 1991 Upper Deck low numbers baseball has tripled from the last time I checked. 1990 Score Wax box with the BO card in it, damn. Even the lowly 88 Donruss Baseball wax box. Only took 30 years or so, Holy Cardboard Bat Man!
I ripped a bit over a case of 1991 ud low numbers before the pandemic. Average price was $13/box including shipping. I pulled a pile of sp1 jordans and had them graded (returned late 2020). I sold one of the psa 10 jordans for $2000. Crazy times these are.
It has been a hot minute since I ripped anything. That unopened market was crazy for a few months, so I took the opportunity to reposition some of my collection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, time to get back to my love of case fresh 1980’s cards. One of my favorite years that I coveted as a kid was 1985 Topps. Great design, impossible to find dead centered and a 1980’s dream for RC collectors! Think of how big the following names were in the mid-to-late 80s…McGwire, Clemens, Puckett, Gooden, Davis, Hershiser and Dunston to name a few. Heck, this set even had Joe Carter’s FTC. Remember when FTC was a thing?!?!?
Since I am flying solo this weekend, let’s start with a vending box of 1985 Topps and see where the weekend takes us. I wanted to show a wax box too to trigger memories, since vending boxes are boring aesthetically and all look the same. I am getting excited for the National, so reach out if you plan to attend and hopefully we can meet up on Wednesday or Thursday!
The layoff in ripping made me realize just how much I missed it. It gave me a whole new appreciation for ripping this vending box as I had not looked at this set for months. What a great year! Here are the piles of stars and rookies from this break and my previous rips. These all land in the NM to MINT camp and are not worth submitting…but still fun to look at…
I did pull a super clean McGwire and Gooden rookie, but like most 1985 Topps they were off-centered. Likely would land in PSA 7-8 holders, so I will just keep them raw…
I was really happy to find 15 dead centered beauties as PSA 10 candidates that I will submit if bulk specials ever return. Some nice star and rookie power hiding in there…
I intentionally delayed watching ‘Long Gone Summer’ so I would not get caught up in the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hobby hype. However, I just finished watching the ESPN 30:30 documentary. It got me wondering if the hobby sees Mark McGwire as a hero or a villain? He has undeniably had a massive role in the game of baseball! His 49 home runs as a rookie set a record that would not be broken for over 30 years. He was part of Oakland’s “Bash Brothers” and won a World Series title alongside Jose Canseco and Ricky Henderson. He was also a 12x All-Star. Then when baseball needed a hero the most after the 1994 strike, Mark McGwire put fans back in the seats and baseball as the top nightly news story during the 1998 season.
When you see his stats you realize how prolific a HR hitter he was throughout his career. He is 11th all-time with 583 HR. More impressive is his 10.6 AB/HR which ranks #1 all-time ahead of guys like Ruth, Aaron and Bonds.
He admitted to using androstenedione during his latter career (not a banded substance at the time) and sporadically using PEDs when recovering from injuries. It is clear he was not a clean player throughout his career. That said, it is hard to refute the role he played in bringing the game back to life in the eyes of the casual fan.
I am not as talented as many board members here when it comes to creating “custom cards,” but can you imagine how hot this card would have been in the late 1980s? Fleer went with the #1 prospect in the farm system in Jose Canseco. Unfortunately, the original card featured the #2 prospect in the 1986 Oakland organization in pitcher Eric Plunk. However, there was a power hitting prospect that ranked #6 in the organization in 1986 that just wrapped up an amazing collegiate career at USC and helped the 1984 USA Olympic team bring home a Gold medal. Really wish Fleer would have used this combo…
After watching the documentary, it made me appreciate my 1985 Topps McGwire that much more. This is an iconic card from the 1980s and is arguably a top 5 rookie from that decade, alongside the 80T Henderson, 82TT Ripken, 86TT Bonds and 89UD Griffey. Love him or hate him, there is no debating he was a major contributor to the history of baseball…
Hi. Glad to see you're back to opening your boxes. I've been following you for a few years now and I'm really looking forward to the next few too. It's very entertaining and I'm rooting for you. How are your PSA 10 contender set totals coming along now? Would you be willing to share your tally so far?
