This hobby sometimes cracks me up, because there are times that it defies all logic.
Last week, I used part of my birthday money to purchase two boxes of 1986 Donruss baseball for $50 (free shipping) and knew that there was no chance I'd ever get my moneys worth from those boxes.
Best case scenario, I might be able to build one complete set and possibly pull an extra Canseco and McGriff.
Worst case scenario, the boxes were searched and I'd pull a bunch of commons.
Worst case scenario, the boxes were searched and I'd pull a bunch of commons.
The results?
I didn't complete a set. In fact I fell a whopping 160 cards short... which is about 25% of the set. And I didn't pull a Jose Canseco rookie card.
I didn't complete a set. In fact I fell a whopping 160 cards short... which is about 25% of the set. And I didn't pull a Jose Canseco rookie card.
On the flipside... I did pull the Fred McGriff, Paul O'Neill, Vince Coleman, and Andres Galarraga rookie cards. So it's possible the packs were searched, but I prefer to think I just had bad luck.
Which leads me to my point. Why the heck do people bust 80's wax boxes if they know they'll never recoup their original investment and they're better off picking up a factory set?
Well... I can't speak for anyone else. But I know why I did it. In fact, here's five reasons I did it.
#1 I've always wanted to pull a 86D Jose Canseco from a pack.
#2 I've always wanted to bust a box of 1986 Donruss and twenty-five years ago, I couldn't afford it.
#3 Ripping packs of old school wax packs takes me back to my childhood.
#4 There's something therapeutic about sitting down, ripping wax, and sorting them into stacks.
#5 I really wanted the uncut sheet of cards at the bottom of the box.
I know you think I'm crazy, but like I said at the beginning of the post... sometimes this hobby makes you do things you know you shouldn't do.
By the way... if you're also building this set, please let me know. We might be able to help each other out. I have a few hundred doubles sitting around waiting to be added to someone else's hand collated Max Headroom set.
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
19 comments:
while topps had decent collation, donruss had the worst collation of any product. They were horrible. Going up through '91 they were even worse.
I remember back in the day, opening up a rack case of '89 Donruss. 144 cards per rack, 48 racks per case. That's 6912 cards.
I did not get a complete set (660 cards) nor did I get even one Griffey Jr rookie.
and it was factory sealed, so no monkey business went on.... they were just that bad.
Getting Gibby on the uncut sheet is awesome as well.
Tiger or a Dodger, Gibby is always a good one to git.
As long as you had fun.
Always fun to bust packs!
I was pretty sure that one of your bullet points was going to be completing the puzzle of Hank Aaron.
Let me know what you've got. If it's cheap enough... I might bite.
Wow... I would have flipped if it were me. Thanks for the info. I guess it was there way to get people to keep ripping packs.
Lol... great memory. Not a lot of people remember I collect these puzzles. Anyways... it would have made my top 5 if I didn't already have the two for my PC.
Side note... I made two more Aaron puzzles. Plus, I'm very, very close to a third.
The question is not why do people bust '80s wax, but why do people bust '86 Donruss wax?
I know the nostalgia factor is great, but damn that is one of the ugliest sets of all-time.
I'm all about busting cards out of packs, no matter what they are. It's 1990 Donruss that comes the closest to testing that assertion for me. The '86 set certainly wasn't the worst of the decade for Donruss.
If we were all honest with ourselves, virtually no one recoups their money on any box ever. I don't think that's why most of us bust wax. It's just something we HAVE to do. AND IT'S FUN! Most of the time.
In 1986... 86D was my favorite design and Topps was my least favorite. Today... Topps is top dog with Fleer and Donruss tied for second.
Lol... I draw the line at 1990 Donruss. I'll bust that stuff if it's free. But I've seen that stuff for $3/box at the flea market and walked away.
You're a very smart man PATP. Agree 100%.
If I only cared about recouping my initial investment, I would have quit a long time ago.
And, if I had opened 2 boxes of 86 Donruss, I wouldn't have pulled a Canseco rookie either.
Curious... how many boxes did it take? If I can find another box for $25 shipped, I'd actually consider busting another one... just to say I pulled a Canseco (assuming I found one).
Since I'm still new to the wax for me opening packs after packs from the wax era is simply great! And yes, putting them into stacks and get all that time lost in organizing them...ahhhh what a way to spend a Sunday evening.
You should hold seminars and train more women to think like you :)
Well thought! Like those TED things. 'Baseball cards in women perspective'.
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