It's been a long time since I've looked at my pack stash all together. Usually it's in boxes and on shelves. It looks a lot less insane that way. All of the loose packs fit in just a couple of flat rate boxes. A good number of the blasters and some of the lose packs were post-Christmas purchases this past winter from an eBay seller who had free shipping and were won for generally half price or less. Since then I don't think I've added more than 8-10 packs (insert sarcastic comment). In fact, other than the aforementioned splurge earlier this year, I've been pretty careful about adding more things to my collections the last few years. Hard to explain to those of you who open all your packs in the car before you get home from the store but there's something satisfying to me about my pack collection.
I'm fascinated by collecting in general. There's such a wide spectrum, from collecting a few souvenir mugs to the kind of flat out hoarding you see on those TV shows with the horror music. Here's a question for you. Maybe you don't do anything extreme but do you have anything you would consider a collecting quirk, something you do collecting-wise that you think someone else would find strange? I promise not to judge. How could I?
Here's what the pack stash looked like four years ago. I sold the box of 1984 Topps Football, all of the 1981 and 1983 Baseball as well as a couple of others. I've opened a few things but obviously not much. I do still have the 1972 Topps Football packs.
I forgot to pull these--I've had them for 41 years (now 45).
"...those of you who open all your packs in the car before you get home from the store"
ReplyDeleteLOL!
That reminds me of the time back in the 1960s when me and the kid across the street from me went to the local hobby shop. (This was during the "chemistry set craze".) So Billy buys a few feet of "underwater" fuse (the kind you would use to launch model rockets), so-named because it stays lit when wet (as we found out).
Anyway, as soon as we get out to the sidewalk, he decides to "try it out", and after burning a few inches, he tries stepping on it, then spitting on it, but to no avail.
The entire few feet went up in smoke in less than a minute.
Great story. That's kind of the way I think of opening packs. It's over in a few seconds and often your disappointed. May as well make it last. Of course keeping them sealed indefinitely borders on stupid.
DeleteIn the dictionary... next to the word "willpower"... they should include a picture of you. I'm not talking about the pack stash as a whole. I have a fair amount of boxes and packs waiting for me to bust on a rainy day. I'm specifically talking about the 1972 packs. That's awesome that you've held onto these packs since they were originally released forty-five years ago. That's straight up willpower.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Your pack stack is pretty impressive. I'd love to dig into that box of 1984 Topps Super Baseball.
Too bad there's not a Gwynn in the set. My packs all have the card upside down to the front of the pack. You can read the name through the top of the baseball. No need to open them to find your favorite player. Unfortunately for me they're a collecting dud in terms of value.
DeleteI have a jumbo pack of 1989 Topps laying around... and now I think I have good idea of what to do with it. Your collection is very impressive!
ReplyDeleteYour 89 pack is the seed that starts a massive pack stash? Cool!
DeleteOh man!!!!! I thought I was doing well with my two shelves but WHOA! I guess my quirk that you asked about would be the same, as I also enjoy keeping a stash of unopened product, though yours appears to be many times larger than mine! Thanks for posting, I love seeing these "behind the scenes" type posts.
ReplyDeleteYeah at least you have a cool display.
DeleteThat's awesome! I couldn't do it.
ReplyDeleteThat's because you're normal. Maybe.
DeleteWow!! Very impressive!
ReplyDeleteThanks WW.
DeleteYou need help. I'll be right over.
ReplyDeleteI moved.
DeleteThat is a very impressive collection! As I looked at that first picture, all I could think was, "I'm sure glad I didn't have to lay all of them out on that table" :)
ReplyDeleteAs for quirks, I probably have quite a few, but I couldn't tell you what they are... as they're not considered quirky by me. I would imagine it's the same with most people, you would need someone else to point out the kooky things you do, because to you it would just be part of your normal behavior.
It was knowing that I had to put them all away again that was the problem. It wasn't that bad. But yeah, there's a reason I haven't done it in four years.
DeleteI fully admit that there's something a bit crazy about my squirreling away so much unopened product. I do the same thing with fan packs. I have a bunch of unopened ones from a couple of months ago sitting on a shelf. If only I could do the same thing with chocolate.
A good deal people I've interacted with in the past find the habit of collecting baseball cards strange all on its own.
ReplyDeleteI seriously don't know how you don't cave in and just open all those packs at once. I get antsy even leaving a single pack of '89 Fleer (or any other unopened packs that come in those Target repacks) unopened for a few extra minutes.
As a young collector, I always looked for backup QB's. Okay, maybe I still do.
ReplyDelete