Repacked Wax

Repacked Wax is vintage baseball, basketball and football cards in classic wax wrappers. Follow us on Twitter and visit to see more and buy.

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#KenGriffeyJr was drafted first overall by the #SeattleMariners on June 2, 1987, meaning he was just 17 and a half when he began his professional baseball career.

Not every number one draft pick is a lock for the big leagues, but even at 17, Griffey was as close to a lock as you could get. He'd hit .478 during his high school career, meaning outmatched pitchers had about a 50/50 chance of getting burned every time Griffey stepped to the plate.

He was named the U.S. High School Player of the Year in 1987. Still 17 for his entire first professional season, Griffey hit .313 with 14 home runs for the Bellingham Mariners in 54 games of A ball - showing that even as a kid, he was already too good for the pros he was playing against. Again in 1988, he tore up pitchers, batting a combined .325 with 13 HRs in just 280 at-bats in A and AA.

So, by the time Griffey made his Major League debut in 1989, his #baseballcards were the hottest thing in town. For us, 1989 #UpperDeck was out of our family's price range. We had to be satisfied with the box of 1989 #Donruss our dad got us. We were pretty thrilled when we pulled Griffey in one of the first packs we opened, the only Griffey we'd pull that year, and we still have the card in our PC to this day.

Oh, and what of the second pick in that fabled 1987 draft? Since it was an odd-numbered year, the worst team in the American League (Seattle) got the first pick. The worst team in the National League, the woeful #PittsburghPirates, went with another can't-miss high school outfielder named Mark Merchant, who they would trade to the Mariners 2 years later.

Alas, Merchant never played a single game in the Majors despite 12 seasons in pro ball. That's just how baseball goes sometimes. #baseballcards #baseballhistory #MLBhistory #RepackedWax

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Happy birthday to #KennyLofton, who turns 59 today. A couple of things about Kenny. He broke into pro ball with the #HoustonAstros organization at age 20 in 1988, but despite tearing up pitching and running wild on the bases in the minors, Lofton didn't get a job as a starting Major League outfielder until 1992, when the #ClevelandIndians made him their permanent center fielder.

This was partly attributable to the fact he continued to play college basketball at Arizona even though he had already been drafted into professional baseball (something about getting a degree being important and all that jazz). Lofton is 15th in all-time stolen bases and might have been in the top 10 had his baseball career gotten into full swing a little sooner.

We're also still a little sore that Kenny didn't win the American League #RookieoftheYear award in 1992, despite batting .285 and leading the league with 66 stolen bases. Somehow the award went the the #MilwaukeeBrewers' #PatListach, who, while an equally good hitter to Lofton that season, had a lower on-base percentage, lower slugging percentage and lower WAR (4.5 vs. Lofton's 6.6) - not to mention 12 fewer stolen bases, all while striking out 124 times (70 more k's than Lofton) despite not being a big swinging power hitter.

Lofton's defensive play also was vastly superior to Listach's. So, to us, it's inexplicable even 33 years later that Kenny wasn't named ROY that season. We won't let it get us down and we're sure the 6-time All-Star and 4-time #GoldGlove winner won't either.

The only question we're left with is, when does Kenny Lofton get his plaque in Cooperstown, New York? #baseballcards #baseballbirthdays #MLBhistory #RepackedWax

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🐯⚾🎂 A former All‑American wide receiver at Michigan State who didn’t even focus on baseball until college, #KirkGibson brought a football player’s intensity to the diamond. Scouts loved his raw athleticism, and the Tigers drafted him in the 1st round in 1978.

Gibson, who celebrates his 69th birthday today, never quite became the superstar he was expected to be (damn those knees). But he remains a fan favorite in Detroit and Los Angeles because of his commitment to the game and some seriously memorable moments.

In Game 5 of the 1984 World Series, the Padres' Goose Gossage refused to walk Gibson with first base open, and Gibby made him pay for it by crushing a three‑run homer that effectively sealed the championship for the #DetroitTigers.

