Baseball cards have been around for over 150 years and remain one of the most popular collectibles in the world. For many fans of America’s pastime, opening packs of these colorful cardboard pieces of history is a beloved tradition – whether it’s reliving childhood memories or pursuing complete sets as an adult hobby. Let’s take a deeper look at what can be found inside two modern packs of baseball cards.
Each pack contains approximately 10-12 individually wrapped cardboard trading cards featuring images of current major and minor league baseball players. The front will usually show a player’s headshot along with their name, team, and key stats from the previous season. The back provides background on the player such as their batting stats, career highlights, and occasionally non-baseball fun facts.
When it comes to the specific players and teams featured, it greatly depends on the manufacturer and year of the pack. Today’s top brands like Topps, Panini, and Bowman produce license sets for both the National and American Leagues. In any given modern pack you may find stars like Trout, Acuña Jr., deGrom or rookie cards of up-and-coming players just starting their MLB careers. Of course, there’s always a chance of pulling an autograph or memorabilia card of a star player, which can greatly increase the pack’s value for serious collectors.
In addition to player cards, these packs may include ‘base’ cards depicting official team logos, stadiums, or league-specific facts. ‘Insert’ cards highlighting special annual sets or themes are also sometimes found – such as Topps ‘Heritage’ sets focusing on retro design aesthetics or update cards adding stats from late in the previous season. Overall team distribution will generally match the real-life composition of the 30 MLB franchises that year.
Regionally, the players and teams featured may differ depending on where the cards were originally purchased. In some cases international distributions are available as well, spotlighting top prospects and stars from other global leagues. Even completely randomized packs have regional tendencies, which collectors often use to slowly build their geographical collections over time.
Of course, not all cards are created equal. While most will hold relatively stable value as parts of complete rainbow sets, the lucky few with serial numbers, autographs, or rare variations can become tremendously valuable. For example, the 2009 Topps Update ‘Harper RC Photo Variation’ of young superstar Bryce Harper just sold at auction for over $100,000 – an unthinkable return on a few dollars worth of packs over a decade ago.
Naturally, the specific composition of any two random packs can vary wildly. But with over a decade of set checklists researched and thousands of packs ripped on video, here’s a realistic example of what might be inside:
Pack #1:
Scott Kingery (Philadelphia Phillies) base card
Gavin Lux (Los Angeles Dodgers) rookie debut card
Mike Soroka (Atlanta Braves) base card
Jacob deGrom (New York Mets) ‘All-Star’ insert card
Toronto Blue Jays team ‘Turn Ahead the Clock’ insert card
Brian Johnson (Boston Red Sox) base card
Yasiel Puig (Cleveland Indians) base card
Kwang Hyun-Kim (St. Louis Cardinals) rookie card
Max Kepler (Minnesota Twins) base card
Aramis Garcia (San Francisco Giants) base card
Pack #2:
Rhys Hoskins (Philadelphia Phillies) base card
Chris Paddack (San Diego Padres) rookie debut card
Kyle Hendricks (Chicago Cubs) base card
Gerrit Cole (Houston Astros) ‘Leader’ insert card
Kevin Newman (Pittsburgh Pirates) rookie card
Logan Allen (San Diego Padres) rookie debut card
Tommy Pham (Tampa Bay Rays) base card
Mark Canha (Oakland Athletics) base card
Paul DeJong (St. Louis Cardinals) base card
Edwin Diaz (New York Mets) ‘Top Prospect’ insert card
Of course, the specific contents will always vary based on the exact year, brand, and luck of the draw. But this gives a hypothetical look into what two modern baseball card packs may contain if opened today by collectors both casual and die-hard. With over 150 years of history captured on these little cardboard slices, it’s no wonder opening fresh packs remains such an exciting tradition for baseball fans around the world.
