Finding an unopened box of 1989 Topps baseball cards is a dream come true for many collectors and investors. The 1989 Topps set was one of the most popular releases of the late 1980s and featured some of the biggest names and stars in Major League Baseball at the time. Inside an original wax box from that year are hundreds of coveted rookie cards, future Hall of Famers, and more that have risen dramatically in value over the past 30+ years. Let’s take a deeper look at what makes an unopened box of 1989 Topps cards so unique and desirable.
The 1980s were the peak era for baseball card collecting. While the 1990s saw massive increases in production that watered down the hobby, sets from the late 80s like 1987, 1988, and 1989 Topps are some of the most iconic releases of the modern trading card boom. The 1989 Topps set in particular featured 792 total cards with variations for pitchers cards, Manager cards, and Checklists. Rosters included all 26 MLB teams from 1988 and the set had a very clean and classic aesthetic design that collectors still admire today.
Within an unopened 1989 Topps wax box are 36 factory sealed wax packs with 11 cards each. Doing the math, that’s 396 total cards waiting to be discovered. Some of the biggest names on 1980s rosters that could be pulled include Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, and more – many of whom have Hall of Fame careers. But one of the biggest attractions of 1989 Topps are the abundant rookie cards it features. Guys like Griffey Jr., Bonds, Tim Belcher, Moises Alou, and Bobby Thigpen had their Topps debuts in this set and their rookie cards are now exceptionally valuable.
It’s very possible an unopened box could contain multiple Griffey Jr. or Bonds rookies, which have skyrocketed well past the $1000 price point in top grades. The odds of finding gems are significantly increased with such a large number of packs preserved fresh for over 3 decades. Getting a full, sealed wax box straight from the pack to your hands also adds provenance and collector confidence compared to purchasing individual packs or loose cards from the set. Grading services like PSA and BGS also give premiums to cards that can be verified as coming directly from unsearched wax packs.
Another major plus for 1989 Topps wax boxes is longevity and condition. Factory sealed for over 30 years means the cardboard, plastic wrap, and wax paper packaging is in absolutely pristine, untouched condition. Oxygen, light exposure, and handling are all avoided with a sealed wax box preservation. Even if the occasional pack inside had waxy seepage issues, the vast majority of contents would still grade extremely well thanks to the hermetic seal of the exterior box. Proper long-term storage is also implied with an unopened item versus a previously searched box.
The supply of unopened 1989 Topps wax boxes remaining intact after three decades is extremely low. Most were cracked by collectors, dealers and investors long ago. Population reports from PSA and BGS support the rarity, as the number of high grade rookie cards and stars certified from clearly sealed late 80s wax is minuscule compared to the millions of packs that were originally produced. Scarcity drives value and an untapped source of nostalgic 80s cardboard is about as scarce as it gets in the current market.
For contextual pricing, we can look at sales comps from recent auction results. In the spring of 2022, two different 1989 Topps wax boxes graded unopened and sealed by PSA sold for $8500 and $9500 respectively on eBay. An equivalent BGS 90+ box traded privately for over $11,000. While prices have likely increased even more in the current white hot card market, those figures show a huge return for any intact and never-searched boxes that may be collecting dust in attics or storage units after all these years.
Finding an unopened box of 1989 Topps baseball cards is a true buried treasure for the vintage and investment side of the card collecting hobby. With scarce supply and multiple Hall of Fame rookies to chase inside unsearched wax packs, strong long term demand is guaranteed. Pristine condition, provenance, and potential huge upside from hitting big cards make unopened 80s wax the holy grail for many in the community. With values already reaching five figures for top graded examples, identifying and protecting an unsearched source of 1980s cardboard greatness could result in a small fortune in another few decades as well.
