Description: THE HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE of only being distributed IN A SMALL GEOGRAPHIC REGION along with a REVOLUTIONARY TEST PACK THAT ODDLY ENOUGH WOULD TAKE MANY YEARS LATER to resurface is JUST THE BEGINNING OF THIS ONE OF A KIND TONY GWYNN ROOKIE CARD. Yes, it's kind of neat to see these tamper resistant packs pop up in a SMALL geographic area in a ONE YEAR HIT WONDER and not reappear for many years later. What's even more striking is when these tamper resistant wrappers did reappear the player on the back of the packs (for most if not all packs) were no longer visible whereas with the 1983 test packs you could actually see who was on the back of the pack which undoubtedly has created this rare unique gem. In other words, it's almost like Topps vaulted a pack of cards with the capability of seeing whose on the back of the pack. A TONY GWYNN ROOKIE CARD IN ITS ORIGINAL PUREST FORM LIKE NO OTHER There is just something special about an untouched piece of history sitting in its original revolutionary pack and presented 40 years later the way it was presented when it was first born 40 years ago. Furthermore, one can have the utmost confidence that this pack wasn't opened and resealed, so you know this rare Tony Gwynn collectible was born at the factory and not in someone's basement. It is almost like Topps put this Tony Gwynn rookie card in a vault to preserve its pristine pureness and how many other hof rookie cards can make that claim? Furthermore, how could any hof rookie in an ordinary wax or cello pack make the claim that it is vaulted in it's purest form when someone can easily open and reseal the pack? Without question the tamper resistant feature of this pack puts this hof rookie card in a class by itself. Yes, this Tony Gwynn has that great story behind it which is always a major plus regardless of any collectible being auctioned off. A rarity like no other that the hobby had ever seen up until 1983 and wouldn't see for many years later. This rare tamper resistant test pack with Tony Gwynn on the back has sometimes been deemed as a PROTOTYPE PACK since this form of packaging would one day become the industry standard in the way cards were packaged. Yes, pretty neat to see this Tony Gwynn in a prototype pack (if you want to call it that way) or as we we will see later a "Back to the Future" pack. If you thought that Tony Gwynn didn’t have that one special card to own like we see today with 1 of 1 or 1 of 5 cards then think again because here we have this one of a kind Tony Gwynn rookie card that was made possible by the clever minds at Topps over 40 years ago. What we have here is arguably the greatest pure hitter of all time visibly appearing in a rare revolutionary test pack that surfaced for the first time back in 1983 and wouldn’t reappear for many years later. This could very well be the holy grail of what many consider the greatest modern hitter of all-time. This is indeed a 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn in a RARE TEST PACK that was only distributed in a SMALL geographic area and encased in one of the first ever tamper resistant wax style packs the hobby had ever seen.Tony Gwynn is 17th on the all-time career batting average list and the only players ahead of him are players with last names like Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, Sisler, Hornsby etc. In addition, these are all legends who all had their rookie years prior to 1942, so therefore it could easily be argued that Tony Gwynn is the greatest modern pure hitter of all time. The mystique of appearing in a rare test pack, distributed in a tight geographic region, and tamper resistant wrapping that wouldn’t resurface for many years later is just the beginning on what is being offered here. We’ve seen the price explosion in the video game industry for video games still in their original RARE forms of packaging and here we have the baseball card hobby’s version of this which is a Tony Gwynn rookie card still in its original RARE form of packaging. No question, most modern era rookies have seen their fair share of gem mint 10’s and Tony Gwynn is no different with over 700 achieving the gem mint 10 grade, BUT if you are looking for that one of a kind extreme rarity that substantially separates a Tony Gwynn rookie card from all others then look no further because this is EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE HERE. Not only is this Tony Gwynn sealed in a pack that up until 1983 the hobby had never seen before, but in essence this Tony Gwynn was sonically sealed in an anti-tampering pack similar to what the US Mint does with proof coins. In other words, it was almost like Topps had sonically sealed 5 packs with Tony Gwynn's on the back especially for the collecting community or kind of like the US Mint does with proof sets for coin collectors. What other HOF rookie card pre-1990 can make this statement? The pictures say it all and you can see just how identical this pack is to the ordinary 1983 Topps wax packs, but the one being auctioned here is tamper resistant whereas the others aren't. It is truly amazing to look at this test pack and only wonder why it took so many years later for this tamper resistant type wrapping to resurface which only adds to luster on what is being auctioned here. Furthermore, when the industry finally did begin to implement crimped end tamper resistant packaging it was nearly impossible to find any packs where the player on the back was visible which only adds to the rarity and the LUSTER of this Tony Gwynn (all the packs I looked at post 1990 I couldn't tell who was on the back either because of the silver foil or the darkness of the wrapper) . Yes indeed, what we have here, and in a very rare fashion, is a visible legendary hof player showing in a tamper resistant crimped end tamper resistant pack like no other. This is undoubtedly a mega rarity where this isn't 1 of 5 cards that made the 10 grade out of 26,000 submitted to PSA, but instead is just one of five in total that have been submitted to PSA. In addition, just as a 10 grade can separate a card from a 9 grade, what we have here is no different where we have this rare test pack with Tony Gwynn on the back which undoubtedly is a powerful and unique separation from the tens of thousands of his ordinary graded rookie cards. Top it off with its extreme rarity and tamper resistant features and here we basically have the modern version of one of those