Opening a vintage pack is such a risk. I have opened 2 over the last several years. Once was a 1958 Christmas cello. Of course, the Christmas packs were a repack back in the day - so not really pack fresh. It had a Mantle showing. I paid 1K for the pack. I sent all in for grading. Most came back 6's with a couple of 7's and the lowest I think was a 5. The Mantle came back a 6 - which I still have, pictured with this thread.
The second was a 1967 Kabaya Leaf. If you're not familiar, up until a few years ago there wasn't any documented packs that even existed. I opened this pack because the seal was broken and I knew it couldn't be authenticated. The pack, to my pleasant surprise, contained card #11 Sadaharu Oh and card #12 Shigeo Nagashima. I sent them both to PSA for grading, the Oh came back an 8 and the Nagashima came back a 7. I've included before and after pictures for comparison. For those that have never seen a pack of 67 Kabaya Leaf, I included a picture of that also.
I guess the answer to the quandary of to open or not, rests in the final grade of the card. I don't regret either of my decisions, but that's in hindsigt.
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