A ‘hit’ is a card collecting term for one of the special cards in a pack or box that’s worth more than the rest. It’s usually an autograph, a memorabilia (relic) card or a low serial-numbered parallel. Base cards and most inserts aren’t hits.
What counts as a hit?
- Autographs, signed on the card itself or on a sticker added to it.
- Memorabilia cards, also called relic cards, with a piece of a jersey, bat or ball built into the card.
- Low-numbered parallels, stamped with a serial number like 07/25.
- RPAs (rookie patch autographs), which combine all of the above and are the top hit in many products.
Collectors don’t all draw the line in the same place. A /99 parallel is a hit to some people and just a nice pull to others, and it depends on the product: in a cheap retail set it stands out, in a high-end box it doesn’t.
What does “guaranteed hits” mean?
Hobby boxes usually promise a set number of hits, printed on the box or the product’s sell sheet, such as one autograph per box. Retail packs and blasters mostly don’t, which is a big part of why hobby boxes cost more.
Read the wording closely. “Hits” on a box usually means autographs and memorabilia cards, and sometimes numbered cards. And a guaranteed hit can still be a cheap card: an autograph of a little-known player often sells for a few dollars.
Case hits and big hits
A case hit is rarer: a card that turns up about once per sealed case of boxes, like Panini’s Kaboom! inserts. A “big hit” or “monster hit” is the best card in a box or a break, usually a rookie autograph or RPA of a star player. In a break, the breaker calls out each hit on camera as it comes out of the pack.
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