Got an e-mail from NGC touting their version of Vault Box called "Rip a pack". I guess you choose a tier ($159, $500, etc) and pay for it, then rip open a virtual pack to discover the coin therein. Kind of strange, but at least they post the percentage odds of getting a premium coin. Must be a lot of gamblers out there amongst us collectors.
I have not done eBay live for a long time, but I was bored and browsed them for a few minutes. I was surprised by how many live streams are doing the pack thing, too. I did the Vault box once and will not do it again. Too expensive and not worth me trying to play around with. My budget is limited and I don't like paying high for cheap mystery prizes.
The whole vault box thing is dumb AF. The NGX thing is just downright stupid, trying to reinvent the Sheldon grading system. The Vault Box thing is even dumber, like gambling on a roll of "alleged" uncirculated coin rolls never rerolled from 60 years ago, let's just go with the enders.
When I took business law in college in 1970, this sort of thing would have been illegal because it's a lottery. How times have changed! I think that this is a very foolish purchase.
An annuity is a horrible "investment". You pay the highest commissions out there, because annuity sellers understand this and need to compensate people who do sell them. Is it better than no investment practices at all? Yes. But it's a ripoff, and outgained by any other indices and for people who neither understand finances or the power of compound interest or rising values of equity funds.