or 1 of 1 or 1 of 5 cards that we see with the likes of Trout, Brady, etc.. These test packs were undoubtedly years ahead of their time and would later become known by many as "Back to the Future" packs since their revolutionary wrappers wouldn't resurface for many years later. It's kind of like GM doing a 2024 body style Corvette back in 2014 in a limited test run and not bringing that same style back until 2024 which would then become the new style for the next 30 years. The labeling says it all, "Michigan Test Pack Tony Gwynn- Back" Have you ever seen any legendary rookie card in any type of test pack? How often do you seen any type of test pack, period? Let alone one that has arguably the greatest pure hitter all-time appearing on the back? Most high profile rookies prior to 2000 have seen thousands of their respective rookie cards graded by PSA and the 52 Mantle has seen over 1500 graded, but once again we only have 5 of these Michigan test packs with Tony Gwynn on the back that have been graded by PSA. Possibly, the most unique rookie card of any legendary rookie card that the hobby has ever seen and SUPER RARE!! If 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn psa 10's are selling for around $3000 and over 700 exist then what should the Tony Gwynn being auctioned here with only 5 in existence be worth? In addition, PSA has graded over 26,000 Tony Gwynn's across all grades. Yes, a whopping 26,000 graded by PSA, but only 5 of these rare Michigan test packs with Tony Gwynn showing on the back have been graded by PSA. The mystique of this Tony Gwynn is further highlighted with the thought of it never being opened, never seeing daylight, uncirculated, and in its original packaging like it never left the factory is in itself a treasure to own, but once again when you add the dimension of being in one of the first ever wax pack style tamper resistant packs that wouldn’t reappear for many years later only reassures the magnitude of what is being auctioned here. The value of this rare test pack can be summed up with a simple analogy. Just imagine if a Ted Williams rookie card appeared on the back of a wax pack back in 1939 and up until that point the hobby never seen a wax pack before. In addition, add to the mix that these new innovative wax packs were only distributed in a limited area. Now 10 years later the hobby finally adopts these wax packs that first appeared 10 years ago as the industry standard Ask yourself what that would be worth today if only 5 packs existed. No, obviously none of those rare packs exist from the greatest hitter of all time, but they do from arguably the greatest pure hitter of all time and you are looking at one. Finally, these innovative tamper resistant wrappers didn’t come along until 1983, so therefore it wasn’t possible to have any prior big name rookies in a tamper resistant wax style pack and it would be many years later before the anti-tampering wrappers would resurface, so prior to 1990 there were very few possibilities to get any big name rookie in a wax style anti-tampering pack PERIOD which further adds to collectability of this rare Tony Gwynn being auctioned here. Without question having this Tony Gwynn in a rare test pack that years later would become the industry standard is in itself a gem in the rough, just as other collectibles like video games in their original rare types of packaging are a gem in the rough and some now commanding six figures. Yes, $8000 is a nice chunk of change, but in the collecting world of super rare high profile rare rookie cards it could end up being a bargain. A Reggie Jackson 10 rookie recently sold for over a million dollars and an Ozzie Smith rookie card graded a 10 recently sold for $222,000, so who knows what this could bring in a auction house like Heritage or Goldins. Once again, the features here are indisputable: super rare; arguably the greatest pure hitter of all time; still in its original tamper-resistant unopened pack, and finally the significance of having the greatest hitter of all-time prominently placed on the back of a revolutionary new type of wrapping that wouldn't resurface for many years later at which point would become the industry standard. There really isn't any other rookie cards to compare this to which definitely can be a good thing because it shows just how unique and rare this really is, but what is striking is we have 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn 10's going for $3000 and the Tony Gwynn being auctioned here is over 140 times as rare, so if we multiplied 140 by $3000 we come up with $420,000. No this isn't how you value cards, but it does give somewhat of a perspective on where to start. Second, if dots and nicks are separating 9's from being 10's and in some cases a 10 selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars more, then surely the argument could be made that this Tony Gwynn appearing in a tamper resistant innovative pack is much more separating and powerful than a little dot mark making the difference between a card being worth $10,000 as opposed to $100,000. Furthermore, various big name rookie cards are readily available with their highly coveted respective "10's", but where else do you see any highly coveted rookies in a rare test pack which once again makes this an absolute rarity where this isn't 1 of 5 cards that made the 10 grade out of 26,000 submitted to PSA, but instead is just one of five in total that have been submitted to PSA. In addition, as mentioned above, you could easily classify this Tony Gwynn as being a modern version of one of those one of one or one of five cards that have seen exorbitant prices, so this could also very well be a place to start on what a 1 of 5 card of a 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn would be worth today if it did exist. If rarity is the driving force on what big name rookie cards are fetching these days then I think it is safe to say, after rambling on for 5 minutes, that there is no question that the rarity aspect of this card has just been proven and since there aren't any comparables in the card collecting world we can go to other collectibles like video games in their original rare types of packaging to give somewhat of a sense on what is being offered here.
Price: 7995 USD
Location: Novi, Michigan
End Time: 2023-09-20T23:43:58.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Graded: Yes
Player: TONY GWYNN
Sport: BASEBALL
Year: 1983
Professional Grader: PSA
