1990 Topps Frank Thomas NNOF question

[Aug06]

Recently watched a video on how this error supposedly came about. This is a hunt i would never chase being as rare as it is. Do you think any of these could be still floating around in packs. I mean i guess there is always a chance. Any thoughts?

[DioBrando]

I think I remember hearing the nnof was pulled from packs in a certain region(northeast maybe). While i guess some could still be hiding in packs, chances of pulling one is extremely low. It would probably be cheaper to buy one vs buying case after case of 90 topps. It is a card id like to own someday

[jayjones82]

Yeah, I read many years ago that they were in cases shipped to New England. If I remember correctly, there's a way to tell what cases were likely to contain them. Years ago, there was a guy who thought he had one of the cases, began opening the boxes, and pulled a few NNOFs

[ThoseBackPages]

absolutely more out there!

[BlowoutBuzz]

Yes, they could still be in wax packs.

I opened a truly junky mixed pack box from Walmart back in the day and pulled one of the other cards missing ink. It was remarkably obvious what it was (a botched card) yet I didn't keep it ... it was a few years before people realized there were several cards missing black ink.

[MSU Bulldogs]

A few years ago I watched someone open a cello box and pull a NNOF. No idea where he was located.

Edit: I just remembered it wasn't a cello, it was Jumbo Cello's, or something like that, not sure of the correct terminology but it was 2 packs of 45 or so card.

Edit Edit, simply called jumbos. 106 cards,

[SaveMeTheGum]

Highly, highly unlikely. When these were first found people went nuts looking for them. The story I always heard was rack packs distributed in the North East. I remember seeing these at all the shows in NH and MA back then.

I sold this one at the peak of the market a couple years ago:

[ScooterD]

You should contact Junkwaxgems on here. There have been MANY articles written about the more prevalent distribution of these, but I would only trust things that he trusts.

[REGGIE206]

Originally Posted by SaveMeTheGum

Highly, highly unlikely. When these were first found people went nuts looking for them. The story I always heard was rack packs distributed in the North East. I remember seeing these at all the shows in NH and MA back then.

I sold this one at the peak of the market a couple years ago:

That is a beauty!

[DynaEtch]

I think there’s a lot of myth and folklore around which packs these came out of- which regions, which types of packs etc. It’s hard to substantiate it.

One first step would be to find an undoctored video of someone actually pulling one from a pack. That would be quite cherished in its own right- just a video of it happening on YouTube. Does anyone know if such a video even exists?

As for value, obviously the hobby has come down since pandemic peak, but a card like this has tremendous organic value so I bet it has been much more impervious to the drop if not risen in some cases. This is a blue chip card of the hobby imo.

I wouldn’t bother trying to find one from packs. Boxes of this have come up in price, more than you’d think for a junk wax box. Would cost way more on avg to buy up the boxes it would take to pull one of these vs just buying a psa graded one even for 15-20k. At least you’d think.

[6celtics33]

I would be willing to pay up for a 8-9 grade that didn’t have black ink stains all over the back

[DynaEtch]

I’ve heard anecdotal reports “video of one pulled on YouTube” but I have yet to see it. Anyone have a YouTube link of one being pulled? There are a zillion videos titled “Search for Thomas NNOF” that are just 90T junk wax being opened. I haven’t seen an actual example of one being pulled though.

[Hobbyboxer]

I pulled one of these when I was 10 from a $.50 pack at a gas station down the road from my house. I wish I would have treated it better as a kid. I got it graded in 2016, and it got a PSA 5. I also sold mine in the peak covid hype. I put it up in a FB group and had 8 buys within minutes wanting it.
https://imgur.com/a/p1sx0y0

This was in central Wisconsin

[MSU Bulldogs]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

I’ve heard anecdotal reports “video of one pulled on YouTube” but I have yet to see it. Anyone have a YouTube link of one being pulled? There are a zillion videos titled “Search for Thomas NNOF” that are just 90T junk wax being opened. I haven’t seen an actual example of one being pulled though.

I may have picked up the link here on Blowout. Isn't there a NNOF thread?

[hatchd]

Originally Posted by 6celtics33

I would be willing to pay up for a 8-9 grade that didn’t have black ink stains all over the back

One of the reasons I bought mine



As far as the OP - with as much 90 Topps that was produced I can almost guarantee some are still in packs. There have been guesses about where they came from, what types of packs, etc but nothing is 100%. Considering the price of 90 Topps boxes I wouldn't go hoping to pull one any time soon.


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[6celtics33]

Yep ^^^

I’d rather have that one than the 10.

