2023 Wacky Packages

[JailOJohn]

Seems kind of ironic that those who ordered first were done dirty in collation. I assume a machine picks and wraps. Can anyone else confirm Bluedevil’s experience opening boxes?

[Swiski]

I'm still confused about the red or blue, pack or box thing! When I get mine I will understand, but unfortunately not until this weekend. 

Topps was selling ONE 5-pack box for 89.99.

This seller (screen cap below) looks like he is selling TWO 5-pack boxes for $99?!!! Isn't this a loss for them?

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

Topps was selling ONE 5-pack box for 89.99.

This seller (screen cap below) looks like he is selling TWO 5-pack boxes for $99?!!! Isn't this a loss for them?

The 1 pack and the 5 pack use the same boxes. There’s either one silver foil sealed pack inside or five silver foil packs inside.

Seller is most likely selling some 1 pack boxes at that price, but ‘conveniently’ not putting that into in the description.

[quas]

Here are my sketch pulls.  Most are available!!

          

PM sent.

[JailOJohn]

Yeah, $99 for two boxes has to be one-pack boxes, which sold for $20 each. There’s no way that person is selling two $99 five-pack boxes for $99..,

[Swiski]

Yeah, $99 for two boxes has to be one-pack boxes, which sold for $20 each. There’s no way that person is selling two $99 five-pack boxes for $99..,

I wasn't sure. Those boxes are rather large looking for just one pack of cards! I originally thought the large box shown during pre-orders represented the outer box for the 5-pack group.

[JailOJohn]

It does seem silly to put one pack of 10 stickers in such a big box…maybe that’s how they can get away with charging $20….still excited for new wackys…

[RawGoo]

So, out of 20 boxes of 5 packs each, here is what I got pull wise:
Coupons:        101
Silver borders:  38
Foils:                24
Sketches:          21
Comics:            16

Very disappointed about the comics being so scarce - scarcer than sketches!!  And, 8 of my 16 comics pulls were #5........  Topps, PLEASE drop the silver borders! 

[Joe G.]

Wow Pat that is wild!  So how many complete sets of comics and how many base sets did you get?  Before trading I mean.

So, out of 20 boxes of 5 packs each, here is what I got pull wise:
Coupons:        101
Silver borders:  38
Foils:                24
Sketches:          21
Comics:            16

Very disappointed about the comics being so scarce - scarcer than sketches!!  And, 8 of my 16 comics pulls were #5........  Topps, PLEASE drop the silver borders!

[tommybomb]

So, out of 20 boxes of 5 packs each, here is what I got pull wise:
Coupons:        101
Silver borders:  38
Foils:                24
Sketches:          21
Comics:            16

Very disappointed about the comics being so scarce - scarcer than sketches!!  And, 8 of my 16 comics pulls were #5........  Topps, PLEASE drop the silver borders!

That's crazy bad luck!!  Out of 3 5pack boxes I got 4 unique comics.

[BattleCaps]

So, out of 20 boxes of 5 packs each, here is what I got pull wise:
Coupons:        101
Silver borders:  38
Foils:                24
Sketches:          21
Comics:            16

Very disappointed about the comics being so scarce - scarcer than sketches!!  And, 8 of my 16 comics pulls were #5........  Topps, PLEASE drop the silver borders!

How close did you get to having a complete coupon set (or two)?

[sco(o)t]

I bought 5 boxes of 5 packs each, here were my pulls…

Coupons:        25
Silver borders:  9
Foils:                5
Sketches:         5
Comics:            6

I was able to put together 2 complete base sets and another partial set that was 5 cards short.

[RawGoo]

Wow Pat that is wild!  So how many complete sets of comics and how many base sets did you get?  Before trading I mean.

I got one whole set of comics out of 20 5-packs    Even with trading, the most I can make is 3 comics sets.  I managed 14 base sets.

[RawGoo]

How close did you get to having a complete coupon set (or two)?

I need 8 coupons for a set.  WAY too many to try for a second set.

[RawGoo]

I bought 5 boxes of 5 packs each, here were my pulls…

Coupons:        25
Silver borders:  9
Foils:                5
Sketches:         5
Comics:            6

I was able to put together 2 complete base sets and another partial set that was 5 cards short.

