Holy grail of packs?
 

I have just been getting into unopened packs and it made me wonder. What is the holy grail of unopened packs? Any that none are known to exist?

Packs
 

If you want to do a full Topps pack run 1956 and 1958 will be your main hurdle.

Never seen an Topps 1971 Greatest Moments pack, or a 1968 3D pack. The 68 Topps Plaq packs are tough, as well as any of the Hocus Focus packs

Al,

What's the scarcity with the 1956 and 1958 packs?

1956 and 1958
 

The 5 cent packs are extremely tough and very expensive. I think the last 58 pack I saw a few years back went for over $10,000. I have not seen a 56 pack in forever. You can occasionally find penny packs for those years.

Unlike most of the other years there apparently have been no major unopened finds so far for those two years

waxpack hoarding
 

Man, what a long-term investment that was, eh? A nickel turned into ten grand and all a kid had to do was wait sixty years:mad:.

I would have guessed a 52 topps unopened pack would be the holy grail. Aside from a rare unopened tobacco pack that contained a rare t206 back, or something along those lines.

I'll take your word on that as I don't collect unopened packs. But I can't imagine paying $10k for a pack when there's no chance to pull a 10k card out of it. That is assuming you don't pull a gem mint Mantle.

'52 packs come up several times a year. I have only seen one '56 nickel pack come up in the last 15 years, and that was in a private sale. There are a few '58 packs out there, as Al said the last one sold years ago for $10k and it would probably be considerably higher today. One that is out there that is holdered is very suspect and probably not legit.
I've only seen 1 '53 Bowman nickel pack and it was trashed. I've seen one '49 Leaf pack (short print series) and 1 '49 Bowman pack in the last 15 years.
As far as pre war, '33 Sport Kings packs occasionally pop up (due to a find) and Goudey thumbmovie packs, but I've yet to see a '33-'41 Goudey pack, nor a '39-'41 Playball pack. Those would have to be the holy grails IMO.

Value
 

Jesse-- I get what you are saying about the value of the cards themselves, but serious pack collectors, especially ones seeking to put together runs, usually have no intent to ever open the pack. They are paying for the scarcity of the item itself. I have on several occasions paid much more for a pack than the cards inside could possibly be worth, and had plenty of competition for those packs.

One of my worst nightmares is paying a lot for a pack and then having some major find of a hoard of them :)

I get that I just had no idea. I could have seen a 58 pack up for a BIN of 2k and it would have never occurred to me to buy it, until now anyway.

Very interesting. I always wondered if there were any play ball or goudey packs out there. Anyone have a link to a 52 topps auction result?

I think 52 topps go for about 4-5k. I've always wanted to open one, however it has become cost prohibitive!

1952
 

Not for sale :)

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...539/img125.jpg

Why you can find them

http://www.lelands.com/Auction/Aucti...-with-24-Packs

Grails
 

These would be mine for post war

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...539/img103.jpg

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...ps11940dbd.jpg

Ted, closer to $10k- $15k these days.

most recent:
http://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball/19...ription-071515

list at Heritage:
http://sports.ha.com/c/search-result...hiveTab-071515

I would've thought so too, but I think because the 52 topps cards sold relatively poorly compared to later years, and some retailers had unsold stock, there were more opportunities for unopened packs to be stashed away.

Whereas the more popular and common cards, like the 56 and 58 topps runs by their very popularity means there are fewer packs left unsold or unopened.

Anyone have info about 51 bowman packs? I have NEVER seen one... Ever.

I've seen 1cent packs on occasion. Rare, but not impossible. I'm sure larger ones exist, but I don't recall seeing them.

Probably chillin' in some dude's attic right now, just waiting to be had.

This Green-Orange-White wrapper is extremely rare; and, is considered to have contained the rare 1949 BOWMAN PCL cards.

If such an unopened pack were to be found, it would certainly be one of the most scarcest packs from the post-WWII era.


http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/d...nwrappergb.jpg



TED Z
.

Painfull recall
 

Can still remember ripping them open and tossing wrappers on a sidewalk, but have not seen a nickel pack since. Have seen the penny version.

1952 Topps wax packs are not that hard to find. They are just very pricey. The 1958 wax pack is a killer to find. The last one I saw sell at auction brought $14,500. I only know of one 1956 Topps nickel wax pack and it is GAI graded. This 1953 Wax pack is the highest graded.

Cello packs can be a challenge as well. I have some killer cellos too.

Jason

Bowman's are tough too.
 

Bowman packs are hard to locate in nice condition as well. Not as much fun to collect since it is nearly impossible to collect a complete run of Bowman's. I am looking for a 54 and 55 nickel if you know where I might acquire.

Jason

Do you pack collectors consider the 1952 Topps high number pack (in blue and red) to be part of the basic pack run? I've wondered about that for a while.

Packs
 

Great stuff Jason

Mark Murphy (The Baseball Card Kid) had a 1952 pack at the East Coast National in 1995 or so. He wanted $1000.00 for it. I offered him $950.00. He thought about it. I had $975.00. I needed the $25.00 for gas home to Boston. :(

For me, I consider one pack per year per price point to be part of a complete run.
eg any penny and nickel pack '52-'65, then nickel thru '69, dime starting in '70, etc. I have some variations ('68 with and without the green triangle, '67 with and without the big star, etc) but those are just extras for fun.

Runs
 

Agree with Anthony, my Topps run is 51 to 2015, but I have had to settle for penny packs for 56 and 58.

Same here on my 51-2010 run. I had to find a penny pack for 1956, and 1957. I will add a 1957 Nickel pack someday. Trying to find the right one that doesn't kill my pocket book.

If anyone has a 1965 Topps Cello Pack, I am your guy.

Jason

I wonder if anyone has ever completed a penny pack Topps run '51-'65, a main pack (nickel or dime or whatever) '51- today, and a Bowman penny and nickel pack run ? Years ago at a show I saw a full nickel run that also included most Bowman packs and a '48 ('49) Leaf short print pack, all GAI slabbed. But I can't recall if it had '48 and '49 Bowman, and I'm fairly sure it was missing '51 Bowman as well.
I've never seen a '61 Topps penny pack, although I've seen a box. Hoping for a find like the '65's.

Besides BBCE who is reliable in the unopened pack market?Ebay has a lot of material but I have very little trust.
Scott
BTW ..love all the packs you guys have been posting.