The initial finds from this case break are definitely a prime example of how hard it is to put a high quality set of Mini's together.....free of off-center, diamond cuts, print marks....etc. Value's of these cards in high grade with low pop's are increasing. I buy quality examples on eBay vs. unopened product. However, if your just starting your graded or non-graded collection.....Buying a few unopened boxes of Mini's to start your graded set most likely will prove to be a good idea. I personally have so few cards that will upgrade my set that buying unopened 75 Mini's isn't cost effective unless I get lucky with a good box (very rare).
Yes, it is thrilling to open them....no doubt about that. Yes, you can find a Gem in these unopened boxes. In fact if you can find 3 or 4 that grade 10 it is quite likely you will get your money back and then some on your risk.......if a star card grades 10 it will be a profitable box (but check out the pop reports and you'll find very few star cards that have graded PSA 10).....but if no 10's show up and no star cards in 9.....well, it's likely not going to be profitable . With a high percentage of diamond cuts or off centers showing up early in the box break it may be wise to cut your losses and grade the packs and sell them. Once a trend is seen in the box break.....it is likely to continue thoughout the whole box. That was my experience when I opened mine and I've heard other collectors convey this theory. There are very good boxes out there......but overall I think they are extremely rare!
Realizing that Topps quality control was not a major concern for .15 cent packs of baseball cards is the first reality we as collectors should understand before paying large dollars for current unopended material. I'm not trying to diminish the excitement of this case break. It certainly is exciting to find out what collectors find from this case break! It will also help inform many collectors of what is theory and what is reality as far as what to expect when buying unopened boxes of 75 Topps Mini's.
Best of Luck to all collectors involved in this case break
(If any upgrades to my #1 set show up....I'd be interested in buying them directly. Please feel free to send me a P.M. or e-mail me via my set registry e-mail address.)
If you come back and have time, could you list some of the cards that are most sought after?
Are any of the cards that look like 8s, worth grading?
I agree with you about grading the packs. That was my intention from the get go. Sticking to my plan is going to be a lot easier now that we have seen what might be inside those packs.
storm
Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
There are far more worth grading than I'm listing.......but I believe the following card numbers in the 75 Mini's would definitely be worth grading if you can get an 8 or better:
Some of the more difficult IMO were 31,98,173,187,243,253,302,355,564,583,626,and 647. Only 4 cards remain without a PSA 9 or 10..... they are 173 Steve Rogers, 564 Tommy Davis, 583 Andy Etchebarren, 626 Larry Haney.
This should be a good start on what you'd want to grade. Check out the population report and anything in 8 with a pop of 15 or less would be the first cards you'd want to grade if your looking to sell them.
ok got caught up on sleep woke up grabbed a pack and here is what i got. The yount is disapointing but very sharp corners. at least nothing way off centered as the ones i opened at the break were . decided 20 of my packs will be on there way to psa tommorrow.
according to psa pack grading site they will mark special designations on the holder under certain circumstances. wonder if we can decide on something cool for the label maybe they will do it?
ill post some more as i open them but heres a few beauties
Well the pack grading site says 57-present baseball wax and cello. To be safe I called and asked about the 75 mini packs before i send them in. Well this isnt sounding good at first the customer service told me they are not sure. Then I talked to someone in the spec department and they asked the demensions of the pack and also told me they are not sure if they can holder the minis he said when they said 57-present they never thought about the 75 mini packs. Of course they said they will look into it and call me back but this doesn't sound good
I had 12 of my packs packed and my submission form ready now I guess Ill have to wait. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up
The box has arrived.....I'm prolonging the agony....I"m in the middle of shutting down my pool for the winter so my pack ripping won't take place until later.....I'm really tempted to dive in but I don't think my soaking wet clothes would do the cards much good......I also don't think chlorine helps either......tonight, tonight.....some will be ripped for sure.
This is just my humble opinion. The only reason I would want my packs in a PSA holder is for authentication that the pack has not been opened. The grade to me would be irrelevant. In other words, I would rather purchase a lower graded pack because it would be cheaper. (Unless it's just beat to death.)
Should I start to get a little nervous if my cards don't show up tomorrow?
