Ouch…1986 Topps and vending do not mix. This was the most dinged box in the case, so I knew it was going to be an uphill battle. Not a single card worthy of PSA 10 status. No worries, I am still living on the high of yesterday’s 1988 Topps Hockey Wax Box.
Here were the stars and rookies from the box. This really is a visually appealing set…
This is the set I coveted most as a kid, but it always seemed just a bit out of reach. Clemens, McGwire and Gooden made immediate impacts as rookies and their RCs were complete fire right out of the gate. Add to that Kirby Puckett, Eric Davis and Orel Hershiser rookies and this set is easily a top 5 set from the 80s. I would say 89UD, 80T, 83T, 84D and 85T are the cream of the crop. This will be a fun rip for me. Seriously, how sexy is this box?!?!? The stuff childhood dreams are made of…
100% agree. This was my favorite set from the 80's for the reasons you listed. The Puckett, Clemens, McGwire, and Gooden were selling for $15-$20 within a year of release.
This year is notoriously off center, to the point that finding 50/50 centered cards is under 5% in any form of packaging. When you do find one perfectly centered, it makes the beauty of the cards really pop. Here are all the stars and rookies that missed the grading mark…
I did manage to pull 3 of the key RCs. These are such iconic cards from the 80s. I love the look of Kirby’s RC…so aesthetically pleasing. This is typical of the centering through the entire box. Sharp corners, edges and good registration…just never centered.
Here are the only 2 candidates for PSA 10 out of the 540 untouched cards, proving once again there will not be an explosion of new PSA 10s from this year flooding the market anytime soon.
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Hard not to love the Mattingly and Strawberry rookies from this set if you collected during the 80s. They were hobby heavyweights during that era and certainly at the top of my childhood want list. Here we go…
When vending was cheap, I did a lot of 82 and 83T and most cards were OC and ones that weren't? A chip here and there - so no 10s. Ones I did send in - 9 and this was before they went nuts on grading unless you got the grader of death.
I think the 84 set is one of the most under appreciated of the 80s due to the lack of rookies but I think it’s very cool. Some great images from the year.
Mattingly Topps rookies were selling for $25 within one year after release and if I remember correctly the Donruss was selling for $75-$100. There was very few hotter players/baseball cards than Mattingly from 1984-1989.
In terms of right to left centering - Is the centering on the left based on the space immediately to the left of the purple YANKEES letters? Is that where it starts and must come close to equaling the white on the right of the card?
@Yankees70 said:
In terms of right to left centering - Is the centering on the left based on the space immediately to the left of the purple YANKEES letters? Is that where it starts and must come close to equaling the white on the right of the card?
I have always thought it to be the border by the frame by his head shot should be the same width as the border by his shoes. Like these…
We are getting near the end, but with a few heavy hitters to go. 1983 Topps is one of the best sets of the 80s. Rookies of Gwynn, Boggs, and Sandberg along with a second year Ripken headline the key cards. Here goes a case fresh box…
83&85 Topps are the best of the 80s in design to me and I flip flop between the two as my favorite. I’m more 85 these days mostly due to the team banner graphics.
That Lasorda card looks awesome. I’d bet these raw rookies could actually do decent at auction if you are trying to recoup some dough.
This amazing thread is Inspiring me to rip and share.
Thanks as always for the great posts Chris!
John
Conundrum - Loving my unopened baseball card collection....but really like ripping too
That was a fun rip and a nice Christmas present to myself. When these cards are centered and clean, they really pop. Here are all the stars and rookies that missed the mark for grading…
At the midpoint, I had pulled these three solid candidates for PSA 9. The image on Rickey’s rookie is so striking to me with his unique batting stance and the symmetry of yellow and greens throughout…
Then about 100 cards later, this second Henderson RC appeared and also looks like it has a shot at PSA 9. Always a blessing to land two untouched Henderson RCs in one vending box.
This box contained a whopping 15 candidates for PSA 10 with some notable HOFers sprinkled in…
See, Christmas miracles can happen 🤣
Merry Christmas fellow board members…wishing you a happy and healthy holiday with friends and family.
Been a minute since I opened anything from the 70s. This year is notorious for poor centering, so opening 1979 is always a massive roll of the dice. You only live once, so might as well enjoy this hobby to the fullest. Looking forward to seeing if we can pull an Ozzie Smith rookie or a nice Nolan Ryan…
Crazy to think these cards sat untouched for 46 years. The fresh color and clean edges make them look to be from a time warp. Always gets my adrenaline going to instantly be back to childhood moments when I was truly loving the hobby for its simplicity and dreaming of pulling my favorite player.