Keep me in mind if you ever see another.

[ReggieBush22]

Interesting topic.

I would've thought given the prices these go for, the pop would be lower. There is 279 slabbed between PSA & SGC.

[Rbradleigh]

Originally Posted by REGGIE206

That is a beauty!

Anybody else ever wonder who is in the photo that Thomas is putting a tag on? What’s he doing today and even what team was Auburn playing there? I don’t recognize the stripes & colors?

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by ReggieBush22

Interesting topic.

I would've thought given the prices these go for, the pop would be lower. There is 279 slabbed between PSA & SGC.

Great example of organic demand outperforming a random modern manufactured scarcity /5 parallel. There’s plenty more of the Thomas NNOF, but it doesn’t matter since the demand is so great. It’s the same effect you see in comics, like Amazing Fantasy #15. There are actually lots of AF #15 comics in existence- thousands- yet it’s such an iconic collectible that it has huge organic demand, hence its high prices. (The analogy is not strict…probably a lot less Thomas NNOF’s than AF 15s out there).

I consider the Thomas NNOF an iconic baseball card. Iconic cards such as this, or the 52T Topps Mantle even in low grade, have weathered the post pandemic depression fairly well.

As someone who loves errors in Marvel cards and collects them to the nth degree (some might call that nuts )…there are few errors as interesting as this one with its backstory and its famous image…and I barely even collect anything in baseball.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by Rbradleigh

Anybody else ever wonder who is in the photo that Thomas is putting a tag on? What’s he doing today and even what team was Auburn playing there? I don’t recognize the stripes & colors?

Looks like a staged photo. But that’s a good question…not really sure what’s going on in it or who it is.

[ReggieBush22]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Great example of organic demand outperforming a random modern manufactured scarcity /5 parallel. There’s plenty more of the Thomas NNOF, but it doesn’t matter since the demand is so great. It’s the same effect you see in comics, like Amazing Fantasy #15. There are actually lots of AF #15 comics in existence- thousands- yet it’s such an iconic collectible that it has huge organic demand, hence its high prices. (The analogy is not strict…probably a lot less Thomas NNOF’s than AF 15s out there).

I consider the Thomas NNOF an iconic baseball card. Iconic cards such as this, or the 52T Topps Mantle even in low grade, have weathered the post pandemic depression fairly well.

As someone who loves errors in Marvel cards and collects them to the nth degree (some might call that nuts )…there are few errors as interesting as this one with its backstory and its famous image…and I barely even collect anything in baseball.

This card isn't "iconic" to me. Not in the sense of a 52 Topps Mantle as you compared. It's more in the Bill Ripken FF type card. A great curiousity and rare piece. Not taking anything away from it. I see the reason for the price and demand but i think we should be careful when throwing around the word "iconic".

[ReggieBush22]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Looks like a staged photo. But that’s a good question…not really sure what’s going on in it or who it is.

Why would they take the time/effort to stage this photo? LOL. This is before he was in the big leagues.

[hatchd]

Originally Posted by ReggieBush22

Interesting topic.

I would've thought given the prices these go for, the pop would be lower. There is 279 slabbed between PSA & SGC.

I would take the pop report on these with a grain of salt. There are a lot of resubs to try and squeeze a slightly better grade, especially when it didn't cost nearly as much as it does now to grade them.


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[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by ReggieBush22

This card isn't "iconic" to me. Not in the sense of a 52 Topps Mantle as you compared. It's more in the Bill Ripken FF type card. A great curiousity and rare piece. Not taking anything away from it. I see the reason for the price and demand but i think we should be careful when throwing around the word "iconic".

Eh it’s iconic to me. That doesn’t mean to the same level as 1952T Mantle, but iconic nonetheless. Replace the word iconic with “very well known card with great organic demand” if you want.

Ask a baseball card collector if they can picture this card in their head, and most can. Ask them if they can picture a random shimmer cosmic gold etc parallel of Acuna or Ohtani from the last few years…probably not so much. Or even like a Griffey or Thomas Donruss elite from the early 90s…again, not so much.

Another reason why the price can be so high with so much on the grading pop reports: people just don’t want to part with them. So even with a few hundred on the report, how many are actually on the market? And another reason: a few hundred in modern terms is nothing special, maybe even laughable. A few hundred in comparison to the junk wax print run of 1990T is a very tiny needle in a very large haystack. That sense of relativeness is part of it.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by ReggieBush22

Why would they take the time/effort to stage this photo? LOL. This is before he was in the big leagues.

Who knows? Just saying what I think I’m seeing…feel free to research and find your own answers about who it is, etc