Best Memory of Opening Wax Packs

[SmokyBurgess]

I rode my bike 3 blocks to a neighborhood store and bought a pack of 1966 Topps baseball. Still remember finding the Willie Mays card, but have forgotten the rest of the cards in the pack.

Still have Willie although he has a little wear and a little crease.

[GrayGhost]

From when I was younger, or later when I paid too much and opened em? As a kid, Id say it was my mom coming home w a "tray pack" of 1975 topps. First pack right on bottom was Hank Aaron, and I can remember hollering w happiness.

Miss my mom, being young and opening cards as kid.

[mr2686]

Best memory for me was 1971 (11 years old) riding bikes down to Sam and Sally's liquor store after playing baseball all day long during summer school break. Two of my friends and I would grab 32oz sodas and several packs of cards and start opening them. When someone got a card they already had, didn't matter if it was Aaron or Mays etc, we gave it to one of the other two that didn't have it. Didn't need to "trade" or sell...geez, those were the days.

[Howe’s Hunter]

we all brought home made treats to school to share with classmates on our birthdays. My fourth grade year, I was diagnosed as diabetic and spent six weeks in the hospital. The first birthday party in class after I got back, the girl who was turning 10 brought cupcakes for everyone else, and me a wax pack of Topps 1972 baseball cards. The first card in the pack was Willie Mays. (it was her idea to get the baseball cards, since she knew I had just started to collect that year, but she had to promise her mom to stand there and take the piece of gum when I opened the pack, since it wasn't sugar free. I remember Becky kept apologizing for that, but saying she had promised her mom she would bring it back home to prove I hadn't chewed it...)

[dstraate]

What and awesome school party. And today all I want is for kids to stop bringing in these Wal Mart cupcakes of death. You know the ones: 2 inches of sugary cake and 4 inches of neon colored frosting. It makes me cringe when a parent comes through the door carrying those things. I'd switch them out for packs of '72 Topps anyday.

My best memory is when (Score I think?) started adding the Dream Team Subset sometime in the 90s. I just remember how striking and artsy the cards were. Black and White photography, the best players in the game. For me, they were undoubtedly the first "Chase" cards. Although I also cringe at the direction that "Chase" cards have gone.

Seems I do a lot of cringing these days

[sox1903wschamp]

Summer 1968 opening a 1968 Topps 5 cent wax pack on the way to a Little League game in Watertown Square (Watertown, MA). I played in a park right behind City Hall in Watertown that is still there today.

Anyway, the pack contained my 2 favorite Red Sox at the time, Rico Petrocelli and Jim Longborg out of 5 cards. I was in card heaven. I have no idea on the other 3 cards. They were not Red Sox

[Tim Fritz]

Buying my first whole box of wax packs in '85 to complete my set. I was in heaven with all those packs to open. Last card I needed was the Gooden rookie. I think my head it the ceiling when I finally got it in one of those packs. And I think I can attribute at least one childhood cavity to all the gum that day.

My first wax pack memory was my mom buying me '76 football from a very small grocery store across the street from my dads work. I wrote my name on all the cards, so mine wouldn't get mixed up with my sisters. At the age of 4 I wrote my name backwards. MIT. I don't have those anymore and would love to find one some day.

[bosoxfan]

As a nine year old growing up in New Jersey, seems everyone was a yankee fan in 1968. I remember opening my first pack of baseball cards and getting two Yastrzemski cards in the same pack. Yaz had won the triple crown in 67 so he was first on all 3 league leader cards. What's better than that? Along with his regular issue card he appeared on a world series subset card.

If you turned over all the All star cards and put the puzzle together, it showed a great picture of Yaz. I became a redsox fan for life and Yastrzemski was my favorite player from that moment on.

[martyp]

1961, I had some money and then found the neighbor's pop bottles. I cashed the bottles in and went to the 5 and dime and bought a wax box. I remember being upset that it cost me $1.25. I was charged sales tax for the first time on baseball cards since I normally only bought one or two packs. On the way back, my friend and I opened them by a trash can in the alley and threw away all the wrappers and half the gum. I do not recall any certain player, but I had 120 new cards.

