After three standard size, vertical designs, Topps shook things up again in 1960. Their baseball card set went horizontal for the first time since 1956, with a split screen type look that featured a head shot for most of the main photos and a posed action image on the side. There were plenty of ways to buy cards as the decade began, too.
There have been finds of 1960 unopened material over the years and while some packs aren’t common, collectors have had a chance to find cello boxes and other material in various auctions in recent years.
- Topps produced penny and nickel wax packs, cello packs, rack packs and vending boxes in 1960.
- 1-cent packs came in boxes of 120 with a single card and stick of gum. Today, they’re among the rarest vintage unopened-related items to find. Unopened penny packs are unheard of and wrappers are scarce. Two variations of the 1-cent pack wrappers exist. A display box, one of perhaps fewer than five in existence, sold for $615.66 back in 2008.
- 5-cent packs, included six cards and gum. An unopened box sold for over $28,000 via Memory Lane in January of 2015. Empty 5-cent display boxes can usually be found for $100-$200 online.
- 10-cent cello packs included 12 cards. Boxes contained 36 packs. Two unopened cello boxes sold at auction in 2016 including one with a Carl Yastrzemski rookie card showing on the front of one back and a Mantle/Boyer card on another. It went for $31,070 via Huggins and Scott. A year later, Heritage Auctions sold a second series box for $45,600.
More Pack Facts after the gallery….
- Rack packs, which actually contained three 12-card cello packs, sold for 29 cents. The header at the top of the pack was generic and used on other Topps rack packs during the era. There was a find of two ’60 racks in the inventory of an old Philadelphia variety store a few years ago. A single rack pack sold for $2,160 via Robert Edward Auctions in 2017. A BBCE-wrapped pack sold for over $4,000 via Lelands in 2018.
- While very rare, vending boxes of 1960 Topps baseball have surfaced. A third series box sold for $11,403 via Mile High Card Company in 2014. Another box containing second and third series cards and sealed by BBCE netted over $19,000 for Goldin Auctions.
You can participate in a pack, box, or set break anytime at VintageBreaks.com which offers a variety of options across all years and sports.
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