I have some simple advice for you, but honestly, if you arent living by it already, something is wrong. Basically, from the beginning, I have said to stay far away from advertised hot packs on ebay unless you enjoy cheap jersey cards. This has become even more true with the recent release of 2009 SP Authentic, because its so easy to tell where the main box hits are in each box. In addition, there are sellers who will try to scam you into thinking that a retail pack is actually a hobby pack, thus putting you even further into a bad situation.

Now, many people think pack searchers are the scum of the hobby, but I have a little bit of a different take on it. Although I don’t support their trade, I don’t see how its that relevant anymore, unless it’s a case as stated above. Frankly, if you are going to Target to buy packs for hits, you should know that it is about as futile and worthless as another Indiana Jones movie. In addition, the sales of hot packs have hit the floor lately since jersey cards arent worth more than a few dollars anymore. Therefore, it really isnt that big of a deal when you see someone searching packs these days. Its mainly because of the fact that they probably wont be able to recoup cost so its their loss to try. Without getting into my case against retail purchases versus hobby purchases, SP Authentic creates a different problem for people who don’t know any better.

Because the retail products and hobby products are so different (they are completely different checklists), but still look similar in name and packaging, it leaves a window for exploitation. On top of that, hobby packs advertised as a guaranteed “something” are either resealed crap hits to make you think you have a shot at a Sanchez, or left over packs with the base rookie autos that arent worth anything. It is almost NEVER the case that you have a non-tampered or non-scouted pack, so don’t even think about buying them.