Vintage Sports Cards – Baseball – Basketball – Football – Hockey
In August 2003, Mastro sold these seven 1954 Bowman baseball five-cent wax packs that originated from the famous Paris, Tennesse find, which I’ll detail in a future post.
Six of the GAI authenticated and encapsulated packs were graded NM+ 7.5, and one was graded NM 7.
If you want to add one of these packs to your collection today, it’ll be pretty expensive. BBCE Auctions sold a PSA 9-graded pack for $7588 in November 2023 and a PSA 7-graded pack for $3445 in April 2024.
In the summer of 2006, Mastro had every pack from a 1968 Topps Football 1st Series Wax Box authenticated, graded, and slabbed by GAI.
The packs’ potential stars include Starr, Meredith, Namath, Sayers, Unitas, and Butkus. The grading breakdown was as follows: GAI Gem Mint 9.5: 1 pack; GAI Mint 9: 9 packs; GAI NM-MT+ 8.5: 9 packs; GAI NM-MT 8: 4 packs; GAI NM+ 7.5: 1 pack.
The lot also came with the empty display box, with the Pin-Up insert image of Johnny Unitas on its front panel, but I can’t get a good scan of it from the huge catalog, so here’s an example of a box that REA sold back in 2010.
Today, these boxes and packs are really pricey. REA sold a BBCE-authenticated wax box for $78k in the spring of 2022, and PSA-slabbed packs are selling for ~$1500 these days.
Mastro offered these fifteen 1953 Topps Unopened Five-Cent Wax Packs in his April 2004 auction, which included the OPC archives.
Global Authentication graded and encapsulated all the packs, and the breakdown was as follows: GAI EX+ 5.5: 7 packs; GAI EX 5: 8 packs.
I don’t know what the lot sold for, but there was a separate lot with just a single pack, and it sold for ~$12k.
And in case you were curious, here’s what a 1953 Topps 24-count 5-cent wax book looks like.
This ultra-scarce complete 1970/71 Topps Hockey wax box, with all the packs authenticated by GAI was offered for sale in August 2004.
The box was described as VG with minor surface abrasions on the unpunched lid and packs with the following grades: Mint 9: 2 packs; Nm-Mt+ 8.5: 9 packs; Nm-Mt 8: 10 packs; Nm+: 3 packs.
If you’re in the vintage unopened hobby niche, you know how tough hockey items are to find. The PSA Pop Report currently shows 29 graded 1970 Topps hockey packs, and I suspect many of them are cross-overs from this GAI lot.
Regarding pricing, BBCE Auctions sold this PSA 8 wax pack for $2225 in November 2023.
I’ve never been a massive fan of the wood-grained 1962 Topps design like others, but the wax box and pack designs that year were awesome!
The two display boxes and unopened wax pack pictured above were offered for sale back in 2004. The pack is an “Extra/Stamps” variation; one of the 5-cent display boxes has “All The Great Major League Stars” as its front panel slogan, while the other features the “Extra/Stamps” front slogan, with a “Mr. Retailer” and “Dimes” lid-top design.
Interestingly, the “Extra/Stamps” design is featured on the 1962 Topps dealer sell sheet floating around the hobby.
Also, it’s a tough find today, but here’s a 1962 Topps 1-cent Wax Pack Box.
