2023-24 Optic Blasters

[Jwax13]

Originally Posted by Jwax13

Did I win?

Car rip to psa 10 pipeline

[maj78]

Okay, here's a recap on ripping 24 retail boxes. I've ripped every format except for hobby this year and these were my favorite. The price point at $120 is a little scary but the potential is there to do pretty well. I opened these 24 for the same price as 6 hobby boxes. Out of 24 boxes the breakdown was:

- 44 Red Velocity /299 (Brandon Miller & Amen Thompson best two)
- 8 Blue Inserts /85 (Luka My House was the best - cool color match)
- 1 Black 1/1 (Jared Vanderbilt)
- 6 autos (all scrubs)
- 3 Checkerboard (all scrubs)

Also hit a holo Wemby and purple Wemby so those helped.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by maj78

Okay, here's a recap on ripping 24 retail boxes. I've ripped every format except for hobby this year and these were my favorite. The price point at $120 is a little scary but the potential is there to do pretty well. I opened these 24 for the same price as 6 hobby boxes. Out of 24 boxes the breakdown was:

- 44 Red Velocity /299 (Brandon Miller & Amen Thompson best two)
- 8 Blue Inserts /85 (Luka My House was the best - cool color match)
- 1 Black 1/1 (Jared Vanderbilt)
- 6 autos (all scrubs)
- 3 Checkerboard (all scrubs)

Also hit a holo Wemby and purple Wemby so those helped.

[anusinha]

Originally Posted by Boo

At around $3000, and assuming all the Wembys gemmed.... that would still be about a 50% loss.

[njsportscardguy]

Originally Posted by maj78

Okay, here's a recap on ripping 24 retail boxes. I've ripped every format except for hobby this year and these were my favorite. The price point at $120 is a little scary but the potential is there to do pretty well. I opened these 24 for the same price as 6 hobby boxes. Out of 24 boxes the breakdown was:

- 44 Red Velocity /299 (Brandon Miller & Amen Thompson best two)
- 8 Blue Inserts /85 (Luka My House was the best - cool color match)
- 1 Black 1/1 (Jared Vanderbilt)
- 6 autos (all scrubs)
- 3 Checkerboard (all scrubs)

Also hit a holo Wemby and purple Wemby so those helped.

Any chance that (at least) one of them were of either/or/both

Usman Garuba
Sam Merrill

...??

'Cause, between the boatload of Prizm, Select & Optic retail I've ripped, I've pulled FIVE....Usman Garuba autos, and THREE (maybe, four?) Merrill autos!

[wxguy44]

Originally Posted by maj78

Okay, here's a recap on ripping 24 retail boxes. I've ripped every format except for hobby this year and these were my favorite. The price point at $120 is a little scary but the potential is there to do pretty well. I opened these 24 for the same price as 6 hobby boxes. Out of 24 boxes the breakdown was:

- 44 Red Velocity /299 (Brandon Miller & Amen Thompson best two)
- 8 Blue Inserts /85 (Luka My House was the best - cool color match)
- 1 Black 1/1 (Jared Vanderbilt)
- 6 autos (all scrubs)
- 3 Checkerboard (all scrubs)

Also hit a holo Wemby and purple Wemby so those helped.

what's the black 1/1 look like?

[maj78]

Originally Posted by njsportscardguy

Any chance that (at least) one of them were of either/or/both

Usman Garuba
Sam Merrill

...??

'Cause, between the boatload of Prizm, Select & Optic retail I've ripped, I've pulled FIVE....Usman Garuba autos, and THREE (maybe, four?) Merrill autos!

Ha - no not those guys but that caliber. To those saying "50% loss" I piece everything out on eBay and enjoy doing it in my spare time. There are tons of $3-5 and $8-10 cards and even a few $15-$30 cards in this break so it won't near be a 50% loss but it will still probably be a loss. I invest in index funds and real estate for investments, not cards. Cards are my hobby that I sometimes make a few bucks on and sometimes lose. Hopefully that is understandable.

[maj78]

Originally Posted by wxguy44

what's the black 1/1 look like?

I'll upload a photo later this afternoon. Very sharp-looking. It's just like a blue or red; all black border with 1 of 1 on back.

[yiguiri2002]

I'm shocked at the lack of autos/checkerboard. I would think you'll get one per box but it's less than 1 every 2 boxes? Ouch

Anyway, thanks for the breakdown.

[maj78]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

I'm shocked at the lack of autos/checkerboard. I would think you'll get one per box but it's less than 1 every 2 boxes? Ouch

Anyway, thanks for the breakdown.

Sure - happy to provide a breakdown. I thought some might find it useful. I pulled 4 autos in the first 8 boxes then 2 out of the next 16 - ha! The auto lineup is pretty brutal so not too concerned about the autos. The checkerboards, however, have been super difficult for me this year. I've pulled a total of 7 this year out of an insane amount of Optic I've opened. I've also only hit 2 Phazes out of everything I've opened and none out of the 24 retail boxes.

[mc1]

Checkerboard PR is what, about 40-60 the past few years? If they are inserted across all retail and panini increased overall run then they would be harder to hit than in previous years.

[maj78]

Opened a few more retail boxes last night and hit this. Obviously not one of the top rookies but pretty cool to pull a true black 1/1 Rated Rookie out of retail.





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[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by maj78

Opened a few more retail boxes last night and hit this. Obviously not one of the top rookies but pretty cool to pull a true black 1/1 Rated Rookie out of retail.





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Nice!

[bustsomewax]

Originally Posted by maj78

Opened a few more retail boxes last night and hit this. Obviously not one of the top rookies but pretty cool to pull a true black 1/1 Rated Rookie out of retail.





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He actually might have an expanded role next year. Nice hit!

