Top 10 Selling Sports Card and Trading Card Hobby Boxes
Rankings Based on eBay Sales for the Period of October 9 to October 15.
Links in the text below go straight to detailed set profiles or card guides.Â
2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball is still the top set for another week but 2018 Topps Gold Label Baseball is close behind in second. Likely to jump ahead of both very soon is 2018 Topps Update Series Baseball, which finished in third during the period based on pre-sales. 2018 Topps Archives Signature Series Retired Edition makes it an all-baseball top four.
Baseball still has a strong hold on the Hobby box market and does not seem ready to let up with some big MLB sets remaining. Joining the top four sets, 2018 Topps Chrome Baseball earned the sixth spot, 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball took eighth, 2018 Topps Heritage High Number Baseball finished in ninth, and 2018 Topps Fire Baseball closes out the list in 10th.
With eight baseball sets ranking this time, that only left room for two other spots.
Based on pre-sales, 2017-18 Immaculate Collection Basketball was the fifth-best box, while 2018 Panini Illusions Football ended up in seventh.
Review all the recent card sets with the New Release Calendar.
Sports Card and Trading Card Hobby Box Best Sellers
List based on the quantity of completed eBay sales from October 9 to October 15.
*Topps Fire only includes Collector boxes.*
Click on the set names or box images to shop for hobby boxes on eBay
1. 2018 Bowman Chrome Baseball
2. 2018 Topps Gold Label BaseballÂ
3. 2018 Topps Update Series Baseball (based on pre-sales)
4. 2018 Topps Archives Signature Series Retired BaseballÂ
5. 2017-18 Panini Immaculate Collection Basketball (based on pre-sales)
6. 2018 Topps Chrome Baseball
7. 2018 Panini Illusions Football
8. 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball
9. 2018 Topps Heritage High Number Baseball
10. 2018 Topps Fire Baseball *
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Related Topics: New Releases
Lee C. | Jun 4, 2013 | Reply
How about the Top Ten selling Bowman
Autos, Ryan.
Ryan Cracknell | Jun 4, 2013 | Reply
Lee C. » We did something similar a couple weeks back covering the top early sales from the set and a real-time hot list: https://www.cardboardconnection.com/2013-bowman-baseball-hot-list
card geek | Jun 12, 2013 | Reply
Picked up a 2013 Topps Archive booster box and pulled an RGIII jersey card. It has the retro 1962 look. Go Topps!
Scott | Jun 26, 2013 | Reply
I really believe if Panini could get baseball rights they and not Topps would be king of cards. Bolstered by strong customer service versus one that is really hard to even call it that, Panini is outdoing Topps everywhere else. It is unbelievable the horror stories I continue to read everyday on twitter and elsewhere about Topps and what cards they are sending people in place of redemptions when requested by customers. It’s basically thievery and really pathetic. While I do like alot of their baseball stuff and a few others I just can’t get past that. And for over 25 years 95% of my collection was Topps. I think that is what makes me angry about it all.
Mike Smeth | Jun 27, 2013 | Reply
Scott » Wow. I strongly disagree. If Panini had the MLB exclusive rights the hobby I would sell every website and card I won because it would only be a matter of time before they destroyed the hobby’s ecosystem. Topps has managed to create an environment in which they are very careful not to overproduce, thereby decreasing the value of their cards. Panini does the exact opposite – they sell as much as they can but only end up selling a few
Lee C. | Jul 2, 2013 | Reply
Thanks for the link Ryan !
Kevin | Jul 3, 2013 | Reply
Hey Mike, Topps doesn’t over produce? I must be living in another world.
Toshi | Jul 10, 2013 | Reply
To Mike,
Thank you for the insight! I’ve never heard anyone explain in clarity the process that creates a demand in products and the same in prices. If there isn’t one already, of which I’m sure there is, I would love to read a column on the site in regards to this topic! If there is a column, could you leave a link for me?
Thank you,
Toshi
Mike Smeth | Aug 10, 2013 | Reply
Toshi – Thanks for the feedback. We have some existing articles that cover various aspects of this subject, but we have a new section in the works that will take things to a whole new level and provide a combination of guides and real-time, actionable information.
Mike Smeth | Aug 10, 2013 | Reply
Kevin – First let me preface my response with a few things:
A) I’m referring to Topp’s last few years of releases. I can’t speak to before that. And they were just as guilty of overproduction as Upper Deck, Fleer, and Donruss were in the late 80’s/early 90’s.
