CARDS

Base cards

A standard common card for the product. 

Parallel cards

A card that is similar in design to a base card but has a distinguished quality. Usually this is a different coloured card or border, different pattern or photo. More often than not they will be numbered as well and this will range from 1/1 up to potentially /999 or higher dependent on product.

Inserts

These are generally themed sets within the product. Again these will vary in being numbered and parallels dependent on the product.

Memorabilia card

These cards will have at least one piece of memorabilia in the card. Majority of the time this will be a piece of clothing but there are cards in sets with pieces of cleats, hats, balls, pylons, bats among others. They can be game used which are the most desirable, other types include game worn,player worn and event worn. More often than not they will be numbered. Commonly referred to as a patch card. Also known as a Hit card.

Autographed cards

Auto cards are the most commonly sought after cards. There are generally 2 types of autographed cards, sticker autos where an autographed sticker is placed on the card and on card autos which are hard signed cards. Some autographed cards also carry inscriptions. Also known as a Hit card.

Patch Auto cards

These are cards which have at least 1 piece of memorabilia patch and an autograph. Also known as a Hit card.

Rookie cards

Rookie cards will carry an ‘RC’ logo somewhere on the card. They are a players most sought after card. They will usually come in all the variations of the cards above. The success of a years rookie class can have a positive or negative influence on the future pricing of products from that year.

Other types of cards

Booklets - these are generally patch or patch autos of one player as a booklet rather than a card.

Graded cards - a handful of products offer graded cards in their hobby boxes. These are encased in a protective casing and graded on different aspects of the card. Cards graded 10 are highly sought after but extremely rare.

Die cut cards - cards that are shaped differently. Can be numbered, parallels, inserts or autographed. 

Acetate cards - cards made out of a clear plastic. Can be numbered, parallels, inserts or autographed.

Redemption cards

When a company can’t obtain a players autograph before the product is released a redemption card is put in to replace the original card. These can be redeemed with the manufacturer and are sent out once they have received the autographs. This can take a few weeks, it has been known to take a few years in some cases. They do have a ‘redeem by’ date on them so with older products there is always a risk of pulling one of these cards and being unable to receive it. Every manufacturer is different but they usually try to offer something in return.

Case hit

As described, one or multiple cards will be in the case but not in every box. Rare and sought after cards. A bonus to receive on if purchasing a hobby box of a product which offers this.

 

BOXES

Hobby boxes

Premium boxes of trading cards. Usually contain at least 2 hit cards, the majority of hobby boxes will have multiple hit cards. These are the highest priced boxes of each product and will carry the best assortment of various sets in the product compared to other options. They will vary in price from less than £100 to over £1000 dependent on the product and year the product is from.

Always familiarise yourself with what the box will contain as this will vary in the number of packs,hits and cards depending on the product. 

 

Blaster boxes

Generally the majority of cards in Blaster boxes are largely base cards. More often than not they will also contain a hit card and a selection of numbered cards,inserts and parallels as well. They are a more affordable product, a great entry level product for collectors and a good product for set builders due to the number of cards that are usually in Blasters. In most products there is a chance to pull a big name autograph but the chances of that will be low.

Always familiarise yourself with what the box will contain as this will vary in the number of packs,hits and cards depending on the product.

 

Retail boxes

These usually sit between Blaster and Hobby boxes. The majority of the time these are part of the range for the low to mid range products with large base sets.

Always familiarise yourself with what the box will contain as this will vary in the number of packs, hits and cards depending on the product.

 

Hanger boxes

Usually will only have 1 pack in them but this will hold more cards than an average pack, usually a lot more. Similar to Blasters in content. Will be the cheapest box available for most products.

Always familiarise yourself with what the box will contain as this will vary in the number of packs, hits and cards depending on the product.

 

What’s available will be dependent on the product and year. Some products will only have Hobby boxes and others will have all 4 types available.


Checklists

Every product that is released will have a checklist showing all the cards that it will contain. The manufacturers have these somewhere on their websites but there are 2 websites that are used by the majority of collectors.

Groupbreakchecklists.com

Cardboardconnection.com



We recommend that you always do your own research of the product and type that you are looking to purchase so you can make an informed decision.