Looking for Somewhere to Buy Hobby Boxes?

Ryan Barone (@ballcardgenius, Card Expert) is a lifelong member of the hobby. He has been quoted in PSA Magazine, and his content has regularly been mentioned in “Quick Rips” (the Topps RIPPED Newsletter) and across other hobby publications. hello@ballcardgenius.com; Last Time Ago LLC dba Ballcard Genius.

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A couple of weeks ago I did something I’ve never done before—I bought a hobby box of baseball cards. Actually, I bought two hobby boxes, and as a matter of fact, I bought two hobby jumbo boxes! Yes, you guessed it, the Wander Franco hype was just that real.

So, given I was in your same predicament not too long ago, I thought I’d share and recap my experiences with two of the larger online sports card shops in Blowout Cards and Dave & Adam’s Card World. 

But first, you should also know your options aren’t limited to just these two options, and hobby boxes are actually a lot easier to come by than you originally thought. 

Where to Buy Hobby Boxes

Hobby boxes can be purchased from local card stores, directly from Topps or Panini, or online through a number of different card shops. Really, what it comes down to is that you can’t find hobby boxes at retailers like Target, Walmart, etc., nor can you find them online from these retail websites.

At the retail level, like with Walgreens, you’re only going to find hangers (albeit with exclusive parallels), blasters and other card packs like cellos and gravity packs, for the most part. But the good news is you can find hobby boxes a number of other places—either directly from a store or even on the secondary market.

Read More: Hobby Boxes vs. Blasters

Here is a list of sites that sell hobby boxes:

• Blowout Cards
• Dave & Adam’s
• Steel City Collectibles
• Midwest Cards

You can purchase directly from the card brands:

• Topps
• Panini

Secondary market options include:

• eBay
• Amazon
• Mercari
• StockX
• StarStock
• WhatNot

Pretty standard list, right?

But if you’re looking for more details, here is a breakdown of my recent experiences with Blowout Cards and Dave & Adam’s.

Blowout Cards

As mentioned above, I was in the market for a 2022 Topps S1 Hobby Jumbo Box. (I actually withdrew $250 from my COMC account and exchanged it for a Blowout Gift Card, which saved me a little but in terms of the withdrawal fee.) Knowing that my only options were going to pre-order, it was a pretty easy decision to simply take some COMC card profits and put it toward the Blowout Gift Card.

Here are the facts along with the timeline of events (keep in mind the slated release date was 2/16/22, so the delay between ordering and shipping was expected).

Subtotal: $214.95
Shipping: Free

• Order Placed 1/20/22
• UPS Ship Notification 2/11/22
• Delivered 2/15/22

Overall, it was a seamless experience, Blowout Cards is legit, and not to mention the card actually arrived one day before the actual release date, which helped make buying a hobby box in this scenario worth it. Here is a quick video of my top pulls:

@ballcardgenius

#Topps Series 1 Jumbo Hobby Box break and review! #sportscards #baseballcards #tradingcards #whereswander #geniusrips

♬ Imperfect Jumbo – DJ BAI

So, when the time comes, and who knows when that might be, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy again from Blowout Cards.

Dave & Adam’s

After I placed the Blowout Cards order, I was content, but then I started thinking more and more about the Wander hype, and was thinking if I could pull something decent of his and sell before the market saturates, I’d have a much better chance at making my money back when compared to other circumstances.

So, I thought I’d give Dave & Adam’s a shot! Here are the facts and timeline of events:

Subtotal: $224.95
Shipping: $22.95 (I upgraded to 2nd day air)

• Order Placed 2/8/22
• UPS Ship Notification 2/12/22
• Delivered TBD

That’s right, unfortunately I never received the box I ordered as it was lost once it made its way to UPS. So, doesn’t seem to be any fault of Dave & Adam’s; just one of those things and I was on the bad luck side of it.

As for the process? Dave & Adam’s was quick to respond and thoughtful in their assistance. Here is the timeline of what transpired after the fact:

• Contacted Customer Service 2/17/22 to let them know box hadn’t arrived
• They responded same-day and contacted UPS. An investigation would take 8-10 business days.
• Investigation concluded 2/23/22 and claim opened
• Dave & Adam’s contacted me 2/23/22 asking if I’d like a reship, refund, or store credit.
• My reship was shipped out same-day, 2/23/22
• Delivered TBD, but should be soon

So, even though the original order never made it, the help and customer service process was smooth as can be. I’ll be sure to come back and update this once the box is in hand.