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[auctionjmm]

Originally Posted by maj78

Ha - no not those guys but that caliber. To those saying "50% loss" I piece everything out on eBay and enjoy doing it in my spare time. There are tons of $3-5 and $8-10 cards and even a few $15-$30 cards in this break so it won't near be a 50% loss but it will still probably be a loss. I invest in index funds and real estate for investments, not cards. Cards are my hobby that I sometimes make a few bucks on and sometimes lose. Hopefully that is understandable.

Very few folks who bash ROI have any idea what the true ROI is when you actually try. They see your top hits and throw out a random number of what they think the lot is worth. But they ALWAYS ignore the $3-$30 stuff, the complete sets, the player lots, etc.

I'm in the same boat as you and although not an investment, it is a business for me. I have no problem bulk breaking volume-heavy products and earning a decent return most of the time. A few losers on my spreadsheets but most of my spreadsheets are in the black right now for 2024.

[maj78]

Originally Posted by auctionjmm

Very few folks who bash ROI have any idea what the true ROI is when you actually try. They see your top hits and throw out a random number of what they think the lot is worth. But they ALWAYS ignore the $3-$30 stuff, the complete sets, the player lots, etc.

I'm in the same boat as you and although not an investment, it is a business for me. I have no problem bulk breaking volume-heavy products and earning a decent return most of the time. A few losers on my spreadsheets but most of my spreadsheets are in the black right now for 2024.

Great post! You've been super-helpful to me whenever I've had questions. As far as I'm concerned, you are the gold standard when it comes to doing your homework and knowing what products you can make money on by selling sets, player lots, etc. Optic retail is not a product you can consistently make money on but since it's my favorite product I can at least offset a large percentage of the cost of ripping by selling the way I do on eBay.

It's funny, my 13 year old son opens with me most of the time and he gets frustrated when he doesn't hit something huge...while I'm over there getting excited at every little $3-10 card knowing how easy they are to sell on eBay. They add up quickly. Quick example: the first week Optic retail was out I sold a Holo Splash Curry on eBay for $15. I'm not sure what most people do with such a card. Do they just put it in a box where it will be worth $2-3 dollars after the first few weeks of release? Do they throw it away? Either way, I know most people either don't have the time or they don't have the desire to do it that way and that's okay. I just happen to enjoy it.

[patchgenie]

picked up a retail box. will post what I get when it comes in.

[Slvnumber2]

Sounds like the consensus is ROI for blasters is better than Mega boxes? Also, what are the best colors/#’d cards that can be pulled from blasters. Thanks in advance for the help.

[jhssketchcards]

Man, I guess I should have grabbed all 12 I saw at Academy today


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[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by Slvnumber2

Sounds like the consensus is ROI for blasters is better than Mega boxes? Also, what are the best colors/#’d cards that can be pulled from blasters. Thanks in advance for the help.

what exactly led you to believe that was the consensus?

[Slvnumber2]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

what exactly led you to believe that was the consensus?

Just reading some of the threads on here. Thank you for the help and great insight!

[maj78]

Originally Posted by Slvnumber2

Just reading some of the threads on here. Thank you for the help and great insight!

If you go back and read his previous posts Spaceman does an excellent breakdown showing Mega Boxes are the way to go with Optic this year. I personally prefer the Walmart Megas over Target; mainly because in Walmart Megas you can hit Orange Hyper /99 in addition to Blue Seismic /249. Target Megas only have the Blue Seismic/249.

Blaster's aren't bad though. There are more numbered options in blasters than any other format. You can get Copper Glitter /99, Red Glitter /75 and Blue Glitter /15. You can also get inserts /149 in Lime Green or Gold /10. I didn't open many blasters this year and still pulled a Gold /10 Olajuwon Winner Stays Insert and a Lime Green /149 Brandon Miller White Hot Rookies. Imagine pulling a Gold My House Wemby out of a blaster! I think a poster a few pages back pulled a Blue Glitter Wemby /15 out of a blaster.

I know people complain about the prices of retail continuing to climb but I don't remember there being this many numbered cards in Optic Retail in a long time...maybe ever.

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by maj78

Opened a few more retail boxes last night and hit this. Obviously not one of the top rookies but pretty cool to pull a true black 1/1 Rated Rookie out of retail.





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damn...I think you win

[arem]

Just opened an Optic Retail box, numbered cards were Max Christie and Cam Whitmore, both /299. Also pulled 2 Wemby inserts, 8 other assorted inserts (nothing exciting), and 13 RR’s (no Wemby, Miller, or Scoot). I PC NY Knicks stuff and there were only 2 Knicks in the whole box, one of which isn’t on the team anymore. Thems the breaks, it was still fun!

[Slvnumber2]

Originally Posted by maj78

If you go back and read his previous posts Spaceman does an excellent breakdown showing Mega Boxes are the way to go with Optic this year. I personally prefer the Walmart Megas over Target; mainly because in Walmart Megas you can hit Orange Hyper /99 in addition to Blue Seismic /249. Target Megas only have the Blue Seismic/249.

Blaster's aren't bad though. There are more numbered options in blasters than any other format. You can get Copper Glitter /99, Red Glitter /75 and Blue Glitter /15. You can also get inserts /149 in Lime Green or Gold /10. I didn't open many blasters this year and still pulled a Gold /10 Olajuwon Winner Stays Insert and a Lime Green /149 Brandon Miller White Hot Rookies. Imagine pulling a Gold My House Wemby out of a blaster! I think a poster a few pages back pulled a Blue Glitter Wemby /15 out of a blaster.

I know people complain about the prices of retail continuing to climb but I don't remember there being this many numbered cards in Optic Retail in a long time...maybe ever.

Thank you for the info and great breakdown. Appreciate the help and details.