Hopefully they are saving the best for last
So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
Just opened my 6 pack!!! Overall, no wild miscuts, but virtually all o/c left to right with a diamond cut as well. Out of 6 packs I had some potential great pulls: Mantle/aaron MVP (surface wrinkle??), Bench RBI leader, Brett (diamond cut and covered in wax), Schmidt (mis-cut on top edge and l/r centering problems), and Niekro and Munson (probably my best two, if I can't get the wax off the Brett).
I have class tonight, so will post scans later.
My roommate ate the gum while I opened the packs...not a good idea he says.
packs just arrived and packed to perfection. cant decide......................................................open or slab.......................I will crack them and scan soon!
wow. great stuff. i didnt get mine yet and i am so jealous! glad to see everyone ripping and posting. hey soft nice lynn! how's it look up close? psa 8 or 9?
Oh no! All six packs apear to have no tears in the corners. Four of the have nice square corners and are nice and tight. The other two are a little looser and have some give when you squeeze the sides.
I have no experience with pack grading and am not totally sure of what all I need to consider grading them.
<< <i>Just opened my 6 pack!!! Overall, no wild miscuts, but virtually all o/c left to right with a diamond cut as well. Out of 6 packs I had some potential great pulls: Mantle/aaron MVP (surface wrinkle??), Bench RBI leader, Brett (diamond cut and covered in wax), Schmidt (mis-cut on top edge and l/r centering problems), and Niekro and Munson (probably my best two, if I can't get the wax off the Brett).
I have class tonight, so will post scans later.
My roommate ate the gum while I opened the packs...not a good idea he says.
Good luck to everyone else!
-Mike >>
Is the wax on the front or back of the Brett?
If I'm lucky enough to get a pack with a Brett, Yount, Ryan or Aaron showing on the back, I'll save it to be slabbed. I hope PSA will ID the star card showing on packs (provided they confirm they can holder the minis). I also have a '68 pack with Aaron AS showing, a '63 pack with Tresh showing, a '72 pack with Clemente IA showing, a '71 pack with Santo showing and a '64 pack with a Willie Mays combo card showing (I think he's with Cepeda) all of which I'd like to have slabbed with ID of the card showing.
well gem don't hold your breath on the holdering. im a little pissed right now. Someone from psa finally calls me back about 130 and says yes minis can be slabbed. So i already had the forms filled out and dropped my 18 packs in the mail.
now i just get this message from carol at psa <No minis at this time but it's possible that it will happen sooner rather than later.
Carol >
I have a feeling this is going to be a big headache. of course psa is closed for the day so no one can answer my calls. I should have just ripped em all. oh well
hey rounding3rd I've got a brett on the back of a pack i havent opened yet just wondering how the centering on yours was. regards gary
Haven't received them yet here in California...but it is 75 degrees out, a holiday, and I just got back from the driving range. I guess I can't complain.
<< <i>well gem don't hold your breath on the holdering. im a little pissed right now. Someone from psa finally calls me back about 130 and says yes minis can be slabbed. So i already had the forms filled out and dropped my 18 packs in the mail.
now i just get this message from carol at psa <No minis at this time but it's possible that it will happen sooner rather than later.
Carol >
I have a feeling this is going to be a big headache. of course psa is closed for the day so no one can answer my calls. I should have just ripped em all. oh well
hey rounding3rd I've got a brett on the back of a pack i havent opened yet just wondering how the centering on yours was. regards gary >>
Gary, I hope they end up being able to slab them. Is the Brett on your pack face up (glossy side) or face down? I definitely would keep it sealed if the back is on the wax side.
no the front of the brett is showing im hoping if psa will slab them they will put brett on back on the flip. i see they did this for mark murphys psa 86 fleer packs. one of his psa labels actually reads jordan sticker on back. But then again im still fightin to find out if they will slab the minis. Now caroll messages that they will update the pack grade site tommorrow so it dont look good sounds like cariol is the authority and not the yahoos i dealt with on the phone today. just worried about the packs that are already on there way. Sometimes my impatience bites me
I'm in Parma, right outside Cleveland and received my packs today........shut down my pool this afternoon and now I'm ripping.....