That's pretty good!  I didn't finish a base set until my fourth box, and it was two boxes later when I completed my second.  And you did fantastic on comics!!

[RunTony]

The conclusion I get out of all this is:

Topps doesn't give a flying (insert your own expression) about the Wacky Packages fan base.  I get that their main source of revenue is baseball cards.  Anybody know if Topps does this same thing to the GPK or Star Wars prints?

Did they fire everybody that actually had a work ethic? Or common sense?

Oh I forgot: common sense isn't.  And Topps customer service isn't.

[lcummins]

…Anybody know if Topps does this same thing to the GPK or Star Wars prints?...

I purchased 13 8 card packs of the 2022 Elvis Presley Heritage cards. It was a 40 card set with a 10 card movie subset plus parallels and a relic card. Each pack was 7 base cards plus a parallel, insert or relic, so 13 packs should have yielded 2 base sets plus dupes. I actually got 1 complete base and 3 cards shy of the second, so not too bad. The movie insert set however… only 1 movie card in 13 packs! Since the end of January when the cards shipped, only about 35 movie cards have turned up on eBay, and 5 of the 10, only one or two have turned up, so only 1 complete set could have been gotten that way so far. I still need 3 to finish my set! So conclusion, not too bad on collation except the movie cards.

[Swiski]

The conclusion I get out of all this is:

Topps doesn't give a flying (insert your own expression) about the Wacky Packages fan base.  I get that their main source of revenue is baseball cards.  Anybody know if Topps does this same thing to the GPK or Star Wars prints?

Did they fire everybody that actually had a work ethic? Or common sense?

Oh I forgot: common sense isn't.  And Topps customer service isn't.

I'm totally OK with them having chase cards, border variants, coupon backs, comic strip cards, and sketches in Wacky Packages sets, but please don't make the base set expensive to accomplish! Some of us are simple people on a budget who just want the essentials. Hopefully a few nice folks here can help some of us out with completing our base sets. I thought for sure the $90 5-pack bundle would have given us most of a base set, but from what I'm reading here collation is brutal unless you're a big spender. Sorry, I don't have $1000 to spend on trading cards.

[RawGoo]

I'm totally OK with them having chase cards, border variants, coupon backs, comic strip cards, and sketches in Wacky Packages sets, but please don't make the base set expensive to accomplish! Some of us are simple people on a budget who just want the essentials. Hopefully a few nice folks here can help some of us out with completing our base sets. I thought for sure the $90 5-pack bundle would have given us most of a base set, but from what I'm reading here collation is brutal unless you're a big spender. Sorry, I don't have $1000 to spend on trading cards.

It seems to depend on which 5 boxes you get.  I did get a base set from my first 4 boxes, so by that standard, Topps did well.  I also pulled 5 sketches which reasonably could have been sold off, along with the other 15 inserts, to cover the original $90 cost.  I think Topps did an overall good job, except for the comics.  10 boxes ($1,000 to order) and only 1 set of 5 cards is a FAIL in my book.  And what happened to bluedevilok should never happen!

And some of the stickers are outstanding!  Kudos to all involved in dreaming up and producing some great Wackys!!

[Joe G.]

All these questions about base set building reminds me of the ANS days.  I can’t recall but for ANS how many retail packs did one have to buy to complete a base set?  Probably quite a few if that’s the way you approached it.  Of course, in those days, insert and sketch odds got so long that people bought 100s  and 100s of packs and thus base cards became “swill” if I remember the term correctly.  I guess this is the first time a Wacky set will be without “swill”.

[Joe G.]

Pat, yup looks like comics are scarce all around.  Right now there are only 6 auctions on eBay and they range from $37.99 to $65.99.  No one has listed a complete set of 5 yet but that could be a $200 and up item I guess.

It seems to depend on which 5 boxes you get.  I did get a base set from my first 4 boxes, so by that standard, Topps did well.  I also pulled 5 sketches which reasonably could have been sold off, along with the other 15 inserts, to cover the original $90 cost.  I think Topps did an overall good job, except for the comics.  10 boxes ($1,000 to order) and only 1 set of 5 cards is a FAIL in my book.  And what happened to bluedevilok should never happen!

And some of the stickers are outstanding!  Kudos to all involved in dreaming up and producing some great Wackys!!

