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Opening a 1957 Basketball Pack
jmullen
Posts: 159 ✭
So, I was thinking of opening up a 1957 GAI Basketball Pack at the National at the PSA booth. I was thinking of opening it just so that I could learn more about the issue etc (mainly, I want to see the way the cards were distributed in the pack).
Any thoughts?
Would anyone even be interested in this sort of event?
Jeff
Any thoughts?
Would anyone even be interested in this sort of event?
Jeff
0
Comments
Vintage pack openings usually draw a crowd at the PSA Booth. Everyone likes to be a part of such an experience.
RayBShotz
I don't think I could sleep at night knowing there was a really nice, old pack just sitting there...waiting to be opened. The thrill of pulling a great card would be too much-even with lo odds of getting anything worth the pack price.
I would say don't open it. That's has to be rather rare item. Once you open the pack the thrill will be gone, and if you get a bunch of commons, then the thrill will really be gone. It's a much neater collectible sealed.
just my 2 cents
I think there are only 5 cards in the pack. With the wrapper worth about $1,000 you are looking at $500 a card to open the pack. Thus, you could never make any money opening it.
But, it would be cool to do, especially since I have not heard of anyone opening one yet (like I said, these things simply did not exist in the hobby until the canadian find).
I also really want to do it just to see the order the cards were distributed in and their general direction. If anyone has information on this for the 1957 baseball, hockey, or football let me know. I want to know if they were cut and distributed from the sheets the same way the other sports were (because then I could tell you which pack a Russel was in by just looking at the front and/or back cards.
On this note, I may also open a box of later basketball cards (if I can buy one) to show people how to search packs without opening them. I am shocked that nobody else knows about this.
Jeff
The '57 pack that recently closed in Mastro's auction seemed very low ($3,100).
Compare it to other rare basketball packs: 61/62 Fleer, 69/70 Topps and 71/72 Topps routinely sell for $1,000 to $1,500+. Yet in terms of break value, wrapper value and overall rarity, you'd think the 57 pack would be much higher (only an 80 card set, although the cards are notoriously off center).
How many packs were discovered? I've lost count.
I agree that the Mastro's pack went for next to nothing (but I think it was because this pack looked a little off and was only a GAI 7).
As I was told before the first '57 pack sold, the find had like 17 packs in it and an empty box. About 20 packs have sold now in the last year and this makes sense because I'm sure the person that paid $50,000 for the first lot vented a few single packs back through Mastros. Before this lot, however I had never seen, or even heard of, an unopened 1957 pack. 1957 was very short produced (and it was at a time when Topps was putting a lot of their effort into non-sports issues). Moreover, most of the 1957 cards were distributed in vending boxes. I had noted that I would pay $100 just for a scan of a wrapper and finally paid the $100 off after looking for about 5 years.
I knew a few people that were willing to pay $10k for a '57 pack and when the packs surfaced -- they did. From what I hear, the person that bought the initial lot (i think there were 7 or 8 packs) sold a few off for $8k-$10k a pop.
Now that we are "nearing the end" of the first distribution of these '57s, my guess is that they will go into hiding for a few years -- surfacing one every few years to fetch somewhere in the $5,000-$6,000 range.
What is really odd is that the 1948 packs have not been popping up -- even though I know of a few that are out there.
Either way, I was actually the high bidder on the Mastro's 1957 pack and that would be the one I want to open (since it looked "off" to me, I'm going to ask GAI be there in case it turns out to be "off").
BUT, I may wait until next year's national because 1) I think I can only walk the show on Wednesdays set up day; and 2) I want to get a box of a specific year of 1970s cards so I can show people how to search packs without opening them (now that would draw a crowd) and also I want to pick up a few 1961 to break. If anyone out there wants to give me a decent deal on any of their GAI packs, let me know. Since I'm breaking them mainly for educational purposes, 7's are fine by me.
Jeff
Any idea how many cards were in 1957 Hockey, baeball, or football? I had heard that sometimes in Canada they would not include as many cards in the packs and that you would get "short" packs.
Jeff
I think some of the Canadian baseball packs offered last year by Mastro (their big spring auction) only had 3-4 cards per pack. Don't quote me on that
I heard that a lot of the canadian packs "seemed small." Someone told me that this was sometimes done with Canadian issues.
Jeff
If you decide to open a pack at the nats, please let me know. I would definatly show up for that. I love vintage basketball just like you!!
dave
FINISHED 12/8/2008!!!
Jeff
So when I see dead centered PSA 8s, I just would like to know where they came from. Maybe vending boxes which might have come from sheets cut or laid out differently? Who knows. But I would never ever ever open a vintage pack that is worth some bucks. Not worth it IMHO.
The reason I wanted to open the pack had nothing to do with the value of the cards. The reason I was opening the pack was a chance to learn more about the issue. I mean that is what I enjoy ... learning the history.
Trust me, the fact that I'm burning $4,000 means nothing to me when it means learning about the issue.
Jeff