Awesome choice of reentry point Chris! Great seeing this thread back in the fold here on the forum. When I started collecting back in 1987 mcgwire and Davis were all the rage and 1985 Topps was THE set of the day. Packs were nowhere to be found, but a guy at a not so local indoor flea market on Rt 1 in New Brunswick, NJ had these packs and many others for sale. I ponied up paper route money for an 85D pack in early 88 and landed the Davis card. 85T was just too expensive for me to purchase though given the McGwire card drove the price.
Since I got back into collecting in 2011 I have ripped a bunch of 1985 Topps. It’s like being a kid all over again when I bust packs with a friend who grew up in that era too. I wish I could take my sealed rack case and deliver it to 1987 me so he could open it with his pals, relish in that rookie class and build sets. His joy would be incredible.
John
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
@Jeffafett said:
Hi. Glad to see you're back to opening your boxes. I've been following you for a few years now and I'm really looking forward to the next few too. It's very entertaining and I'm rooting for you. How are your PSA 10 contender set totals coming along now? Would you be willing to share your tally so far?
Thanks for making this your first post and for following this thread! I will provide an update on the stats in a few weeks. It has been awhile since I checked myself 🙂
@JoeBanzai said:
Welcome back, you have been missed!
No Puckett's or Clemens'? Bummer! A nice group of 10 candidates though.
On the McGwire question, I voted villain. My feelings are that he used steroids with Canseco and surpassed(?) many FAR better sluggers in the process.
I don't really think of him as an actual "villain" but if I have to choose one of those two choices, that's mine.
Thanks Joe…been too long since I enjoyed ripping a few boxes. Glad to start the trend again. I wanted to force people to decide hero or villain, rather than take the easier road to say neither. I like to get temperature checks every now and again on the more polarizing players in our hobby. I certainly can see both sides of the argument. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
@NJ80sBBC said:
Awesome choice of reentry point Chris! Great seeing this thread back in the fold here on the forum. When I started collecting back in 1987 mcgwire and Davis were all the rage and 1985 Topps was THE set of the day. Packs were nowhere to be found, but a guy at a not so local indoor flea market on Rt 1 in New Brunswick, NJ had these packs and many others for sale. I ponied up paper route money for an 85D pack in early 88 and landed the Davis card. 85T was just too expensive for me to purchase though given the McGwire card drove the price.
Since I got back into collecting in 2011 I have ripped a bunch of 1985 Topps. It’s like being a kid all over again when I bust packs with a friend who grew up in that era too. I wish I could take my sealed rack case and deliver it to 1987 me so he could open it with his pals, relish in that rookie class and build sets. His joy would be incredible.
John
I always love to hear your hobby memories John. As we have talked before, I think we are hobby brothers from another mother. Your room looks amazing from your post in the other thread…awesome job paying stellar homage to a 1980s baseball card shop!!
You know some time ago I got some 1987/1988/1989 Topps wax boxes from BBCE so me and my wife could open them together whenever I came to visit her at the nursing home. We had been working first on the 1987 packs and in sort of a weird quirk of hers, insisted on putting the cards back in the wrapper they came from! lol... Anyway, as I sadly said here earlier, she passed away last June 9 so I'm just wondering if I should go ahead and open the other two boxes...or at the very least finish opening the 1987 box? I picked these not only because they were affordable but they were the first three complete sets I ever got waaaaaay back in 1999-2000 as a freshman at UK.
And in other news, I started to make a collection of packs/boxes again (I really feel STUPID now for selling that nice collection of nearly all 1980s Donruss/Fleer/Topps packs many years ago that I had gotten mostly in my college days). Yeah, I learned the hard way that I shouldn't sell anything...if I buy something, I expect it to be for keeps. Anytime I've ever sold something I end up regretting it...maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even in a few years but it happens nearly every time.
That being said I so far have 1986-1992, 1994 Topps wax boxes, 1992-93 Donruss wax boxes (both Series), 1988 Score (another leftover box me and my wife could've opened at some point but I'm keeping that one sealed for my wax box collection). I don't think I can go any further back on the Topps wax boxes without it getting way too pricey and I'd really like to have the 1993 Topps wax boxes also (first kind of cards I got when I got back into the hobby at age 13 but couldn't afford whole sets yet until college) but I reckon I gotta wait until the hype on Derek Jeter's upcoming HOF induction cools off before the 1993 Topps Series 1 wax box gets back down to a semi-reasonable price...