As I mentioned earlier, centering this year is notoriously poor. There are no magic boxes from this year where every card is dead centered. Will never happen. So you just hope to find a handful of beautiful cards that beat the odds. Kind of like staying above the Mendoza line…
To be clear, Mendoza managed a hit about 1 in every 5 ABs and lives in infamy for one of the worse MLB averages over a sustained career. With 1979, you are hoping for decent centering about 1 out of every 20 cards.
Here are the stars with the typical centering challenges. Beautiful corners and edges, but 80/20 or worse centering…
Here are the few notable RCs from 1979, all with centering issues…
Speaking of a rookie with centering issues, this “edge of the sheet” card was a thrill to pull! Unfortunately, it is horrifically centered as can be expected on 90% of Smith RCs. Still, a factory fresh Ozzie is always cool…
Talk about pulling a blazer of a card, this Nolan is gorgeous. I just wish this was centered better so it had a shot at PSA 9.
I was happy to pull 11 cards that I think are solid PSA 9 MINT candidates. These look amazing and are all around 60/40 centering. Here are the first nine…
And then these sexy two…
I was actually shocked to land 6 candidates for PSA 10 out of this box. It was also nice that Lynn and Dawson were among them…
Hope this provided some holiday fun for those who followed. Merry Christmas gang.
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Crazy to think these cards sat untouched for 46 years. The fresh color and clean edges make them look to be from a time warp. Always gets my adrenaline going to instantly be back to childhood moments when I was truly loving the hobby for its simplicity and dreaming of pulling my favorite player.
As I mentioned earlier, centering this year is notoriously poor. There are no magic boxes from this year where every card is dead centered. Will never happen. So you just hope to find a handful of beautiful cards that beat the odds. Kind of like staying above the Mendoza line…
To be clear, Mendoza managed a hit about 1 in every 5 ABs and lives in infamy for one of the worse MLB averages over a sustained career. With 1979, you are hoping for decent centering about 1 out of every 20 cards.
Career AVG for Mendoza on back of 1979 card is erroneous.
it's not .278 it's .204
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972) Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
That Ozzie might be unworthy of grading, but he signs and I find that you can balance a card like that nicely with well-placed signature and inscriptions.
Something like this. Note: this is not signed. Just an example.
@jordangretzkyfan said:
Baz - thanks for sharing your memories. Always love hearing what others were feeling during the same timeframe. Cannot wait to see the success of your rips!
I've been quietly following along... you ended up with some nice results! Something about clean, perfectly centeted 79s. Not sure if it's all the straight lines and sharp angles that make the perfectly centered ones really pop. And that Henderson's a beauty! As always, thanks for sharing... your 81-91 football rip a while back is one of my all-time favorite posts on here.
I finished my rip tonight... spread it out over two days. Looks like our 83 vending boxes had similar results. No big hits in the modern and got everyone I expected in the vintage packs except for the Dorsett (also thought I picked a Bird sequence 81 pack, but picked two Magics 🤷♂️). Definitely a thrill to pull these cards and super thankful the odds worked in my favor.
Yes - too bad on the centering on some cards - that's what plagues the 79T set IMO. I opened 1 box around 1992 and got zero Ozzies. I gave a lot of the cards away - so I don't even know how many I have left.
Nice choice on the Mendoza - for the "stat" guys here - yes - he's the infamous "Mario" (Mendoza Line) who everyone refers to that hang on around .200 BA with fielding skills that save them. I believe it was Manager Bochi who made the term infamous while he was a player? He was no tower of power himself as a backup catcher.
Mario does have a WS ring from 1979 tho he never played in any of the games to the best of my knowledge.
Baz - awesome knowledge of the likely sequences and congrats on hitting all the key rookies. Centering is always the challenge on 70s and 80s Topps. Funny how collectors never even gave centering a thought back then. Now it is what makes 9s and 10s so valuable.
Comments
Thanks for doing this Chris. I look forward to seeing your results every day.
Ouch…1986 Topps and vending do not mix. This was the most dinged box in the case, so I knew it was going to be an uphill battle. Not a single card worthy of PSA 10 status. No worries, I am still living on the high of yesterday’s 1988 Topps Hockey Wax Box.
Here were the stars and rookies from the box. This really is a visually appealing set…
Love the hockey! Some big names and as a HUGE Neely fan, happy to see you got one. Love to see you open more hockey!
i am not much on hockey cards but that sure was a fun box to open. great job.
I am sitting with (3) vending cases of 1986. One was BBCE but bottom unglued. Other 2 are wrapped and intact respectively.
I do have several loose boxes too. I don’t have a desire to rip it. But now starting to see the fun of the chase.
