Shopping at a big box store like Target or Wal-Mart you probably know exactly where the card section is. Usually they are at the beginning or the end of the checkout lanes and registers. These card sections are usually divided into two sections, one half being sports and the other TCGs (trading card games like Magic the Gathering or Pokemon cards). Aside from the sea of blaster boxes and retail hits, there may be some retail exclusives such as Panini’s Prestige, a basketball card only available at Target or the secondary market. However, you may also see boxes or packages of cards that promise a certain amount of sports cards or number of packs. The secondary company buys cards or packs directly from the manufacture or retail stores, then repackages the cards and resells them under this new package. This is called repackaging and my fans on Twitter have asked for my opinion on the matter.
I rarely shop at Wal-Mart and avoid it as best I can because I do not like the company and every time I’m there I feel trashy and in need of a shower after I leave. I prefer Target, mostly because I feel as if it is white collar Wal-Mart; I don’t feel gritty when I leave. I just prefer the atmosphere and style of Target, but if you prefer Wal-Mart over Target that is perfectly fine. Okay you caught me, I prefer Target because they have a much better card section and selection in my opinion. Since I rarely go to Wal-Mart I cannot speak much of their repackaging deals. I assume they are there but I haven’t seen any. Instead, I went to Target and purchased a few of their repackaging offerings.
Target’s biggest supplier of repackaged cards comes from a company called the “The Fairfield Co”. They offer the following deals, 100 assorted cards for about $5, a box that has 4 unopened packs and 50 cards for around $8, a box of 10 unopened packs from various sets and years for about $10, a box that guarantees one jersey or game used relic and 3 unopened packs for $10, another box that guarantees one autographed card and 4 unopened packs, and a box that guarantees 20 unopened packs and well…what I thought was supposed to be a guaranteed hit, however they changed it to a bonus item for $20. I believe they offer these packages in the four big major sports: baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. Some of these offerings are also available in auto racing/ NASCAR. I bought a $20 box of baseball and a $10 relic promise of baseball and will be discussing it below. I wanted hockey but they didn’t have any.
Who is the Fairfield Company anyways? Aside from a company that checks their social media pages about once a year, they are “the leading sports repackaging company in the industry with a focus on value oriented products” at least according to their Facebook page. (which they last posted something to in January of 2014. Their last tweet was December of 2014 and before that January of 2014). The company is based out of Des Moines, Iowa and according to the box they are a division of Excell Marketing. Whether or not they are actually the leading sports repackaging company or they arbitrarily gave themselves this title I am unsure of. I have never seen their packages or offerings outside of a Target. Never have I seen them at a Wal-Mart or hobby shop. It is quite possible they have a deal with Target where they can only be sold exclusively sold there.
I often do not bother buying or looking at the deals of the 100 assorted cards or the 4 packs with 50 cards. I have maybe purchased one each a while ago just to see what was inside. The 100 assorted cards will often feature two big names on the outside or some rookies or inserts and the same on the back. In mine anyways there were a lot of worthless base cards from the 80s and a few from the 21st century. Baseball cards from the 1980s were so overproduced that most are not worth the stock they were printed on. My expectations for a package where each card only cost a nickel were slim, however. However, someone on Twitter bought a basketball one as the front facing card was a rookie of Celtics Hall of Famer Kevin McHale from 1981. As for the next package the 4 packs and 50 cards, two packs were from less than two years ago, the other two from the 80s or early 90s and same for the 50 cards. I have purchased a few of the $10 boxes for $10 packs as $1 a pack is hard to argue with. Furthermore, these along with their bigger brother (the $20 for 20 packs) usually have a featured pack facing the outside of the box. Sometimes these are even hobby packs, which is unheard of for retail repackages. I bought one of these a while ago and I wasn’t too disappointed. All the packs were from 2007 to 2014 and while I did not get any hits, I got some nice inserts and rookies.
Let’s look at the $10 box where you get a guaranteed hit and 3 packs. The one I purchased today (February 28, 2015) contained the following: a retail pack of 2014 Topps Chrome, a retail pack of 2014 Topps Series 2, and a 24 pack of 2014 Topps Opening Day. My hit was a 2003 Upper Deck A Piece of History 500 Club Bat Relic of Rafael Palmerio. The hit card comes in a white envelope and seems in great condition. About two months ago, I purchased a $12 box where you get guaranteed autograph and 4 unopened packs, inside I was thoroughly impressed. I pulled a 2010 Topps Chrome hard autograph (autograph is on the card and not a sticker attached to the card) rookie of Ryan Lavarnaway but my packs were 2014 Topps Opening Day, 2013 Panini Prizm, 2014 Topps Allen & Ginter, and 2014 Topps Series 2. Inside these packs I pulled a David Wright blue refractor #/2014, Jose Abreu rookie from Allen & Ginter, and the Prizm pack contained 3 rookies out of 4 cards including a Manny Machado and LJ Hoe, both of which were Target exclusive Red Prizm. I have never purchased a football or basketball box from these options, however someone on Twitter claimed to have pulled a Drew Brees film cell memorabilia card from the football version of the $10 guaranteed hit from a box numbered 1/10. I know I have actually pulled hits from the packs inside these cards in addition to the one promised, most notably a jersey relic of Magglio Ordonez from 2007 Allen & Ginter (it even had the pinstripe).