[rainmanesq]

most of my pack opening memories are generic + the cards weren't that great as i grew up in the mid 80s. however, i LOVED the gum + always enjoyed reading the stats on the back + trying to build the monster sets. my grandpa got me into the hobby + so opening packs was our special thing to do together. now that he's dead, i miss those simpler times.

a few years ago, i opened a 1977 pack off ebay + ate the gum. it wasn't very tasty, but i had a blast doing it!

[oldjudge]

Although I had bought cards for a few years before this, the packs I most vividly remember opening were from the 1960 set. I can still recall the thrill of pulling a Mickey Mantle out of the middle of one pack that I had purchased at Sam Stoler's candy store in the Bronx. The card colors, the sweet smell of the gum on a warm summer day..those were great times. Although I don't collect modern cards I recently bought a nice 1960 Mantle trying to recreate those feelings. It was nice, but not the same.

[Ronnie73]

I remember two exciting times of opening packs.

The first was around 1988 and I ordered an unopened box of 1987 Donruss Baseball for $50 and 3 packs of 1984 Donruss Baseball for $5 each from a dealer listing in SCD. All I can remember about the 1987 Donruss Box was I didn't get the Mark Mcgwire Rated Rookie. The 1984 Donruss packs I opened later that night and the first one I picked up, I could see the name on the back of the card showing faintly through the wax paper and it was the Don Mattingly Rookie. I gently opened the pack up and there he was. Perfectly centered with 4 sharp corners. I didn't mind the light wax on the back of the card. At the time, this card was not affordable for me to buy and never thought i'd get one. One of the other packs had a Kevin McReynolds RR.

The second was early in 1989 when Upper Deck was released. It was about a week after the Dale Murphy Reversed Negative was discovered. I had plans to go to a local monthly card show that weekend and someone there was selling unopened early packs. I bought 3 packs at $10 each. I opened them when I got home. The first two had nothing good that I remember but the last pack as I was slowly searching through the cards, I saw the back of the Dale Murphy. I was told by my mother that I started to shake and when I turned the card over and saw everything reversed, she said I stopped breathing for about a minute .

I've opened thousands of packs over the years but those two cards that I still own today, I will remember forever.

Ronnie73

[margoaepi]

Amazing thread! My first pack was 86 Topps. I was at the Jersey Shore with my family for vacation, and the kid in the house next to us showed me some cards, and I was hooked. I was only 6, but each time I got a pack I discovered new players and teams and it was just awesome. I vividly remember getting Willie Mcgee and Cecil Upshaw in my first pack. Some people say that 86 and 87 Topps are ugly cards, but to me, they are wonderful.

The biggest thrill ever was a 1990 Leaf pack. It was a $4 or a $5 pack because it had the Frank Thomas and Dave Justice rookies. I never went for those because who wants to blow it all on one pack when you can get way more Topps for your money, but one time I did it. Opened them up on the car ride home and pulled the Justice. I don't think I was ever so excited in my young life.

[blackandgold]

I started collecting in the late 60's, and Easter was always fun because mom and dad would put a Topps rack pack in with all the candy.
My favorite memories though are Sunday mornings, when I (sometimes) got to go with my Uncle Billy to the Whispering Pines to get his paper. I would get a dollar for whatever I wanted. It was always the same - 10 packs of Topps baseball. He was a like a second father to me. He passed away in 1989, but I still smile when I think of all those Sundays, hoping to find as many Pirates as I could.

[Tomman1961]

Remember that ad in Baseball Digest for the cardboard locker to hold your baseball cards? I bought one. When at school, my Dad put the cardboard locker together. I was thrilled I finally had it. Then he opened my dresser draw and there was a 1973 Topps Rack Pack he bought for me. He whispered to me: "Don't tell your mother." No idea who was in that pack. I do remember that nice things my Dad did that day. And my Mother never threw out my cards. They both celebrate their 79th birthday this week.

[53Browns]

I started collecting in the 80's and in 1987 I went to a big area card show and bought 1 pack of 86 Donruss because the card everyone wanted was an 86 Canseco rookie. I opened the pack and three cards in was Mr. Canseco. I thought I had hit the lottery! Laughable now since the card is worth chump change these days. But at the time it was a very exciting memory and a great pull!