We shall see. Thanks for sharing
John
1986 Topps is a fun drug to open…and a fairly inexpensive rip. Just a real roll of the dice.
Day 8: 1985 Topps Baseball Wax Box
This is the set I coveted most as a kid, but it always seemed just a bit out of reach. Clemens, McGwire and Gooden made immediate impacts as rookies and their RCs were complete fire right out of the gate. Add to that Kirby Puckett, Eric Davis and Orel Hershiser rookies and this set is easily a top 5 set from the 80s. I would say 89UD, 80T, 83T, 84D and 85T are the cream of the crop. This will be a fun rip for me. Seriously, how sexy is this box?!?!? The stuff childhood dreams are made of…
100% agree. This was my favorite set from the 80's for the reasons you listed. The Puckett, Clemens, McGwire, and Gooden were selling for $15-$20 within a year of release.
This year is notoriously off center, to the point that finding 50/50 centered cards is under 5% in any form of packaging. When you do find one perfectly centered, it makes the beauty of the cards really pop. Here are all the stars and rookies that missed the grading mark…
I did manage to pull 3 of the key RCs. These are such iconic cards from the 80s. I love the look of Kirby’s RC…so aesthetically pleasing. This is typical of the centering through the entire box. Sharp corners, edges and good registration…just never centered.
Here are the only 2 candidates for PSA 10 out of the 540 untouched cards, proving once again there will not be an explosion of new PSA 10s from this year flooding the market anytime soon.
haven't checked in a few days cool rips
that Hockey box was great!!!!
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Day 9: 1984 Topps Baseball Vending Box
Hard not to love the Mattingly and Strawberry rookies from this set if you collected during the 80s. They were hobby heavyweights during that era and certainly at the top of my childhood want list. Here we go…
Wow do I ever concur Chris.
When vending was cheap, I did a lot of 82 and 83T and most cards were OC and ones that weren't? A chip here and there - so no 10s. Ones I did send in - 9 and this was before they went nuts on grading unless you got the grader of death.
As usual thanx for sharing and Merry Christmas!
I think the 84 set is one of the most under appreciated of the 80s due to the lack of rookies but I think it’s very cool. Some great images from the year.
Mattingly Topps rookies were selling for $25 within one year after release and if I remember correctly the Donruss was selling for $75-$100. There was very few hotter players/baseball cards than Mattingly from 1984-1989.
This whole box started off centered and stayed off center. That is typical for 80s Topps. Here are the stars and rookies that missed the mark…
No Strawberry RC this round, but it is always a thrill to pull an untouched Mattingly RC. This card takes me right back to being a kid!
Good Ol Donnie Baseball.
In terms of right to left centering - Is the centering on the left based on the space immediately to the left of the purple YANKEES letters? Is that where it starts and must come close to equaling the white on the right of the card?
I have always thought it to be the border by the frame by his head shot should be the same width as the border by his shoes. Like these…
Day 10: 1983 Topps Baseball Vending Box
We are getting near the end, but with a few heavy hitters to go. 1983 Topps is one of the best sets of the 80s. Rookies of Gwynn, Boggs, and Sandberg along with a second year Ripken headline the key cards. Here goes a case fresh box…
And 83 with maybe the weirdest Nolan Ryan photo of his entire run.
Don’t forget that one.
Thanks Chris for the clarification.
Such a great design and fun trip down memory lane. Here are the stars and rookies that missed the grade…
A nice second year Cal, but typical centering issues…
Pulled two of the key three rookies in blazing sharp condition, but alas centering is not where it needs to be…
Here are the two candidates for PSA 10 out of 500 factory fresh cards…
Any realistic chance the Boggs could receive a 9 or is it most likely an 8?
And Rickey. Dude was so cool I don’t think he could ever not have a great photo.
83&85 Topps are the best of the 80s in design to me and I flip flop between the two as my favorite. I’m more 85 these days mostly due to the team banner graphics.
That Lasorda card looks awesome. I’d bet these raw rookies could actually do decent at auction if you are trying to recoup some dough.
This amazing thread is Inspiring me to rip and share.
Thanks as always for the great posts Chris!
John
I would expect an 8, but I will likely sub it and hope for a 9.
Day 11: 1980 Topps Baseball Vending Box
One of my favorite sets from the 80s. Clean design, great in action images, and arguably the most collectible rookie of the 80s in Rickey Henderson.
Good luck. Hopefully you pull a nicely centered PSA 9 candidate for Henderson and Ryan.
GO CHRIS!
That was a fun rip and a nice Christmas present to myself. When these cards are centered and clean, they really pop. Here are all the stars and rookies that missed the mark for grading…
At the midpoint, I had pulled these three solid candidates for PSA 9. The image on Rickey’s rookie is so striking to me with his unique batting stance and the symmetry of yellow and greens throughout…
Then about 100 cards later, this second Henderson RC appeared and also looks like it has a shot at PSA 9. Always a blessing to land two untouched Henderson RCs in one vending box.
