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⚾ MSA Discs, Wiffle Ball Style
I’ve written about MSA and its many baseball discs a few times on the blog, but this Thurman Munson Wiffle Ball display (featuring MSA discs) that recently surfaced on eBay caught my eye. I’ve seen plenty of the Regulation Baseball Size Wiffle Ball packaging over the years, but I can’t remember coming across one of these Softball Size displays before.
There’s quite a bit of Wiffle Ball/MSA material to sort through. TCDB catalogs different disc issues from 1978 and 1979, with multiple sizes and formats, while KeyMan Collectibles has done some excellent work documenting the retail displays and Wiffle Ball packaging.
As you can see, the Wiffle Ball/MSA rabbit hole is pretty deep, luckily there are plenty of discs and displays to dig through on eBay.
⚾ Unopened Collectibles or a Resealer’s Starter Kit?
I’m a little torn on items like this. There’s a 1979 Topps Baseball display box on eBay right now that comes with 32 original empty wax wrappers. And to be clear, I completely understand the appeal. Vintage display boxes and wrappers are collectible in their own right, and with unopened material getting so expensive, they’re a much more affordable way to collect.
But 32 empty wrappers and a matching display box also makes the cynical side of me a little nervous. eBay already has more than its share of questionable “unopened” vintage packs, and this is basically a resealer’s starter kit.
That’s obviously not a knock on the seller or whoever buys it. Maybe you collect wrappers. Maybe you need the box for a display. Maybe you’re a dealer who sells this stuff individually. All perfectly reasonable. I just hope the next time these 32 wrappers turn up, they’re still empty.