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.

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