Already an "old man" on the diamond at age 31, Gibson switched to the NL in 1988, taking the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Series and winning NL MVP in the process (.290, 25 HR, 76 RBI, 31 SB). Gibson could barely walk come the post-season. Yet no one will ever forget his pinch‑hit, walk‑off homer off Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the World Series.

Gibson also has the unique distinction of twice being selected as an All-Star reserve in 1985 and 1988 and declining both invitations.

Sparky Anderson once called him “the next Mickey Mantle,” and while injuries kept him from reaching those heights, his combination of power, speed, and competitive fire made him must‑watch baseball.

So Happy Birthday Gibby - the hometown kid, the MVP, the World Series hero, and the guy who played baseball like he was still running routes on the football field. Happy birthday to a true original. #baseballcards #baseballbirthdays #MLBhistory #baseballhistory #RepackedWax

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@OleTimeHardball Champ Summers. A baseball name that sounds like it's straight out of Bull Durham.

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🎂🏀 Happy 50th birthday to #KevinGarnett, the Big Ticket himself.

One of the most intense competitors the league has ever seen, Garnett spent 14 seasons carrying the #MinnesotaTimberwolves, dragging some thin rosters to respectability through sheer force of will. When he finally landed in Boston at age 32, everything clicked.

In Year 1 with the #BostonCeltics, KG anchored the league’s best defense, won Defensive Player of the Year, and helped deliver Banner 17 — the championship he’d chased for over a decade.

But here’s the “what if” that still gets NBA fans talking: When Minnesota made Garnett available in 2007, why didn’t the Lakers push harder? Kobe wanted another star, KG admired Kobe’s fire, and the Wolves were listening. Imagine the late‑2000s Kobe + KG pairing — two of the most ruthless competitors of their generation on the same side. The energy in Staples Center would’ve been volcanic.

Instead, Boston swooped in, history shifted, and the Celtics reclaimed the throne.

Still, no matter the jersey, Garnett’s legacy is the same: A culture all by himself. #basketballcards #NBAhistory #RepackedWax

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@RetroCardSnaps We'd probably be so excited, we'd miss an easy grounder.

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@freehan11 @nut_history You misspelled "Ripken."

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Did #Donruss know they were doing #BobbyGrich dirty in 1986? It's hard to believe their layout and printing departments didn't notice this unfortunate placement of the #CaliforniaAngels logo on the 6-time All-Star and 4-time #GoldGlove winner's card.

What they had against one of the finest all around second basement of the 1970s and 80s we will never know. But it brings up another question. Are you in the Grich for the #HallofFame camp? His 71.1 lifetime WAR sure is convincing. But when we look at his overall performance, it gets a little harder to make the case for Cooperstown.

Grich was excellent defensively, but we'd have liked to see a couple more Gold Gloves for us to weigh that more heavily.

Offensively, he had a couple good years, including winning the AL home run title in a strike-shortened 1981 season while batting .304. But on the whole, his offensive production was average-ish. Maybe somewhat above average for his position, and we don't feel it's quite HOF caliber.

Indeed, early in his Orioles career, Grich struggled at the plate. Manager Earl Weaver, famous for his blunt motivational style, had a go‑to line whenever Grich flied out: “Home run in Rochester!” But Weaver meant it literally. Grich had hit .383 and won the International League MVP at AAA Rochester, and Weaver wanted him to remember he could dominate (or did he want him to remember he'd get sent back if he didn't hit?). It became a running joke and a push to keep Grich confident.

Still, there are many who will say Grich needs a spot in Cooperstown. Although he played most of his career before we were old enough to follow he game, we heard Bobby Grich's name frequently growing up because his cousin was a school acquaintance of our father's growing up and his uncle was our landlord in the mid-1980s.

So, let's hear what you think about one of the finest second basemen to take the field for the Orioles and Angels. #baseballcards #MLBhistory #baseballhistory #RepackedWax

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@MrKdub Had a nice career with some flashes of superstardom in St. Louis. It's too bad it ended a decade too soon.

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🍸 The guy known as The Most Cordial Man in Baseball turns 80 today - none other than #ReggieJackson. And while you may disagree with our character assessment, it's impossible to deny that Jackson was a force during his playing days.

