Inserts

As most of you know, I’ve fallen madly in love with breaking — after spending years not being a big fan. 

That said, because of this, I’ve had the absolute honor and privilege to be a part of many breaks, on both sides of the camera, and aside from having an absolute blast in every one, I have made a keen observation.

There are too many inserts in 99-percent of the new products on the market, despite the sports, manufacturer or echelon of cards.

There really is.

Of course, Some are cooler, more scarce, and more treasure than others, but the bottom line is, most of them are none of the aforementioned. 

They’re mainly shiny, cut funny or colored in a different hue — that’s it. 

Now, I understand the company’s desire to add more hits to packs. 

Heck, there has to be a justification to charge what some of these boxes cost you and I. And it is exciting to get a hit in every pack. 

Problem is, it waters down the product, in my opinion, to the point where there just isn’t much value in each pack.

In hockey for example, there are some products with three or more hits in every pack, most worth little more than a few quarters or a couple bucks, depending on the player and insert. 

All the while, we’re chasing one or two cards, out of all these inserts. 

Having said all of that

Now that I’ve moaned and groaned about there being too many hits in cards nowadays, I do have to point out — it does make these wax boxes more interesting and more fun to rip.

So I certainly don’t want these companies to eliminate them all together. 

I would, however, like to see them tone them down some, particularly the ones that aren’t numbered or autographed. 

It’s cool to have some color variations, but seriously, 10 different colors of the exact same card is insane to me. 

Now, will any of this happen?

Probably not.

People chase inserts and parallels of all kinds, and the chase is what drives the hobby.

I understand that. 

However, I would like to see a few less inserts in the future, and a few more tougher pulls!