I would open a few packs (mabe her favorite #, or lucky # etc) on her birthday, and your anniver. and Christmas, and any other day that was important to you and her. And I would tell her about each player as you opened the pack , and slowly and carefully put each card back in the pack.
@1959 said:
I would open a few packs (mabe her favorite #, or lucky # etc) on her birthday, and your anniver. and Christmas, and any other day that was important to you and her. And I would tell her about each player as you opened the pack , and slowly and carefully put each card back in the pack.
I guess what I could do is open the rest of the 1987's for now...the 1988's on Dec 6 (would've been the big 6-5; I loved to tease her with that line from a commercial about how 65 is just around the corner ) And then the 1989 (1989 Topps and 1989 Donruss were the first packs that were ever bought for me; I was nine at the time) I can open for what would've been our 17th anniversary on June 17...see how they match?
Are there any other good places and dealers on Ebay besides BBCE that I can get a bunch of the rack/wax packs I need checked off my list?
@jordangretzkyfan said:
This [1980] is one of my favorite designs from the 80s. Such a clean and crisp look. Here are the stars and rookies that keep piling up from my breaks...
It also happens to be my birth year and the last year of the 1956-80 Topps (mostly) monopoly.
@jordangretzkyfan said:
The layoff in ripping made me realize just how much I missed it. It gave me a whole new appreciation for ripping this vending box as I had not looked at this set for months. What a great year [1985]! Here are the piles of stars and rookies from this break and my previous rips. These all land in the NM to MINT camp and are not worth submitting…but still fun to look at…
Also happens to be the year I entered kindergarten and the year Back to the Future came out! And I really do love the 1985 Donruss black beauties as well!
As always, the BBCE booth at the National is amazing. Steve and team are simply the best in the business. I grabbed some loose packs for a fun 80’s football rip tonight. Cheers from Chicago…
Always loved the 1985 Donruss set...so tough. Currently have #6 set on Registry, haven't updated in years...need to spend time and update it...only at 22% of set with a long way to go. Was picking up PSA 9's for like $5-$8 years ago from 4SharpCorners.
@jordangretzkyfan said:
First 1980 pack had a few HOFers and a RC, but nothing grade worthy…
80 topps football just has awful centering. i bought a set last year and it was just awful. kind of like there 81 topps baseball set is. same card quality too.
I should have looked at the back of the first 1983 wax pack before opening. Yep, it was the Marcus Allen RC right on the back. Nice overall card though and always a fun pull from clean BBCE packs…
I picked up a PSA 9 a long time ago just to have since the ones I have pulled myself aren't near a 9. Wish I had picked up a 10 when it was quite cheap but never got around to it.
As I already mentioned in the Nationals topic (I meant to put it here in the first place) me and my together opened 33 packs of 1987 Topps when I visited her at the nursing home at the time and these were the highlights so far:
No McGwires but we did get two Bonds...one of which also included Bill Buckner (remember my wife was from Greater Boston), Boggs All-Star, Ripken All-Star so I reckon that was the most "loaded" pack of the bunch.
Bill Buckner and Mookie Wilson in consecutive packs...this is the year after Bill's infamous blunder, remember?
Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker together in sequence in the same pack...I mean weren't they every bit as much like Waylon/Willie?
Steve Carlton & Carlton Fisk together in sequence in the same pack...you know, like that Before & After category in Wheel of Fortune: STEVE CARLTON FISK?
Both Pete Rose (last Topps player card) and Pete Rose MGR card in the same pack
PS: And yes in her loving memory I put the cards back in the packs just like she did.
So here I go I'm opening the last three remaining packs and I got (sorry Rojay I had to "just" open these with my bare hands as I didn't have a trusty straight edge, pliers and measuring tape, lol):
Steve Garvey, Phil Neikro
Goose Gossage, Kirby Puckett
Gary Carter
Like I already mentioned, we had also had a 1988 and 1989 Topps wax carton which what I could do is open the 1988 for her what would've been her 65th birthday on Dec 6 and 1989 (the first packs I ever got as a then nine year old were 1989 Topps and Donruss so score one for memories/nostalgia) next June 17...what would've been our date matching 17th anniversary.
But the first ever pack opening we ever did together was in 2018 when BBCE at the time was doing a special on 1993 Flair cartons so I got a couple in honor of 1993 Flair's then 25th anniversary and yes she did like how the cards/packaging was done. Someday I should get another one to keep sealed for my pack/carton collection...
