Affiliate Disclosure: When you click links at Only Greats & make a purchase, we may earn a commission. As a free site, we join affiliates like eBay & Amazon to help offset our costs. THANK YOU for your support!
Last Updated On: November 21st, 2024
One of the great quirks about card collecting revolves around the notion of a player’s “true” rookie card. In many cases, a player’s rookie card is the card printed for their first year as a pro. But in other cases – Michael Jordan’s, for instance – a player’s “true” rookie card, the one most of the hobby considers their rookie, is printed after the fact (and still hotly debated almost 40 years later).
While there are myriad reasons why a player’s first professional card may be considered their “true” rookie, one of the most common (and fraught) reasons deals with whether the card was pulled from a pack. In fact, there’s a growing sentiment within the hobby that non-pack-pulled cards are less valuable or merit less attention than their wax-encased counterparts.
In this post, we’ll attempt to dispel the myth of the inferior non-pack-pulled card. First, we’ll highlight various types, followed by compelling examples of valuable non-pack-pulled cards, and wrap up with a discussion about why this myth persists. Ultimately, we hope to instill a better appreciation for non-pack-pulled cards, as plenty are worthy of our attention.
Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Overview
Before getting into the various types of non-pack-pulled cards, let’s clarify the difference between a non-pack-pulled card and its counterpart. Today, many cards are purchased via packs: Blaster Boxes, Hobby Boxes, Hanger Boxes, etc. In other words, anything sealed in plastic/wax is considered a “pack pull” because you’re pulling the individual card from a pack.
But that’s not to say all cards are pack pulls. Nor is it the case that cards have always been pack pulls. At the hobby’s dawn in the 19th century, cards were inserted directly into packs of bubble gum and cigarettes, with no wax or plastic in sight. In fact, it wouldn’t be until the 1950s that companies began sealing their products in wax and plastic.
On the other side of pack pulls are non-pack-pulls. Non-pack-pulls are cards (typically singles) that are obtained through a method other than via sealed packs. Think of something like Topps Now, where one purchases individual cards online as they become available.
A key note: this should not be confused with buying single cards on a site like eBay. The key difference is that both non-pack-pulls and pack pulls deal with raw, previously unowned cards, whereas buying through a retailer like eBay typically involves pre-owned single cards.
The Great Myth
Unfortunately, there’s a misconception that pack-pulled cards are more valuable merely because they are pack-pulled. Perhaps it’s a matter of the randomness by which a pack-pulled card is acquired. Or maybe it feels like a purer version of collecting (even if, as our history lesson above demonstrates, O.G. sports cards were not sealed in wax).
Whatever the case, we’re here to confirm this is not true. Are we really to believe that a serial-numbered Topps Now card is less valuable or desirable than a non-numbered Prizm parallel just because the latter was pulled from wax? It’s illogical!
Sure, there could be other factors hampering a non-pack-pulled card’s value. Many Topps Now cards are printed and sold in severely high quantities. Yet, this is primarily an issue of scarcity rather than the fact that the Topps Now card wasn’t sealed in wax before being opened.
When collecting anything, traditional factors such as scarcity, quality, and demand will inevitably rule the day over where a card was acquired (unless, of course, the card was obtained illegally). Even X-factors like a player’s on-court success, charisma, and marketability likely play a bigger role in determining a card’s value than its status as a pack pull. Rare and sought–after items — be they a Michael Jordan rookie card or a first–generation iPhone — will always have value.
To that end, we’re satisfied that the myth of pack-pulled vs. non-pack-pulled cards is mainly the province of ultra-picky collectors looking to split hairs over minor factors.
Types of Non-Pack-Pulled Cards
Now that we’ve differentiated between pack-pulled and non-pack-pulled cards, let’s highlight a few common examples of the latter. While they are less common today than they once were, non-pack-pulled cards still proliferate in the hobby and have provided the basis for many highly collectible cards in its history.
Hand Cut
Before technological advances significantly improved the accuracy with which cards were cut, collectors had to do the work themselves. These hand-cut cards were typically gimmicks attached to cereal boxes and magazines, designed to entice a customer to purchase said product.
