Talk me out of it....New to the hobby, open or sell 84 Topps Unopened Box

[ChicagoDave]

First off, I would assume as most I started collecting as a kid in the junk wax era. I stopped around 1998 and until my 6year old son recently bought some cards at Walmart, I haven’t had much interest. All my 90’s worthless cards are box up in our workshop however I found myself amazed at what has happened to the hobby over the last 20+ years.

I also recently came across a box of unopened 84 Topps. Box is in good condition and does not seem as it’s ever been tampered with. It is very tempting to open it but the objective is to sell the box and use any profits to fund the hobby for my son. However I see what the value of Elway and Marino Gem 10’s sell for and think I see opportunity to increase my kids card kitty by opening it.

Can anyone point me in the direction of what to do here? Is there an unwritten rule or formula for box value, when to open and when to resell? Or how many gem 10’s on average come out of a box that old? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all! CD

[marinocollector]

You won’t get one gem mint card out of a box. Definitely better to sell. You can have someone like bbce verity the box and it will increase its value.
Imo, sell it and buy something you or the kids will like.

[Mrpokey]

You could always grade the best packs and open the rest, best of both worlds

[hxcmilkshake]

Centering is nuts with that set. Get BBCE to authenticate and sell the box.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[silverandblack]

Ill be that guy..........RIP IT

As someone whose first football packs were 84 topps leftover in 1986 at a local pharmacy where i grew up I have a ton of nostalgia for that set and would love the chance to rip a box.


In all honesty though the smart thing to do is get it authenticated by bbce and sell it

[Archangel1775]

Keep it sealed, get it authenticated and sell it.

[Dallas Cowboys]

My first football cards were 1986 Topps but that didn't stick till 1989. I was in the hobby from 1989 to 1993. In 2011 I got back in the hobby. I had some money to burn so I started by buying unopened boxes from my childhood off Ebay and BBCE. I opened high end boxes like 1989 Score and 1986 Topps as well as 1989 Upper Deck Baseball and cheaper boxes like Pro Set. It was a lot of fun and fed my nostalgia itch. I eventually focused on collecting Cowboy cards. I sold and traded a lot of those cards I opened to guys at the flea market. Other than the Cowboy cards I kept I really didn't have a lot to show for those boxes. So I realize I am not giving you a very straight answer. I think at the end of the day you have to weigh the fun of opening it, and believe me it is fun to open old wax from your childhood versus selling that box and buying one or two really good singles that you keep.

[rcmb3220]

If it’s legit and authenticated by bbce it’s about a $1000 box. If you open it you’ll be subjected to the worst quality cards Topps produced in the 1980s. You’d be lucky to get $200 worth of cards. Even if you got all key cards in psa 9 you’d still get less than half your money back.

But since it’s not my box, I say rip it!

[RustyDawg37]

Its highly unlikely that you will get any gem mints in general, and although you did not mention what type of box it is, in my experience, the worst condition cards will come from wax, then cello, then rack. Thats not 100% of the time, just in general.

I used to open tons of this and 1986 back when the cellos and racks ran you about $20-$30. Best grade I ever received between Young, Rice, White, Bruce Smith, Marino, Elway, Dickerson RCs ---- 8.5 out of probably around 40 or 50 total of those RCs.

Potential windfall is there. Odds of you getting it are low. Selling the box is the smarter play for profit.

[altaeria]

Definitely keep it intact.

[SleeperCards]

I haven't opened a 1984 box myself, but chances are you will be HIGHLY disappointed if you open it, just based on the other 80s Topps boxes I've opened.

[Highstubbs]

open it, what a thrill to open a nearly 40 year old RC of
John Elway
Dan Marino
Eric Dickerson
Howie Long
Roger Craig
Morton Anderson
Darrell Green
Curt Warner
and a host of others
open and enjoy

[ChicagoDave]

Thank you all for the input. A couple follow up questions regarding BBCE, they charge a % of the box value to authenticate. How do they determine the value? Also I don’t need a quick sale so what’s the best avenue to sell and maximize profit, straight to eBay?

[asujbl]

Pictures please

[packerfan4200]

Have baseball card exchange authenticate/wrap it and then sell. This is by FAR your best bet.

[oplum29]

me personally, i would RIP IT!!!

think of how cool it would be to get a Marino or Elway rookie- two of the top 10 greatest QBs of all-time, according to NFL.com

[salthill]

Originally Posted by oplum29

me personally, i would RIP IT!!!

think of how cool it would be to get a Marino or Elway rookie- two of the top 10 greatest QBs of all-time, according to NFL.com

Assuming you don’t care what condition those cards are in. (And the OP does or they wouldn’t be talking about value.)
As a Dolphins fan I’m with you on the fun of pulling a Marino rookie from a pack yourself though. That’d be a keeper for me.