Now we come to the $20 box where you get $20 packs. Up until today (February 28, 2015) these boxes to me had always come with a guaranteed hit. It was a really good deal as you got promised a hit and 20 packs for $1 a pack. Occasionally they would contain one hobby pack and 3-4 packs from the same set, all retail. They varied in years from the 80s to present day. I remember one baseball box in which I pulled an Alex Rodriguez bat relic card /500 from when he played on the Texas Rangers inside one of the repacks. The box I bought today broke down as the following: 3 packs of 2014 Topps Heritage, 1 Heritage rack pack, 3 2014 Topps Series 1, 2013 Panini Prizm, 2 2007 Topps Series 2 (target exclusives), 2 2014 Topps Allen & Ginter, 4 Panini Triple Plays, 3 2014 Topps Opening Day, and 1 2014 Bowman. Combined with the $10 box from above (33 assorted packs) I pulled 12 rookies, 3 numbered cards all numbered/ 2014, 3 short prints/variations, and 22 inserts. I was not a fan of the Triple Plays as these are catered to little kids and are mostly stickers and temporary tattoos and have a real cartoony look to them. My favorite pulls from the packs were the Mickey Mantle inserts from 2007 Topps Series 2 and the James Paxton blue rookie /2014. As for my hit…drumroll please….I pulled a package of Teenymates. These are mini figures that are smaller than Lego people. One was for the Angles and other the Rays and there were two puzzle pieces inside too.
At a point unknown to me the Fairfield Co switched up these $20 boxes and the bonus that comes inside. From a hockey box I purchased at the beginning of the year, it clearly states on the box “now includes one hit per box” and on the side of the box it reads “This packaged is guaranteed to contain 20 manufactured packs plus one hit. A hit maybe an autograph, memorabilia, game used or manufactured patch card.” However my baseball box from today (February 28, 2015) reads on the bottom “now includes bonus item” and the side of the box reads as follows “This package is guaranteed to contain 20 manufactured packs plus one bonus item.” Bonus item is about as clear as it sounds. They do not even define what a bonus item means or could be. Had I known it included these tiny figures, I wouldn’t have purchased the box. I get that it is even cheaper for them to include these things than a hit, but it marks the first time in over 10 years of collecting I have never pulled a hit from a $20 box. I recall in my earlier years of collecting, I purchased one of these $10 boxes of baseball that guarantees a jersey card. I did not get a hit and was upset. I returned it to Target and the manager not only offered to exchange it asked for my contact info. I thought nothing much of it but about a month later, I received a package from the Fairfield Company. Inside was a personal letter of apology from the CEO, another box, and a jersey card of Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers.
So what do I think about these repackaging deals, at least those offered by The Fairfield Co? Overall I think they are decent. As most retail packs sell between $2 and $4 a pack, getting packs for $1 retail or hobby is always nice and as of late they seem to have phase out the garbage from the 80s and 90s and replaced it with packs from the past decade. When you break it down to price per card, you are probably paying somewhere between a nickel or dime per card depending on the number of cards per pack for the assorted cards, 4 packs and 50 cards, and $20 box. It probably gets closer to $1 or more per card in the $10 box and the guaranteed hits. Really what it comes down to are your collecting needs/wants. If your pack opening fingers are itchy or you looking to amass a large number of cards rather quickly, these are arguably the best deal available. However, if you are a hit hunter and are interested in just those, these are okay. The package of the one guaranteed autograph card per box features pictures of autographed cards from Mike Trout and Sandy Koufax. Now, I have never bought one of these expecting such a pull but my general experience the hits have been really basic hits of big names or rather intricate hits of no name players. Not saying it is impossible to pull such a name in these boxes, but realistically it probably will never happen, unless it is in one of the retail packs. If I had $20 to spend and wanted hits, I’d probably go buy grab bags or hot packs at my local hobby shop or eBay. Overall, I find it rare when I can complain about these deals. While you may not break even or pull the card of your career from these, you can’t complain for the value.
Got your own thoughts about repackaging? Have any repackaging stories you’d like to share with me? Any amazing hits from the Fairfield Co or another repackaging company you’d like to show me? Tweet them at me @LWOSGabeWeeden and don’t forget to follow me. You can also email me at [email protected].
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