Retro Break!

 

One thing I wanted to chase down for my anniversary/birthday this summer was old wax packs from my youth. I knew that JB's Sportscards had some early 1990s packs but had no idea that their wax pack stash went even further back. 

Additionally, the card show I stopped at last weekend had much more retro packs including rack packs of 1983 Topps. I initially picked up a pair - along with a pack of 1986 Fleer - but balked at the price. $135 total. I put back one of the '83 Topps rack packs and my new total was $75.

$60 for one of these sounds high to me, but I had to get at least one. These predate my card collecting years (I was 3) and I probably won't see an entire box of unopened 1980s rack packs again at least until the end of this post... I resisted the urge to rifle through all the packs for a favorable face card and picked this one after a short sifting mainly for the Tigers team card. (If a Red Sox player or HOFer was facing up I would have grabbed one.) 

Here's how I know the retro wax guy at the show overcharged me. The 1986 Fleer pack, with no HOF rookie cards possible, was $15. The 1983 Fleer pack on the left was purchased from JB's store. Potential PSA 10 rookie cards of Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs... $10 a pack. 

I will not be opening the 1986 Fleer pack, for two reasons. The first reason is that I already have the completed set and at $15 a pack, with little chance of seeing another one in the wild, it makes no sense to unseal it. The second reason? 1986 Fleer is the first pack of cards I can remember buying as a 5-6 year old. I know I saw packs on the shelf at my local WaWa, next to Bazooka Joe and Charms blow pops. If Topps or Donruss packs were also on the shelves, I don't remember them. In my mind, Fleer was first. Maybe I was drawn to the stickers? 

Since I don't have any personal attachment to the 1983 packs I'll go ahead and crack those open. Fun fact: these 1983 packs will be the oldest I've ever opened. My father in law opened a 1977 Topps pack from the 2011 Topps diamond giveaway(a 34 year-old pack at the time.)

Besides the Ryno/Gwynn/Boggs rookies, we're looking for any of the 43* Hall of Famers who were active at the time (hat tip to Night Owl for the research) Mike Schmidt, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken, Nolan Ryan, Yaz, and Robin Yount in particular. 

*an appropriate number since these packs are 43 years old
**N.O.'s count lists 52 Hall of Famers. However that counts 9 HOFers who were managing in '83

Here we go...

Wow, the cards are so crisp! The Lonnie Smith made me smile. Jon Bois fans know why. 

Jim Palmer is a nice Hall of Famer to have, since the Orioles were World Champs in '83.

I somehow pulled both side of the Black & Blue franken-card - but out of order (I was momentarily stunned by how off-center Vida was lol) 

Kent Tekulve makes an appearance. I had to explain to my friend Brandon at Baseball Brittie why this old reliever he'd never heard of was so popular. 

And... that's it. No Red Sox but some nice cards. I definitely would buy more if I see them again at JB's.

Now for the $60 rack pack of 1983 Topps. Less value per card here, but more chances to hit a HOFer. 

Let's start with the top window. 

Soo many leader cards. The Dodgers and Cubs cards are nice. There was no Bob Emergency in the early '80s, that's for sure. 

Window #2 felt thicker... because it had an extra card. 

A few of these were off-center including the Rose. But the Eckersley is sharp. 

Last window. Let's get the right Boggs this time...

Nope. Another Gaylord Perry, a couple minor stars, and a Red Sox common. Also, another extra card. Did that happen often with Topps, or were these resealed somehow? 

Dennis, do you need this Gibby? If anyone needs 1983 set fillers let me know.

Quick story about that Gary Gaeti RC - it's not the first time I've owned this card. When I was about 8 or 9 , I was browsing at my local shop, a hole-in-the-wall called Bobby's Umpire. A customer had just ripped open a bunch of packs and put all the singles he didn't want into a brown paper bag. When he got up to leave he saw me and offered the bag of cards. I excitedly accepted and rifled through the bag as quick as can be. Before he was out the door I shouted "You gave me a Gary Gaeti rookie card!" I'll never forget his response: "So?" It meant a lot to me at the time, but I get why he didn't care. 

So the 1983 Topps rack pack was subpar. Let's move on to 1986, shall we?

I bought this for just under $200 at Dave & Adam's, which works out to roughly $8 per pack. A much, much better value than the 1983 - even with the lack of star power potential.

Per Night Owl's math there are 37 Hall of Fame players in the 1986 Topps set (and 7 managers) no Rookie cards of Hall of Famers; the best RCs possible are Cecil Fielder, Darren Daulton, and Ozzie Guillen I guess? This is pure nostalgia for me. Not the first cards I ever purchased -- the first cards I ever collected. 

Guess what I'll be doing this weekend? Hopefully there's a complete set in here. I already see Cecil :)

Results of the break will be posted next week. 

What's the oldest pack of cards you have ever opened - either by year or by age (how long it stayed sealed)? 

Thanks for reading!



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