This box contained a whopping 15 candidates for PSA 10 with some notable HOFers sprinkled in…
See, Christmas miracles can happen 🤣
Merry Christmas fellow board members…wishing you a happy and healthy holiday with friends and family.
So happy for you - what a great box. Merry Christmas.
Yahtzee! Well done.
Very nice assortment for you!
FABULOUS!
Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas.
Day 12: 1979 Topps Baseball Vending Box
Been a minute since I opened anything from the 70s. This year is notorious for poor centering, so opening 1979 is always a massive roll of the dice. You only live once, so might as well enjoy this hobby to the fullest. Looking forward to seeing if we can pull an Ozzie Smith rookie or a nice Nolan Ryan…
Here come all the perfectly cornered 79s with 30/70 centering!
I LOVE that set but Topps never returns the love.
Good luck
Does the 78 Topps Baseball Vending/Wax boxes usually have decent centering? I know the 77 and 79 boxes usually have poor centering.
Thanks for posting all the fun rips! And Merry Christmas to all the followers of this great thread.
Crazy to think these cards sat untouched for 46 years. The fresh color and clean edges make them look to be from a time warp. Always gets my adrenaline going to instantly be back to childhood moments when I was truly loving the hobby for its simplicity and dreaming of pulling my favorite player.
As I mentioned earlier, centering this year is notoriously poor. There are no magic boxes from this year where every card is dead centered. Will never happen. So you just hope to find a handful of beautiful cards that beat the odds. Kind of like staying above the Mendoza line…
To be clear, Mendoza managed a hit about 1 in every 5 ABs and lives in infamy for one of the worse MLB averages over a sustained career. With 1979, you are hoping for decent centering about 1 out of every 20 cards.
Here are the stars with the typical centering challenges. Beautiful corners and edges, but 80/20 or worse centering…
Here are the few notable RCs from 1979, all with centering issues…
Speaking of a rookie with centering issues, this “edge of the sheet” card was a thrill to pull! Unfortunately, it is horrifically centered as can be expected on 90% of Smith RCs. Still, a factory fresh Ozzie is always cool…
Talk about pulling a blazer of a card, this Nolan is gorgeous. I just wish this was centered better so it had a shot at PSA 9.
I was happy to pull 11 cards that I think are solid PSA 9 MINT candidates. These look amazing and are all around 60/40 centering. Here are the first nine…
And then these sexy two…
I was actually shocked to land 6 candidates for PSA 10 out of this box. It was also nice that Lynn and Dawson were among them…
Hope this provided some holiday fun for those who followed. Merry Christmas gang.
Thanks Chris. I was looking forward to this all day. Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus to all.
Thanks you for taking us along, and sharing your experience with us. Fascinating traveling back in time like this. Have a happy new year!
Career AVG for Mendoza on back of 1979 card is erroneous.
it's not .278 it's .204
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Yeah, hard to have a .278 average when you never had a season above .221!
I just got caught up on your rips. Really enjoyed going through them. Thanks for posting them.
That Ozzie might be unworthy of grading, but he signs and I find that you can balance a card like that nicely with well-placed signature and inscriptions.
Something like this. Note: this is not signed. Just an example.
I've been quietly following along... you ended up with some nice results! Something about clean, perfectly centeted 79s. Not sure if it's all the straight lines and sharp angles that make the perfectly centered ones really pop. And that Henderson's a beauty! As always, thanks for sharing... your 81-91 football rip a while back is one of my all-time favorite posts on here.
I finished my rip tonight... spread it out over two days. Looks like our 83 vending boxes had similar results. No big hits in the modern and got everyone I expected in the vintage packs except for the Dorsett (also thought I picked a Bird sequence 81 pack, but picked two Magics 🤷♂️). Definitely a thrill to pull these cards and super thankful the odds worked in my favor.
Some nice cards Chris.
Yes - too bad on the centering on some cards - that's what plagues the 79T set IMO. I opened 1 box around 1992 and got zero Ozzies. I gave a lot of the cards away - so I don't even know how many I have left.
Nice choice on the Mendoza - for the "stat" guys here - yes - he's the infamous "Mario" (Mendoza Line) who everyone refers to that hang on around .200 BA with fielding skills that save them. I believe it was Manager Bochi who made the term infamous while he was a player? He was no tower of power himself as a backup catcher.
Mario does have a WS ring from 1979 tho he never played in any of the games to the best of my knowledge.
No ring for Mario. He was on the Mariners in 1979, as evidenced by this beauty which apparently sold for $1009 earlier this year.
Baz - awesome knowledge of the likely sequences and congrats on hitting all the key rookies. Centering is always the challenge on 70s and 80s Topps. Funny how collectors never even gave centering a thought back then. Now it is what makes 9s and 10s so valuable.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanx - had some bad info in my head.