Finding hand-cut cards in good condition is extremely rare (it seems many collectors do not have the hands or fine motor skills to be surgeons). Given the scarcity, plus the era in which hand-cut cards were printed (typically pre-1960s), there is significant value to be had in hand-cut cards.
Some of our favorites include the 1960 Muhammad Ali #23 from Hemmets Journal (which is, weirdly, a Swedish homemaking magazine). Others include the 1947 Nanina Ferenc Puskas, which honors one of the world’s greatest soccer talents, and the 1961 Post Cereal baseball set, which included stars like Roberto Clemente, Roger Maris, and Mickey Mantle.
Hand-cut cards are still common today. Perhaps the most famous recent example is Victor Wembanyama’s first professional card, which appeared in the January/February issue of Sports Illustrated Kids in 2023.
Star Co.
It may seem hard to imagine today, but in the 1980s, basketball cards were a no-man’s-land of opportunity. When Topps’ license lapsed in 1982, Star Company filled the void with its own set of basketball cards the following year.
As a result, Star Co. printed the first professional cards for players like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Ralph Sampson, and Clyde Drexler. However, what made these cards unique was the distribution method: rather than randomized wax packs, collectors could purchase entire team sets. Accordingly, every collector who bought a Bulls set in 1984 received a guaranteed Michael Jordan rookie card.
By 1986, Fleer owned the NBA license and sold basketball cards through hobby boxes. As a result, the 1986 Fleer card was regarded as Jordan’s “true rookie,” even though it was not his first professional card.
Star Co. went on to produce a litany of other sets during its limited run, including Star Gatorade and Crunch ‘n Munch. Perhaps not as cool at the time, these cards have a strong vintage factor and, given the company’s substantial printing problems, are fairly rare.
Topps Now
The most common form of non-pack-pull cards today likely belongs to Topps Now. It’s an innovative card printing and distribution approach that we discussed (and largely panned) back in May.
A subset of the Topps brand, Topps Now offers buyers the chance to purchase individual cards commemorating key moments in a player or team’s season immediately as they happen. But these cards are only available for a limited time, after which they are never printed or sold again by Topps.
It’s a fun concept that seems to solve a key problem in the hobby: waiting for set updates and product releases. In the case of Panini, which often doesn’t distribute its flagship brand for six to seven months after the draft, the notion of having a card immediately is enticing. So much that even Panini Instant was born to compete head-to-head with Topps Now.
However, many Topps Now cards suffer from extreme overproduction. Take the case of Victor Wembanyama’s first Topps Now card, printed in honor of his draft into the NBA. Over the three days it was available for purchase, more than 113,000 Wemby draft night cards were printed, shattering the brand’s previous print run record. With such a high pop count, the card can’t hold any significant value in the long run.
There is an important caveat, however. Not all Topps Now cards are made alike; in many cases, Topps Now will print a numbered parallel (or several parallels) to the base card that tends to hold some value. For instance, that Wemby draft night base card may not have much value, but the red auto parallel numbered /10 sold for over $30,000 in October 2023.
Mail-in Redemption
Another common form of the non-pack-pull is mail-in redemptions. The process is fairly straightforward: Instead of receiving a card straight from a pack (or, in the case of hand-cut cards, from a box or magazine), one receives a card in the mail from a card manufacturer.
Here’s how it works: a collector purchases a pack of cards and pulls a “redemption card.” Never seen one before? Trust us, you’ll know it when you see it. Instead of looking like a traditional sports card, a redemption card resembles more of a coupon, informing the owner that they can mail the card to the manufacturer to redeem it for a real card.
From there, the collector can mail the redemption card to the manufacturer or, in the case of more modern redemption cards, submit the serial-coded number on the card to the website to redeem.
Mail-in redemptions are typically reserved for extremely rare and valuable cards that could be lost or damaged in a normal pack (or not ready at the time of production e.g. an autographed rookie card that was not signed in time). Many redemption cards can be found for sale online, but collectors should exercise extreme caution when doing so. Given how easily they can be replicated, buyers should do their homework before purchasing a single redemption card online.
