Box buying advice...

[Dodgydave]

Hi all.

other than a box of Hoops it has been a while since I bought a box of cards. I have a few options available and was looking for advice from those with more recent experience in these things.

My main aim from Hoops was to try and nab a Williamson rookie - which was a fail. (Also failed to get one of the autos so double fail there.) So, would probably lean toward toward another 2019-20 box of something but also open to some of the older options listed if value is good.

My options are:

19/20 Contenders fat pack box $299
19/20 Mosaic mega box $499 - obviously popular but seems much higher than eBay prices.
16/17 Excalibur Hobby box $349
15/16 Prestige Plus hobby box $349

others less considered but happy to be told otherwise...

19/20 Contenders blaster $129
17/18 Totally Certified hobby box $249

All prices in NZ$ for what it is worth.

Trying to support one of the few NZ sellers and while I love opening packs I do keep thinking how many PC Cards I could get for some of the prices!

Thanks all.

 

[Southnet]

Constant dilemma of this hobby, and worse this year with the Zion hype and the ridiculous prices of boxes. In my experience you generally get about 40% of the box value in cards, but this season it’s probably more like 15-20% unless you hit a great card and then you can get 2-3x value, so it’s pretty binary.

A lot of people have resorted to box breaks (buy a spot for $50 or so and then allocated a team and whatever cards are drawn from the 3-5 boxes in the break you get. You can also try and trade the random team you get with others), or buying/trading individual cards or go into a Razz for a specific card, similar to a break but only one person wins.

so if you want a Zion Hoops RC, put a wanted post here, or a Facebook group or buy off ebay or COMC, don’t bust boxes to achieve that aim.

Its fun opening boxes, but be sure you are okay with paying for the experience rather than looking for value.

PM me if you want names of Facebook groups to join.

 

[drobfan8]

If you want a collection you feel is worth the $$$ you put in to it, buy singles.

There is A LOT of junk out there right now selling for crazy money.

Hoops starts out hot due to being the first Rookies hitting and then lays a turd afterwards.

Any preorders happening in your area?

Apparently we have Mosaic and Court Kings coming to EB games

 

[Dodgydave]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To be clear by value I am certainly not looking to get my money back. I guess I have bought 30 to 40 boxes in my life and might have got my value back once (Curry rookie auto).

Having said that I have never sold a card for actual $ in my life so that is certainly not my end aim.

To be more specific on value I guess I mean the following:

Do any of those prices look either good or terrible for those products?
Has anyone enjoyed any of those products more than others?

Also to expand on my specific desires. I have no more desire for a Zion than say a RC of any other good/very good player eg KAT in 2015/16 or Simmons in 2016/17 so not going to go and buy one for the sake of it. Was more meaning I prefer a product like Hoops where the chances of running in to one - albeit not a very valuable one - was higher than say something where you get two SP rookies in the entire box - because in that case I will get picks 47 and 56!

I guess that means I prefer quantity over quality and I certainly place value on the experience.

I am down to these options as trying to “support local” and also international shipping is obviously taking ages. I have cards from Canada 3 months and counting and from Australia going on a month. The Canada ones have not even left America yet. So, it would also be nice to get something I can have by next week!

Would love to try and pre-order something but have not seen a physical sports cards store in NZ in 15 years. I ran in to some Hoops in Toyworld when in there with my daughter and they are the first cards I have seen in a physical store since the early 2000s.

Group breaks don’t really seem like my thing and I also do not use Facebook as a bit of a social media phobe - forums are as much as I can handle.

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

2017-18 and 2018-19 Chronicles are about as much fun (besides Optic Cello and Mosaic Cello/jumbo boxes) that I can think I have had!

Chronicles has heaps of different products combined into the one release which is really cool - Gold Standard, Plates & Patches, Luminance - really cool. Good rookie classes too.

I did a Contenders fat pack box - if you're into base and green parallels then it's great! Bit low end/boring for me but the kids loved it as there were a ton of cards to sort.

 

[drobfan8]

Have you tried Cherrycollectables?

 

[Dodgydave]

Thanks @GarnettFan4Life

@drobfan8 I did click through from a banner ad here a while back and I am not sure if their box prices are representative of the Australian market but holy crap they were high. Also I was put off by the fact they had singles listed for $20 which I got for 10c US in my Canadian lot.

