My First Facebook Marketplace Experience: Wax Boxes!

I'm sure I'm late to the party here compared with many collectors, but recently I discovered Facebook Marketplace.

 

The original impetus wasn't even for any kind of purchase, trading cards or otherwise. It was because I had a few items I wanted to sell, including a couple of golf clubs and some small pieces of furniture. Normally I'd go to craigslist for that kind of thing, but my brother had mentioned Marketplace a few months prior, so I figured I'd give it a try.

 

I've got to say it was pretty easy to navigate the site and create listings. And other than the slight annoyance of some people (or bots) asking "Is this item still available?" and then immediately demanding my phone number and home address, it's been a pleasant experience. Since my original listings went up, I've made a couple of sales, and our garage is a bit less cluttered. 

 

Win-win.

 

So I suppose rather naturally, I felt like seeing what the other side of the coin was like. I went through a short list of items I might need or want: golf balls, some books, other collectibles (ahem. . . trading cards) and conducted some searches.

Soon I found myself scrolling through the listings and bookmarking the ones that I was interested in. And you know what? It felt reminiscent of an old mail-order catalog from a toy store or department store that you'd get back in the day. I can't be the only one who looked through a Toys-R-Us circular or a Sears catalog and proceeded to dog-ear the pages that had items I wanted, right? Facebook Marketplace is like a modern version of those catalogs, in a way. At least that's how I've been having fun with it.

 

And my experience with trading cards so far? The listings really run the gamut, from "too good to be true" on one end to "RARE ERROR JUNK WAX CARD FOR $5,000!" on the other end.

 

So it takes a bit of effort to find the legitimate deals. And even after that, finding a time to meet up to purchase an item can take a while, and involve a tedious back-and-forth with the seller. But all that work can pay off.

 

Case in point?

 

 

This 1990-91 Topps hockey wax box, complete with 36 packs! A member listed it for quite a bargain—just about the same price it would have been in 1990, at the original price of 50¢ per pack. For the dose of nostalgia, I couldn't resist. He was located between my office and my home, and as soon as we worked out a day and time to meet, the box was mine.

Here's a look at the inside:

That illustrated hockey guy who is seen celebrating a goal on the front of each pack wrapper was used from the 1985-86 set all the way through to this 1990-91 set. Different color patterns were featured each time. He had a pretty good run!

 

And here's a shot of the box bottom, featuring one of the four-card panels that Topps made popular from the mid-1980s into the early '90s.

That's a pretty good quartet there! (Mike Modano's rookie card is found within the base set, so that box bottom version is pretty cool.)

But that's not the only deal I found.

 

A couple of months ago I posted about a hockey pack rip that my brother and I did after a round of golf. The packs were from the 1991-92 Upper Deck hockey set. Funny enough, around the same time that I found the Topps hockey box shown above listed on Marketplace, I found a different seller who was offering a full wax box from the Upper Deck set.

 

And as the timing worked out, I met up with the seller and picked up the box just one day after I met up with the seller of the Topps hockey box!

Here it is.

 

 

 

Still sealed in the original factory wrap. But that's not all . . .

 

 

 

The seller had a second box! And at the price he was offering, I couldn't say no. 

 

This other box was sealed as well, but there was a bunch of dirt and grime on it. (At least I hope it was just dirt and grime.) So I peeled it off before I took the photo.

 

Here's the unsealed box in "local card shop display mode."

 

 

That would have been an attractive sight to young collectors during the 1991-92 hockey season, for sure.

And following Topps' lead, Upper Deck put something on the box bottoms, as well.

Instead of a four-card panel, it was just one large "card". (No stats on the back, however.) Got to love that Brett Hull image.

Now, do I know what I'm going to do with these boxes?

No.

I've already got the complete 1990-91 Topps set and 1991-92 Upper Deck set (stay tuned for separate blog posts about that), so there's no need to open packs in an effort to try and find any cards I need.

There is a chance of finding a special autographed Brett Hull card in those Upper Deck packs, so maybe I'll open a few packs from the unsealed box, just for fun, and to see if I can somehow pull an autographed card.

 

I could also save some packs for future rips on the golf course with my brother.

Or maybe I'll send some packs to hockey card collectors out there, so they can get a little dose of nostalgia, too.

For now, all three boxes are going to be displayed on a shelf in my home office closet, which is partially used to house my card collection.

What I do know is that I purchased three hockey wax boxes in a 24-hour period, and I've been searching Marketplace to see what else might be out there. And this raises a small red flag. I only have so much room in my home office closet. And I'm not sure I need to load up on 1990s wax boxes.

 

As Barney Fife might say, I think I need to nip this activity in the bud.

 

 

 

How about you readers and collectors? Do you have any favorable (or unfavorable) experiences with buying or selling cards on Facebook Marketplace? Do I have a wax box problem developing? Should I nip it?

 

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading, as always!