[elbsportscards]

Hi All,

I am getting back into collecting with my brother-in-law who is medically disabled from the military, so this is one of the few things he can do that brings him joy.

My thread here is I would also like to have some fun collecting with my 9 year old daughter and such being new getting back into the card arena, wanted a cost savings avenue to get her good chances of getting the best odds of hits like autos and mem cards per box. Retail boxes, though lower odds compared to hobby boxes, are cheaper, offering her more boxes/variety of boxes to purchase per $$$.

From your past years experience, if anyone would like to comment on this thread, their opinion on what year/brand of retail boxes they have had or feel give good odds on getting autos/mem cards per box or so, it would greatly be appreciated.

On one hand, I am looking for a list of year/brands that are often sold on the shelves at store like target/walmart, etc. and on the other hand, those retail boxes that may only be left sold at online hobby warehouse stores.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

[ZSDOne]

A&G and Gypsy Queen blasters have fairly good odds for memorabilia (and A&G is generally quite a fun product). As an added bonus, they often show up discounted. Not exactly good odds at getting autos though (especially in A&G where even hobby doesn't guarantee an auto).

Heritage is usually pretty fun as well - doesn't seem to be as good of odds of getting a memorabilia/auto card.

Last year Archives had a guaranteed memorabilia card.

If you are interested in football, there are several products such as Sage HIT, Press Pass, Leaf which offer 1 or two guaranteed autos - of those Press Pass is the best because the autos are on card (but note that none of those companies have NFL or college licenses.

2010 Topps Magic Football is the all time champ for blasters yielding autos - 2012 Topps Magic isn't bad with autos failling about 1:3. 2012 Topps Stata also has good odds of pulling an auto card.

In baseball, I'd go with A&G or Gypsy Queen with Hertiage being 3rd (which are honestly the only baseball products I'm buying now anyway). A&G is probably the most fun and I've had good luck pulling memorabilia cards (only ever got an autograph once from retail). If you want autos from retail, your best bet is football.

[dspainjr]

I'd like to touch on your post:

2013 Heritage is loaded, I pulled a Jose Bautista Auto from a blaster.

I agree on the Gypsy Queen, but since A&G is not out not sure how they will be.

Seems like the odds in 2013 product are real good this year. Also pulled a Kevin McDonald Fan Fav Auto from a blaster of Archives. I'd say any 2013 is the way to go!

A&G and Gypsy Queen blasters have fairly good odds for memorabilia (and A&G is generally quite a fun product). As an added bonus, they often show up discounted. Not exactly good odds at getting autos though (especially in A&G where even hobby doesn't guarantee an auto).

Heritage is usually pretty fun as well - doesn't seem to be as good of odds of getting a memorabilia/auto card.

Last year Archives had a guaranteed memorabilia card.

If you are interested in football, there are several products such as Sage HIT, Press Pass, Leaf which offer 1 or two guaranteed autos - of those Press Pass is the best because the autos are on card (but note that none of those companies have NFL or college licenses.

2010 Topps Magic Football is the all time champ for blasters yielding autos - 2012 Topps Magic isn't bad with autos failling about 1:3. 2012 Topps Stata also has good odds of pulling an auto card.

In baseball, I'd go with A&G or Gypsy Queen with Hertiage being 3rd (which are honestly the only baseball products I'm buying now anyway). A&G is probably the most fun and I've had good luck pulling memorabilia cards (only ever got an autograph once from retail). If you want autos from retail, your best bet is football.

[aprirr]

My daughter(she's 11) and I usually get a jumbo box of each of the 3 Topps series every year. 500 cards and an auto and 2 relics guaranteed per box makes for some nice hits and usually a complete base set, as well. And, at 50 cards per pack with a bunch of inserts in each, every pack has some cool cards in them!

[rentzington]

the blasters this year are pretty good.
Had good luck with autos from GQ and Bowman.
Heritage I didnt get any auto's but pulled 2 mini's and several black backs from them.
Did better with the blaster on heritage than I did with any hobby boxes

[jaredhuizenga]

I had really, really good luck pulling autos from 2012 Bowman Platinum. I was pulling an auto in about 1 of 3 blasters and 1 of 4 hanger packs. Not all of them were great, but I did manage to pull an Oswaldo Arcia gold /50 and a Charlie Tilson green /399. If you can find them now, which I haven't seen any for a while, they should be marked down.

[rjcj2017]

You could also try regular Topps blasters ... most of them come with a guaranteed manufactured patch card these days ... not technically a "GU" card but a nice collectible nonetheless.

If Photobucket would let me copy links right now (I've been trying for about an hour) I would show you some of the patches.

Anyway, good luck with your search ... last year's Update blasters were fun, too, lots of Bryce Harper RCs and a fair amount of inserts and parallels per box.

[webdog]

I had really good luck with 2013 Heritage getting a hot box of purple refractors in every pack. Not Bad getting a Bryce Harper and Cabrera. I also got a patch card in one box. Probably only bought 4 blaster boxes so not bad odds.

I love the Gypsy Queen product as it has great inserts and short print variations. The mini cards are great and may be my favorite of them all.