Mint Musings: Pros and Cons of Buying Older Wax – One of the biggest gripes in the hobby today is the price of boxes and packs. Let’s face it, most collectors today don’t have unlimited financial resources and can’t always afford to get the newest box. With all of the options today among newer products, it can be difficult to make a choice, especially if your budget only allows you a few boxes a year.
With that in mind, I’ve always been a fan of waiting on the purchase of boxes to see if the price goes down. While overproduction may be a concern to collectors and speculators alike, it does allow for a lot of product to be made. Like any other commodity, the longer it remains for sale, the better likelihood that it will go down in price.
Black Friday in particular has turned into a sort of bonanza for collectors looking to buy wax on the cheap. Some of the larger online retailers such as Dave and Adam’s Card World and Blowout Cards have offered fantastic deals on several boxes over the last few years. Enticed with considerably lower prices and other incentives, collectors bought discounted boxes in droves last holiday season. Several people I spoke to who worked in trading card stores told me that 2014 saw record numbers for a Black Friday shopping period, with many of them having employees work around the clock to process orders.
Besides the lower prices, another positive to waiting out boxes is that the rookie class is more defined by the time you open the box. Instead of having to play a guessing game of whether the prospect hit will pan out, chances are you’ll know whether your player is a stud or a dud by opening later. I got a bit of a chuckle pulling a Jan Vesely autograph from an older product a few weeks ago.
I couldn’t help but think to myself what a big hit that might have been a few years ago. If you’re someone who busts mainly to try and flip, that can be a bit of a sore blow as you miss the boat on moving it. On the flip side, if you pull someone like Russell Wilson, who went up in value over time, then it can be a positive if you look to sell at a peak price compared to the lower prices that were realized when the cards were first released.
There are some negatives to waiting to buy. One possibility is that the product won’t go down in price or may even go up. Anybody looking to buy 2012 football products can attest to that as the strong careers of Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson have kept box prices strong, especially when compared with the same product from previous and following years. That being said, the trends in the hobby over the past few years show that a large amount of products do tend to go down in price over time. Like anything else in the memorabilia world, production runs and overall quality of the product determines the settling price in the long run.
The biggest negative though has to be in regards to redemptions. There’s no way around it, they just stink. This is especially true when you pull a redemption for a very valuable card. It can be torturous to wait for that card to eventually come in the mail, if it comes at all. With older products, your chances of pulling an expired redemption can be pretty high. With that in mind, it helps to know the expired redemption policies for each company.
Panini is far and away the best when it comes to expired redemptions. They do actually honor them or try to
give you something comparable to the card’s value if it isn’t available. I’ve personally submitted three expired redemptions to Panini, and I’ve had all three honored with the card I was due to receive. A note of caution with some Panini products though. Some of the card stock they used for some of their older basketball products, including 2012-13 Momentum Basketball and 2011-12 Past & Present Basketball, didn’t age well with the autographs. As such, the autographs tended to bleed into the cards, which degraded the signature quality. You can always reach out to Panini’s quality control department, but there aren’t any guarantees that you’ll be able to receive a replacement.
The other companies unfortunately don’t have quite as generous a policy when it comes to expired redemptions. While Upper Deck doesn’t honor expired redemptions, they do give collectors the chance to receive something as replacement at some of the bigger collecting events of the year, including the National. If you can’t attend one of the events in person, Upper Deck does offer you the chance to mail in the redemption card for a chance to win something. While it can sting not to receive exactly what your redemption card offered, especially if it’s for a LeBron James or Michael Jordan autograph, it’s good to at least have a chance to get something.
For Topps, you’re unfortunately out of luck as the company currently doesn’t have a policy in place to honor any expired redemptions. I’ve heard some stories where people reach out to their customer service department and get something, but there’s no guarantee with it.
So be sure to do your research on any older product you buy, especially when it comes to knowing what players have redemptions in the product. If you’re looking to get an autograph of a specific player, it wouldn’t do to buy a product that only has redemptions for them. Also be sure to view the checklists for products in order to ensure that you have a chance to get who you’re looking for. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to look up checklists in a hurry for products.
Positive or negative, buying older wax typically provides fun busting at cheaper prices. I check the online retailers every couple of weeks just to see what kind of deals they currently have on their sites. While redemptions can serve as a big risk to buying older wax, you can help mitigate that by doing your research and buying smart. In a day and age where most collectors have to be wise in how they utilize their collecting resources, any chance to get a better value is certainly appreciated, even if you have to wait a little while to get it.
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan as the producer of ESPN’s Mint Condition has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on the hobby in Mint Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
- Hobby Musings: London Card Show Continues Growth - April 23, 2024
- Hobby Musings: Signatures For Soldiers in Middle of Busy 2024 - April 11, 2024
- Hobby Musings: Busy and Exciting 2024 for Leaf - April 3, 2024