[mjmj1966]

I recently bought a 1984 Topps rack box just for the heck of it. I'm wanting to buy some more boxes from the 80's and was wondering if it is better to buy the wax, rack or cello boxes. I guess I'm looking for which one of those will have the better conditioned cards or are they going to be the same. I know centering is a hugh issue but not one of mine. I basicly look at corners. The '84 rack packs contained an average of 6 damaged cards per pack especially where the rack pack was sealed. Otherwise I tried to look at it as if I was still a kid. Unless the card was in half or a corner was severely bent it went into the set box.

It was a ton of fun opening these especially seeing players cards that are now HOFers like Ripken, Schmidt, Brett, etc. that I grew up watching. Probably going to need about 100+ cards to finish the set but I did pull 4 Mattinglys and 3 Strawberrys. Not big $$ but like I said it was fun. I'm going to work on completing the Topps sets from the 80's then work on the 70's which I'll have to buy lots and single cards to complete those.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

[ricelynnevans75]

I really don't think there will be a whole heck of a lot of difference though I don't think the rack packs had gum in them. Whether or not that gum does anything to the cards over time I don't know but I would assume it does depending on the conditions/climate the cards have been stored in.

[mjmj1966]

I really don't think there will be a whole heck of a lot of difference though I don't think the rack packs had gum in them. Whether or not that gum does anything to the cards over time I don't know but I would assume it does depending on the conditions/climate the cards have been stored in.

You are correct, the rack packs have no gum which is why I went with those. The wax and cello packs looks to have the cards tighter in the pack especially the cello. They look like a brick of cards. The rack pack cards are real loose in the rack sections so I wasn't sure if this made a difference or not.

[dpatera]

It sounds like I did what you're looking to do, and it was a lot of fun. I had fairly good luck along the way, except for a 1982 wax box, I think. Every single back had two cards basically destroyed. One from wax, and the other had the gum stuck to it. I think the gum was largely due to wherever it was stored. For some reason, the newer cheaper ones did not have the same problem, outside of the wax. I opened mostly wax, but I sprinkled in a few rack boxes, as well as a few vending boxes.

I started with 81, as the 1980 boxes were getting a little pricey to open. It's fun, and a whole lot cheaper than trying to chase some of these modern releases, but... I'm now stuck with a whole lot of singles from the 80s that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get rid of.

[krn001]

I recently bought a 1984 Topps rack box just for the heck of it. I'm wanting to buy some more boxes from the 80's and was wondering if it is better to buy the wax, rack or cello boxes. I guess I'm looking for which one of those will have the better conditioned cards or are they going to be the same. Any help or advice is appreciated.

The cello packs were initially packed tight & probably less chance of any issues if they were just stored all these years. The racks had no gum but did have glossy A/S, The Rookies included. Wax was never tamper resistant so i would go with rack or cello.
There were also jumbo packs at supermarkets that had 2 sections vs 3 as in rack pks, these jumbos had 100 cards (50 per section) i think i still have a 1989 or 1990 one of them along with numerous rack packs mainly 88-91.

[Vols-1]

I hear people say generally that racks have the best quality and cello have the worst quality cards.

[dpatera]

I do have an important piece of advice for you, which I wish someone would have told me. No matter how great a deal it seems to be, do not buy a case of 1988 Topps vending boxes. Unless, of course, you're in the market for most of a case of 1988 Topps vending boxes, in which case it's a great idea!

[mjmj1966]

I do have an important piece of advice for you, which I wish someone would have told me. No matter how great a deal it seems to be, do not buy a case of 1988 Topps vending boxes. Unless, of course, you're in the market for most of a case of 1988 Topps vending boxes, in which case it's a great idea!

I'm just buying a box or 2 of each year and going from there. I was told to stay away from cases because of the amount of doubles and there are no case "hits" to look forward to. I'm also not sure if I trust the "unsearched" vending box yet. Thanks for the advice.

[dpatera]

I've questioned the unsearched vending box, but I've never really had a problem. I definitely wouldn't trust some random ebay seller for them. It's not the same as opening packs, but you do end up with nice condition cards, and rarely any that are truly damaged. It is not a good feeling to pull a Ripken rookie, only to have a piece of gum stuck to it, deforming the card.

[flushdraw78]

I'm glad someone brought up Vending boxes. They are not a bad option if you can get them from someone who you find to be reputable. Decent collation and condition if properly stored just like anything else. I have had good luck with '84, '85 and '87 myself; this was 15-20 years ago mind you...