(Check out our previous Wow! Wax listings here.)
Is there anything better than sitting down with a box of fresh wax packs with dreams of uncovering your next big baseball card find? It’s the stuff from which collections and lifetime cardboard connections are made!
If you grew up in the 1970s or 1980s (and probably the 1990s) as a baseball card collector, you know the feeling well. You’d wait all week or all month for a chance to pick up a few packs at the grocery store or local card shop and then rush home to dig into your new treasures.
You scoured the pages of Baseball Cards and Sports Collectors Digest waiting for word of any new releases, and then you planned your life around getting your hands on some.
They were golden days full of anticipation and hope, joy and (yes) disappointment when you pulled Tom Brookens instead of Alan Trammell.
As the decades have passed, the value of our baseball cards have ebbed and flowed, but something else has happened … something amazing.
Thanks to the Internet and thanks especially to shopping websites like eBay and Amazon, we can find most of the cards we dreamed about as kids just about any time we want. Just a few keystrokes, and we’re there.
This page is dedicated to reliving those thrills of youth by bringing to light one incredible (in some way) unopened lot of baseball cards each day. Sit back and enjoy the ride, and be sure to check back regularly to see what new goodies we’ve discovered.
(Check out our previous Wow! Wax listings here.)
(Over the next little while, I’m going to be unfurling a set of experimental types of posts to see if they strike any cardboard chords. Let me know what you think, and I’ll adjust as we go. Also, note that these listings contain affiliate links, which means if you click over to eBay or Amazon and buy something, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.)
See the full listing on eBay (affiliate link)
Topps 1980 Burger King: 4 Unopened Packs — Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver, Bruce Sutter, Ron Guidry
Burger King cards have caused confusion in the hobby for 40 years or more because, generally speaking, they look just like base Topps cards from the same year … but with subtle differences.
Different card numbers, sometimes a different photo.
Always the same design, basically, at least.
The 1980 Burger King cards in this lot (affiliate link) shouldn’t cause quite as much confusion, though. That’s because they’re part of the “Pitch, Hit, & Run” series that features a Burger King logo on card fronts.
Won’t find that on the base set!
Still, how cool is it to see these unopened cello packs that have somehow remained sealed since they came off the grill four decades ago?
Very is the correct answer here.
This lot also includes a bunch of “loose” BK cards, like some fries that fell out of the box, but that the server plopped in your bag, anyway.
Bonus! Yum!
Check out the full eBay listing here (affiliate link).
Four (4) Unopeed Boxes of 1987 Kraft Macaroni & Cheese w/Baseball cards
Click image for eBay listing (affiliate link)
So, sometimes you’ll hear card geeks like me waxing (haha) poetic about how you can (or can’t) chow down on that good old vintage gum that comes in old wax packs of (Topps) baseball cards.
I mean, is it actually safe to chew gum from, say, 1987? Was it even save back then?
Tough calls.
But this lot ratchets up the intensity of this argument a couple of notches. I mean … actual unopened boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese from that same summer — 1987!
Wow! Indeed … wow!
Makes me feel like a kid again, especially when you see that all four boxes feature Don Mattingly (and, yes Steve Garvey), who was still right at the top of the hobby mountain even as the home runs began to flow all across the game.
The only question here is … would you eat this stuff?
It’s a moot point for me, because how could I ever even dream of opening those beautiful, perfect boxes??
Check out the full eBay listing here (affiliate link).
Twelve (12) 1984 Topps Rack Packs — Sugarless Bubble Gum!
Click image for eBay listing (affiliate link)
The next time you’re lamenting how today’s safety-first regulations and advertising are robbing us of everything fun, come back to this eBay listing (affiliate link) and remind yourself the joy-robbing started no later than the mid-1980s.
I mean, just look at those gorgeous Topps rack packs, with Tom Seaver showing … and Rick Sutcliffe showing … and Fergie Jenkins showing … and
… and …
*gasp*
SUGARLESS bubble gum?!?
Why not just give us powerless video games? Or popcornless movies? Or recessless schooldays?
Bleh.
But, hey, at least these beauties still deliver 36 cards per pack, which means you’d score a cool 432 Topps cards for you $175
That’s fun stuff, at least.
Check out the full eBay listing here (affiliate link).
1984 Fun Food Baseball Buttons Wax Box
Click image for eBay listing (affiliate link)
OK, so this is not really *wax* in the strict sense, but “wax” is really a state of mind … right?
What we do have here, though, are 36 paper pouches, each containing three baseball buttons, and they’re spectacular!
Round, enameled, bright colored “borders,” full color photos, baseball’s biggest stars … these babies are great!
In all, there were 133 pins/buttons issued, so you’d need to buy at least two boxes to get the full set (which you could also buy all at once from dealers, then and now).
Either way, this is a sweet blast from the past, and an unusual issue that won’t break the bank.
Check out the full eBay listing here (affiliate link).
1984 Topps Super Unopened Wax Box
Click image for eBay listing (affiliate link)
Another oddball set from 1984, Topps Supers were exact replicas of the base card for each of the 30 players included in the set … except huge.
Unfortunately, nobody really knew who Don Mattingly was when the 1984 season began, so he’s not here … but the Darryl Strawberry rookie is.
With just one card per pack but 36 packs in a box, you *should* stand a good chance of getting one of everything with this lot.
Check out the full eBay listing here (affiliate link).
1984 Topps Unopened Wax Box
Click image for eBay listing (affiliate link)
Now THIS box is almost certain to contain either the Darryl Strawberry rookie or the Don Mattingly rookie, or both (though you can never be sure thanks to funky 1980s card collation).
Either was, the 1984 Topps set is chock full of classic cards, and you know it would be a blast to tear through this puppy.
Unless, of course, you have the willpower to keep it intact.
Check out the full eBay listing here (affiliate link).