B) By saying they aren’t overproducing, I mean they do the best job of walking the line between supply and demand. You could certainly argue that they produce too many products, but the marketplace as a whole wants that many products. If they didn’t, Topps wouldn’t make them as they would lose money.
This is not my opinion or my personal preference, nor is it speculation or gossip. I have worked in the industry for the last 5 years, during which time my livelihood has depended on my ability to understand the mechanics and financial intricacies of the sports card industry’s economy. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know and work with dozens and dozens of the Industry’s most influential and successful entrepreneurs and business professionals. I’ve also seen seen market research, dealer, and box breaker case studies that correlate to the that further backed this up.
Overall I think Panini did a very poor job of creating consistently high quality products and an even worse job of forcasting demand for their products from the time they purchased Donruss until this last year. I think they really have begun to round the corner. During the Industry Summit in March they displayed a list of their various products that had sold out. There were around a dozen from what I remember. That still leaves a lot of room for improvement, but the fact that they have acknowledged the problem and appear to be dedicated to continuing to improve in very encouraging and the hobby will be that much better for it.
With all that said, buy the products you enjoy most! My comments aren’t intended to put a damper on anyone’s card collecting fun, but rather to empower each of our readers by giving them as much information and insight as possible so that they get the most for their hobby dollar.
Glenn | Aug 11, 2013 | Reply
I was back collecting in the early 90’s and overload of products made me leave collecting. The unreal rookie football class of last year and the great improvement of the quality of photographs has got me back for more.
I appreciate Mike and all the comments and have a question, will there ever be choices again in our choices of NBA card products?
Brooks Bryant | Aug 16, 2013 | Reply
If yall think Momentum fb is outselling Finest you are CRAZY! Momentum is the worst football product EVER!
Ryan Cracknell | Aug 16, 2013 | Reply
This week Finest will out-sell Momentum, but, as mentioned in the article, the list is based off of sales from Aug. 6-12.
Mike Smeth | Aug 16, 2013 | Reply
Brooks Bryant » And remember, this isn’t some sort of a guessing game where we roll the dice and randomly select products that we like or think should be selling best. The products are ranked based purely off of completed sales data from eBay. So it’s not that we “think” Momentum is outselling Finest. We know it was outselling Finest because… well it outsold Finest. But like Ryan said, it was based off of eBay sales for 8/6 to 8/12.
No doubt that Finest will obliterate Momentum in our next weekly rankings update though so we are in agreement there. Topps’ biggest competition right now is really itself. It will be interesting to see how it does in comparison with Topps Inception Football, not to mention Allen & Ginter and Bowman Inception. Topps has dominated the Top 10 list since we started doing the list. They usually will occupy the top 5-7 results. But there was one week where I think they accounted for 9 of the 10 best selling boxes in the industry.
thomas george | Aug 26, 2013 | Reply
hi my name is thomas george and im a 60 year old disabled man i want to put some card books togeather and give them to sick kids in the hospitals i would like to know if you would like to donate some mixed boxes of cards or some binders and top loaders please email me back im in spokane wa thank you for your time ps im only asking for a one time donation
emeekins | Dec 4, 2013 | Reply
you guys should put together an overall top sales iist for the year..
Richard | Feb 1, 2014 | Reply
I don’t think any of the companies should have exclusive rights to baseball. Topps has always been my favorite for baseball cards but sadly I have to admit this. Since they have had exclusive rights to baseball they have become a huge ripoff.
I am a working stiff and cannot afford huge purchases at this time on jumbo boxes and the like. So far I have been able to buy two blaster boxes of the 2014 Topps from Wal-Mart. While I like the Topps set design very much as always I will say this. Their blaster boxes are a huge rip-off. I did not pull a single individually numbered card out of either and only got two of the new ruby refractors. The inserts I recieved were garbage.
Also, the team selection was horrible. I am a Cubs fan and out of two blaster boxes pulled exactly three Cubs cards all base.
I thought last years Bowman and Topps boxes were a huge rip-off but this year they have definately outdone themselves on that so far. I always loved Topps Cards growing up as a kid but now I must say having exclusive rights to baseball has only caused them to exclusively rip off the small budget collector who buys baseball cards because he loves the hobby.
Get real Topps!! I miss Donruss and Fleer now!!
BMW | Feb 5, 2014 | Reply
In my opinion, Topps did a decent job of inserting some nice “hits” in 2014 series 1 hobby and jumbo packs and boxes.There seems to be a better assortment of high end autographs and autographed relic cards, but you do have to be a little lucky to find the better “case” or the more collectible players that most people want. All of the parallels and different colored borders are a little redundant and aggravating, especially if you purchase retail packs and boxes. It would be nice if topps inserted some more nice hits in retail packs. For the most part, I feel the retail product is kind of crappy; although the hobby boxes are pretty fun to open.
