The Junk Wax Era- when did it start?

[Troy Kirk]

During late 1984 the supply of Donruss dropped dramatically, and then in 1985 Donruss and Fleer were kind of hard to find at normal retail prices. There was a lot of talk in the card magazines about card shortages those years. Then in about 1988 the card companies used the pent up demand to open the floodgates.

[1963Topps Set]

Interesting thread and postings. I can go to my local supermarket today and they will have unopened packs of baseball cards from the late 1980s / early 1990s in their vending machines. However, I noticed they don't have any from the late 1960s / early 1970s! I stopped collecting after a decade of collecting in 1981. When I started up again in 1989, boy did I awake to a nightmare. A kids hobby was now an adult "industry". Thank goodness for the 1994 strike. It took greed to kill greed and I was able to resume collecting the old cards in earnest once again.

This forum is so great on all levels and I have already learned and seen so much!

[valediction]

I'd go with 1987. The way I look at it, anything before that time production may have been going up, but demand still outstrips supply for the vast majority of that material. After that, we see unopened material available in box or case form for less than what it retailed for at the time, in some cases, less than wholesale of that time. The 1987 Fleer is still a bit above new release pricing from back then, but Topps and Donruss are at or below it, and in 1988...yeah, you are looking at products where shipping is more than the product itself for much of it. (certain exclusions apply as always, 89 UD, 90 Leaf, 92 Bowman, 93 Finest, etc) if we can buy $70 Vending cases, sub $150 wax cases, $6/ box today for products that were $14.40+ tax at the drug store 25+ years ago. I mentioned in another thread I have a box of 1988 Fleer I still have with an index card clipped to it showing I bought it in November of 1989 for $28 (which was below going rate at the time), and now I can buy a sealed case for $8.50 per box (plus shipping) from places like BBCexchange.

[gopherfan]

Better question is when will it end?

[1963Topps Set]

Originally Posted by gopherfan

Better question is when will it end?

Well put!

[ALR-bishop]

The wax era actually ended many moons ago. What was the last real wax pack you opened ?

[gopherfan]

1991 Topps Traded

[1963Topps Set]

I last opened packs in 2014 when I bought the Topps Heritage cards due to the fact they had the 1963 Topps design. This only made me realize why I love the old cards the best, Topps can never recapture the magic they once had. Junk indeed.