I picked up a PSA 9 a long time ago just to have since the ones I have pulled myself aren't near a 9. Wish I had picked up a 10 when it was quite cheap but never got around to it.
I've always enjoyed this thread.
Hey Mike,
Great to hear from you. Those McGwires were purchased awhile back I believe, though I have popped a few PSA 9 over the years. Never pulled a 10 though. Thanks for the kind words and hope you are well. Hopefully we catch up at a National again one of these years.
I haven’t ripped anything since the National. With Thanksgiving upon us, I wanted to take a moment to give thanks for all the amazing blessings in my life. I am grateful for a loving family and friends, for our good health, for our general prosperity and for the brave women and men who protect our freedom every day. We are very lucky to live in this outstanding country and in this modern era.
I am also grateful for this wonderful hobby that has captured my fascination, since I was a boy in the 1980s. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a Thanksgiving week without some fun breaks. Let’s kick it off with a 1980 Topps vending box. This is one of my favorite card designs and the Rickey Henderson RC (if I am lucky enough to pull one) is simply iconic! Here goes…
Comments
Thanks Joe! I have been spending way too much of my spare time chasing some vintage icons, since this market is moving incredibly quickly. Was nice to rip the 1990 Score set to scratch the itch.
The Rob Moore above is a perfect example of what ideal centering is for this set. Thanks for continuing to comment and follow this thread.
Thanks for the centering info and thanks again for showing us some beautiful cards!
Time to look for a pristine Bo Jackson XRC. I love the look of that card!
Time to tweak the thread title no?
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
I have found that when this set starts off centered, it pretty much cements the entire set will be off. Still love the look of the four iconic XRCs in this set, but no PSA 10 love this round...
Too bad. When that year is mint they are superb looking cards!
Boy, that set was huge. No one would have thought back then that there would only be 3 HoFers 35 years later, only one of whom is a big enough star to be pictured above. As an aside, I really hate that Seaver. Might be my least favorite of his.
Ya know, they never looked that OC when I was a kid
With all the sudden Henderson hype, it seems like a good Valentine’s weekend idea to rip a 1980 Topps vending box and see if I can find some Rickey love...
This is one of my favorite designs from the 80s. Such a clean and crisp look. Here are the stars and rookies that keep piling up from my breaks...
I was happy to find some HOF power in the 8 candidates for PSA 10...
This Henderson is pretty nice. Certainly not a PSA 10, but in the 8-9 camp...
Great find!
It's been over a month, getting a little shaky here. What's up?
Crazy price run-ups have resulted in another hobby casualty. I can't bring myself to rip any of my unopened hoard either
This unopened market has been crazy!! I have suspended the breaks for the past month as I reposition some of my collecting goals. When I started the journey, the most expensive boxes I was ripping were 82T/83T/84D/85F....all of which were under $300/box. At that cost and ease of replacement, I was ripping away. I have zero regrets as it was all about the amazing nostalgia. Now the break value is considerably different, unfortunately. While I still have tons of unopened, I have been focused on picking up some vintage that I procrastinated on too long. For now, the unopened hoard will remain intact to be revisited later. Still planning to rip more vending, but wax, rack and cello are going to stay on the shelf at these prices. I will share the vending rips as I go. Have no fear...there will be plenty of early 80s vending in the mix.
Thanks for revisiting this thread. It is fun to go back and look at all the great pulls!!
To give a flavor of what I have been focused on....adding more clean boxes from my favorite years in the 1970’s...
And picking up centered beauties of the all-time greats...
that is 78 topps box i think? nice looking cards!
I really appreciate your sharing!
I knew this was coming
Only a matter of time! Once I saw you go into football and 90's stuff the writing was on the wall.
Good luck Chris! I ripped too many of those '78 wax boxes to care to remember LOL. But I have a bangin complete graded set to show for it haha
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 for all the sharing in this thread, onward and upward, nice pick ups. I have been on a Kennedy Half dollar binge of late so the cardboard is on the shelf for a while. Great to go over the rips in this thread. Cheers.
As a "newbie" I have really enjoyed this thread immensely. Thank you, sir.
Wow, my FSC of 1991 Upper Deck low numbers baseball has tripled from the last time I checked. 1990 Score Wax box with the BO card in it, damn. Even the lowly 88 Donruss Baseball wax box. Only took 30 years or so, Holy Cardboard Bat Man!