With huge home runs, a pedestrian lifetime .262 batting average and tons of RBIs and strikeouts, Jackson would potentially be the highest paid DH and sometimes outfielder in today's game. In fact, Jackson's motto should have been "go big or go home," as it was often feast or famine for him.

His 563 homers still ranks 14th-best all-time, even in the modern era of grossly inflated power numbers, while his 2,597 strikeouts is a mark that has never been touched, and nearly double that of #BabeRuth (1,330). It's also more batters than Hall of Fame pitchers #WarrenSpahn, #BobFeller or #DonDrysdale struck out in their entire careers, for whatever that's worth.

But we do love Reggie. He had probably the second most-famous namesake candy bar in baseball history, right after #BabyRuth, and he had some legendary interactions with the late Yankees owner #GeorgeSteinbrenner. And it's hard to argue with 5 #WorldSeries championships and an MVP award all in the same decade (1970s).

Say what you will about him, but Reggie truly was "the straw that stirs the drink" in his day. #baseballcards #baseballhistory #MLBhistory #RepackedWax

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@metalpina76 There's a Yaz in the 1984 Donruss set! We'd much prefer this set than a box of anything from 2026 unless it was one of those rich guy $1,000 boxes that guarantees autos, solid gold and Babe Ruth's DNA.

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Then there was the summer of 1989 where we rode our bikes to the local Ben Franklin store each weekend in hopes that they had new #baseballcards on the shelves, only to discover that the only thing they carried were discounted packs of 1988 #Donruss Pop-Up and All-Star cards.

Which was cool in one sense - we got 5 major star cards plus a stand-up of a major star for something like 35 cents. But we were chasing Griffey and Sandy Alomar cards at the time and were repeatedly met with disappointment. Even after we discovered they were 1988s we kept buying them week after week just because they were affordable and we'd already ridden 2 1/2 miles on our bikes.

We'd still hit the LCS on the way home, too. But when faced with the option to buy 5 or 6 Donruss packs vs. 1 #UpperDeck high number series pack that was usually devoid of stars, we usually allocated most of our card budget to Mr. Franklin's Disappointment Emporium for the aforementioned Donruss #waxpacks and the occasional #Topps Double Headers standups.

Did you ever have an experience as a collector growing up where you were forced to collect what was available or affordable on a shoestring budget instead of what you really wanted? #baseballcards #junkwax #baseballhistory #repackedwax #waxpacks

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@RetroCardSnaps

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🏈 #FrankGore turns 43 today and is one of just 3 men to ever break the 16,000-yard rushing mark. And by break it, we mean he reached exactly 16,000 for his career.

And while Gore's best season of 1,695 yards in 2006 doesn't even put him in the top 30 single season rushing leaders, he is perhaps one of the most durable and consistent backs in NFL history. Gore played for 16 seasons, never missing more than a handful of games in a season, giving him an average of precisely 1,000 yards rushed per season for his career.

So how do you think the future Hall of Famer (how the hell didn't he get the nod for 2026??) Gore stacks up against the all-time great running backs like Walter Payton, Jim Brown, Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders? Is he elite or is he a very good back who just kept doing consistently well throughout his career? #footballcards #footballhistory #NFLhistory #RepackedWax

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Happy birthday to the heart and soul of the #BigRedMachine, #TonyPerez, who turns 84 today. It's interesting to us that it took so long for Perez to finally claim his spot in Cooperstown (9th ballot in 2000, 77% of the vote) despite his status as a 7-time All-Star with 4 NL Championships and 2 #WorldSeries rings with the #CincinnatiReds in the 1970s.

A fine first and third baseman, Perez racked up the second-most RBIs of any player in baseball during the 70s, behind only #JohnnyBench, while batting .279 with 379 HRs for his career.

We think one thing that held him back from the #HallofFame for so long was that Perez continued to play so far past his prime that his glory days were a distant memory by the time he retired in 1986.