Well I'm ripping one pack for now.....I'm trying to decide whether to have the packs graded or not. Anyways the pack I opened had a slight tear. Here are scans of the cards I got. The Pinson has gum stain on the bottom and the Leading fireman card has the wax stain on front of the card and there is a slight bend bottom right corner. Don't know if I did it when I opened the pack or not. Centering was what I considered great on only two cards, the McCarver and the Checklist. The MVP's are OC right to left and the others top to bottom....any opinions on those familiar with the cards relative to which ones to grade other than the McCarver/Checklist????
Here are some of the best of the three other packs I opened. The other two will wait for grading.
I think the Washington will be one of my favorite cards. The front shows him taking a lead of first in an empty stadium. The back has a stat line like no other card to my knowledge.
Comments
They are working tomorrow (Columbus Day.)
Yes, it is thrilling to open them....no doubt about that. Yes, you can find a Gem in these unopened boxes. In fact if you can find 3 or 4 that grade 10 it is quite likely you will get your money back and then some on your risk.......if a star card grades 10 it will be a profitable box (but check out the pop reports and you'll find very few star cards that have graded PSA 10).....but if no 10's show up and no star cards in 9.....well, it's likely not going to be profitable . With a high percentage of diamond cuts or off centers showing up early in the box break it may be wise to cut your losses and grade the packs and sell them. Once a trend is seen in the box break.....it is likely to continue thoughout the whole box. That was my experience when I opened mine and I've heard other collectors convey this theory. There are very good boxes out there......but overall I think they are extremely rare!
Realizing that Topps quality control was not a major concern for .15 cent packs of baseball cards is the first reality we as collectors should understand before paying large dollars for current unopended material. I'm not trying to diminish the excitement of this case break. It certainly is exciting to find out what collectors find from this case break! It will also help inform many collectors of what is theory and what is reality as far as what to expect when buying unopened boxes of 75 Topps Mini's.
Best of Luck to all collectors involved in this case break
(If any upgrades to my #1 set show up....I'd be interested in buying them directly. Please feel free to send me a P.M. or e-mail me via my set registry e-mail address.)
Thanks for posting.
If you come back and have time, could you list
some of the cards that are most sought after?
Are any of the cards that look like 8s, worth grading?
I agree with you about grading the packs. That was
my intention from the get go. Sticking to my plan is
going to be a lot easier now that we have seen what
might be inside those packs.
storm
There are far more worth grading than I'm listing.......but I believe the following card numbers in the 75 Mini's would definitely be worth grading if you can
get an 8 or better:
6,28,30,31,44,53,55,82,84,86,97,98,109,125,127,131,143,168,169,173,187,219,222,233,243,253,264,265,277,282,287,289,297,302,326,336,354,355,
380,392,401,402,405,417,433,442,445,458,460,499,503,512,514,528,542,564,572,583,590,596,626,647,649,651,659.
Some of the more difficult IMO were 31,98,173,187,243,253,302,355,564,583,626,and 647. Only 4 cards remain without a PSA 9 or 10.....
they are 173 Steve Rogers, 564 Tommy Davis, 583 Andy Etchebarren, 626 Larry Haney.
This should be a good start on what you'd want to grade. Check out the population report and anything in 8 with a pop of 15 or less would be
the first cards you'd want to grade if your looking to sell them.
Best of Luck with your packs
a Dodger and the bottom part was another
team?
Funny.
That would be just fine.
according to psa pack grading site they will mark special designations on the holder under certain circumstances. wonder if we can decide on something cool for the label maybe they will do it?
ill post some more as i open them but heres a few beauties
**edit**
Loves me some shiny!
“Often wrong, but never in doubt.”
Somebody must've done really well, b/c my packs were 99.9% commons.
Really fun though.
Julen
RIP GURU
Peace
45% complete.
Well this isnt sounding good at first the customer service told me they are not sure. Then I talked to someone in the spec department and they asked the demensions of the pack and also told me they are not sure if they can holder the minis he said when they said 57-present they never thought about the 75 mini packs. Of course they said they will look into it and call me back but this doesn't sound good
I had 12 of my packs packed and my submission form ready now I guess Ill have to wait. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up
______
Collecting all Yankees especially:
Thurman Munson, Yogi Berra, Melky Cabrera!
