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What is a ‘Hobby Box’ – Definition – The Sports Card Glossary

A retail box of sports cards refers to the sort of sports card packages you can buy at retail stores like Walmart and Target. On the other hand, a hobby box of sports cards can only purchase at sports card specialty stores such as your local card shops.

This hobby box of 2024 Topps Chrome Update Baseball advertises 1 guaranteed autograph hit per box.

Hobby boxes usually have the following features:

  • Exclusive inserts and parallels: Hobby boxes often contain cards that cannot be found in retail boxes. You’d refer to these as “hobby box exclusives.”
  • Guaranteed hits: You’ll often see hobby boxes advertised with the number of guaranteed autographs (or other “hit” cards such as memorabilia cards) you’ll find inside.
  • Potentially higher hit rates

Rory Hansen

Rory Hansen is a San Diego-based sports card collector and social media influencer. Considered an expert in the process of grading sports cards, he regularly advises other collectors on how to assess, prepare and submit cards for grading. Originally from Canada and now living in the US, Rory collects both hockey cards and baseball cards. His personal collection focuses on Shohei Ohtani, Ichiro Suzuki, Yu Darvish, Pavel Bure, Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Roberto Luongo.