I ripped a bit over a case of 1991 ud low numbers before the pandemic. Average price was $13/box including shipping. I pulled a pile of sp1 jordans and had them graded (returned late 2020). I sold one of the psa 10 jordans for $2000. Crazy times these are.
Hey @jordangretzkyfan, been quiet the past few months, have you ripped anything recently? Still love going through this thread!
It has been a hot minute since I ripped anything. That unopened market was crazy for a few months, so I took the opportunity to reposition some of my collection. Now that the dust has settled a bit, time to get back to my love of case fresh 1980’s cards. One of my favorite years that I coveted as a kid was 1985 Topps. Great design, impossible to find dead centered and a 1980’s dream for RC collectors! Think of how big the following names were in the mid-to-late 80s…McGwire, Clemens, Puckett, Gooden, Davis, Hershiser and Dunston to name a few. Heck, this set even had Joe Carter’s FTC. Remember when FTC was a thing?!?!?
Since I am flying solo this weekend, let’s start with a vending box of 1985 Topps and see where the weekend takes us. I wanted to show a wax box too to trigger memories, since vending boxes are boring aesthetically and all look the same. I am getting excited for the National, so reach out if you plan to attend and hopefully we can meet up on Wednesday or Thursday!
The layoff in ripping made me realize just how much I missed it. It gave me a whole new appreciation for ripping this vending box as I had not looked at this set for months. What a great year! Here are the piles of stars and rookies from this break and my previous rips. These all land in the NM to MINT camp and are not worth submitting…but still fun to look at…
I did pull a super clean McGwire and Gooden rookie, but like most 1985 Topps they were off-centered. Likely would land in PSA 7-8 holders, so I will just keep them raw…
I was really happy to find 15 dead centered beauties as PSA 10 candidates that I will submit if bulk specials ever return. Some nice star and rookie power hiding in there…
I intentionally delayed watching ‘Long Gone Summer’ so I would not get caught up in the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hobby hype. However, I just finished watching the ESPN 30:30 documentary. It got me wondering if the hobby sees Mark McGwire as a hero or a villain? He has undeniably had a massive role in the game of baseball! His 49 home runs as a rookie set a record that would not be broken for over 30 years. He was part of Oakland’s “Bash Brothers” and won a World Series title alongside Jose Canseco and Ricky Henderson. He was also a 12x All-Star. Then when baseball needed a hero the most after the 1994 strike, Mark McGwire put fans back in the seats and baseball as the top nightly news story during the 1998 season.
When you see his stats you realize how prolific a HR hitter he was throughout his career. He is 11th all-time with 583 HR. More impressive is his 10.6 AB/HR which ranks #1 all-time ahead of guys like Ruth, Aaron and Bonds.
He admitted to using androstenedione during his latter career (not a banded substance at the time) and sporadically using PEDs when recovering from injuries. It is clear he was not a clean player throughout his career. That said, it is hard to refute the role he played in bringing the game back to life in the eyes of the casual fan.
I am not as talented as many board members here when it comes to creating “custom cards,” but can you imagine how hot this card would have been in the late 1980s? Fleer went with the #1 prospect in the farm system in Jose Canseco. Unfortunately, the original card featured the #2 prospect in the 1986 Oakland organization in pitcher Eric Plunk. However, there was a power hitting prospect that ranked #6 in the organization in 1986 that just wrapped up an amazing collegiate career at USC and helped the 1984 USA Olympic team bring home a Gold medal. Really wish Fleer would have used this combo…
After watching the documentary, it made me appreciate my 1985 Topps McGwire that much more. This is an iconic card from the 1980s and is arguably a top 5 rookie from that decade, alongside the 80T Henderson, 82TT Ripken, 86TT Bonds and 89UD Griffey. Love him or hate him, there is no debating he was a major contributor to the history of baseball…
So what do you think…hero or villain?
Hi. Glad to see you're back to opening your boxes. I've been following you for a few years now and I'm really looking forward to the next few too. It's very entertaining and I'm rooting for you. How are your PSA 10 contender set totals coming along now? Would you be willing to share your tally so far?
Welcome back, you have been missed!
No Puckett's or Clemens'? Bummer! A nice group of 10 candidates though.
On the McGwire question, I voted villain. My feelings are that he used steroids with Canseco and surpassed(?) many FAR better sluggers in the process.
