Why I dont buy single packs at Target/Walmart anymore9pack searcher unmasked!)

[Hawaiian Bam Bam]

for years i have suspected that there is a pack searcher at all the local target and walmarts. i once bought a box of cards that guaranteed an auto or gu 1 in each box. well, this one box has only 23 packs in it(that should of been a big hint) so i bought it, guess what..no auto or gu. so a couple months later i bought a different brand. this box also had 23 packs in it (hint # 2) i decided to but the box. guess what no auto or gu! so then i got smart and said there must be someone searching all these packs! so i stopped buying single packs at walmart and target. fast forward a few years. today i stopped by the local target and walked buy the card section (no intention at all to buy any packs) guess what i saw, some dude with a small scale weighing packs. so i made a u turn and went to the card section. i started to stare at this guy as i couldnt believe this guy was in public with a scale weighing packs. when he saw me staring at him, he put the scale away and then looked at m and began "feeling" packs for the hot pack! kind of like he was "yeah, im doing it, so what..look on his face. so instead of telling security i thought i would have fun with this guy. so i began picking up packs and acting like i was a pack searcher too (even though i dont have a clue to what i am doing since i never searched packs)i just did what he was doing. i started "acting" like i was pack searching too! he looked at me , like " oh no, your searching packs too" i then picked up a few packs and finally when he was looking, i said " i found it!" as in, i found the hot pack auto or gu he was looking for.) and then took the pack and walked away with it (of course it wasnt a hot pack as i didnt even know what i was doing. but i did make this guy think i knew what i was doing. he must of thought i knew what i was doing and that i found what he was looking for, because he left right after i did. 9i then circled back and out the pack back on the shelf!


Have you ever seen/caught a pack searcher. and if so, what did you do/say to him/her?

[MarcusMaximus06]

That's a cool story. I actually caught one too, but it was a little different. I think I told this once on here a long time ago.

I walked into my local Walmart looking to get a few frames for some of my autographed pictures. After getting the frames, I decided to go to the card section and see if they had any new cards. Nobody was in the aisle when I went there at first. I was looking at all the options and saw a bargain bin at the bottom. I bent down and started looking through that on the bottom shelf and after I saw nothing good was in it, I stood up to look at the rack packs and this dirty old guy wearing a what seemed to be very old Fat Albert jacket was standing next to me. He looked at me then looked at the rack packs. He started doing the flex test really fast on every one of the rack packs and he knocked off a few after feeling for about 10 seconds and he had a startled look on his face. He bent down and picked up one of the packs and walked off. It was the weirdest thing I'd seen in a while.

Anyway, I did have a situation like yours too. I went to the Target in the next town over one day and saw a new box of cards and decided to buy it all. Like your story, I noticed a pack or two gone and there was no auto or game-used in it. Did it a second time like you as well and nothing again. Crazy what these people will do to get a game-used card of a no-namer...taking in scales and all.

[rjcla30]

Back in 2000 I was home on break from college, and I went my local target when I had bought cards in High School all the time. I think GU cards were starting to come out in products. When I went to the card area, which was out in the open of the store and there was a 40+ year old guy there feeling up the packs. At the time I had never seen that before so I curious what the guy was doing. I asked him what he was doing. He was very upfront...saying that we was looking for the "good cards". I was so upset, I told him that was just wrong! He shrugged it off like he didn't care and he was justified in what he was doing, and I left the store. Didn't buy very many cards for years after that incident because I just couldn't believe the way people are...I never encountered a pack searcher since, and I hope I never do because I would say something, and I really don't want to get in a fight in Target or Walmart.

[duwal]

why on earth would people spend the money on 22-23 single packs in an opened box when it would probably be much cheaper buying that same sealed box elsewhere?

[MarcusMaximus06]

why on earth would people spend the money on 22-23 single packs in an opened box when it would probably be much cheaper buying that same sealed box elsewhere?

I don't know honestly. I learned my lesson and I'm not doing it again!

[roaddogg02316]

Yeah it's a shame people pack search. I honestly can only really afford to buy from the retail end of it. But I won't buy loose packs if I don't have to. I'll buy a blaster box or something.

As for the loose packs when I've considered them, I can't tell the difference in thickness. I thought one time I'd try to see if I could tell, but I really couldn't. I obviously didn't end up buying packs. It's much better to buy something sealed.