If you could open a box...

[Archive]

Posted By: Jason L

of any post-war card packs, which one would you choose?

I just got my first 1953 Bowman Color (You'll see it in another post soon), and I would have to say that is my pick!

Don't think about it from the perspective of your re-sale potential, but instead, which issue do you think you would have the most fun with in opening them all up, right from a box full of packs???

[Archive]

Posted By: RayB

69' Topps, without a doubt.
My childhood set.
RayB

[Archive]

Posted By: Paul S

I can only pick one? Wouldn't I be getting a lot of dupes and trips of the same players for those years released in series? (I know I am ruining the spirit of your question -- it's really because I just can't decide!)

[Archive]

Posted By: Michael Steele

1967 Topps would be my choice! I actually lived this dream as a 7 year old in 67 as my Dad purchased an entire wax box of 67 Topps for my Birthday. He paid a whole $1.20 for the box and it was a gift I will remember forever. Kind of wish I had stashed the box away. Growing up in Boston, I remember being upset that I opened the entire box and found only one Red Sox in the box (Darrell Brandon, so it was 2nd series box with Mantle). I am sure there were plenty of Superstars in the box but I justed wanted Red Sox cards. Combine the fact that the Sox had the Impossible dream season in 67 and a card collector and Red Sox fan for life were hatched.

Great question!

[Archive]

Posted By: Anthony N.

4th series '70 Topps, or 3rd series '71 Topps (with the coin) for the same reasons as Ray B. stated.
I've got 4 unopened packs of '70, waiting for the right moment.

[Archive]

Posted By: Bob

I'd go with 1969 Topps too, although part of me wants to say 1967 since I never got to do that in real life. 1969 Topps was the first year where I had enough cash to buy an entire wax box on my own ($1.20 was six comic books--opportunity cost was steep). I would also go back to the location where I opened the box--Creek Road and Reading in Sharonville, outside Zinecker's drug store (building is still there, although now I think it's the public library). Would have to be unseasonably cool, deep royal-blue sky, mid-morning, a weekday.....actually that describes every day in the summer when you're a kid.

[Archive]

Posted By: boxingcardman

My first big set as a kid.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

[Archive]

Posted By: John H.

Is a box of '52 Topps high numbers too obvious an answer? If so, I would have to go with any Topps or Bowman box that gives me a chance to pull a Teddy Ballgame card. Next would be a first series 1964 Topps box. I was only five at the time but I know I had some of them, including a Willie Kirkland (card #17) that outlasted all the rest.

Edit: I forgot all about the '59 Fleer Ted Williams set, probably because I already have it. I would love to open a box of those hoping for a mint set, including #68.

[Archive]

Posted By: dennis

opening any 50's or 60s pack would be fun today.....1959 was my first memory of buying bb cards so i guess that would be my choice (1st series!)

[Archive]

Posted By: Dave Hornish

A 67 Topps Hi # box, for sizzle,

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

1954 Topps...I just love those cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: Chris Counts

I'm tempted to go with the '53 Bowmans, ultimately I think I'd go with the first series of the '50 Bowman set. It's full of great artwork, tons of stars and they're tougher to find in nice shape than any of the '53 series (from my experience). I'm also tempted to name one of the hard-to-find hot dog sets from the mid-50s, but I figure after more than half a century, all I would end up with would be a very soggy and stained card ...

[Archive]

Posted By: Jason L

stick with the Hostess stuff...surely that is still intact and wonderfully edible after 30 years!

[Archive]

Posted By: Paul Carek

1973 Topps would be a nice nostalgia trip for me.

[Archive]

Posted By: Robert Collet

I'd like to open a box of '71 Topps with the coin inserts. High numbers? Did the 6th series include the coins?

[Archive]

Posted By: Darren

1952 Topps High #
1949 Bowman

[BillP]

Originally Posted by Archive

Posted By: Michael Steele

1967 Topps would be my choice! I actually lived this dream as a 7 year old in 67 as my Dad purchased an entire wax box of 67 Topps for my Birthday. He paid a whole $1.20 for the box and it was a gift I will remember forever. Kind of wish I had stashed the box away. Growing up in Boston, I remember being upset that I opened the entire box and found only one Red Sox in the box (Darrell Brandon, so it was 2nd series box with Mantle). I am sure there were plenty of Superstars in the box but I justed wanted Red Sox cards. Combine the fact that the Sox had the Impossible dream season in 67 and a card collector and Red Sox fan for life were hatched.