I don't really think of him as an actual "villain" but if I have to choose one of those two choices, that's mine.
Awesome choice of reentry point Chris! Great seeing this thread back in the fold here on the forum. When I started collecting back in 1987 mcgwire and Davis were all the rage and 1985 Topps was THE set of the day. Packs were nowhere to be found, but a guy at a not so local indoor flea market on Rt 1 in New Brunswick, NJ had these packs and many others for sale. I ponied up paper route money for an 85D pack in early 88 and landed the Davis card. 85T was just too expensive for me to purchase though given the McGwire card drove the price.
Since I got back into collecting in 2011 I have ripped a bunch of 1985 Topps. It’s like being a kid all over again when I bust packs with a friend who grew up in that era too. I wish I could take my sealed rack case and deliver it to 1987 me so he could open it with his pals, relish in that rookie class and build sets. His joy would be incredible.
John
Thanks for making this your first post and for following this thread! I will provide an update on the stats in a few weeks. It has been awhile since I checked myself 🙂
Thanks Joe…been too long since I enjoyed ripping a few boxes. Glad to start the trend again. I wanted to force people to decide hero or villain, rather than take the easier road to say neither. I like to get temperature checks every now and again on the more polarizing players in our hobby. I certainly can see both sides of the argument. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
I always love to hear your hobby memories John. As we have talked before, I think we are hobby brothers from another mother. Your room looks amazing from your post in the other thread…awesome job paying stellar homage to a 1980s baseball card shop!!
You know some time ago I got some 1987/1988/1989 Topps wax boxes from BBCE so me and my wife could open them together whenever I came to visit her at the nursing home. We had been working first on the 1987 packs and in sort of a weird quirk of hers, insisted on putting the cards back in the wrapper they came from! lol... Anyway, as I sadly said here earlier, she passed away last June 9 so I'm just wondering if I should go ahead and open the other two boxes...or at the very least finish opening the 1987 box? I picked these not only because they were affordable but they were the first three complete sets I ever got waaaaaay back in 1999-2000 as a freshman at UK.
And in other news, I started to make a collection of packs/boxes again (I really feel STUPID now for selling that nice collection of nearly all 1980s Donruss/Fleer/Topps packs many years ago that I had gotten mostly in my college days). Yeah, I learned the hard way that I shouldn't sell anything...if I buy something, I expect it to be for keeps. Anytime I've ever sold something I end up regretting it...maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even in a few years but it happens nearly every time.
That being said I so far have 1986-1992, 1994 Topps wax boxes, 1992-93 Donruss wax boxes (both Series), 1988 Score (another leftover box me and my wife could've opened at some point but I'm keeping that one sealed for my wax box collection). I don't think I can go any further back on the Topps wax boxes without it getting way too pricey and I'd really like to have the 1993 Topps wax boxes also (first kind of cards I got when I got back into the hobby at age 13 but couldn't afford whole sets yet until college) but I reckon I gotta wait until the hype on Derek Jeter's upcoming HOF induction cools off before the 1993 Topps Series 1 wax box gets back down to a semi-reasonable price...
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
I would open a few packs (mabe her favorite #, or lucky # etc) on her birthday, and your anniver. and Christmas, and any other day that was important to you and her. And I would tell her about each player as you opened the pack , and slowly and carefully put each card back in the pack.
I guess what I could do is open the rest of the 1987's for now...the 1988's on Dec 6 (would've been the big 6-5; I loved to tease her with that line from a commercial about how 65 is just around the corner
) And then the 1989 (1989 Topps and 1989 Donruss were the first packs that were ever bought for me; I was nine at the time) I can open for what would've been our 17th anniversary on June 17...see how they match? 
Are there any other good places and dealers on Ebay besides BBCE that I can get a bunch of the rack/wax packs I need checked off my list?
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
It also happens to be my birth year and the last year of the 1956-80 Topps (mostly) monopoly.
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
Also happens to be the year I entered kindergarten and the year Back to the Future came out! And I really do love the 1985 Donruss black beauties as well!
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
As always, the BBCE booth at the National is amazing. Steve and team are simply the best in the business. I grabbed some loose packs for a fun 80’s football rip tonight. Cheers from Chicago…
Always loved the 1985 Donruss set...so tough. Currently have #6 set on Registry, haven't updated in years...need to spend time and update it...only at 22% of set with a long way to go. Was picking up PSA 9's for like $5-$8 years ago from 4SharpCorners.
