Caught these d-bags searching packs at Target today....(pictures included)

I generally agree with you here, but the biggest difference is the ability to get a BETTER item for the same price. Yes, you might pick the shiny apple w/o bruises or even the bigger one (but paying by the ounce, you will pay more for this one), but you don't really necessarily get much more for your money. I can't think of something similar enough to Trading Cards because most consumer items are not blindly sealed to prevent you from seeing exactly what you are buying (obviously different from a sealed item that you know what is inside) and then also randomly insert "bonuses" inside some of them.

Super Mario said:

To play Devil's Advocate here.....

Yeah, we all know it's a ****** bag move to pack search. That's a given.

But to ask if it's illegal or against the rules of a Target or WalMart? I'm going to have to say that it is not. If someone isn't damaging the seal of the pack, or creasing the cards, I honestly cannot see how someone could literally get in trouble for it. *******? Yes. Illegal or punishable? No.

Someone brought up cookies earlier, so I will use a food analogy as well. Telling people they cannot pick what pack of cards they want out of an open box is like telling them they have to take the first onion, tomato, orange, or quart of strawberries that they grab from the produce section without inspecting it first.

The only way they'll ever stop this is to either stop selling cards altogether, or to put the cards behind a counter. And do you really think retail stores give a **** about packs of baseball cards that a vendor stocks? No. They don't. And they're never going to put them behind the counter at huge stores like this. It'd just be a ridiculous inconvenience, and not worth their time. Because then we'd have these ******* collectors making a huge ordeal out of it, by asking for the third pack down on the left side, because 'that's the one they always choose'.

Just don't buy baseball cards at a retail store. Problem solved.

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I'm so glad some of you know WWE LOL Man, I am dying of laughter...

PadresFan86 said:

I'm so glad some of you know WWE LOL Man, I am dying of laughter...

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Knock knock.................who's there?

Mike.

Mike who?



Miiiiiiiiiiiike-client Brock Lesnar conquered the Undertakers undefeated streak at WrestleMania.

I fought almost the same thing with unscrupulous people when I collected action figures and hot wheels. Locally a few guys would hit every Target and Walmart and buy all of the Marvel Legends and Star Wars variant figures and they'd even take all of the regular figures if it was a new release and put them all on layaway(at least at Walmart). That way...you'd be forced to pay crazy prices online or buy from them at the flea market. They'd also snag all the treasure hunt cars too. I found out what was going on after befriending some of the stockers and asking. At some Walmarts, even the employees were doing it. They'd take off with the variants and T-Hunts long before the product hit the shelves. I had a guy try to sell me stuff he'd hid in the back as he was stocking the rest. Nice.


IMO, it's not illegal. As for moral...no it's not moral. But just like anything else in life, you've got to pick the best way to approach it and act. You're probably not going to get the guy into trouble by pointing him out to an underpaid manager that most likely doesn't care. Most of these folks probably aren't going to fight you because they were confronted. And even if they did want to fight, going to jail or getting hurt or hurting someone else because you were worried about packs you may or may not have wanted to buy is ridiculous. The only thing you can do is realize the packs are or may have been searched and buy or not, accordingly.

I only buy retail for base. If I want a nice card, I'll buy it online. I don't hardly even trust card shops that have "sealed" wax. IMO, if there is a way to search for anything, or more importantly, a way to make money from searching for anything, somebody is going to figure out how to do it and they will do it. I do buy retail but I've gotten in the habit of inspecting every loose pack I buy because I too have purchased damaged cards. Yes it pissed me off but what in the heck can I do? I tend to stick to things not easily searched and I think I do very well given the odds and what I pull. In the last year I've pulled several low numbered and even autographed and gu cards. Some sell for over a $100 on ebay when I checked.

The point is you're not going to stop this and there just doesn't seem to be enough of a reason for the card companies or the vendors or the store managers to care. Don't get the whole "oh...but the kids...it's wrong because the kids get cheated", thing going. If you feel that way, take the time to explain to anybody you see in the card section or at a shop that has kids they are buying for about pack searching and the fact that the packs may be searched when buying retail and even possibly at a card shop. My point is, tell people if you feel they may be getting cheated.

Searching packs sucks but there just isn't much you can do about it.

Someone needs to create www.packsearchersatwalmart.com and allow people to upload photos

I think most Hobbyists don't consider checking the visible cards in rack packs as "pack searching".

But rubbing up, thumbing up or bending and strecthing are where most draw the line. At least most of the time the GU'd "reward" is NOT worth it anymore anyway...

Super Mario said:

To play Devil's Advocate here.....

Someone brought up cookies earlier, so I will use a food analogy as well. Telling people they cannot pick what pack of cards they want out of an open box is like telling them they have to take the first onion, tomato, orange, or quart of strawberries that they grab from the produce section without inspecting it first.

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I agree with you. While a person may not go through the packs themselves (I don't buy cards this way) I totally look for the best expiration date when making purchases. I never take the front item in a refridgerated case. I have a weird theory that the one side was exposed to warm air and wasn't cooled as well as the one behind it. Could just be OCD...