I've been doing this long enough I should know the answer, but I don't. What is it about a "blaster" box that makes it a "blaster"?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:
I've been doing this long enough I should know the answer, but I don't. What is it about a "blaster" box that makes it a "blaster"?

https://ripped.topps.com/glossary/

https://www.paniniamerica.net/glossary

Generally speaking, I just call a "blaster box" a "retail box" as opposed to the "hobby box". Although it may be smaller and have fewer packs/cards than an actual retail box, if one was made.

The premium hobby box has the allotted number of base cards, inserts, parallels, and other hits like autographs, relics and sketches for big bucks.

The blaster box will have the allotted base cards and maybe a few inserts. If there is anything resembling a hit in the mix, and there may not be, it will be at very long odds. That's why the price of a blaster is so cheap compared to the hobby version or even a full-scale retail box. You can usually find them at the big box stores, although not as easily as it used to be.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

If asking what they are, to echo the others, a small sealed box at retail usually with 6-8ish packs with long odds and lesser stuff to hit than hobby, but sometimes with a retail parallel/insert. It is contrasted with another type of retail box- a gravity feed box sold by the pack, though those seem rarer these days. Those are also more easily searched (feeling the packs) than a sealed blaster box would be.

But I suspect your question is more along the lines of WHY is it called a blaster box. From my searching online, no definite answer but possibly:

-because these boxes are intended as cheap quick intros to a set without going all out on a hobby box…hence people “blast” through them to get a taste of the set.

-an evolution from the term “blister pack”

-retail stores like Walmart simply started designating these boxes blasters.

Maybe it’s one of those reasons, but I don’t know the exact origin of the term.