JD | Mar 27, 2014 | Reply
The long story short of it (if you are a TOPPS retail collector) *especially series 1; the ONLY WAY TO BUY RETAIL IS ‘HANGER PACKS’ GUYS – NOT BLASTER BOXES [don’t get me wrong the special inserts *extra card – manufactured rookie patch cards & commemorative patches are nice BUT that’s about all you get with those MASS PRODUCED BOXES….
I have purchased my regular ‘jumbo box’ for “kicks” and to complete the set (which you can by the way buying ‘jumbo’) – just an FYI if your a set collector. Quick summary of 10 hanger boxes [equiv. to a jumbo box price], results are as followed: 1st box right off the gun – SP Sparkle of (148) Chris Sale & (250) Miguel Cabrera #22/50 + a few other nice pulls. Then the results of the other 5 (from different Walmarts btw fellas) were an AUTO of (TA-EG) Evan Gattis, trajectory relic (TR-MT) Mike Trout, walmart retail blue border (1) Mike Trout, 1989 Mini Die-Cut (TM-28) Mike Trout….and then the SP CARDS JUST KEPT FLOWING (the following ALL WERE PULLED FROM HANGER BOXES!!!!)
14 Yoenis Cespedes – spraying champagne
57 Yadier Molina – w/ teammates
148 Chris Sale – sparkle
150 Andrew McCutchen – black jersey
166 Dustin Pedroia – dugout
204 Adrian Gonzalez – near fans
331 Yasiel Puig – hands on hips
375 Adam Wainwright – w/ Molina
475 David Ortiz *Ski Googles
So this is just a summary of some of the ‘nice pulls’ I have received. My God’s honest true, the hanger packs have more variety if you ask me….
Good Luck pulling guys!
Lee C. | May 15, 2014 | Reply
Since when is Star Wars a Sports Box?
Game of Thrones ? Marvel? Please stick with REAL Sports. TY.
Ryan Cracknell | May 15, 2014 | Reply
Lee C. » They’re included as there is a lot of crossover among collectors. There is still plenty of sports on there and on any given week, at least 9 of the slots are sports.
Blowmans... | May 26, 2014 | Reply
Mike, 5 years in the industry is nothing. I’ve chased autographs and been opening different products for almost 30 years now.
Your perception of Topps is not supply/demand..it’s the only one with a official license. And their cost to make card or box or case is so minimal that they could make double the products and people would still buy it up.
As I’ve stated in another post, period, leaf trinity is the best product their is. The idea whomever came up with was genius! Yes it’s expensive which turns off tons of young kids trying to make a fast dollar instead of collecting like it used to be in the idk, 80’s/90’s! Not just pull and look for the best player and throw it up on eBay before someone else does!
I remember in 97 playoff contenders coming out and pulling a quad(non-auto) of sanders/aikman/rison/Deion sanders and being offered $400 the moment I pulled it. I still have it today and would be lucky to get $50 for it. It’s gradeable, which I may do..and see what if any value it adds..as its just been sitting in the same case/container since then.
Period, too many products plus too many inserts/variations means too much of one thing. Heck I bought the Heritage this year and still don’t have a complete base set…the only thing I pulled was a Matt Adams auto & 2 black backs of Adam jones & Todd Frazier & I can’t even get offers on them. And those are supposedly sp of 10? Any confirmation on that by the way?
Either way..they’ve just turned a product like bowman into to many prospects that will never make it to the bigs and added to many colors and autos of those colors…hence too much product and horrible odds of getting someone you, I, anyone prefers. The only ones making money are Topps and case breakers!
Daniel | May 28, 2014 | Reply
On the German version of eBay (ebay.de):
Trading Cards
Sport
American Football (4.646)
Baseball (349)
Basketball (7.961)
Eishockey (20.633) (NHL:12.500)
Fußball (Soccer) (78.500)
78.500 soccer cards compared to 349 baseball cards. There is no market here for baseball cards and I order most of the basketball cards from the US as well.
emeeks | Jul 19, 2014 | Reply
Blowmans..
if the adam jones SP is still around id like to make an offer. please post a link. no comment on the license wars going on other than this; I wish topps had some competition so they couldn’t just rest on their laurels. if, in two years, mlb extends the license, I think you will see tops starts to sweat and change format.
emeeks | Jul 19, 2014 | Reply
and by extend, I mean to other companies. thus, competition for designs, signers, etc.
