When I’ve been opening packs recently I’ve been thinking about how I can better judge what’s a good pack and what’s a bad pack. Obviously those judgments are subjective. You might not even like the look of the cards you are opening. But I’m thinking more about what’s in the actual pack. I’m going to start something for myself I’m going to call:
Pack vs. Pack will be a way for me to judge different packs I open based on what’s in it, not just what it looks like. By no means do I think I am making up this idea myself. I know someone’s done something like this before. Plus its also got a little bit of a “Pack War” vibe (a Pack War with myself). If you think there’s something I missed or you have something I should add, feel free to comment.
I’ve Got New Rules, I Count ‘Em
Apologies to Dua Lipa…. I have teen and pre-teen daughters so I know who that is.
My rules for scoring a pack are going to be based on three things: Card Types, Player Types, and Other Types. But each of those types will compound on each other. We’ll look at an example later, but for now, here are the types and scoring.
Card Types
These are simple. This type covers Base, Inserts, Number, Relic and Autographed cards.
- Base: 0 Pts
- Insert: 1 Pt
- Parallel: 1 Pt
- Short Print: 3 Pts
- Super Short Print: 5 Pts
- Numbered 500+: 1 Pt
- Numbered 251-499: 2 Pts
- Numbered 151-250: 3 Pts
- Numbered 51-150: 5 Pts
- Numbered 11-50: 10 Pts
- Numbered 1-10: 15 Pts
- Relic: 8 Pts
- Autograph: 12 Pts
Obviously the points are a arbitrary right now. I think it really depends on what you are looking for from a pack. I’m also not accounting for dual or triple relic or autographs, but I think my plan will be to compound the score based on the number. So for instance, a triple autograph would be 36 points. I have never pulled such a card because I don’t buy product like that (and I am not that lucky), but it’s an example. In the end, I think as long as I am applying the same rules to the packs I am looking at at that time, then it should be fair between packs.
I don’t know how well the Short Prints and the Super Short Prints fit in there, but they have to be considered. I don’t think company tells you how “short printed” they are in the production ever so it’s hard to classify them into the numbered section.
Player Types
This is where I will have to have a more subjective feel to it. I don’t want to be too much of a stickler with some of these terms. But I also want to add in an element that makes one pack better for me than it might be for you.
- Common: 0 Pts
- Favorite Team: 1 Pt
- Star: 1 Pt
- All-Star: 2 Pts
- Hall of Famer: 5 Pts
My favorite team is probably different than yours, so this is our first element that makes the scoring slightly different depending on who opens the pack. With regard to who is a Star and who is an All-Star, I don’t want to have to go look up who made an All-Star in their career. But then with the way that each team has to be represented in the All-Star Game, is every All-Star really an All-Star even… No.
So here’s how I think about this…. All-Stars are obvious. They are the best players in the game: Kershaw, Trout, Harper, Bryant, Rizzo, Cabrera, Cano, etc. They are the guys you draft in the top of your fantasy league. The Stars are better known players, but maybe not the best guys. I would categorize guys like Todd Frazier, Chris Davis, Dee Gordon, and Ender Inciarte like this. They are guys whose name you recognize, but not at the top of their position. Maybe they’ve made a few All-Star teams, but they aren’t perennial All-Stars.
I’m not looking for an argument from anyone here. I want you to think about it for yourself as you open the packs. This essentially looking at what might be a more important card to me over another.
Other Types
Right now this is where I’m putting rookie and future stars. Just thinking about Topps cards the score is as follows:
- Rookie: 1 Pt
- Rookie Cup: 1 Pt
- Future Star: 1 Pt
Lots of people want rookies, but these days they throw so many in there that you can really get a good idea of who is actually going to stick around. It seems like a crapshoot. But you have to add something for those guys that get the recognition in a card.
Now Add Them Up
So let’s look at an example that I’m going to make up. Here’s an example of a pack that could be opened (all cards are base unless otherwise mentioned):
- Miguel Cabrera
- Billy Hamilton
- Ian Happ Future Stars
- Max Fried
- Sean Manea
- Zach Granite Topps Salute Insert
- Jose Reyes Gold Parallel
- Philadelphia Phillies Team Card
- Marcel Ozuna
- Rick Porcello
- Matt Joyce
I’m going to go through each type and look at how I’m scoring it:
Card Types:
- Insert: 1 (Granite)
- Parallel: 1 (Reyes)
Player Types:
- Favorite Team: 1 (Reyes)
- Stars: 3 (Hamilton, Happ, Porcello)
- All-Stars: 4 (Cabrera, Ozuna)
Other Types:
- Rookie: 2 (Fried, Granite)
- Future Stars: 1 (Happ)
You can see how the Granite card is a rookie, but it’s also an insert so it scores 2 points. That’s what I mean about these rules compounding and building on top of each other.
So from all that, this pack scores a 13. I really have no idea how that compares to anything at this point. But now we could open another pack of 2018 Topps and see how it compares. Or maybe we open a pack of 2016 Topps or 1988 Donruss and see how things compare. With 1988 Donruss you would miss out on inserts (those puzzles tho), but you’d gain in Hall of Famers.
I’ll be applying this to some packs in the near future and see how it goes. If you have any additional ideas to add into this let me know.