Today, here’s a little hobby history courtesy of the September 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks. It’s an advertisement for the 1977 Indianapolis Indians baseball card set, confirming they were a team issue.
In the ad, we can see they were issued as a “27 full color card set” that included a checklist card. They were $3.50 per set, postpaid directly to the team at Bush Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Since this set doesn’t have much star power, it hasn’t appreciated in 45 years; this one sold for $8 on eBay (shipped) back in June 2024.
The same can be said for graded cards; PSA has only slabbed 11, and this 8.5 of Mario Soto (a 3x MLB All-Star) sold for just $4 in one of PWCC’s weekly auctions in December 2008.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down an uncut sheet. You can see that they were available for $7 in the ad. However, I did find a cool-looking framed example for the 1976 team set for sale on Craigslist for $40. I presume the 1977 one has the same layout.
I ran across this advertisement for “beautiful 4 color cardboard storage boxes” in the October 1977 issue of The Trader Speaks but haven’t been able to find any more information about them! If you have any, please reach out.
Before Memory Lane Inc. sold the lone PSA 10 1948 Bowman Yogi Berra RC for $192k in 2017, Mastro moved the gem mint example in their April 2006 Sports Catalog Auction.
Mastro wrote, “This singular card is the ultimate complement to a high-grade assembly of its series, and it dominates the field in establishing the industry standard.”
Today, of just over 2200 graded samples, it’s still the only Gem Mint example.
As I said, Memory Lane Inc. sold the card for $192k in May 2017. You can see that it had been reholdered into a case I believe it remains in today.
I’ve studied the unopened hobby niche for a while, and this is the first 1952 Topps Look ‘n See One-Cent Display Box I’ve seen. It was offered for sale in an April 2004 auction catalog along with a five-cent wrapper.
The cards from the 1952 Topps Look ‘n See set aren’t particularly scarce, but the unopened material rarely surfaces.
The 6-1/2” x 6-1/2” x 2” EX/MT conditioned display box originally held 120 1-cent wax packs.
When REA, then a division of MastroNETInc. offered this 1927 Babe Ruth “Babe Comes Home” lobby card for sale in their July 2000 catalog, it was the only example of this particular type known to exist.
Here’s the lot’s description:
The best Babe Ruth lobby card in the world! Full color lobby card (14″ x 11″) from the 1927 First National Pictures release of “Babe Comes Home” features Ruth in uniform at bat. This is the only known example of this lobby card, and one of only several “Babe Comes Home’ lobby cards known to exist in the entire collecting world. This extraordinary rarity is highly prized in both the baseball and movie collectible field. There is some undetectable professional restoration otherwise in Near Mint to Mint condition.
Another example appears to have popped up since the REA sale; Heritage sold the following one in March 2011 for $2390.
Perhaps it’s changed hands a few more times since, but it’s currently listed on eBay (August 2024) with an asking price of $9,500. The seller wrote that it was one of two known in the item’s description. They also said it was one of a set of eight scene cards.
Vintage unopened sports card material has been a popular segment of the hobby for a while now. One of the more prominent companies and industry leaders in the segment is the Baseball Card Exchange (BBCE), owned and operated by Steve Hart. Steve even authenticates unopened packs for PSA. In June 2020, they posted on their Facebook page about the “X-Out.”
Since not every collector has a Facebook account, I wanted to summarize their post and add more information so that everyone can learn a little more about unopened cards.
In the past, retailers pre-ordered boxes of cards, and if they didn’t sell all of them, Topps allowed them to return unsold boxes for credit.
For instance, let’s say that Topps originally distributed a Baseball Wax Box to a dealer for $20. Then, at the end of the season, Topps would allow the dealers to return that box for a $17 credit. Topps would in turn “re-sell” (blowout) those boxes to dealers for $10. (These numbers are fictitious and just used as examples). Well, they had to have a way to keep the “unsavory” dealers (there might be one or two lurking within the industry!) from buying those boxes for $10 and “re-returning” them for $17. Hence, the “X-Out” was born. When a box was returned, it was given the “X-Out”. From 1981 to 1988 Topps used various markings to identify “X-Outs” on wax, rack and cello boxes in all major sports and non-sports issues.
BBCE
1983 Topps Football X-Out Unopened Box
It seems as though they used everything from a crayon or marker to a 4” paintbrush to put an ‘X’ or a line across the top of the box. This ‘X-Out’ signified that the box had already been returned once, and it could not be returned again.
BBCE
1986 Topps Football Cello X-Out Unopened Box
Often, they just drew a line across the box as well.
1987 Topps Football X-Out Unopened Box
The ‘X-Out’ marking on some years were worse than others. I think that 1984 was the worst as they seemed to very, very generously deface the lids of their boxes that year. Another problem with the ‘X-Out’ is that they usually put the boxes back into the cases without letting the marking dry completely. So, when the boxes are removed from the cases today it results in many of the lids being torn off.
BBCE
The following picture of a 1984 Topps Football Box shows a piece of another box stuck to the top.
1984 Topps Football X-Out Unopened Box
Topps also marked the outside of those cases with “Final Sale” stamp.
You can see “FINAL SALE NOT TO BE RETURNED” stamped on this 1983 Topps Baseball Unopened Rack Pack Case.
1983 Topps Baseball Case FINAL SALE
A few former card shop owners have shared that they received some cases marked “final sale” in which none of the boxes were “X-Outs.” It’s possible that Topps had certain products that could only be returned for a limited amount of time and, therefore, didn’t require marking. Or maybe other products could only be returned by the case. One dealer noted that rack pack boxes that they received were never marked.
Additionally, there are cases from before 1981 that are marked “Final Sale,” indicating that exchange programs started earlier. For example, the 1979 Topps case below shows “Final Sale,” but we haven’t seen any boxes from this era with an “X-Out” on it. I’m assuming Topps noticed some shady behavior and started marking the boxes in 1981.
1979 Topps Baseball Case FINAL SALE
Non-sports cards followed the same pattern, as you can see on the Garbage Pail Kid box which has a black line across it, and the 1978 Topps Jaws 2 Case marked “Final Sale.”
Garbage Pail Kids X-Out Box
1978 Topps Jaws 2 Case FINAL SALE
If you have any other information or comments about “X-Out” boxes or “Final Sale” cases – be sure to share them in the comments section below.
I ran across this advertisement for what is now a Hobby Library essential, The American Premium Guide to Baseball Cards by Ron Erbe, in the October 1981 issue of The Trader Speaks.
As the advertisement says, the book is massive, at 752 softbound pages.
It’s full of interesting info. Here’s the Table of Contents.
As an example of the book’s awesomeness, here’s a photo of a 1956 Topps promotional sheet—the same one I shared from Baseball Cards magazine.
They also included a nice collage of T206 white border backs.
But every set has a nice, insightful introduction.
If you have a Hobby Library, I recommend picking up a copy of this book. Despite inflation, you can still get a copy shipped to you for the cover price of $14.95.
