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If you are like me you may have quit purchasing individual packs of cards at retail stores. This change has nothing to do with the price or the cards themselves. Before the relic and autograph card era it was not uncommon for me to grab a handful of wax packs on my way to check out with my groceries, batteries or what ever else I may be buying. That all came to an abrupt halt with the extra thick insert cards whether they be relic, memorabilia, numbered or special for any reason.

Pack searching and tampering with wax is why I and many others stopped buying loose packs at retail. Some people began pack searching which led to pack tampering. I really started to notice the trend when I would walk into a store and see people standing at the cards and taking all the packs out of a box and trying to decide which packs were thicker or heavier. I even saw a guy with a mini scale one time. The card companies tried to help with this problem with dummy cards for filler but it didn’t have much effect.

Some went further in their quest to find the best packs by cutting a notch in the side of the package so they could see the sides of the cards. This allowed them to see the thickness of each card and if it had a different color card stock. With cello and wax packs I have seen indentions on the edges of cards as people used their thumb or finger to move each card so they could see what was inside.

On one visit to the card aisle at Target every pack had a notch cut in the side exposing the edges of the cards. Another time I was in Wal Mart and noticed two men searching through the packs. I stood afar and watched as they asked each other about the packs and moved the cards around in them. Finally I walked up to them and asked if they had found all of the good cards. The younger man said no, he was just trying to decide which cards to buy. I asked him if he thought it was fair for people to tamper with and search the packs. He ducked his eyes and put the cards back and walked out of the store. As he walked away I wondered if he would just come back another day and continue to try to beat the system. For me, I picked up a sealed box and checked out and waited till I got home to see if I got any good cards.

The next time you are in a retail store looking to buy some packs think twice about it. The packs that you buy may have been searched or tampered with in some way. Buy a sealed box instead; your odds of getting undamaged cards are much better that way.