Had Perez retired in 1982 after he began to slow down with Boston, rather than playing until age 44 with the Phillies and Reds, he may have been looked at differently by the sports writers who for some reason continue to be entrusted with the power to enshrine or deny players entry to the eternal glory of the Hall.

What do you think, should Perez have been welcome to Cooperstown far sooner than he was? #baseballcards #vintagecards #vintagebaseball #baseballhistory #RepackedWax

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@Super70sSports Mainly dog chew toys, black licorice and packs of Mork and Mindy trading cards.

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🪽🎂⚾ We fondly remember #TonyGwynn, who would have turned 66 today. Regardless of what anyone says, we believe Gwynn was the greatest pure hitter of his generation - more so than Boggs, Mattingly, Puckett or Brett.

In a 20-year career, Gwynn never batted below .309 in any full season, even as he was plagued by nagging injuries that robbed him of at least 360 games during his prime playing years before age 40. Had he not constantly lost 20 to 30 games a year to wrist, foot and hand injuries, there is a chance Gwynn could have approached the high 3,000s in hits, if not more had he extended his career well into his 40s as Pete Rose did.

That's what's amazing about Gwynn, who had 8 batting titles. Even as he aged, he didn't lose his ability to hit for average, still hitting approximately .323 in his final 2 partial, injury riddled seasons when he was in his early 40s. He also was fast, despite being built like a bit of a fire plug, stealing more than 30 bases four times.

If we had to choose a leadoff hitter in their prime for our all-time NL team, it would have to be Tony Gwynn. So what do you think? Was Gwynn the greatest pure hitter of the 1980s and 1990s? If not, then who would you pick? #baseballcards #baseballhistory #MLBhistory #RepackedWax

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@9to5saltysteve @gandalf_thegreg Not nearly "a foot."

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🍃⚾ 1990 #Leaf is our favorite baseball set from the otherwise forgettable 1990 trading card campaign. It's a simple, clean and gorgeous looking set with decent photography and a couple key rookies and 2nd year cards (#KenGriffeyJunior, #FrankThomas, #LarryWalker, #SammySosa). The Thomas rookie is the essential card of this Hall of Fame first baseman/DH, one of the greatest of his era.

It also had rookies of David Justice and Albert Belle, who were huge stars at the time, although their careers didn't pan out quite as we'd all hoped. We're going to go out on a limb and say it's actually a nicer looking set than 1989 #UpperDeck, too.

Despite this, you can still pick up mint condition sets for about $50 inclusive of shipping on eBay. That's barely a step above cheap junk wax. While not exactly rare, 1990 Leaf was not produced in nearly the same astronomical numbers as the Donruss flagship issue, nor Topps, Fleer, Score and Upper Deck's base sets. So why does it continue to lag in value for collectors?

What do you think? Was 1990 Leaf one of the best sets of the decade, or is it just junk wax in a prettier wrapper? #baseballcards #junkwaxera #baseballhistory #RepackeWax

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🏈 Have you ever had one of those moments where you find out years (or decades later) how your favorite team made a critical decision or trade that seemed smart at the time but may have caused them to miss out on something bigger?

When former standout linebacker #TomCousineau decided to return to the US to play in the NFL in 1982 after several years with the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL, he didn't take a direct route back to his hometown team, the #ClevelandBrowns.

The #BuffaloBills had actually drafted Cousineau in 1979 and thus still had rights to his contract if he returned to the league. The Browns ended up trading their first round draft pick for 1983 to the Bills for Cousineau, and the Bills went on to use the pick to draft future Hall of Famer #JimKelly 🦬 as the 14th pick overall!

Not to say Cousineau wasn't a contributor in Cleveland for a couple years. But man, to think they lost a chance at not one, but two, future Hall of Fame quarterbacks (Dan Marino 🐬 was picked 27th) leaves us, as lifelong Browns fans, feeling a little bit ... deflated. But hey, then we wouldn't have picked Bernie Kosar, and Cleveland history would have looked a lot different.

Have you learned about any "could have beens" with your favorite teams long after the fact? #footballcards #NFLhistory #footballhistory #RepackedWax