Sports Cards

[Dome]

1 minute ago, MookieMonstah said:

I've always pulled a special out of an "on average" case. I also pay up more for the better sets, like the Donruss cards are okay but most of the specials are trash. A lot of defensive players.

I'd rather pay up for an Origins box.

It was fred meyers and they usually suck, Donruss and Panini Absolute was all they had. But Donruss is the one that had the better deal for the smaller packs individually.

I'll check Walmart and Target tomorrow. What sets do you like? I'll sell off some of my collection this month and leading up to christmas and start the hobby again, but I might snag a few "discount" sets between now and then to scratch the itch. I've read Walmart gets "retail" cards as opposed to "hobby" cards and that can hurt their value? I haven't seriously bought cards in probably 7-10 years, but I don't remember that being a thing.

[MookieMonstah]

1 minute ago, Dome said:

It was fred meyers and they usually suck, Donruss and Panini Absolute was all they had. But Donruss is the one that had the better deal for the smaller packs individually.

I'll check Walmart and Target tomorrow. What sets do you like? I'll sell off some of my collection this month and leading up to christmas and start the hobby again, but I might snag a few "discount" sets between now and then to scratch the itch. I've read Walmart gets "retail" cards as opposed to "hobby" cards and that can hurt their value? I haven't seriously bought cards in probably 7-10 years, but I don't remember that being a thing.

Yeah, you'll rarely get a big hit out of a retail box. I buy boxes off of places like laytonsportscards, I do breaks a lot to where you purchase a "spot" and they randomize teams and you get all the players on that team out of a case break. Usually around 50-60 bucks but they can really pay off if you get a team like the Browns this year and end up with some Baker/Chubb cards. My favorite cards are the Origins, I just like the look and feel of the thicker cards. Donruss Signatures is a good bang for your buck box. 

[naptownskinsfan]

11 hours ago, Dome said:

It was fred meyers and they usually suck, Donruss and Panini Absolute was all they had. But Donruss is the one that had the better deal for the smaller packs individually.

I'll check Walmart and Target tomorrow. What sets do you like? I'll sell off some of my collection this month and leading up to christmas and start the hobby again, but I might snag a few "discount" sets between now and then to scratch the itch. I've read Walmart gets "retail" cards as opposed to "hobby" cards and that can hurt their value? I haven't seriously bought cards in probably 7-10 years, but I don't remember that being a thing.

The retail versus hobby has nothing to do with the cards.  From retail boxes, it is harder to pull hits like autographs and relics.  The hobby boxes have guaranteed hits in them- how many depends on the set, brand, etc.  Panini is more forthcoming than Topps for baseball hits in my recent experience. However, you can only buy those hobby boxes directly from Topps/Panini online or from card shops. Retail boxes, for the most part, do not guarantee any autograph or relic hits.  However, the past two years, Target has an exclusive Topps brand for baseball- Fire and Ice- that gives you a guaranteed autograph in their $70 box, and you typically end up with another relic at the very least.  I pulled an /10 Kris Bryant autographed relic from that set.  I just bought a football set of Panini Prism that guaranteed a hit as well for football, so the options are few but they are there. 

Steel City Collectables had some Topps Archive boxes for sale on Ebay, and I picked up four- each box contains one autographed buy-back card that's been slabbed..  I got numbered buybacks of Ozzie Guillen, Bobby Bonilla and Mark Prior, but as an Orioles fan the big one was a 1/1 1992 Topps Cal Ripken Jr.  As a kid, my dad had an autographed Ripken card he had sent away for, and i just had to have my own and he got me one.  It sat out for years and has faded.  I also have a ball that Ripken signed at a special pre-season game where the Orioles played a select team of their minor league all-stars, and Cal signed for me on the sweet spot (and I also got on a postcard for the Bowie Baysox.) . So I'm definitely keeping that Ripken card safe.  

[MookieMonstah]

I think the biggest bang for your buck is card breaks, honestly. I've gotten some hella good cards for 30-40 bucks.