Others
Box topper (or loader) cards are traditionally included as inserts inside of a wax box. They are typically jumbo-sized relative to standard trading cards, making them ideal for fitting on top of wax packs (but not inside wax packs). One of the most valuable box topper cards was the 1994 Collector’s Choice Box Topper Auto #23, featuring Michael Jordan during his minor league baseball stint.
Stickers were a once popular alternative to sports cards, especially with ’80s basketball players. The 1986 Fleer set includes notable Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Larry Bird stickers, while the flashy 1985 Prism Jewel set is a chromatic throwback including similar Hall of Fame stars.
The key difference between the two sticker sets is that the 1986 Fleer were pack-pulled inserts; every Fleer wax pack included one of 11 stickers, including the Michael Jordan #8 rookie. High-grade versions of these condition-sensitive stickers go for tens of thousands of dollars.
On the other hand, the 14-card 1985 Prism Jewel Stickers set was a vending machine product (yes, the kind you’d find at your local store next to the gum ball machine back in the ’80s). Even so, these non-pack-pulled stickers also sell for tens of thousands of dollars in high grade. For instance, this Jordan sold for $26,840 at Goldin Auctions in September 2024.
Switching gears, another form of non-pack-pulled cards are the old school Bazooka cards. These came in chewing gum packs packed right alongside the gummy product itself. The 1963 “All-Time Greats” set includes icons like Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson. It’s not the most valuable set of Bazooka cards, but many other sets (mostly hand-cut from the box) can fetch very high prices especially in high grades.
Finally, complete factory sets differentiated themselves from pack-pulls by allowing customers to own every single card in a given set. Some of the more popular complete factory sets include the 2003 Topps (of which a kid from Akron’s rookie card was included) and the Topps Traded Tiffany set from 1989 (of which a notable card from “The Kid” was printed).
Most Valuable Non-Pack-Pulled Cards
As we’ve demonstrated thus far, many non-pack-pulled cards can be very desirable, and valuable, debunking the misconception that they are inferior cards. The following table highlights some of the biggest sales recorded in the last year.
| Card Description | Sale Price (Date) | Type |
| 1984 Star #101 Michael Jordan PSA 8 | $244,000 (Sept. 2024) | Star Co. |
| 1994 UD Collector’s Choice Michael Jordan Box Topper Auto #23 PSA 7 | $55,200 (Feb. 2024) | Box Topper |
| 2024 Topps Now Olympic Gold #26 Stephen Curry/LeBron James/Kevin Durant (#1/1) | $53,000 (Sept. 2024) | Topps Now |
| 1946-47 Nannina Figurine Tecnicolor Ferenc Puskas PSA 7 | $51,600 (May 2024) | Hand Cut |
| 1985 Prism Jewel Stickers #7 Michael Jordan BGS 9 | $26,840 (Sept. 2024) | Vending |
| 1996 Sports Illustrated For Kids Tiger Woods #536 PSA 10 | $25,800 (Nov. 2023) | Magazine Perforated |
| 1960 Hemmets Journal Hand Cut #23 Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) PSA 8.5 | $18,300 (Dec. 2023) | Hand Cut |
| 1959 Bazooka Jimmy Brown SGC 5 | $9,600 (Oct. 2024) | Bazooka Hand Cut |
Summary
The next time someone tries to tell you that non-pack-pulled cards aren’t valuable, you can refer them to the chart above. Yes, these are the highest-end versions of these cards, but the math adds up.
Stickers and hand-cut cards are precious because of their fragility and, by extension, rarity. The same goes for old-school Bazooka cards that feature sporting heroes of yesteryear. Even Topps Now, with its modern approach to distribution, offers customers the chance to take home one-of-a-kind relics commemorating huge events as they happen.
While many collectors will still amass their collections via pack-pulling, there’s no wrong way to do it, especially with non-pack-pulls. As we discussed, there’s something pure about non-pack-pulls that harkens back to an era before the hobby became highly commoditized and professionalized.
Ultimately, non-pack-pulled cards aren’t just great investments; they also make stellar grail finds for your personal collection. Be it a hand-cut card or box topper, it’s fun to add some variation to the PC. After all, how many Prizm parallels do you really need?