Oh boy, just blew a wad on some unopened material and now the wife is going to kill me. lol

[Savard18]

Yea, you heard that right.. I swear those that aren't into collecting cards view buying cards as a waste of money, of course these same people have no issue playing the lotto or gambling.. Makes no sense to me. At least cards have value. I mean you can buy a lotto ticket and if you don't win you have nothing to show for it... At least with cards, if you buy a pack, box or case you have something to show for it even if you didn't get a major hit.

I only bring that up because my wife thinks cards are a waste of money and she's going to be pissed when she finds out I just blew a wad on some unopened material..

I just purchased a case of 2017-18 UD series 1 fat packs, and I hope to pull a few each of the major young guns and perhaps some worthwhile inserts. Of course to top that off I had to go buy a couple of boxes of 2018-19 UD series 1 looking for Dahlin and Petterson - some variations and other inserts would be nice too.. Then I topped that off with a 08-09 Artifacts retail box..

Hopefully I'll get my money out of it... I usually don't do too bad. I mean I've opened like perhaps 25 16-17 blasters and pulled 4 Matthews, I also pulled 2 others out of fat packs.. I don't know if that's luck or if UD generally does a good job giving you the bang for your buck. Either way I don't want to jinx myself...

I'm sure I'll get some nice cards... The last time I bought an UD fat pack I pulled a Mittelstadt canvas YG so... Yea he's not having the best year but still a nice card.

Since I got back into collecting a couple years back this will be my first time opening retail boxes, so I really don't know what to expect.. I've pretty much only opened blasters, tins and fat packs - so hopefully I'll hit some new inserts that aren't available in blasters or tins... Like exclusives, acetate's and hopefully some variations - that would be nice...

I'm just worried that I made a mistake not buying a 18-19 series 2 box, and I may go buy a couple just to ease my worries.. Series 2 is pretty packed, and I would love to pull a Connor Hart for sure.

I'm really looking forward to breaking the Artifacts tho, that set has a lot of sweet inserts/subsets and GU/auto stuff... It's also Stamkos' rookie year so ... In speaking of that - and while I'm babbling - I consulted my November Beckett just to checkout the inserts and what I could expect and it blew my mind that that Patches RC booked higher than Stamkos... That just makes no damn sense to me and is just more evidence that Beckett has no idea about what they print.

Also, if anyone reading this can tell me the difference between a retail box and a hobby box that would be great.. Because I've noticed that different inserts and subsets are only available in certain formats.. I mean I would love to pull an exclusive out of a pack or some of the other inserts I was never able to find in blaster boxes.

[baystate123]

Good luck with the case.

[leafer70]

I don't believe you'll find Exclusives, High Gloss, Acetates, Patches, Autos in retail boxes so those are your main differences between retail and hobby. You still get 6 young guns in either type of box.

[jim bradt]

Good luck on the break.

[canucksfan007]

You wont get any of the harder to hit chases in Retail. Retail is for Young Guns only, as the ratios on those are the same. Acetate YGs, Exclusives, High Gloss, Autos, Patches are Hobby only releases.

Blasters / Tins / Fat Packs do sometimes yield Retail specific inserts ( Shooting Stars Defensmen and Right Wingers from this year command a premium over the other positions, along with the Rookie Commence and Parkhurst Preview ) were all Retail Exclusives, but not in the Retail 24 pack boxes. I believe you get 1 Jersey and 6 Young Guns in the Retail box, I might be wrong on the Jersey guarantee.

Also, dont hold your breathe on Retail Artifacts, its one of the worst products around.

Good luck on the 18/19 S1, thats where you can hope for your biggest hits

[Stryfex]

Also, dont hold your breathe on Retail Artifacts, its one of the worst products around.

Has retail artifacts always been as bad as it is now? I opened some of that in 15-16 and it was literally the worst thing I've ever opened in my life. Even MVP is a better break

[creasecollector]

Best of luck on your breaks! I hope you pull some sweet cards!

[Cunnuc]

Of course buying cards is somewhat a waste of money unless you get a huge hit to recoup most/all of your money with a chance of actually making profit. It is not a total waste though, it is all worth money and can at least be insured at book value. I for one got back into cards from collecting with my father in the 90's in the 2009-10 season. I will tell you one thing, collecting cards is a hell of a lot better than a cocaine addiction. Collecting cards and then getting into precious metals is what saved my life. I would not let anyone ever tell me it is a waste of money. To each is their own.

Retail UDS1 UDS2 is good for young guns. My cousin does awesome some years buying random packs at the corner store. Like... awesome. He has actually made profit with the bigger RCs he has pulled. Even pulling the rare Taylor Hall RC from Score. And the Seguin I think. Just ridiculous luck. Personally I do not have much experience with retail, I'm a hobby guy. I don't bust much since I was primarily an ITG collector.

I always liked Artifacts though. I would think the retail is an excellent way to finish the base set since with my experience you wouldn't even finish the base set buying 5 hobby boxes.

Either way, I am intrigued with what you pull. Keep us posted and good luck.

[Maggot]

Has retail artifacts always been as bad as it is now? I opened some of that in 15-16 and it was literally the worst thing I've ever opened in my life. Even MVP is a better break

Yeah, it's always been roughly the same format. With that said, I recently bought a number of 08-09 and 09-10 retail boxes b/c they were on clearance for $20/ea. Pulled a couple Gretzky jerseys and low #'d parallels. Didn't lose too bad.

P.S., I think Stamkos was a redemption IIRC, so hopefully you don't pull that ;)

[cygnusx1]

Your wife has every right to be upset because even she knows not to buy retail boxes of Artifacts