First 1980 pack had a few HOFers and a RC, but nothing grade worthy…
80 topps football just has awful centering. i bought a set last year and it was just awful. kind of like there 81 topps baseball set is. same card quality too.
Second 1980 pack only had one gradeable card, but a nice combo of HOFers…
I should have looked at the back of the first 1983 wax pack before opening. Yep, it was the Marcus Allen RC right on the back. Nice overall card though and always a fun pull from clean BBCE packs…
A couple of Elway's out of the 1985 pack, but not the one I was looking for…
Hiya Chris
Just wanted to say hi.
Just went thru some of your recent posts.
Did you sub those McWires?
I picked up a PSA 9 a long time ago just to have since the ones I have pulled myself aren't near a 9. Wish I had picked up a 10 when it was quite cheap but never got around to it.
I've always enjoyed this thread.
As I already mentioned in the Nationals topic (I meant to put it here in the first place) me and my together opened 33 packs of 1987 Topps when I visited her at the nursing home at the time and these were the highlights so far:
No McGwires but we did get two Bonds...one of which also included Bill Buckner (remember my wife was from Greater Boston), Boggs All-Star, Ripken All-Star so I reckon that was the most "loaded" pack of the bunch.
Bill Buckner and Mookie Wilson in consecutive packs...this is the year after Bill's infamous blunder, remember?
Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker together in sequence in the same pack...I mean weren't they every bit as much like Waylon/Willie?
Steve Carlton & Carlton Fisk together in sequence in the same pack...you know, like that Before & After category in Wheel of Fortune: STEVE CARLTON FISK?
Both Pete Rose (last Topps player card) and Pete Rose MGR card in the same pack
PS: And yes in her loving memory I put the cards back in the packs just like she did.
So here I go I'm opening the last three remaining packs and I got (sorry Rojay I had to "just" open these with my bare hands as I didn't have a trusty straight edge, pliers and measuring tape, lol):
Like I already mentioned, we had also had a 1988 and 1989 Topps wax carton which what I could do is open the 1988 for her what would've been her 65th birthday on Dec 6 and 1989 (the first packs I ever got as a then nine year old were 1989 Topps and Donruss so score one for memories/nostalgia) next June 17...what would've been our date matching 17th anniversary.
But the first ever pack opening we ever did together was in 2018 when BBCE at the time was doing a special on 1993 Flair cartons so I got a couple in honor of 1993 Flair's then 25th anniversary and yes she did like how the cards/packaging was done. Someday I should get another one to keep sealed for my pack/carton collection...
Dimes: 54S, 53P, 50P, 49S, 45D+S, 44S, 43D, 41S, 40D+S, 39D+S, 38D+S, 37D+S, 36S, 35D+S, all 16-34's
Quarters: 52S, 47S, 46S, 40S, 39S, 38S, 37D+S, 36D+S, 35D, 34D, 32D+S
74 Topps: 37,38,46,47,48,138,151,193,210,214,223,241,256,264,268,277,289,316,435,552,570,577,592,602,610,654,655
1997 Finest silver: 115, 135, 139, 145, 310
1995 Ultra Gold Medallion Sets: Golden Prospects, HR Kings, On-Base Leaders, Power Plus, RBI Kings, Rising Stars
Hey Mike,
Great to hear from you. Those McGwires were purchased awhile back I believe, though I have popped a few PSA 9 over the years. Never pulled a 10 though. Thanks for the kind words and hope you are well. Hopefully we catch up at a National again one of these years.
Here were the rest of the football rip results…
I haven’t ripped anything since the National. With Thanksgiving upon us, I wanted to take a moment to give thanks for all the amazing blessings in my life. I am grateful for a loving family and friends, for our good health, for our general prosperity and for the brave women and men who protect our freedom every day. We are very lucky to live in this outstanding country and in this modern era.
I am also grateful for this wonderful hobby that has captured my fascination, since I was a boy in the 1980s. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a Thanksgiving week without some fun breaks. Let’s kick it off with a 1980 Topps vending box. This is one of my favorite card designs and the Rickey Henderson RC (if I am lucky enough to pull one) is simply iconic! Here goes…
Woohoo! Loooove this thread! Can’t wait to see your hits!
This is gonna be better than the turkey!
Good luck!!!!