1933 Sport Kings Unopened Pack

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Posted By: Phil Bornstein

I don't know if any of you are pack collectors- but can anyone explain why someone would pay 7K-9K for a supposedly unopened Sport Kings pack which contains 1 single card. Even if that card were one of the "big 4" (a 4 out of 48 possibility)- it would need to grade out at 9 or 10 to be worth the money paid. Given the great probability that the card in such a pack would have corner or edge issues and could have centering issues, print defects, etc.... and would likely be one of the many commons- why the high prices?

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Posted By: sagard

99.999% of unopened packs are worth more than their contents. This is just following the rules. That and pack collectors don't typically care a whole lot what's inside as long as the pack is unopened.

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Posted By: Andrew S.

Phil, where did you see an unopened Sport Kings?

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Posted By: Alan U

There's a couple on ebay right now

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Posted By: Bilko G

you are bidding on the rarity of the unopened pack more so than you are bidding on whats inside.

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Posted By: Phil Bornstein

I understand lots of different collectibles, even bad art, but paying a premium for an "unopened" pack- I just don't get it. There's at least 1 on ebay right now and one just sold in Memory Lane.

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Posted By: Anthony N.

The one on ebay last nite was the first one to be offered there in the last 5 years that I've been tracking packs. Previous to that there were 2 in Memory Lane (assuming it's a different pack) and there was one at the National in Cleveland in '04, that sold in a hour on set up day.
As stated, the value is not in the card contained but rather in the rarity of a legitimately unopened pack. Opening that pack (especially on a 1 card penny pack like this, where you can probably tell who is contained therein) would immediately cause a huge loss of value.
From what I understand there was a find of unopened Sport Kings packs about 15 years ago, which is probably why wrappers are so easily found and inexpensive. For the pack collector Sport Kings are about the earliest pack likely to be found that was marketed for the sole purpose of selling cards, and as such is the logical starting point for such a collection.

edited for grammar.

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Posted By: Marc S.

Simple economics.

If the pack was worth the anticipated value of its contents...all packs would be opened, and unopened packs would not exist.

From the "lottery" perspective, you can quantify more precisely anticipated possibilities of outcomes. About 10 years ago, someone paid less than $2,000 for a 1952 Topps pack. Opened it up, Andy Pafko graded PSA 10 GEM MINT, card sells for $83,870. Much like the modern card market -- there is an inherent lottery aspect to this.

Finally -- you can perhaps compare it to vintage wine. Even most bottles of vintage Porto mature over 40-60 years...but unopened bottles from 80-150 years ago may fetch premium prices despite the fact that the contents inside are not very palatable any longer. As such, collectors pay for the rarity and the story..as opposed to the simple sum of contents.

At the end of the day, it's the free market....

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Posted By: Rich

Sport Kings wrappers have been easy to find for years, nothing to do with an unopened find. Goody Goldfadden had stacks of them in the 1970's. Sport Kings unopened packs are rare, most that are offered are fake. How can a company grade a pack if they have never seen a real one. I'll just say that I know what a real one looks like and I have not seen one lately. Just an opinion.

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Posted By: JC

The pack on eBay appeared to be authentic.

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Posted By: JP

Looks like no one wanted it at $5800 though, so its value is still undetermined.

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

a GAI 7 sold for 8114.55 on 5/18/08 in Memory Lane.

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Posted By: Phil B

But I hear that one may have been trimmed