2022 topps fat packs slim packs
 

Forgive my lack of knowledge of modern cards

However i noticed 2022 topps cards at walmart...some packs appeared 'thicker' than others. I bought those and understand there are 'dummy' blank inserts in other modern backs but figured those have a better chance to have some inserts. There indeed were some nominal inserts cards in those.

I then did search for 2022 topps sellers and noticed the term 'fat' packs.

Thus do the skinny packs ever have anything more than the base cards? If not isnt it worth it to just get fat packs hand picked then buying random boxes even at retail.


Also being slow to the world of modern , i remember hearing about fights or issues with stores putting out packs, are people fighting over the 'thicker' backs the reason for these issues at least for some of them?>

Fat pack is a term to denote the larger packs, large in count of cards. Usually these are retail only packs and distinct from the hobby jumbo packs.

What you seem to be talking about is searching packs to try and ID the one with a thicker insert, by picking a pack that is thicker or weighs more. Many of these picks are thicker because of thicker blank ‘cards’ put into packs to try and discourage this practice. Many of us frown on this behavior and the people who take the packs they may profit on and leave nothing but junk to other shoppers, ruining the odds for anyone else.

right but all the packs arent 'thick'. So what would be the point of buying the skinny packs. Not so sure you can frown on behavior for someone when there are 4 thick packs to just buy the skinny one.

The companies just need to put in 'blank' thick cards in EVERY pack and problem solved.

A 'skiny' pack can still contain the autograph card that is the main pull.

The vast majority of hobbyists frown on the pack weighers, searchers and feelers that raid retail supplies and ruin it for everyone else. Most are not going to advise about the most efficient ways of doing it. If you want to do it, knock yourself out.

I think you are missing the point and focused on the dummy cards, what was said is that “fat packs” denote quantity of cards (36) and skinny or normal packs have only 16. These are totally different items.

The name has absolutely nothing to do with weight or thickness over another of the same exact product.

If the seller is stating there is a special pull card in the pack it is called a “hot pack”.

No i am talking about the boxes of packs at stores...same price...same amount of cards..though i think the pack says isays 17-22 cards or some numbers like that with a range....same price....why buy the noticeably skinnier packs from the same box/same price...if the special cards are only in the 'fatter' packs...one person said the autos could still be in the skinny packs so theres value in both..

thus if skinnier packs are as valuable as the fat packs in the same box/same price then problem is solved.....and no issue of anyone picking out the fatter packs since the skinnier ones may the most valuable


Again its the same box at walmart...same prices...but you visually see a much greater width in some of packs.

if a skiny packs can be the main pull that there would be zero issue of someone pulling out the thicker packs..yet people are saying its 'frowned' upon...

why not make all the packs the same size...with dummy inserts in them all....its just silly with different widths in the same box of cards..same price ...

A fat pack is an actual type of pack that holds more cards than a base retail pack and costs more, exclusive too retail.

A pack that is thicker than other packs that are the same type of pack has 1) a thicker insert card like a relic or 2) a dummy fake insert.

Thickness is one of the several ways pack searchers try to find the good packs, so they can leave mostly junk for everyone else and maybe make a few bucks. It is heavily frowned on by most people. Not many are going to give advice on how to best search packs for profit.

Thickness can help ID a relic, it won't ID most auto's as they are the same size as a base card.

If you want to search packs and be the scumbag with a scale trying to make $4 off a relic at Target so some kid can't get it, go right ahead and be that guy.

OK so forget the fat pack terminology, will go with thicker.

i asked a simple question, it was whether the skinnier packs had an extra value versus the thicker/wider packs which have dummy inserts but also real inserts...the question was why would someone want to pick up the same price skinnier packs....it wasnt about how to search etc....

it appears the answer is the skinnier packs also can contain bonus cards..unless i misunderstood...thats all i was asking.....

if the skinner packs didnt have any extras, i didnt understand why someone would pick the skinnier packs....again same box/same price cards...

so you will go and take all the skinny packs to make $10 dollars so some kid can't get it? And leave just the thicker packs for the kids and everyone else.....


again it was just a question...its VERY noticeable when there are 10 packs in a box..and 3 of them are 3x thicker..i just asked a question.....

Okay, got it. Yes it was simply the wrong terminology you were using as "fat pack" is a completely differing item. I can roll with "thicker pack", lol.

