I’d like to open a 1st edition booster box (probably Gym Challenge) since I’ve never had the experience of opening a 1st edition pack. I plan to open the box, grade the cards and keep them forever.
How much value does a booster box lose once the seal has been broken? I’m calling this the “fun” cost because I realize I’m paying a premium to have the experience of opening unweighted packs. I know this can vary based on if I pull a Blaine’s Charizard and how well the cards grade. However, I’d appreciate input from others who have had this experience. Was the extra cost worth the experience or would you rather have bought the cards already graded and saved money?
If you’ve never had the opportunity to open a WotC-Era Booster Box - and you’re accepting of the fact that you WILL loose money; I’d say go for it! It’s really fun opening anything from the WotC-Era and the memories will stay with you forever! Heck, maybe you’ll even get lucky and pull that Blaine’s Charizard and get the PSA 10 (don’t bank on this though)!
In my opinion it’s how much you value the experience of opening a first ed wotc box. I opened up a first ed rocket box (my first and probably last) a few months ago and the experience was definitely one I’ll never forget! I was nervous to open due to the expected value I’d be losing if I sold it instead, but in my opinion it was worth it. Hopefully I can get some solid 10’s and eventually make some of that money back if I ever sell. My overall opinion: opening the box was -EV but the experience definitely made it well worth it. Also having some packs left over and good luck with the grading made me feel like I’m not throwing money away
Keep in mind that card values rise over time as supply gets smaller and more boxes are opened. Someone who opened a 1st Ed. Base Booster Box in 2013 when they were selling for $5-8k and pulled a Charizard which scored a 9 at minimum, along with other PSA 9 and 10 cards, has easily made their money back by now.
The real cost lies trading the sealed box investment for a graded card investment. There, you’re almost always going to lose money because sealed box supply is almost always lower than mint-gem mint graded card supply.
When values get very high however, things become more murky. Taking MTG as an example, it’s difficult to say whether a sealed alpha booster box or a Mint - Gem Mint set of alpha power nine would fetch more.
My advice is too buy just a few boosters and do not open a booster box. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for the whole experience and who cares if you lose a couple of hundred dollars but… if you really think about it, you mentioned that you have never opened one before now bare with me here. Part of the “high” of opening a collectible is related to the nostalgia related to the item and as a result, recreate a moment you once had when you were a kid. If the moment has never occurred, it might not be as fun of an experience. Now, by all means you choose what you prefer Let us know what you decide and if you do open a booster box don’t forget to share your experience here! Good luck!
The value potential of a sealed product varies wildly. It is so hard to pinpoint a set expected value and even if you did the standard deviation would be so large that opening a single box would be so hit or miss. Worst case scenario can be pretty bad and best case scenario for certain ones have gotten to where you won’t do a ton better than breakeven (as it should be for old scarce sealed product). I’ve opened some boxes that graded mostly 8’s pack fresh with a couple 9’s so you can price something like that out for worse case scenario. I’ve opened an aquapolis box that had no crystals and some boxes with only 10 or 11 holos. Then I’ve also opened multi charizard base set boxes where they both got 10’s and I had 13 holos total.
Looking at gym challenge specifically the box will set you back $2,000 plus grading costs. I would fully expect that you could lose half or slightly more unless you hit some of the key 10’s. Even 12 straight 10’s on the holos could net you a loss if they are all the less desirable ones as many of them go for ~$100 or even less. If you hit 6 10’s (as my previous work shows ~45% 10 rate)) and 6 9’s I would say that would put you right about 50% of the box price on average where the range may fall from $400-$1500 so again a huge variance.
I bought a gym challenge 1st edition box in 2009 for $200. I didn’t pull the Charizard, Mewtwo or Venusaur. My advice would be its worth trying once. But only once with no expectation of breaking even.
Today I’m spending $275 just for those three cards.
I’d also do some research just to see the pulls you may be expecting. I had a list of 11 holo results from people opening up first ed rocket boxes on youtube. Not a big sample size but I was able to see what I might be expecting to pull
I would love to do something like this, but knowing myself I would regret it moments later… Just make sure it is something you really want and then go for it. On average, you’re probably looking at half value of whatever you open but since you intend on keeping the cards it doesn’t really matter.
I would also personally opt for something like Team Rocket 1st Edition rather than the Gym Series, but that’s just my personal preference.
I can tell you that an alpha card set is worth more. Alpha boxes didnt have seals and you can also hold the loose packs to the light and tell if there is anything good in the pack so theyre 100000% searched.
And the experience of opening those boxes definitely outweighed the monetary value of them for me. I live streamed myself opening the skyridge box with a bunch of friends and when I pulled the crystal Charizard! That feeling was probably one of the best experiences I have had with my whole collecting life and being able to share that with people who were on the same level as I was amazing!
Disposable income bud…it all comes down to disposable income. It’s like a $2,000+ night at the strip club; extremely fun, a great memory, and, most likely, a bad hangover as well as monetary mistake
Life is short though right? If you’re looking for fun, there is not much better than opening a WOTC booster box. If you’re looking for an investment, you’re probablyy barking up the wrong tree by opening a box.
If you are making north of 50k a year with no debt and a good savings rate per month, I don’t think you should think too much. YOLO so live a little and stop being a wuss. I mean we spend money on freaking college and stupid vacations all the time, and do you go to the lengths you are going here to figure out if it was worth it? If you do, then you should probably not open the box.
So I bought a 1st Edition Gym Challenge Box about 8 months ago. I’ve been opening one packet every Saturday morning and it’s been great (got 4 left). First of all the anticipation every week of what rare I could pull. Secondly, slowly creating the set of non holos. This is particular has made me appreciate each new card I’ve gotten instead of just skipping through every card to get to the holo. Oh and Gym challenge is a big set (like 132 cards I think) so you’ll get new ones all of the time.
Thinking back of the most memorable times I’ve had in the hobby and they would be:
Pulling Blaine’s charizard
Pulling Sabrina’s gengar (my fav card)
Winning an eBay auction for a 1st edition base charizard
So my top two most memorable moments from the hobby have been from opening that box. However, even if my Blaine’s charizard gets a PSA 10 I reckon I would have lost around 1/2 to a 1/3 of the sealed box price so just factor that in.
At the end of the day just follow your heart and you’ll make the right choice.
Good luck!
Let us know what you decide and if you do open a booster box don’t forget to share your experience here! 