Great question!

I'll second that but the 7th series.

[Cardboard Junkie]

Really tough question. 52 hi #s would be cool with the variations. But I might pick 54 topps hockey...pack fresh would be awesome.

[Harliduck]

Outside the obvious answers...

Either a box of 66 or 67 7th Series would be an unreal experience. Having spent so much time with those cards I just couldn't imagine it.

I do remember being 9 and opening 79 Topps packs when my mother brought home a couple of "found" boxes of 78 Topps at the local gas station store hidden in the back. My brother and I thought we were in HEAVEN. I think we got two boxes apiece.

[groundhog]

Tough to choose, but I would either go 1972 Topps, 1975 Topps Mini, or 1965 Topps. Love the design for all three.

[Volod]

Originally Posted by Archive

Posted By: Jason Lof any post-war card packs, which one would you choose?

I just got my first 1953 Bowman Color (You'll see it in another post soon), and I would have to say that is my pick!

Don't think about it from the perspective of your re-sale potential, but instead, which issue do you think you would have the most fun with in opening them all up, right from a box full of packs???

A box full of these guys, because i still have an actual memory of looking over a pile of them on a tabletop in a corner grocery store in the summer of '51, and wondering if the "five-for-dime" price was worth my fifty cents a week allowance as a seven-year-old skinflint. Almost any other candy would have made a better lure than the godawful caramel bar in the pack, but a penny for a card that might today be worth thousands seemed like a ripoff then.

[Vintagevault13]

Definitely a high # 1952 box. For nostalgia reasons, I would love to open a box of 1975's. Lots of great memories of my grandmother buying me these when I was 9 years old.

[Samsdaddy]

First, any series from 1965 Topps as that is my all time favorite set.

Second, 1975 Topps as it is the first year I started collecting cards and my favorite set from the 1970's.

[NateMack]

I am going for the 54 Topps pack!

Followed by 58 Topps and 55 Topps!

I love all those 50's Topps years though!!!!

[pawpawdiv9]

Shhoo! I was sweating that this was not about opening a box of TWINKIES 20 or 30 yrs later.

Since i am partial to the Mick.. I love the looks of the 51 Bowman..heck almost any Bowman.
Next to that is the 52 of course.
Close behind...maybe the 56.

[brian1961]

Too many to name, but one that I'd particularly enjoy would be a box of 1962 Topps Civil War News. I really got in to those cards back then. Second might be a box of 1961 Topps Baseball 7th Series high numbers. As a kid, I only got one pack of those. Maybe because I only got the one pack, I remember that occasion. It was a rainy, cool early fall night in Skokie, Illinois. I was with my Dad, whom I miss so much, and we stopped at a Wahlgreen's. --Brian Powell

[stlcardsfan]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Too many to name, but one that I would particularly enjoy would be a box of 1962 Topps Civil War News. I really enjoyed those cards back then. Second might be a box of 1961 Topps Baseball 7th Series high numbers. As a kid, I only got one pack of those. Maybe because I only got the one pack, I remember that occasion. It was a rainy, cool early fall night in Skokie, Illinois. I was with my Dad, whom I miss so much, and we stopped at a Wahlgreen's. --Brian Powell

Neat story, Brian. Do you remember the cards in that 7th series '61 pack? Mantle AS?

[brian1961]

STLCARDSFAN, Yes, the Mickey Mantle All-Star WAS one of the five cards. I was 7 years old and thrilled to pieces that I got Mickey! Jim Gentile was another, and a Chicago Cubs pitcher that did not do too much in the majors. The card had a bright yellow background. Thanks for asking. Have a great day, buddy. --Brian Powell

PS -----As you are probably well aware, numbers 587 and 588 were never issued in 1961. I have wondered, given the extreme popularity and interest at that moment in time concerning Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle gunning for Ruth's single season HR record, whether Topps chose to double-print the M&M boys' All-Star cards. This would make perfect sense. What would have made even BETTER sense---Topps doing a card of the dual as they had done periodically throughout the 1961 set. Title it simply, "M&M Boys". Preferably on a horizontally-styled card. What a dream card!!!!!!!!!!! THIS is the exact type of card Topps should do for a National Convention giveaway. I'd fight to get one of those! If, that is, they do a good job of it. OH TOPPS PERSONNEL, ARE YOU LISTENING? TAKE THIS AS A STRONG HINT and a SUGGESTION FROM SOMEONE WHO PAYS ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU OFFER AT THE NATIONAL!

