Someone made a point earlier that it’s impossible now to expect to complete sets by opening boxes. As someone who has no interest in set collecting (possibly one day but focus would be vintage) how often do people actually open boxes purely for the joy of it?
I’m personally planning to begin buying 2-3 boxes of each set (Japanese) as they release with a plan to open one with my daughter, and hold 2 for possible later resale or just to collect and maybe open further down the line.
I don’t really have my finger on the pulse but it seems a lot people in the hobby buy boxes as an investment. I can see why but I’m not too interested in this as a point of discussion. More interested to hear how often people buy boxes solely to open and why they choose the ones they do.
I open an artset of boosters of each english set, opening them is fun but it really doesn’t add in any of my collection goals outside some bulk cards i would buy as singles so it’s basically just buying a fun experience every now and then without any long term benefit.
Do you open the artset so you can add the pack art to your collection? It definitely seems as if more people in the hobby view opening product as negative EV which is true but also kind of the point.
Maybe it’s just because I’m new that I’m naive to the fact a lot of people are collectors or investors so the act of opening stuff doesn’t appeal. Could also be people have been doing it so long they no longer feel the need to open packs when it has been a personal money pit for years.
I have a box of opened product from the last 5 years and the contents sealed would be worth close to 5 figures if i hadn’t opened any of it. So i think ill be keeping most of my sealed sealed from now on.
Yeah, i’m saving the empty boosters, and i would like to open more for sure since like said it’s fun but i’m prioritizing my money somewhere else, there’s a good chunk of other stuff i can get for a price of a couple of boosters especially with the price they hold in europe
Not sure if you’d know but worth asking whether European based people outside of the UK typically buy home language or prefer English cards? Would assume cost would be fairly different.
I guess being mostly focused on Japanese and being close to Japan makes things much more affordable for me, so cost isn’t a massive consideration, currently. A lot of boosters are pretty close to msrp, especially upon release.
My last box I opened was Lost Origin. Did 1 and hit the alt Giratina V. I mostly stay away from opening anything as my luck in general is horrendous. Buying singles and graded cards is a much better use of my limited funds.
For the SWSH era I was averaging 1 booster box per set, but with SV I haven’t really opened much of anything outside of 151. I’ve been trying to maximize my budget and buying singles is definitely the way to go. That said, now that prices on Japanese boxes have come back down to earth, I might open up a box or two every so often since they are quite a bit cheaper and they still feed the itch to open something!
At least a lot of my european friends who open stuff seem to be opening boosters of their native language, don’t know if there’s a big price difference but at least in finland boosters are usually 5,5-6,5€ depending on where one buys them
@jaxlax21 a person who opens giratina alt art from a single box can’t claim to have bad luck
The only packs ive ever went “hard” on was lost origin last year. Man, i really wanted that giratina, never pulled him either. I used to get random packs or promo boxes but when i dialed in on my niche i stopped. I have that gamestop membership so i get a pack a month, but ive started putting those away even. Im not really doing it to invest but more because i dont collect set stuff anymore unless it speaks to me.
In short, maybe a pack or two a month but i dont buy packs or boxes anymore. I usually open them when they are a gift.
The only sealed i have tucked away due to random grabs is a 151 poster collection and a paldea evolved sleeved booster. I also have a couple sealed prerelease decks (articuno and deoxys) but they only stayed sealed because they are doubles
Seems like it mostly comes down to prioritising where your money goes. Might also be different for those with kids as then the joy they get becomes worth so much more than the price of purchase. I guess that probably only lasts so long until kids work out they keep getting dudded and get annoyed haha.
I tend to open boxes every few months. I collect Asian languages so stuff typically stays in storage for a while before I consolidate and ship out. Even then my sealed purchases are very far and few between.
I mostly open just for fun, either new Asian exclusive products or Japanese sets that I have not bought singles of yet. Last product I opened was the Chinese 1st anniversary box.
My main hope going into any opening for modern stuff is to at least get a secret rare with a cool art, so special arts or trainers that I like basically.
Box openings are not the worst thing in the world for set completion as it gets many of the half art cards out of the way, but don’t open a whole case expecting to pull all the secret rares. Opening a box or two for any set you are interested in and then buying singles is the best balance in my opinion.
This makes the most sense. I think going into it most people know monetary value wise they’re not going to end ahead, and with the modern sets people only seem to care for the AR, SR and SARs. Much more cost effective to just buy the singles you like. Probably smart to stay balanced and open a box or two here and there when sets show up that you like.
I do not open any sealed product because most of them, if not all do not align with my collection goals. I have no incentive to open any packs / boxes from sets since I don’t collect them. However, I do enjoy watching other people open up packs on Youtube.
When I first started getting back into the hobby, I actually tried my hand at being a sealed collector, so I have a few vintage Japanese packs which are intact and stored away. I have been meaning to use them for trading or selling to be able to fund my collection goals, but I have slowed down so much that I just never got around it.
The short answer is that opening packs usually leads to me overpaying for cards I don’t want.
Instead I’d rather pay less and directly buy the cards I do want.
I also think the part of the brain that enjoys gambling is not something that is stong in me. I will never fully understand the enjoyment people get out of casinos, sportsbetting or livestream breaks because of that. I think packs tickle the same part of the brain too.
I only really open sealed when it makes sense and I can justify maybe getting a bunk of bulk. Usually I do this by saving part of the packs for future value. Like yesterday.
Aldi has these old Pokeball tins that had Cosmic Eclipse packs in them. I bought a bit of these tins to open and put aside the cosmic eclipse packs. It came with rebel clash and vivid voltage as well. I did get A couple tins that had evolving skies, fusion strike, and silver tempest.
I decided to open those packs since I was buying all the time for the cosmic eclipse and older packs.
I actually pulled the best card I have ever pulled. The Gengar VMax Alt art from Fusion Strike…
It was great, but like I said, I justify me opening packs.
I opened two 151 JP boxes and two Vstar boxes but only because I wanted to complete those sets. Was able to get roughly 70% of the cards I wanted and will buy the remainder as singles. For others I just buy singles 6 months+ after their release date.