Stephen Yarmola | Sep 21, 2014 | Reply
Where is the best sellers or top 10 cards
caden | Oct 31, 2014 | Reply
What tips would you have for a new beginner?
Ryan Cracknell | Oct 31, 2014 | Reply
caden » Our How-To section has tons of articles. https://www.cardboardconnection.com/guides/
Buy2Get1Cards | Nov 14, 2014 | Reply
Sure seems like even Action Packed or Pro Set could top the list this week LOL
Maurice | Mar 4, 2015 | Reply
will cards in 2 boxes of NBA HOOPS 2014-2015 the same?
Thanks.
Ryan Cracknell | Mar 4, 2015 | Reply
Maurice » Exactly the same? Probably not. But you will likely have doubles.
Jay Middaugh | Mar 18, 2015 | Reply
Is topps going to do the wrapper redemption for hobby wrappers this year?
Ryan Cracknell | Mar 18, 2015 | Reply
Jay Middaugh » Nothing has been announced. They didn’t do any last year either.
John | Mar 23, 2015 | Reply
I think kris Bryant’s dominant showing so far in spring training has quite a bit to do with 2014 bowman chrome selling a bit better as of late.
Ryan Cracknell | Mar 23, 2015 | Reply
John » Very true.
george | May 1, 2015 | Reply
What does the HTA stand for on the topps hobby box
Ryan Cracknell | May 2, 2015 | Reply
george » Home Team Advantage — just a fancy title for their hobby program.
george | May 3, 2015 | Reply
Maybe you can help me again. I pulled a Derek Jeter card from a box of 2014 topps update. This card is really thick , has a metal frame and has a 50 years stamp in the upper left hand corner. Also on the back is the number 100 like a card number. Also on the front it’s marked 74/75. I can’t figure out what this card is ? Thanks in advance. ..
Ryan Cracknell | May 4, 2015 | Reply
george » It’s a Framed Reprint. The full checklist is here: https://www.cardboardconnection.com/2014-topps-update-series-baseball-cards
Nick | May 22, 2015 | Reply
Can the webmaster delete comments from 2014?
Brent Jackson | May 28, 2015 | Reply
I don’t understand why all the good cards are placed in HOBBY packs? There are a lot more Wal-Mart, target, and other retail stores, than card shops. If you purchase boxes from Wal-Mart or target they are all searched, and a lot are opened by crooks, and resealed. why do they pack cards so the crooks can pick the key cards from boxes, packs, and cases?
John | Jun 26, 2015 | Reply
Thank you for this top ten list. I haven’t seen it in a while. It is always fun to look through.
tracy smith | Sep 30, 2015 | Reply
i amnm trying to find actuall value of cards and not what they have gone for on ebay prices where can i go to find a cards actuall values
Trey Treutel | Sep 30, 2015 | Reply
tracy smith » eBay values are actual values. They are what people are actually paying at any given moment for a specific item.
gary | Feb 3, 2016 | Reply
Trey
i have a 3 year old son and ive started collecting football cards to open when he is older. what is the best cards for me to collect?
should i be buying hoppy boxes? what is the best brand? topps, Panini, Upper Deck?
please help.
gary
Trey Treutel | Feb 3, 2016 | Reply
gary » Hi Gary, shoot me an email and we can discuss the options – trey@cardboardconnection.com
Mike | Mar 25, 2016 | Reply
Just wanted to get your opinion on what are the best baseball and football to buy if you are looking for a specific player and the trying to resell the remainder to make a possible profit?
Chris | Nov 2, 2016 | Reply
I don’t know who on earth thinks Panini is doing a great job making/selling cards. Topps has had the better designed products for years. Yes. Panini DOES have better customer service and a much better social media presence. But their card themselves are terrible and hold absolutely little if any long term value. If you’re smart you wait 6 months plus on Panini products and you’ll be able to get them for half of the original price. It gutted me when they used their huge world cup windfall to buy the football exclusive. I had enjoyed Topps Chrome Football for years. Now I don’t buy any football whatsoever. I guess I should thank Panini for that part as its left me more money for Hockey cards and other collectibles.
Justin Stephens | Mar 26, 2017 | Reply
I collected all sports cards from 89 to 2005. Mainly baseball. In the early 90’s as a young kid i found myself at the card shop almost everyday after school. As i got older i kinda lost interest, but now my 8 year old son is getting into cards. Its really refueld my passion again for trading cards. Ive spent the last few days going through my thousands of cards. My plan is to give them to him when he gets older. I know a good portion of the cards i own were during the junk era. Although my hope is he will pass them down to his kids and maybe they will really be worth something some day.