You’re probably right about the deterioration of the sealing agent. Probably some type of glue.
That leads me to another question then. Is there a reason why you don’t buy sealed packs?
I have always found that cracking packs is fun. I like the mystery. Especially in this game where the sets are not quite so packed. Many other TCGs it is just not worth it to crack packs unless it’s just something you do for fun.
I got a booster box of RV and it was super fun to open those packs and see what I got. Sure there were some duplicates but I’d say I got pretty lucky with pulling unique ships.