Factory sealed sets
 

How do you guys feel about opening factory sealed Topps sets from the mid- 1980s? I am a collector only, and I love carefully sliding cards into sheets and binders, specifically the Tiffany sets. It seems like the only way to get really nice sets is to buy the sealed ones, otherwise the opened ones have star cards that have been traded out, and I'm left with star cards which aren't as nice as the rest of the set. I get that such sets would hold more "value" if left sealed. Any of you guys ever make decisions on stuff like this??

I try to leave stuff unopened unless it's either very plentiful - 88 donruss, 91 Topps etc. Or really new.

What I tried to do back in the day when there were some small sets that came sealed was to try to pick up one to keep sealed and one to open.
The big sets or the expensive ones, I've generally kept sealed.

Tiffany sets take a big hit when opened. So I understand trying to find ones that are opened and complete. Once and a while you see a set with the seal torn but when they show set you can tell that it has never been handled. They don't come around every day but are right up your alley. If set comes and is not as shown in pictures just send it right back..
As for question I cheat if I like a set I buy a second like previous poster and open one to sort ( then I am compelled to buy variations etc.) IT NEVER PAYS TO DO THIS..but it is Fun..

I have a couple sealed sets from the 70s and 80s, i think they came from Sears. Those i wont open but i do have a regular ol set of them in sheets/album. As long as its not complete landfill ill put it in sheets/album. I do like factory sets as a rule i generally don't crack those. And also those glossy card sets that stick together. They're doomed if you keep em in a box tightly packed. Plus they're pretty to look at anyway.

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I would say new stuff open it up. I think the idea of unopened was before people thought about saving theses things. But now everyone has sealed boxes from the 80s and 90s.

I also think trying to find already opened or damaged packaging is a good way of finding a deal. I bought a 1989 fleer glossy set for 25 buck because the tin was dented. Everything inside was fine.

Most of my post 1994 Topps base set are still in sealed factory boxes, but only because I am too lazy to open them and put them in binders like my earlier sets.

I did intentionally leave my run of Tiffany base and Traded sets ( 84-91 ) in sealed boxes on the theory I had the base set in binders and the Tiffany sets seemed better unopened. But in another thread some have pointed out that when opened some sealed sets turn out to be incomplete.

I can remember sealed Topps sets from the '80s not being complete. Maybe there were 792 cards, but there were doubles of some and missing others. Always made me leery of opening sealed factory sets.

Anyone else have this same experience? I know they had better quality control and eventually corrected it, but I can't put a good time frame on when they fixed the problem.