In this edition of “Collecting Ideas” we look at what it would take to build a collection of graded wax packs from 1970’s Topps baseball.
Who doesn’t love a good collection of unopened wax packs?
Embedded in the love of baseball cards is that feeling of opening a new pack. What will be inside? Will you get a hot rookie? A star player? A stack of commons?
Ripping open that wax seal and seeing what lies beneath is part of the allure of collecting. The mystery of what’s inside, the anticipation of reward, and the magic of baseball revealed slowly and carefully. Everyone who has ever opened baseball packs knows exactly the feeling.
But collecting graded, sealed wax packs imbues a slightly different feeling. Mostly because anyone who collects them usually has no intention of ever opening the packs.
Instead, you have a set of endless possibility. A collection of mystery and reward, stripped of any possible disappointment. You won’t ever know if that pack of 1968 Topps has a Nolan Ryan rookie or another Ed Stroud, because you will never open it. You’ll just assume it has a Ryan as it sits gleaming on your shelf.
1970’s Topps Baseball Wax Packs
The 1970’s are a wonderful place to start to build your graded wax pack collection. Topps baseball put out some of the most popular sets during this decade, including the colorful 1975 set and the black border 1971 set. The popularity of the hobby was growing every day. Key rookies like George Brett, Thurman Munson, Gary Carter, Robin Yount, and Bert Blyleven dot the landscape of 70’s era baseball, helping fuel the rise of baseball in the latter half of the 20th century.
Another added benefit of starting your wax pack collection with the 1970’s is the availability, and therefore the relative cost, of doing so. Especially when compared to the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Collecting wax from the 1950’s can be very expensive. A single graded wax pack of 1957 Topps baseball sold for over $8,000 a couple years ago, while a PSA 8 graded 1963 Topps wax pack went for $9,300. And prices have only gone up since then.
As it turns out, you can acquire one graded pack from every year of the 1970’s for less than that. Here’s a breakdown of the last 12 months of sales of each year, looking at PSA 6, 7, and 8s, from Vintage Card Prices:
The two most popular designs in this decade, 1971 and 1975, will cost the most to acquire, especially if you are looking for graded PSA 8 or higher. Those two packs will be the bulk of your cost in putting this set together. The 1970 pack will also be expensive, likely around $800-1000 for a PSA 7 or 8.
The 1974 pack is a good value buy. Dave Winfield is the only main rookie to collect in this set, but obviously it has stars like Nolan Ryan, Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, and many more.
Between 1976 and 1979, graded packs can be acquired for less than $300, with the 1979 pack being the least expensive. For all the top rookies in those sets, like Dennis Eckersley and Ozzie Smith, that’s a real bargain. Plus, the 1978 set has the only rookie with two Hall of Famers on the same card: #707 featuring Alan Trammell and Paul Molitor.
Again, remember the benefit in buying the wax packs instead of individual rookie cards. You are buying the possibility, not the reality. It would costs thousands to acquire PSA 8 copies of all the rookies from 1970’s Topps baseball. Instead, you have the packs that represent those players, and the mystery of finding them inside, for a fraction of the cost.
One note about this analysis: I only looked at PSA graded wax packs, as you can see, but GAI was a very popular grading option for sealed wax packs for a number of years. Because of this, there’s likely a larger population of GAI graded packs out there. You may be able to find considerably cheaper prices on some of these if you look at only GAI. For example, the last 12 months of sales of GAI 9 graded 1971 Topps wax packs is only $1,170.
Oh and one more note: don’t ever buy ungraded or unauthenticated wax packs. There’s just too many bad actors out there willing to sell you fake or repacked cards, so you aren’t likely buying the real thing. And if you buy ungraded, insist that the pack be authenticated by a third party before the sale is complete.
Popular wax pack designs
Another appeal of collecting wax packs is the cover art. The design of the cards inside get all of the attention, but the Topps art department was going above and beyond on these baseball pack designs in the 70’s (except for 1976, the only time they doubled up on a design this decade).
The sharp red, blue, and yellow tones, combined with the iconic 1970’s Tops logo, set the standard for packs in subsequent decades. The generic player action shots only added to the appeal.
Start building your Topps graded set today!
All in all, you can obtain a full set of every Topps wax pack from the 1970’s for around $5,000 in a PSA 6 and around $8,000-9,000 in a PSA 8.
One place to start looking would the Greg Morris Cards. For example, right now there’s a PSA 7 graded 1975 Topps mini baseball wax pack up for auction with nine days left. And a PSA 9 graded 1978 O-Pee-Chee baseball sold for just over $100 earlier this month. Get started on your graded wax pack collection, or any of your hobby collecting needs, by searching every auction in our store at www.gregmorriscards.com. You can do that by clicking here.