Collecting Basics 3: Reading Your Packaging

Now that you have chosen your sport, made your pack and/or box purchases, and are sitting down at your table ready to open, you all of a sudden notice all of this mumbo jumbo on the outside of the box. Not something you really looked at when you made your purchase. What's this "Gold Parallel 1:4" even mean? Well, that is where Part 3 of Collecting Basics comes to help.

First off, here is a blaster box of Topps Baseball 2014. All boxes and packs will have that mumbo jumbo. Some on the back of the box, back of packs, side of box. Either way they all have it.

The front of this box tells you what the product is, how many packs/cards are within, what special cards are included and what ones you might find. However, on the side of the box is this:

And you may be like whaaaaatttt? Well, the bottom part is easy. It just gives you the checklist of players you can find of the manufactured patch cards included not all of the boxes have it but this one does.

 However, the top part you may question more. I know I did when first collecting. The top part, usually has things like refractor 1:7, Top Of The Day insert 1:12, autographed cards 1:111. You may think these are math equations but they are odds. 1:7 means, 1 in every 7 packs of these cards in this box this insert should fall. So if you have a box of 10 packs, this type card should be in there once. That may not always be the case however as the card odds are spread out over the entire production and not just one box. So you may score 2 or none.

The middle writing on the box tells you about the No Purchase Necessary. This is how you COULD acquire these cards for FREE at the same odds you would by buying the box by following instructions below and mailing your info in.

I hope this helps you understand the writing on the packaging. If you need any other help reading it, just ask below.

As always, HAPPY COLLECTING!