Can anything actually beat the fun of ripping packs? There’s just something about the thrill of the unknown that keeps collectors coming back again and again.
I’m in Facebook groups where clashes between the “ripping” and “buy singles” groups get heated. No matter how often I decide to move to only buying singles…well, let’s just say that I can’t keep the ripping itch at bay for very long.
When you do rip packs, it’s certainly nice to open the best ones, because (let’s face it) there’s a lot of product out there, and much of it isn’t great.
So, let’s talk about the best football packs to open, divided up into categories!
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6 Best Football Card Packs to Buy
- Best Packs With Cards That Hold Value
- Best Packs to Hold Unopened
- Best Packs for Ripping
- Best Low Cost Option
- Best Packs for Most Cards
- Most Expensive Packs
Note: Hobby box checklists are used for the breakdowns.
1. Best Packs With Cards That Hold Value: Optic
Breakdown:
- Price per Box: $800
- Number of Cards: 80
- Guaranteed Chases: 1 auto, 20 rookies, 10 parallels
- Shop Optic on eBay
Honestly, I’m not totally sure why these are nearly the same cost as prizm, because they won’t have the same amount of #’d parallels, and their version of a silver prizm (holo) doesn’t sell quite as much.
But, Optic is often considered second only to Prizm in mainstream sets, and their rookies certainly hold value for a long time. Keep an eye out for their holo prizms, as well as plenty of other valuable rookie parallels!
In addition to autos and short-printed parallels, keep an eye out for Downtowns. They’re perhaps a top-5 insert across any set and carry a ton of value.
2. Best Packs to Hold Unopened: Prizm
Breakdown:
- Price per Box: $950
- Number of Cards: 144
- Guaranteed Chases: 2 autos, 10 #’d Prizms
- Shop Prizm on eBay
Perhaps the most popular and sought after brand in Football! While it’s obviously expensive, they’re often still a great investment! If you pull any auto or #’d prizm from a top rookie, you’re looking at serious cash
Also, even just their base rookies hold great value. Of course, their silver prizms are perhaps the most sought after card (that’s widely available) in the entire hobby.
And while that $950 seems steep, a deep rookie class can skyrocket the value of the box. For example, here’s a hobby box from 2020:
Of course, Burrow, Herbert, and Tua help this go up in value. I can’t imagine that this box doesn’t go up in value basically forever.
While the main chases in Prizm are usually the silver and #’d prizms, Color Blast and Stained Glass are among the more popular and valuable inserts you can pull in the hobby.
Unfortunately, you won’t find autos for Stroud, Levis, or Young, but you can still find all of their other top parallels and inserts (and those are usually the big chases in Prizm anyway).
3. Best Packs for Ripping: Chronicles
Breakdown:
- Price per Box: $470
- Number of Cards: 48
- Guaranteed Chases: 2 autos, 1 memorabilia, 4 #’d, 6 opti-chrome, 6 acetate
- Shop Chronicles on eBay
If you’ve never ripped these before, well, you’re in for something new! While most brands have the same look and feel, Chronicles has a mix of other brands as well as some updates from other releases as well! In other words, most of the cards look different!
It’s a bit harder to keep track of everything and know what’s a valuable insert/parallel vs what’s just a different brand, but Chronicles does a good job of providing an interesting rip. With plenty of good inserts and parallels (as well as the 2 autos per box), you’ll never be bored ripping Chronicles!
Besides the regular chases (autos, memorabilia, #’d cards), Chronicles doesn’t have a ton. Collectors do like the Prizm Black inserts, especially if they’re silver.
4. Best Low Cost Option: Donruss
Breakdown:
- Price per Box: $310
- Number of Cards: 180
- Guaranteed Chases: 1 auto, 1 memorabilia, 18 Rated Rookies, 12 parallels, 42 inserts
- Shop Donruss on eBay
While low-cost can be relative (in baseball $310 would be on the pricier side), Donruss is one of the more fun boxes to open! With a good number of cards, and lots of fun parallels and inserts, Donruss cards even sell pretty well!
They’re usually one of the first with pro uniform cards, meaning that if you’re quick to market you can still make some decent money.
I once bought 2 blaster for $40, and pulled 2 Mac Jones rookies…back when his cards were on fire. I sold those 2 base rookies for $66! Within a few months they were $3 apiece.
While certainly inexpensive for football cards, Donruss still has highly sought after inserts, such as Night Moves, Gridiron Marvels the extremely popular Downtown!
5. Best Packs for Most Cards: Score
Breakdown:
- Price per Box: $180
- Number of Cards: 400
- Guaranteed Chases: 4 autos, 10 parallels, 36 inserts, and 90 rookies!
- Shop Score on eBay
While Score is seen as a lower end product, it’s still one of the more fun products to rip! With cards at less than $0.50 a pop (which is never seen anymore), it’s especially a great rip for kids who like to add tons of cards to their collection.
Even if all you got were the autos, $45 per isn’t the worst thing either—and Score certainly has their share of numbered cards too! Any of those for a top rookie are going to be worth a decent amount.
Will opening these packs get you a bunch of kindling for your next campfire? Absolutely. But there’s still enough hits in there to make these fun at a cheap price.
In addition, Score has rare inserts, such as Intergalactic and Showtime, that sell well.
6. Most Expensive Packs: Flawless
Breakdown:
- Price per Box: $5,200
- Number of Cards: 10
- Guaranteed Chases: 6 autos, 1-2 gems, 2-3 memorabilia
- Shop Flawless on eBay
Yep, that’s $800 per card! However, if you’re a big game hunter, you’ve come to the right place! These are the best autos in the industry, all on-card, and they look incredible.
Of course, you’re likely not buying this as a personal box—unless you’ve got money coming out your ears and like to gamble. This is a popular break product, as people can pay a fraction of the cost but still have a chance at hitting a big card.
Overall, you don’t come here for ROI. You come here to go big and have the chance at a truly massive card.