3 posts were split to a new topic: Using a metal detector to identify “heavy” packs
We have officially passed 10k views! I like to think that’s a couple wasted dollars saved.
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Hi! Is there a database for Booster Box weights?
I have a Green Wings Base Set Box that comes in at 1 lb. 12.6 ounces, around 810 grams, which to my understanding is in the higher end / maximum of that distribution.
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There was but I removed it because as box reseals get more sophisticated, I do not want to be another resource for scammers to use.
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I understand that, thank you for the response!
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no problem, sorry I couldnt be of any help
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Bought this pack off a friend who was selling their collection, assumed it was light but its pretty hefty! Heavier than any of the pack weight you have listed, im thinking i may open it
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Bought 7 packs (all short stem) - Heres the data so far
Base Set Unlimited -21.01g (Zapdos Holo)
Base Set Unlimited -21g (Poliwrath Holo)
Base Set Unlimited -20.45 (unopened)
Fossil Unlimited -21.41g (unopened)
Fossil Unlimited -21.40g (unopened)
Fossil Unlimited -21g (unopened)
Jungle Unlimited -20.62g (unopened)
I plan on opening the heavy fossils, although I do have them on auction right now so wont open till later. I suspect the 21.4g have Holos and all the others are NH
Ideas? I dont plan on opening the last base set since its light
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Thank you Ill add them now!
Those 21g+ weights seem pretty safe as heavies. the first 3 sets have been very consistent from the data Ive gathered
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I opened a Gym Heroes booster pack (regular crimp), and weighed it multiple times prior to opening. I weighed the pack 38 times due to slight changes in the measured weight, where it came to 20.68±0.03 g, with a calculated average and standard deviation of 20.6782 g and 0.02 g, respectively.
This pack contained an Erika’s Vileplume holographic card, showing that holo-pack weight really does vary from set to set.
I should mention that the quality of the scales were checked through weighing several coins, as they have fairly precise weights.
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I opened another Gym Heroes booster pack (regular crimp), and weighed it multiple times prior to opening. I weighed the pack 36 times due to slight changes in the measured weight, where it came to 20.665±0.035 g, with a calculated average and standard deviation of 20.6633 g and 0.0176 g, respectively.
This pack contained an Misty’s Tentacruel holographic card, and likely came from the same box as my aforementioned pack above.
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That’s a very accurate scale you’ve got!
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The scale only shows down to 0.01 grams, and any values below this have been derived numerically. I find that most scales vary slightly, thus creating a distribution is a more accurate way of communicating its findings. I have updated my two posts above to reflect this.
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Knock yourself out with some modern data. I grew bored because it’s tedious. Needing a milligram scale and a windblock. Gonna make a post on reddit in a few days following up the Temporal Forces post someone made last year
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Thank you! I like the work youve done here! Weighing modern still appears to be a tough case. I’m iffy on if I really wanna add modern packs because results seem to vary a lot more than vintage. I’ll think on it a bit more
It’s a good reminder I need to update the database I have a lot of stuff that I haven’t had the time to add. I also want to add some more visuals and graphs to make the numbers easier to look at when the datasets get large
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I’ll commit to getting the database updated sometime this week! I’ve fallen behind I apologize I’ve received a lot of data that I haven’t gotten to yet
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Absolutely fair - my goal was simply to show that modern can be weighed. My general findings was that code cards in swsh only server to try to hide secret rares inside of the large batches of junk, but with an accurate enough scale you could still dust them out. S&V is bit more finicky, but I was able to pick two Charizard SIRs in 151 out of a batch of 150 packs by only opening 10 in an 3mg range.
My regret is having ripped over 2500 packs of Crown Zenith and not having the time to record them all.
It is absolutely harder to weigh modern for secret/SIR than the light/heavy of vintage, but I think it’s important that people know that it is possible. I wouldn’t be surprised in there are large loose pack resellers that have figured out each set as well.
Some of the sheets have additional stats, such as error, standard deviation, etc. You also have to take the wrapper feel into account. The best I can describe it is that there are papery wrappers and plasticy wrappers, but the variability within those two classes is fairly low. Reprints also create multimodal distributions.
The long 30+ green hit rows in Crown Zenith were method validation tests. The ‘Poke Predictor’ in some of the sheets simply looks up the corresponding weight bin hit/bust percentage in the pivot table.
My grand goal was to apply machine learning to predict unknown weights in new sets, but I am considering my contribution mostly finished - maybe someone will pick up where I left off. I have 35 evolving skies packs that I’ve been mulling over as my last experiment, but am undecided. Initial tests I was able to find vmaxes sandwiched in what I think are large swaths of junk. I don’t know that I have a large enough sample to really narrow it down though. With a milligram scale, im of the opinion you need around 300 packs to get a good enough distribution to predict with a satisfactory confidence level.
Tl;Dr - unless you collect a large sample yourself, you are likely to be frustrated with your outcome - but modern is weighable
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Are you allergic to money or a WhatNot streamer?
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Finished going through my backlog of data points. I also added tabs on the bottom which can be clicked on for a little more info than the big wall of data points on the main page. (Atm this info is just for WOTC but if people like it I can do it for the rest too)
The biggest benefit is looking at each sets normalized heavy/light distribution graphs. Basically they take all of the data points and plot them so that it is easy to see where your specific weight is compared to what others have opened.
Besides that, it’s mostly the same. Over the last 5 years (and nearly 26,000 clicks!) this has been a lot of work searching YouTube videos for pack openings and gathering data from users here. It’s finally at the point where most sets have a good amount of data points and some generalized trends can be observed.
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