As the sports card industry continues to grow day by day, people start to follow and join the hobby at the same time. However, while the hobby continues to grow, there are still novice hobbyists who may not understand the necessary terms and language that is used around in the card space. View this article as onboarding training to one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
Physical Card Terminology
Base card: The standard version of a card; nothing rare or special about it. Most packs include multiple base cards before the “hits”.
Insert: Special themed cards that are placed into the pack, specific to the brand/set.
Parallel: A variation of a base card that has different colors, patterns, serial numbers, or image variations.
Short Print (SP)/Super Short Print (SSP): Both of these are types of cards that are printed in lower quantity and are harder to pull.
Autographed Card: A card with a player’s signature on it (can be on card or sticker).
Relic/Memorabilia Card: A card that has a piece of jersey, ball, bat, etc.
Rookie Card (RC): A player’s first official card in the league they play in - typically a collector’s most desired card
Numbered Cards: The total amount of a specific card is produced marked by a number out of another number. For example, a card numbered 10/50 would have 50 total and that specific card is the 10th one printed. The lower the total number, the more desirable…1/1 being the most desirable, meaning it is the only one in the world.
Grading/Condition
Grading: The process of evaluating a card’s condition (sent to PSA, BGS, SGC, etc.)
Raw Card: A card that has not been graded
Gem Mint (PSA 10/BGS 9.5): Perfect condition of a card, brings higher value.
Slab/Slabbed Card: A graded card, protected in the sealed plastic case.
Population Report (Pop Report): How many of a specific card has been graded a certain grade.
Packs & Boxes
Hobby Box: Sold by licensed distributors/card shops. More expensive and typically contain more valuable cards
Retail Box: Available in stores (Walmart, Target, etc.) and contain fewer hits than hobby boxes at a cheaper price.
Breaks: When people buy a certain team, player, or a random spot, for someone to open a product and for those spots to go to the people who paid for them.
Mega/Blaster/Hanger/Fat-Pack: Different box/pack types - in decreasing size (Mega is the largest, fat-packs are the smallest).
Concepts & Strategies
Chase Card: A specific card that collectors chase in a product.
Personal Collection (PC): Cards that a collector keeps for himself/herself and will not resell.
Liquidity: How easily/quickly a card can be sold or traded.
Set Building: Trying to collect a whole set of a desired product (for example serial numbers 1-3000).
Community Slang:
Pull/Hit: A valuable card that was pulled from a pack.
Banger: Highly valuable or sought after card…when listening to breakers you can tell the value of a banger by how loud they scream “BANG”.
Junk Wax-Era: Refers to the time period from the late 1980’s through the 1990’s, where they over produced cards where they are now not valuable.