Why buy boxes?

[56Parkies]

Lord knows I don't bust much wax, but I shared a 2-case break of BTP recently and had a blast; not only ripping into packs, but also meeting up with other hockey card collectors out there.

There are tons of reasons to bust boxes; hoping to "score big" is only one reason for some...

[iidaemmi]

If people didn't buy boxes there would be no singles to buy. It's a give and take relationship that keeps the hobby going.

True.. partly.

The more we open, the more 'they' produced. Because cass machine jangles.
It seems that there are not enough collector's to keep this balance healty.

Result is, that prices fall and there's a lot off dollar jerseys (hits), and nobody wants them.

It would be best if any card not made by one year. I believe that hobby still continued, because there is so much stuff to collect.

That's not ever happen I know ofcouse. So I dream that here would be a much less products and more marketing.

It also does not ever happen, just dreaming. I don't open products, only a few Artifacts box a year.



Harri

[Hilfiger1975]

I cannot see the value in it aside from the thrill of opening packs. And of course that one in 1000 of pulling a card that actually sells on ebay for $300 or more - still the economics arent there compared to what you can buy with the same amt of $

Because 90% of the population only cares about auto.'s and GU now...

[leopards40]

I buy/open boxes because i like getting a surprise... there are some cards i pull in a box and i keep, that id never buy just because i never thought about it, that why i like it

[oilfan10]

I buy boxes because it's fun, I enjoy the thrill, and the place where I usually bought traders from closed.

Plus, there are MUCH worse things out there I could be wasting my money on.

[VanekSnipes]

Its just fun to open a box with my brother and show my dad stuff he might appreciate.. plus my neighbor and I collect together.

[Footnote75]

To make videos, of course!! ;-)

[2010CTyler]

I've shared the same dilemha lately. It seems that buying boxes is a waste compared to what you can buy. The real problem is that the real "hits" in a box are valued too low. Say someone bought 3 boxes of SPA and hit a Hall auto, they would consider that a successful break. However, that auto may only fetch $100-$125 if their lucky. It doesn't account for the almost $300 that was spent. When the most coveted card in a set goes for around the same price as a box, why would anyone buy a box?lol. Hits in boxes are too few and far between.

[Shappy30]

Wheeling and dealing while breaking.....Nothing beats cracking a box or 2 and having people around ya waiting to see if you have a card they need.
It's a joy we like to give back to ourselves.

[CoolHandLuke]

I think your budget have to do a lot. If you have very little money to put in this hobby and want some really nice cards then buying single is probably your only option to get some of those cards.

While other collectors may have many hundred/thousands of dollars to spend and they can afford to buy box. If you are one of those collectors then it a lot more fun and will let you build traders list so that when you have less to spend, you still have many trader to land some trade.

In the end, let not forget that not all collectors work on the same budget and it's a lot easier to buy boxes if you can afford it. It fun to stop buy your LCS and chat a bit with the owner after spending your hard earn money. Not many friend might want to talk about sport cards but you get that at your LCS.

If you have not too many trader, you can miss on some nice trade because someone else had cards the member wanted but you did not...

How often do I see collector wanting a nice patch of their player they collect but I check what they have to trade and have only like 20 cards. I will probably answer: Sorry did not see anything I need and move on.

I pulled some cards here in trade I could probably never buy. Some member do not sell cards that much. I am one of them. So if you have no habs then not many chance to trade with me and unless it is High end, I will not sell cards. I find member tend to want to bargain or call you name if they don't like your price. In the end, since I hate playing this game, I refuse to sell cards most of the time unless I know the trader.

Half of my aquisition were trade, the other half were cards bought. But the biggest part of my cards come from boxes. Buying is only to aquire cards I could not pull.