[Alexeirex]

Ugh - not fair - those of us on the west coast are still awaiting their orders.....
I paid once for a faster delivery and I think the difference was just one day....
A

[FourRoses]

All these questions about base set building reminds me of the ANS days.  I can’t recall but for ANS how many retail packs did one have to buy to complete a base set?  Probably quite a few if that’s the way you approached it.  Of course, in those days, insert and sketch odds got so long that people bought 100s  and 100s of packs and thus base cards became “swill” if I remember the term correctly.  I guess this is the first time a Wacky set will be without “swill”.

If memory serves me right, it didn't take a mighty endeavor of packs for a base set at least in the beginning.

[RawGoo]

All these questions about base set building reminds me of the ANS days.  I can’t recall but for ANS how many retail packs did one have to buy to complete a base set?  Probably quite a few if that’s the way you approached it.  Of course, in those days, insert and sketch odds got so long that people bought 100s  and 100s of packs and thus base cards became “swill” if I remember the term correctly.  I guess this is the first time a Wacky set will be without “swill”.

The big difference now is we cannot buy any more when we find out something is really short printed, like comics!

[lucidjc]

All these questions about base set building reminds me of the ANS days.  I can’t recall but for ANS how many retail packs did one have to buy to complete a base set?  Probably quite a few if that’s the way you approached it.  Of course, in those days, insert and sketch odds got so long that people bought 100s  and 100s of packs and thus base cards became “swill” if I remember the term correctly.  I guess this is the first time a Wacky set will be without “swill”.

At .10 a card, you could afford to buy more. At the estimated 2.81 a card, that is to expensive to gather swill. Hrmmm .10 to 2.81...is that keeping up with inflation?


confused, again

[Joe G.]

You know I think you hit the nail on the head.  More than collation it’s this crippling inflation that’s killing set costs.  If a single card is now $1.50 or so then a 50 card base set is a $75 item at cost.  Far from what we were paying in 2004!

[crackedjerk]

I ended up buying just a single $20 box as I was afraid that the $90 five pack wouldn't yield a base set.  Sounds like it was hit or miss on that happening.  For what it's worth, I got a blue box and two coupons (if memory serves) as my "hits".  Disappointed that I didn't get something better, but happy to not have gotten any silver borders. 

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

Pat, yup looks like comics are scarce all around.  Right now there are only 6 auctions on eBay and they range from $37.99 to $65.99.  No one has listed a complete set of 5 yet but that could be a $200 and up item I guess.

looks like cardgarys pulled quite a few, and now has 10 sets of them up listed at $130 each

[Joe G.]

Patrick thanks for pointing that out, he sure does, a pretty good price I would think!  Also he has a coupon set, only one on eBay, for a grand!  I wonder if he gets a special deal on pack pricing.  He always seems to buy more than anyone else.

looks like cardgarys pulled quite a few, and now has 10 sets of them up listed at $130 each

[Fanatical_and_Sickly]

Patrick thanks for pointing that out, he sure does, a pretty good price I would think!  Also he has a coupon set, only one on eBay, for a grand!  I wonder if he gets a special deal on pack pricing.  He always seems to buy more than anyone else.

Gotta be quick. The comic set has been updated to $180. With some singles at $40.

[tommybomb]

[FourRoses]

Ugh - not fair - those of us on the west coast are still awaiting their orders.....
I paid once for a faster delivery and I think the difference was just one day....
A

Especially with FedEx.

[Joe G.]

Patrick, yeah that’s more consistent with rarity and such.  So around $75 for a base set and $180 for a Comic set.  The one thing that seems completely out of whack is a coupon set for a grand!  That $20 a card!  If coupons are one per pack, I would think the cost would be much lower!  Maybe Gary got his cards early when the collation was very Wacky and thinks they are rarer than they actually are.

Gotta be quick. The comic set has been updated to $180. With some singles at $40.

[Swiski]

I saw a seller with base sets yesterday for $55! I know what my strategy is next time.

[Joe G.]

Steve, well that’s a great price but as Patrick said you gotta be quick!  No doubt the price will fluctuate and at moments, and at the end, bargains will be found.  I’m trying to hunt down as many of the parallels for my 5 cards as I can but it’s surprisingly that certain things don’t seem to show up. 

I saw a seller with base sets yesterday for $55! I know what my strategy is next time.