[49ersSF]

If you want to teach your son a valuable lesson...

Open the box of cardboard worth in excess of $1k+ with high demand and get back 20% of its value and struggle selling the contents.

He will learn quickly that gambling rarely pays off.

[JWBlue]

Originally Posted by 49ersSF

If you want to teach your son a valuable lesson...

Open the box of cardboard worth in excess of $1k+ with high demand and get back 20% of its value and struggle selling the contents.

He will learn quickly that gambling rarely pays off.

HA HA!

Originally Posted by ChicagoDave

First off, I would assume as most I started collecting as a kid in the junk wax era. I stopped around 1998 and until my 6year old son recently bought some cards at Walmart, I haven’t had much interest. All my 90’s worthless cards are box up in our workshop however I found myself amazed at what has happened to the hobby over the last 20+ years.

I also recently came across a box of unopened 84 Topps. Box is in good condition and does not seem as it’s ever been tampered with. It is very tempting to open it but the objective is to sell the box and use any profits to fund the hobby for my son. However I see what the value of Elway and Marino Gem 10’s sell for and think I see opportunity to increase my kids card kitty by opening it.

Can anyone point me in the direction of what to do here? Is there an unwritten rule or formula for box value, when to open and when to resell? Or how many gem 10’s on average come out of a box that old? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all! CD

Pulling a Marino or Elway would be exciting. No way I would count on the card being a PSA 10. Is the nostalgia value worth that?

I would imagine sitting with a pile of cards that as 49ersSF said were worth 5x as much the previous hour.

[oplum29]

Originally Posted by JWBlue

Pulling a Marino or Elway would be exciting. No way I would count on the card being a PSA 10. Is the nostalgia value worth that?

that's like asking me if it's worth it to sell a box of 1981 topps football for $1K or pull a Montana rookie from that same $1K box- some things you can't put a price on.

[quorthon13]

Originally Posted by ChicagoDave

First off, I would assume as most I started collecting as a kid in the junk wax era. I stopped around 1998 and until my 6year old son recently bought some cards at Walmart, I haven’t had much interest. All my 90’s worthless cards are box up in our workshop however I found myself amazed at what has happened to the hobby over the last 20+ years.

I also recently came across a box of unopened 84 Topps. Box is in good condition and does not seem as it’s ever been tampered with. It is very tempting to open it but the objective is to sell the box and use any profits to fund the hobby for my son. However I see what the value of Elway and Marino Gem 10’s sell for and think I see opportunity to increase my kids card kitty by opening it.

Can anyone point me in the direction of what to do here? Is there an unwritten rule or formula for box value, when to open and when to resell? Or how many gem 10’s on average come out of a box that old? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all! CD

An average box would have zero... On average probably .1 per box or less depending on the kind of box.... There is a reason that gems from old boxes of Topps are expensive, and like others have posted, depending on the kind of box odds could go up or down.... And a lot of the Gems out there, may be sheet cut or otherwise helped...

Now whether the nostalgia of opening the packs is worth it, how far will that $1000 or whatever you sell it for go for your collecting. For me $1000 is months of buying whatever Seahawks cards I want that show up on COMC or ebay... I could even pick up a couple missing PMGs I'm missing and have money left over. Insert whatever team you're collecting(as long as its not Lamar Jackson or other super hotness) and you could have a pretty sweet collection - or even better pick up some high grade 1984 rookies and call it good.

[ChicagoDave]

Sincere thanks to all of you for the input. I’ll be sending off to BBCE once I post it for a few days and see if it sells.

[brendanb438]

Highly unlikely to crack a PSA 10 Marino or Elway out of that box. I had 10 packs that I had bought from BBCE a long time ago put away that my son and I ended up opening about a year ago and pulled a Marino and an Elway. Was very lucky to get PSA 9s on the 2 of them and neither was close to being able to pull a 10.

As others mentioned get BBCE to authenticate/wrap the box and then sell that down the road.

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by ChicagoDave

Sincere thanks to all of you for the input. I’ll be sending off to BBCE once I post it for a few days and see if it sells.

This is the right choice by far. A sealed BBCE box is around $900-1000. Even if you catch lightning in a bottle and get a PSA 10 Elway, that is a $1800-2000 card. After grading fees you are down to around $1500 in actual value for you. That is also best case scenario, which is just not going to happen, there is a reason that card is $1800 and the Marino is $1200 in a 10, but then $150 in a 9.

Grade the box, sell it, then buy a PSA 9 Marino and Elway and still pocket a couple hundred after the BBCE fees and PayPal/eBay fees.