 

[GarnettFan4Life]

Thanks @GarnettFan4Life

@drobfan8 I did click through from a banner ad here a while back and I am not sure if their box prices are representative of the Australian market but holy crap they were high. Also I was put off by the fact they had singles listed for $20 which I got for 10c US in my Canadian lot.

Cherry is better now for the singles since they added the offer buttton but they would have made a boat load of cash being first to aussie market with afterpay i reckon. People (me) happier to pay a higher price cause of afterpay option. It was great/terrible haha

 

[Paul_Ambrey]

My son also buys NFL cards from cherry,but some of his box prices for NFL and Basketball have increased a fair bit.

 

[Dodgydave]

I mean 450 AUD for Hoops? I paid 200 NZD a few months ago. From what I have heard Panini have sold out of Hoops now, but, the equivalent of 500 NZD? That is pulling the piss!

 

[Billyhoyle]

I mean 450 AUD for Hoops? I paid 200 NZD a few months ago. From what I have heard Panini have sold out of Hoops now, but, the equivalent of 500 NZD? That is pulling the piss!

I think there's a couple of things at play that your missing here, I'm not going to defend Cherry's prices but unfortunately this is the new reality of pricing. The Australian (and I'm guessing NZ) dollar is a killer at the moment. The demand has blown up, so supply and demand is a huge part.
Keep in mind that Cherry also has the overheads of the physical store, staff, taxes etc.

450aud = 288usd

DACW = $260usd = https://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2019-20-panini-hoops-basketball-hobby-box
BO = $250usd (on sale!) = https://www.blowoutcards.com/2019-20-panini-nba-hoops-basketball-hobby-box.html
Steelcity = $300usd = https://www.steelcitycollectibles.com/i/2019-20-panini-hoops-basketball-hobby-box

 

[Dodgydave]

My business is importing and unfortunately for me the above is not quite how it works. Cost-plus accounting is an old and broken system - you can’t just jerk your prices around as costs change especially not due to currency fluctuations. If I did that my sell prices and hence retail shops prices would be fluctuating on a weekly basis. Consumers will not accept that in most industries.

Anyway, while I am not up with specifics one AU/US cross I can say the NZD has come off about 12% vs USD. Let’s be hyper generous and call that 20%. That would still make it a $240 box not touching 500.

Now, if the USD prices above are representative of the world market and limited supply due to the end of production has led to gouging, then fair enough.

Price is still ridiculous though given the odds are against you getting a card worth what $20 from the box?

 

[drobfan8]

My business is importing and unfortunately for me the above is not quite how it works. Cost-plus accounting is an old and broken system - you can’t just jerk your prices around as costs change especially not due to currency fluctuations. If I did that my sell prices and hence retail shops prices would be fluctuating on a weekly basis. Consumers will not accept that in most industries.

Anyway, while I am not up with specifics one AU/US cross I can say the NZD has come off about 12% vs USD. Let’s be hyper generous and call that 20%. That would still make it a $240 box not touching 500.

Now, if the USD prices above are representative of the world market and limited supply due to the end of production has led to gouging, then fair enough.

Price is still ridiculous though given the odds are against you getting a card worth what $20 from the box?

Well enlighten us and show us where all the cheap boxes are at then?

Hoops is trash anyway. I wouldn't pay $100 for it.

You do realize product consistently goes up with basketball cards depending on hype?

Either cherry has had to pay more or he has put it up to make more money in a time where who knows, maybe his business is slowing so he has to put prices up in line with the market.

If you've noticed cherry doesn't have a lot of stock right now.

There's also a bunch of early 90s stuff selling for $200 + within Australia but you can get it cheaper in the US. If you want to wait forever.

Seems like the new guy has a lot to learn.

 

[Dodgydave]

Yes, I am new. Yes, I have a lot to learn. That is literally what I said at the start of the thread.

I am not sure what is gained by trying to throw that in my face as an insult.

While I am here to learn I am also not going to blindly accept what appears to be a false hypothesis ie 12% currency devaluation = 250% price increase.

I found the information helpful that the price was reasonably consistent with the linked US pricing and agreed that short supply appears to be the contributing factor.

I then pointed out I thought if that was the going price it was not a good buy. You seem to agree with this by saying you would “not pay $100” for Hoops but then defend the $500 price point and insulting me for questioning it.

As for where I can get cheaper product than what was listed on that site; refer to my first post - every box I listed is cheaper or at least equivalent in the case of Mosaic.

Anyway, it appears there is unlikely to be any further useful feedback wrt the box options I listed in my original post so let’s just leave it be.