For my son:
Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada
MY Baseball Card Page
My Player Collection Needs
al.
COPPER is gutter !
Shane
COPPER is gutter !
COPPER is gutter !
Hopefully they are saving the best for last
COPPER is gutter !
COPPER is gutter !
Good luck with the rest.
Peace
Doug
45% complete.
COPPER is gutter !
I'm afraid these are the best cards my 6-pack had to offer. Ah, well. You can't win if you don't play.
My Auctions
Tnx Rob
I have class tonight, so will post scans later.
My roommate ate the gum while I opened the packs...not a good idea he says.
Good luck to everyone else!
-Mike
hey soft nice lynn! how's it look up close? psa 8 or 9?
The other two are a little looser and have some give when you squeeze the sides.
I have no experience with pack grading and am not totally sure of what all I need to consider grading them.
Any help?
Another restless night awaits.
<< <i>Just opened my 6 pack!!! Overall, no wild miscuts, but virtually all o/c left to right with a diamond cut as well. Out of 6 packs I had some potential great pulls: Mantle/aaron MVP (surface wrinkle??), Bench RBI leader, Brett (diamond cut and covered in wax), Schmidt (mis-cut on top edge and l/r centering problems), and Niekro and Munson (probably my best two, if I can't get the wax off the Brett).
I have class tonight, so will post scans later.
My roommate ate the gum while I opened the packs...not a good idea he says.
Good luck to everyone else!
-Mike >>
Is the wax on the front or back of the Brett?
If I'm lucky enough to get a pack with a Brett, Yount, Ryan or Aaron showing on the back, I'll save it to be slabbed. I hope PSA will ID the star card showing on packs (provided they confirm they can holder the minis). I also have a '68 pack with Aaron AS showing, a '63 pack with Tresh showing, a '72 pack with Clemente IA showing, a '71 pack with Santo showing and a '64 pack with a Willie Mays combo card showing (I think he's with Cepeda) all of which I'd like to have slabbed with ID of the card showing.
now i just get this message from carol at psa
<No minis at this time but it's possible that it will happen sooner rather than later.
Carol >
I have a feeling this is going to be a big headache. of course psa is closed for the day so no one can answer my calls. I should have just ripped em all. oh well
hey rounding3rd I've got a brett on the back of a pack i havent opened yet just wondering how the centering on yours was.
regards
gary
Will UPS leave the package if nobody's home?
<< <i>well gem don't hold your breath on the holdering. im a little pissed right now. Someone from psa finally calls me back about 130 and says yes minis can be slabbed. So i already had the forms filled out and dropped my 18 packs in the mail.
now i just get this message from carol at psa
<No minis at this time but it's possible that it will happen sooner rather than later.
Carol >
I have a feeling this is going to be a big headache. of course psa is closed for the day so no one can answer my calls. I should have just ripped em all. oh well
hey rounding3rd I've got a brett on the back of a pack i havent opened yet just wondering how the centering on yours was.
regards
gary >>
Gary, I hope they end up being able to slab them. Is the Brett on your pack face up (glossy side) or face down? I definitely would keep it sealed if the back is on the wax side.
all in all, not so bad top to bottom, but almost everything oc l-r and the backs on the diamond cuts were worse than the fronts.
j/k hope the wedding went well buddy
Well I'm ripping one pack for now.....I'm trying to decide whether to have the packs graded or not. Anyways the pack I opened had a slight tear. Here are scans of the cards I got. The Pinson has gum stain on the bottom and the Leading fireman card has the wax stain on front of the card and there is a slight bend bottom right corner. Don't know if I did it when I opened the pack or not. Centering was what I considered great on only two cards, the McCarver and the Checklist. The MVP's are OC right to left and the others top to bottom....any opinions on those familiar with the cards relative to which ones to grade other than the McCarver/Checklist????
Two more packs to open, saving the other three for PSA grading when 75 minis are accepted.
the 2 had slight tears on the corners so I said what the heck.
Here are some of the best of the three other packs I opened. The other two will wait for grading.
I think the Washington will be one of my favorite cards. The front shows him taking a lead of first in an empty stadium.
The back has a stat line like no other card to my knowledge.