In August 2025, BBCE Auctions sold the following 1958 Topps Baseball Unopened Wax Pack (5 Cent) PSA EX/MT 6 for $134,402.58.
Here was the item description:
Offered here is one of the rarest unopened treasures in the vintage baseball card market: a 1958 Topps Baseball 5¢ wax pack, professionally graded PSA 6, with incredible eye appeal from a bygone era of baseball majesty. With only six authenticated examples in existence, this pack stands as an elite rarity—coveted not only for its extreme scarcity but also for its connection to a beloved era in the hobby. The 1958 Topps set is celebrated for its bold, colorful design and rich roster of Hall of Famers. Within this sealed pack lies the tantalizing possibility of discovering mint-condition cards of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, or the rookie card of Roger Maris. A true time capsule of mid-century Americana, this pack embodies the cultural significance of baseball card collecting at its postwar peak. Both historically important and visually striking, it is a museum-quality artifact destined to anchor even the most advanced collection.
In May, I detailed the pack in an auction preview in The 17th Unopened Market Report, my premium newsletter. However, it’s such a rare pack with an interesting backstory that I also wanted to highlight it here on the blog.
The crazy thing is that the pack is a crossover to PSA from a GAI-7 pack that Heritage sold in January 2025 for $15,860. Yup, that’s a six-figure flip in seven months.
Leading into the auction, BBCE wrote that:
The 1958 Topps Baseball 5¢ pack stands as one of THE MOST elusive finds in the hobby, with only one public sale of a PSA graded example recorded in the past seven years. This iconic piece commands serious attention from the most discerning collectors.
I suspect they were referring to the PSA 8 copy that Memory Lane Inc. sold for $23,380.80 in April 2017.
There was another pseudo-private sale of a 1958 Topps pack recently, though. Nat Turner shared on Instagram that he picked up the following example at the 2023 National; the photo is from PSA’s Card Cert page.
Now, how about BBCE’s comment that 1958 Topps nickel packs are one of the most elusive finds in the hobby? I think the best way to analyze that comment is via PSA’s Pop Report. I acknowledge that there are still a few packs in GAI holders, but PSA is the best we can do since there’s no Pop Report for those.
For example, there is this one that Lelands sold for $5,260.75 in November 2005 that I can’t match to any PSA pack.
And then there’s this GAI 6.5 pack that Mile High Card Co. sold for $3,022.10 in February 2008.
For the sake of this list, I’ll include non-designated packs as nickel packs, but of course, I won’t include those designated as 1-cent.
- 1952 Topps: 29
- 1953 Topps: 10
- 1954 Topps: 16
- 1955 Topps: 19
- 1956 Topps: 2
- 1957 Topps: 17
- 1958 Topps: 6
- 1959 Topps: 14
First, would you have guessed that 1952 Topps would have the most nickel packs in the pop report? And second, yes, 1958 Topps packs are tough, but those from ‘56 are tougher.
I do have one more PSA-graded 1958 Topps Wax Pack in my records, the other PSA 8 that I believe is the one SCP Auctions sold in April 2013 for $14,350.80; however, the link to SCP shows a different scan with the following description:
Very tough NM-MT PSA 8 1958 Topps Baseball unopened 5 cent wax pack displays beautifully from the front with just a little soiling around the edges on the back. Pack is identified as 6th Series by the white stars on a red background American League All-Star card on the back. Among the key cards in the last series are the All-Star cards of Musial Mantle Mays Aaron Williams Banks F. Robinson and Stengel/Haney. The only slabbed NM-MT 8 5 cent wax pack with just 1 unidentified wax pack graded higher by PSA.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the back of the pack.
Happy collecting, and be sure to check out The Unopened Archive for more!
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