5 Questions to ask yourself before buying a box of cards

[thehip66]

Couple good points in here , that I think we all should remember (myself included) from time to time to make hobby more enjoyable

If you’re looking to bust a box of sports cards, there is no shortage of options out there. Walk into some shops and it’s like Baskin-Robbins. Only thing is, sports card boxes cost a lot more than a couple of scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone.
And while ripping into every box in sight can be fun, the cost can add up very fast. And in the process, you might just end up with a stack of cards rather than something you want and enjoy.
To help you from getting overwhelmed and maybe even disappointed, here are five basic questions to ask yourself and consider before shelling out a significant amount of money on a box of cards.

http://www.beckett.com/news/5-questi...-sports-cards/

[piper1]

The first two questions I consider are the price of the box and the potential to hit PC items.

[creasecollector]

Thanks for posting this! I think this is something we all need to revisit time and time again in the hobby. So easy to get lost in the chase that we may put things like budgets and product research aside before we buy. This will help get our collecting priorities straight. This was very refreshing!

[RGM81]

The main one I consider: how many potential PC cards will I hit that I can probably just get on eBay for a fraction of the cost?

I know, I know, I've said many times that if you go into a box break expecting/hoping to hit a very specific card you're very likely to be disappointed. Except for that one time that @notoriousrob101 opened ONE BOX of National Treasures and hit the Gorges/Markov Dual Shield. That was pretty crazy. But that's certainly the exception, not the rule. I don't mind going into group breaks and stuff when I've got a decent team where I have a realistic expectation of a couple good hits that I will be able to trade or sell.

My wife and I were having a discussion the other day about how she finds it difficult at times to shop for me. At first I found it kinda odd--there's three or four very large umbrella things that love: Metallica, the Montreal Canadiens, and Star Wars. Not necessarily in that order. But then as we continued talking she explains how within those things I can be very particular--I may like certain Metallica shirt designs and not others, what if she gets me Boba Fett but I'm currently really in love with Rey, what kind of Habs hat do I like? That kind of stuff.

And with hockey cards I'm very much the same way. I don't blanket collect the Habs or even my favoured players within the team. Maybe this year's UD Max Pacioretty is a recycled image from a card two years ago or the placement of a jersey swatch in a subset is not aesthetically pleasing enough to me. This is why I prefer going the singles acquisition route via trade/SCF purchase/eBay/whatever.

But sometimes you do just have to go buy a box of a product in order to stock up on the traders. Spend money to get cards that you can then trade to get the cards you really want. LOL

[MacDuff77]

I'm a set collector, so I have to choose my products wisely before buying boxes. In the past, I've opened boxes on a whim to see if I liked it enough to start building the set and have got burned more times that not. So, now before I invest, I confirm checklists (not so much for player content, but for base/SP/RC/Insert amounts to see if building the set is achievable). Then I watch some breaks and go to LCS to check out the cards in hand before I commit. Finally, the price of the box is the final check. I am currently only interested in boxes that fall under $100... which, in recent times, has made collecting hard.

[Gallinator]

I'm a set collector, so I have to choose my products wisely before buying boxes. In the past, I've opened boxes on a whim to see if I liked it enough to start building the set and have got burned more times that not. So, now before I invest, I confirm checklists (not so much for player content, but for base/SP/RC/Insert amounts to see if building the set is achievable). Then I watch some breaks and go to LCS to check out the cards in hand before I commit. Finally, the price of the box is the final check. I am currently only interested in boxes that fall under $100... which, in recent times, has made collecting hard.​

This is a huge point. I generally focus on grinding out value vs. going for the big hit, so if I drop $50-$60 on a box every now and then and get burned, it's no big deal as long as the mortgage is paid and the lights stay on (and my wife gets fed!). But once it hits $100-$150-$200 for a few cards and you end up with a couple of sticker autos and a white jersey piece, it makes you question why you want to continue the hobby at all.

[Sharky94]

I am currently only interested in boxes that fall under $100... which, in recent times, has made collecting hard.

This is me in a nutshell. I will admit, I have a great job and make decent money, and with no kids, I have disposable income. But I cannot justify paying hundreds of dollars on a single box of cards. And if I am paying a lot of money for cards, I want the box to be full. I don't want to pay a days wage on a "box" of cards and get 4 or 5 cards in the box. I can't ever imagine myself paying a couple hundred dollars like that. So what if the commons are worthless and useless? I enjoy opening the packs and searching out the hits. I don't enjoy opening one pack with all the hits and then have nothing left.