Topps complete set “bricking”
 

Does anyone know if topps complete factory sealed sets have”bricking” issues? I ask because I bought a topps stadium club set from the 90’s and when I opened it up, the cards were bricked (stuck together) so I was wondering if the regular topps factory sealed sets did the same?

Oh, yeah. I purchased a 1997 Topps factory set a few months ago, and the contents of the box were about 4 or 5 inseparable bricks. When I did manage to pull some apart, they began lifting some of the printing from their neighbors. Total loss. I bought a 1998 factory set a short time ago and although there was a lot of sticking/bricking, I was able to successfully manipulate them so I have a nice set without damaged cards.

Oh that totally sucks. Sorry to hear that happened to you. If the “modern” topps factory sealed sets are going to have bricking issues. I might just continue to focus on the non glossy sticky cards (like vintage 1979 and below) because some of those modern topps sets are quite expensive to only open them and get a stuck brick of cards.

There is a fairly easy help for bricking or sticking high gloss cards. If you have stuck cards place them in the freezer for at least a few hours and then separate slowly.

I have used this successfully for years and just recently cracked a 2000s wax box that was completely stuck…every card. I completed the entire box and damaged only 2 cards.

Thank you for that recommendation. I appreciate that. Does anyone know if bricking is only with the glossy cards (glossy cards I believe started with 2994 topps) for example meaning will 1987 topps or 1983 topps or 1988 topps “brick” or just the newer glossy topps base cards? Thanks

Bricking should only impact the glossies - which for Topps would be 1994 and up. I don't have experience with them, but I wouldn't think they would impact all the glossies like the Topps Tiffanies. And from the feel of them I don't think we'll be having this conversation in 10-20 years about Topps cards from, say, 2004 or so on up. There's just something about that run from 1994 to 2003-ish that just feels different. Even ripping new packs, I recall, the cards were hard to skim through; there was more friction between them than most.

Justin,

Never knew this. Thanks.

Z

Late 90's and early 00's are the worst.
If you can find Mint cards from those years it would be wise to overpay.
Down the road it will eventually be acknowledged exactly how difficult it is to find high grade.
RayB

That is a great idea...thanks Justin! I was pondering bindering up some sets in those year and will totally do this if I chose to do this.


I was shocked a year or so ago when I unsealed a 1988 Donruss factory set to binder up (I know, the binder and sheets were worth twice as much as the god awful set, it was for nostalgia!). The bricks completely damaged the cards...the plastic stuck to certain cards, had bricking...creasing. Threw the set away and bought a hand collated one to replace. Thankfully it was a very cheap exercise, hate for that to happen to a more valuable set. How crappy the card companies couldn't predict long term storage effects??

Curious about this. I have heard about this tip, but have never tried. I have some 1994 Topps football and 2001 Topps baseball (notorious) that are bricked. Did you do anything special like but the cards in a plastic/freezer bag or simply put in the card board box set in the freezer. Thanks for the suggestion.

Most of my issues have been with unopened packs although I have done it with set boxes of super high gloss football like Wild Card. Pinnacle comes to mind as a storage disaster as well.

I have a chest freezer and honestly just put the whole box in before work or the night before if I am planning on trying to pull them. No fancy method of bags, never found reason to. If opening packs, I take out 5-6 packs at a time and go back and forth. You will get the hand of it after a few packs. I just very gently use two fingers of the sides of the top or bottom card and curve it up ever so slightly like a bridge. It should pop right off.

When my son was younger I would buy lots of junk wax for us to crack for fun. You can tell a box that has been in the attic or a hot garage pretty darn fast, we got to be a fairly good team at doing this. :D

I just had a 1998 Fleer Tradition update set arrive yesterday. I didn’t open it but knew they were a candidate for bricking. So I stuck the 100 card set box in a ziploc in the freezer for about 4 hours this AM, then opened the cards.

No bricking and opened easily. I don’t know the state of the cards beforehand, but the freezer trick at a minimum didn’t make anything worse, and may have made it far better.

Someone just posted on Facebook that anything printed after 1991 Topps has potential to “brick” because that when Topps changed from cardboard to white card stock.

Interesting. I always assumed bricking was due to the UV coating Topps started adding. I have always been concerned my 1991 Topps Desert Shield packs would deteriorate due to the gum inside

Just received a sealed 2001 Topps factory set - two big bricks. I knew I was taking a chance.

They're in the freezer now.

I looked for quite a while for hand-collated sets but only found a couple and they were just the first series, which doesn't have the Ichiro.

Sigh.....