Back in the early 90s a gentleman did that very thing. He took a stunning photo of the pair and fashioned a 1963 Topps-looking card. Superb work. But the hobby came down on him in a very disturbing fashion, as I recall reading in Sports Collectors Digest. He didn't charge that much for it, either. This was about the time when the powers that be started investigating unlicensed cards, and making those individuals stop doing so, while sometimes imposing uncomfortable penalties.

Eventually, I bought one on eBay. I LOVE IT!!!!!!

Did you ever strike a deal on the 1955 Rawlings Stan Musial card set on that glove box flap?

--Brian Powell

[ALR-bishop]

Nate---of the ones you dream about 58( along with 56.) would be the toughest today, much more so than 52, 53, 54, 55, 57 or 59. You could likely get a 52 pack cheaper than either 56 or 58

[NateMack]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Nate---of the ones you dream about 58( long with 56.) would be the toughest today, much more so than 52, 53, 54, 55, 57 or 59. You could likely get a 52 pack cheaper than either 56 or 58

I would "settle" for any of them!!

[darkhorse9]

For me it would be a box of 1970 cellos. Seeing those brings back an incredible swell of memories.

My second choice would be 1974. Searching for the Washington Nat'l Lea. cards was my first experience in "chase cards"

[the 'stache]

Yes please! A whole box of 1953 Bowman Color would be blissful.

[tulsaboy]

I have never seen a 1953 Bowman pack before. I didn't even know that they existed. Wow. I can't begin to imagine how hard that was to find. Good for you. And here's hoping it stays unopened!

[stlcardsfan]

Originally Posted by brian1961

Sorry STLCARDSFAN, I have to eat and run to work. But yes, the Mickey Mantle All-Star WAS one of the five cards. Jim Gentile was another, and a Chicago Cubs pitcher that did not do too much in the majors. The card had a bright yellow background. Thanks for asking. Have a great day, buddy. --Brian Powell

Brian, that's awesome. Two of the most prized cards in the last series. Do you still have them? I am thinking the Cubs pitcher you referenced is Curtis.

[brian1961]

Dear STLCARDSFAN, Go back a few posts, I wrote you a long PS in my post to you from yesterday. I think I have four of the cards left. The original one I don't have is Mickey. In the late 1980s I traded very heavily for another. I had SGC grade it, and it came out an 88 NM-MT. I love Mick's picture in that one. I think Topps used it on their '61 Stamp issue and the '62 Baseball Buck, but no other cards. Even though it's not the one I got in '61, it's probably in much better condition than the original, had I been able to hold onto it. I took good care of my cards, but let's face facts, we had so little back then to preserve our collection. ---Brian Powell

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by Vintagevault13

Definitely a high # 1952 box. For nostalgia reasons, I would love to open a box of 1975's. Lots of great memories of my grandmother buying me these when I was 9 years old.

My Grandmother bought me the 1975's too! We used to go to a variety store and they had hundreds of racks in a table top display - I used to look through them to pick out my favorite players on top or bottom when I could find them and my Grandma would buy them for me -what a wonderful warm memory!

[Vintagevault13]

Originally Posted by hcv123

My Grandmother bought me the 1975's too! We used to go to a variety store and they had hundreds of racks in a table top display - I used to look through them to pick out my favorite players on top or bottom when I could find them and my Grandma would buy them for me -what a wonderful warm memory!

Great memories. My grandmother would also take me to a variety store, Woolworth's, and I would get some cards and a ice cream sundae at their soda shop. The memories evoked by card collecting is what makes our hobby so great.

[Samsdaddy]

Originally Posted by Vintagevault13

Great memories. My grandmother would also take me to a variety store, Woolworth's, and I would get some cards and a ice cream sundae at their soda shop. The memories evoked by card collecting is what makes our hobby so great.

Well said Ed!

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by tulsaboy

I have never seen a 1953 Bowman pack before. I didn't even know that they existed. Wow. I can't begin to imagine how hard that was to find. Good for you. And here's hoping it stays unopened!

Sadly, it's not mine. I found it on the internet. I imagine that a single unopened, graded pack would go for well over $1,000. And then, I'd have concerns that the pack was truly unopened prior to receipt and slabbing by any tpg.

[Jayworld]

Easy for me. Cracking a 1951 Bowman baseball box would be greatness!

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

If I were going to a true pack of cards then probably a 53 or 54 pack of Topps. Both of those sets look so pretty.