To be honest, just as G1911 is stating, complete twits bring postal scales to the store and weigh each pack searching for small gram differences to ID inserts. If each and every pack had a dummy this would pull this safety out of the equation and each pack should again weigh the same. Mixing it up, throws at least a partial wrench is the way of the scammer.

For every action, a scam artist looks for a way. Just as the greatest losses at any grocery store comes from the self checkout lanes as the untoward weigh steaks as bananas and have false UPC codes on wrist bracelets the changes will evolve.

To put it simply, the companies try...some a**holes beat them, some do not. Personally I think the pack thickness makes zero difference and ignore completely.

Sealed boxes in the only way to go for me. This scamming goes well into the LCS market as well and has been going on since the Jordan collation of an unopened 1986 Fleer box was well known in the industry.

gotcha...still it would be very easy to make dummy or insert cards in every pack to weigh the same....its just strange to see the same packs in the same box for sale and same price and one pack is 3x thicker...

They did put a dummy insert in each pack at one time. Maybe that got too expensive?
There was also a stretch where the packs with thicker inserts contained fewer cards overall so if the normal count was 15 and the special inserts were three cards thick the pack only got 12 cards.

That led to people thumbing the packs, looking for ones where part of the stack wouldn't fan out. They found the inserts, but usually damaged all the other cards....

In actuality, it would be very easy to make the dummy cards weigh the same...but not the hits. Some have just jersey fabric, some shoe soles, patches, buttons, or ect. These can be all over, I think it would help the weigher's to add the dummies to them all as the gram differences would be easier to comp.

Hell, I have seen idiots using stud finders and small metal detectors to locate the foil autos and cards in the past in skinny packs. It's a constant battle and then when you actually find one the corners are trashed from the "pack feelers" molesting the poor pack for any wins too.

I can't imagine being a kid and the Simpson's Comic Book Guy has taken every chance for a win at 6 am when they opened.

I remember that was when they had an RF chip on those dummies to avoid theft also. A simple app can find those and you know to just set it down and go for the one without.

I have opened packs with chips. I have also opened packs with 4 inserts in a skinny pack. Haven't got a relic, although I have opened thick packs with no dummy? Seems randomized to some extent.

Everyone has always searched retail somewhat. If you picked up a 74 cello with Jon Matlack on top and there was a Nolan Ryan the next row under, what are you gonna say, "Well, the next guy got lucky"?

I think you really can't count cello packs, we all know that the last in the box always had Joe Shlabotnik on the front. Wax searching was a bit more suspect, especially when it was done by a shop owner prior to putting the box out.

It was completely tasteless and 99.9% Fleer's fault that it was impossible to pull a Jordan as the dealers could open the box and pull them with no effort in most situations due to some of the worst collation in history. Which is also why buying sealed 86' Fleer single packs is nuts.

I still have a large group of scalded wax wrappers from my childhood LCS from good ol' Elliot using an iron to reseal them. Classy dude.

Each year I buy a Topps series 1 and 2 pack and an update pack ( as well as a Heritage base and high series pack) to keep with that year's set I try to avoid "fat", "thick" and "hot" packs because I do not care what is in them. But it is sometimes tough to find packs that sellers don't deem "hot". And I myself do not know one from the other. Maybe I need or hire Justin and G as an agent for such purchases :)

Before Fleer went under in the early 2000's you could easily find the hit in a new retail box if you were the first to get to the box. I managed to do it twice in a row, because they did nothing to hide the thick cards and always put them in the same spot in the box. Donruss was the better with thick and thin packs in the boxes with the real hit being just slightly thinner than the thick packs. Upper Deck and Topps were the only companies that didn't give away the easy hits by not making the memorabilia cards overly thick in the early 2000's. I remember watching idiots trying to feel for the thick cards damn near bending packs in half in the process and just tossing the packs back. I have a jersey card that got bent by one of them that still couldn't feel the card after twisting and bending the pack.

i guess they could just not let people 'handle' the packs...

Ah the general public...

https://i.imgflip.com/6mnmyw.jpg

I think my last Fleer set was in 2007, although at that point and for a couple of years prior it was called Fleer Tradition. Can not remember what year Fleer stopped their regular sets but think they coexisted with the Tradition sets at one point. Would need to go back to my 2007 Standard Catalog to check