You’re looking into ripping some packs…but you’re not sure what all the variations are. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a primer on what a hanger box is and compare them to some of the others out there so you can know what they are!
A hanger box is a retail product of sports cards that is designed to hang on a hook. Typically, inside a hanger box you’ll find a single, large pack of cards (20-30 is normal) wrapped in a see-through plastic wrapping. Many manufacturers like to have “hanger exclusive” parallels or inserts as well.
The hierarchy of retail products typically goes like this:
Cello packs (fat packs) are the cheapest you can usually buy. These are either bigger packs of cards, or have multipacks. Single packs would be the cheapest, but typically retailers don’t sell them like that.
The next cheapest are the hanger boxes, which are cheaper than blasters, and those are cheaper than mega boxes. Often, each of these will have their own exclusive parallels or inserts.
How Much Do Hanger Boxes Cost?
Different retailers have different prices, but there’s one certainty: they’ve gone up in price significantly over the past few years. Typically, Walmart has raised their prices the most, but it’s not exclusive to them for sure.
In many cases, hangers are around the $15 – $20 range (recently, I remember seeing $10 for hangers), and blasters are around $25 – $30.
Of course this is also dependent on product and sport. For example, Topps Series 1 is considered flagship for baseball, but compared with other products and sports, it’s on the cheap end.
On eBay, 2022 Topps Series 1 hangers are selling for about $10:
While those are secondary prices, retailers are getting better at pricing accordingly—meaning higher end boxes like Mosaic are seeing higher prices than something like Topps Series 1.
Are Hanger Boxes Worth It?
Many collectors like to rip hanger boxes because they’re cheaper than a blaster but still give you a decent amount of cards and a decent chance at some hits.
Most places don’t sell individual retail packs these days, so hangers (along with cello packs) are often your cheapest option for ripping.
However, ripping boxes in general is a losing proposition. Probably 90% of the time, if you were to try to sell off your cards immediately, you’re losing money (and sometimes big). I still do it because to me it’s the most fun part of the hobby, and I collect lots of rookies that I’ll hold for a few years and see if they pan out.
The other option is to buy the hangers and keep them unopened (“buy and hold”). If a product becomes highly valued in the future (for example, a few of the rookies become superstars), then you’ll likely have a nice ROI on your hangers.
However, since they are near the bottom of the retail food chain, they’ll never be as highly sought after. They will go up in price if there are major star rookies to chase, but not as much as a hobby box with guaranteed autos or numbered cards.
Where Can You Buy Hanger Boxes?
About a year ago, I’d tell you that you could only get them for about 5 seconds after they’re dropped on Target.com.
But today (for better or worse), a lot more product is available on the shelves, and many products last longer online.
I say for better because people love that they can pick up product more easily to rip. However, the downside is still this:
- The best stuff still gets picked up fast (Prizm, Optic)
- More products are available because prices are up
- Print runs are much higher, which is another reason people can find them.
I don’t think print runs are ruining the hobby (like some people do). I think the demand is there to support it, and that demand will only increase in the future (just read my article called Is it True That Sports Cards Are Back? to get my full breakdown as to why).
Yes, print runs are too high for crap products that no one wants (like Chronicles Draft Picks), but as a whole, there’s a decent balance between high-end stuff being hard to get, with lower-end stuff being fairly widely available to people who just want to collect.
If everyone could just walk up to a shelf, pick up 10 boxes of Prizm and resell it for 5x online…well that’s not even a plausible scenario because they wouldn’t have an increased value on the secondary market!
What is the Difference Between Cellos, Hangers, Blasters, and Megas?
These are the main four retail products that are offered:
- Cellos – The cheapest retail product, these are often called fat packs. This means you either get a single pack with extra cards, or a multipack of cards. Depending on product, you can find these at stores for around $10-$15
- Hangers – These are also a single pack of cards, but they’re packaged up inside a box that can hang for display. You’ll often get more cards out of a hanger than a cello, and often have sought after exclusive parallels. Sometimes they can have exclusive inserts, but you’ll typically see different parallels.
- Blasters – These are the standard box of cards with packs inside them. Often, these will run $25 – $35 (sometimes more at the stores…sometimes WAY more online if it’s sought after). How many cards you get inside these is totally dependent on the product. Some blasters have 88 cards, but some higher end ones will only have 24 cards or so (but nearly all of them will be a rookie, parallel, or insert).
- Megas – The most expensive yet most highly sought after of the retail products. In my experience, the extra price is worth it. Some of these have guaranteed autos, and some have guaranteed numbered parallels (like NFL Prestige in the past has had 5 numbered parallels and 1 auto per mega). However if you can find these on the shelf, they’re often $60. I’ve had luck finding Mosaic on Target.com for $50.