I agree with this comment. I ran into a couple of mid 90 bricked Topps Sets. The only way I would even consider buying any glossy sets now is to do it in person and shake the box before I buy them. You can hear if they are or are not bricked.

Thankfully, I am done collecting these years and suffered minimal issues. I would imagine that a Trout rookie has this brick potential too. Imagine spending 1K+ on that set and opening it up and finding a door stop for a set.

Makes one shudder.

Butch.

I actually think the Trouts would be ok.

I can't articulate it well, but there is a definite difference in the feel and gloss of the late-90s and early 00s cards that ended by about 2004 or 2005.

Those later cards and onward seem smoother? Less prone to friction or 'stickiness" even close to the date of issue - I recall opening packs from 2001, 2003, etc. where going through the cards was difficult as they clung to each other a bit when new.

All of my sets are in albums (1975 -present). Bricking seemed to stop somewhere in the mid 2000's I thought. Topps started using a different coating. I remember 2003 being terrible. Seems like around 2004 or 2005 they changed coating. I could be wrong on the year, but I don't have problems with bricking any more, and I have tons of cards in my uninsulated garage.

I have always heard that this works, but never tried it. Do the cards have any moisture damage when they “thaw”?

Between the bricking of high gloss cards and greening of early-to-mid 90’s Finest and Chrome cards, I’ve really begun to appreciate the “paper” base rookies more.

I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say put them in a freezer. The cards are bricked because the ultraviolet gloss fused on a molecular level with another card's gloss. When they cooled down they solidified again on a molecular level except now the cards are fused together.

You can't reverse that fusion by simply making them cold and solidifying them further. Once cards are bricked, they're bricked. You may get a group that you're able to carefully separate without damage but it has nothing to do with spending time in the freezer.

Arthur

Ok, how about soaking ? ;):)

So, I would up placing small brick in the freezer but found it didn't help. What I wound up doing was patiently pulling 790 cards apart one at a time. It worked - I had to order perhaps 12 to replace some that came apart with some snowy remnants but other than that no issues. Happy one of the replacements wasn't Ichiro.

This being said, I've been watching some box and pack break vids on YouTube to get an idea of which color checklists were packed into which type box and some folks pull cards apart trying to separate them - like when Jabs opened that 1972 OPC box.

I would NEVER open a Traded Pack looking for a Pujols, that's for sure.

I have done it hundreds of times, but yes they don’t fall apart they have to be separated. It simply makes them easier to separate as the gloss is crisp and in an hardened state and less likely to snow another card.

I would say that describing melted gloss as fusing on a molecular level like atomic bonding is an odd comparison as molecular fusion would by definition create a new item by combining atoms to a greater nuclei. The gloss melts slightly and dries together, they are not exchanging protons and neutrons.

Making the gloss as crisp and hard as possible eases the separation as they are in still two natural separate items by nature. The melting has caused a mild viscosity that then dried giving surface tension, this can be snapped as the card is stronger than the bond. Again, freezing does not separate cards, it only makes it less likely to be damaged as the cold gloss is a cleaner break in the tension as it is in its weakest state.

In any case, people can do as they will. I would experiment with leaving a few packs of early Pinnacle out in sun on a 90 degree day then bring them inside and try methods. I have met people that say to put them out in the sun and make the gloss viscous again. I tried that and while they did come apart easier, it completely removed the gloss from huge spots, lol. What a mess that was :D

One of the bigger problems -- and this is just my opinion based on submissions from the last five years or so -- is that PSA knows which issues fall into the "Brick Era" and spend an extra few seconds on both front and back surface to look for any signs of surface damage.

I'm not talking about those basterds that look like a snowball hit them, I'm talking about the ones you think you got off clean. They will findthe separation points and they will deduct grades from your card for it. This may be the best explanation as to why people are sending in seemingly Mint+ cards that are coming back PSA 5 or PSA 6.

I'm simply throwing darts here.

Arthur

I know the 1992 Fleer Ultras are terrible to separate and I threw out sets of them. Hard as a rock. Beautiful cards but all stuck together.

I just so happen to have a '92 Ultra pack here on my desk that someone threw in as a bonus and it was as hard as a diamond. There's absolutely going to be some sentimentally popular sets from that era that are going to see bonkers prices on high-grade commons in the future as registry users duke it out for these.

Arthur

Arthur— if I wanted to do a run of bricked sets, where to start and finish ?

First thing you're going to want to do is find a sturdy wall. Something that isn't going to break easily. Lean slightly towards the wall from a few feet away, using your hands to brace yourself. Then just start smashing your head into the wall until your desire to build those sets subsides.

Arthur

okay, you got me. :D

My wife just thought I was a weirdo for laughing that hard.

I think that actually worked