Hobby Lobby does offer a limited selection of baseball cards for sale in many of their stores across the United States. Their baseball card offerings are fairly small compared to dedicated sports card and memorabilia retailers.
Hobby Lobby is an arts and crafts store that specializes in providing supplies and materials for hobbies like scrapbooking, canvas painting, jewelry making, and various other creative pursuits. While they do carry some trading cards and collectibles, their primary focus is on products for arts, decorating, framing, and seasonal/holiday crafts.
Their baseball card selections tend to be located in the trading card section of the collectibles aisle, mixed in with offerings of other sports, non-sports cards, and vintage memorabilia items. Customers typically won’t find huge racks devoted solely to baseball packs, boxes, and individual single cards the way they would at local card shops or big box retailers.
Some of the baseball card items Hobby Lobby commonly stocks include:
Pre-constructed vinyl value packs containing 12-24 random single cards from the past few years of production. Brands may include Topps, Bowman, Panini, etc. Prices range $2.99-4.99 per pack.
Loose packs of 12-15 randomly inserted baseball cards from the current or previous season’s release from Topps, Bowman, Donruss, etc. Priced around $1.99-3.99 per pack.
Small selection of bargain bins with loose individual “commons” dating back 30+ years that customers can scoop out and purchase for $0.25 each or less.
Specialty/premium packs from brands like Topps Chrome, Bowman’s Best, Topps Transcendent containing fewer hits but chasing after autographs and memorabilias. Priced $5.99-9.99 on average.
Occasionally they’ll stock a blaster or fat pack style family hobby box containing 30-50+ loose packs along with retail exclusives. Price points around $19.99-29.99 usually.
While the scope of offerings at each Hobby Lobby can vary location to location, most stores keep the baseball card assortments fairly minimal due to constraints on retail space. The main rows are devoted to crafting supplies, fabrics, picture framing products, floral arrangements, kids activities, etc.
Seasonal sections expand in areas depending on what major holidays are coming up. So the baseball card space has to share rack space with other various collectibles, toys, novelties and gift items throughout the year.
For those hoping to peruse large selections of vintage wax boxes, high-end memorabilia relics/autographs, unopened cases of current release hobby boxes, and supplies – Hobby Lobby is far from your best option. Their goals are providing a casual browsing experience rather than catering to serious collectors.
Selection constraints also mean the store doesn’t participate much in promotions from the likes of Topps, Panini, etc. You won’t find chase parallels, hits, or exclusive merchandise only available through specialty card shops and larger sportcard vendors.
Prices on wax product are fairly in-line with MSRP but individual cards are generally not as competitively priced for those looking to build full sets or target specific needs. The main attraction comes from offering a one-stop-shop for casual fans shopping the isles on a budget.
For parents and grandparents just wanting to pick up an affordable pack or two of the latest release to share a fun activity with a young baseball fan without leaving the store – Hobby Lobby fits that bill. But serious collectors seeking a dedicated sports cards supplier will likely be disappointed by the limited breadth available.
In summary – while Hobby Lobby does carry a token selection of new and vintage baseball cards mixed in with their general collectibles section, their main emphasis is providing materials for do-it-yourself crafting. Serious card traders, investors or set builders in search of extensive modern and retro wax boxes, commons/uncommons, graded hits, and supplies would be better served shopping at an LCS or website specializing exclusively in the card hobby. For a casual browse and low budget rip, Hobby Lobby offers a passable option without much upside beyond that low key experience.
