Unopened Archive

The Unopened Archive

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Welcome to the relaunched Unopened Archive! It used to have pages with photos of packs, wrappers, boxes, and cases from all the big pre- and post-war releases. This 2.0 version is more of a hub for all my blog posts about different unopened material. Over time, I’ll bring back the old content and add way more—like info about fakes, finds, sales, collation, and all the known products out there.

If you’re looking for a particular unopened product photo, shoot me an e-mail.

Baseball

Basketball

Football

Hockey

Other Sports

Multi-Sport

Non-Sports

Unopened Hobby Books, Magazine Articles, and 101s

1951 Bowman Baseball Unopened Products

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I came across a 1951 Bowman Baseball one-cent display box in Ron Oser Enterprises’ April 2001 catalog, which inspired me to revive posts on the blog highlighting complete unopened product runs from various sets. This time, instead of dedicated pages, I’ll be sharing them as blog posts with a bit of added commentary.

1951 Bowman Wax Pack

With a certification that starts with 104, I’d be apprehensive about the authenticity of this pack without getting my hands on it or without a word from an expert in the hobby, like Steve Hart, who authenticates packs for PSA. Memory Lane Inc. sold it for $6,848 in May 2017.

Mile High Card Co. resold the pack for $4,672 in May 2020.

I’ve been unable to find any photos of 1951 Bowman five-cent wax packs.

1951 Bowman Wax Wrappers

Heritage sold this one-cent wrapper for $1,260 in September 2022, which seems unusually high because Collect Auctions sold the second example for just $196 in August 2020.

Heritage has also sold a five-cent wrapper before; the following one went for $1,260 in September 2022.

And years ago, in August 2016, Huggins and Scott sold the following pair of 1951 Bowman wrappers for $768.

1951 Bowman Wax Boxes

Display boxes are exceedingly rare and highly desirable. I’m also unaware of any full boxes. Memory Lane sold the following one-cent display box for just over $1k in December 2009.

Lelands also sold one of these one-cent display boxes, also quite a few years ago, in November 2008, for $437.

Memory Lane also sold a five-cent display box in the same auction as the one-cent box for $1,214 in December 2009.