- Luck or Other?

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this forum and the first thing I wanted to talk about is it luck or something else to find the really hard-to-find cards or rare costume cards or just plain normal costume or prop cards online and in the stores. I just got my very first costume card, harrys robe (the Care of Magical Creatures class pic one) from a booster pak from my local mall after opening about 200 hundred paks and getting the same card over and over. I'm fourteen and have been a Harry Potter fan from the moment saw the first movie and enjoy collecting the cards and other collectibles (mostly the cards ;)). I have all the foil topper cards and a complete set of cards. I have start making a collection of Movie Prop Collection apart from my other collection. I'm debating if I should post some on EBay. I look for porps that are just lying around on a deserted site and adding them to my second collection of mine. The robe card is my first (of I hope many) card. I"ve been looking for paks a little bit bigger then the others due to the fact that the costume and prop cards a bigger then the normal ones. I didnt know if there was a special way to find a rare, special, or normal card. I got my card from a pak that I dug out of in the bottom of a ten inch tall bin at Suncoast Entertainment dumped out of five twenty-four paks. I had to alerted the woman at the front desk to refill the box that was hidden in a corner in the back. So, I didnt know if digging really, REALLY hard in the bottom of boxes, bins or tins or filling the paks to see if their thick for prop and costume cards. I'm asking this questions because I'm searching for a Hermione Scarf, Robe, Pant, or Pink Top card because I'll have one out of the five cards I want (A Harry card, a Hermione card, a school prop card, a piece of a second-hand actor/actress, Pro. Lupin Aunt Marge etc., and a piece of something from a Hogsmeade scene). Any help!
Thanks
Mike :)

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Since you're new to this, you should understand that the special inserts (props, autographs, and most costumes) are NOT available in the packs you're buying at Suncoast or any other retail store. Artbox produced hobby and retail versions of the cards. The packs you're finding at retail stores are the retail version, which have ONLY two costume cards -- Harry's black robe and George's Quidditch robe.

Hobby boxes can be found at stores that carry non-sport cards, like sports card shops and comic book stores, online stores, and eBay. The stores may also carry the retail version. You have to read the packs. If it says that the pack could contain costumes, autos and props, then you've found the hobby version. If the packs say they could have random chase cards and costume cards (but don't mention autos or props), then they are the retail version.

There have been two releases for Prisoner of Azkaban -- the first set came out in May and the second set, called update, was released in November.

There is also a big difference in price between the two versions. Update hobby boxes cost around $60 and the packs can be $3.00 or higher. Retail boxes are about $40 and the packs are $2.00 or so. By the way, these packs aren't usually called booster packs. As I understand it, booster packs refer to gaming cards.

Hobby boxes for the update release can have 0-3 special inserts. Some people on the forum have been unlucky enough to get nothing but base cards and foils in a box. I think most people here agree that right now, you're better off buying the individual inserts you want.

For instance, you could spend well over $500 on a case of 10 boxes, and never pull a Hermione costume card. But if you go on eBay, you can find the trousers/pants card for $20-$25 and the UK exclusive robe for around $20 (not including shipping). That's a lot cheaper than buying a hobby box, plus you're guaranteed to get the card you want.

If you're looking for more detailed info about the cards and prices, go to the top of this page and click on the link for the price guide. A lot of people have spent a great deal of time entering eBay auctions so that we can all make informed decisions about how much to spend on the cards.

I won't slap you on the wrist about cherry picking, as T&F has already done that! :) I think you'll find that most collectors abhor cherry picking, as it takes away the reasonable chance that someone buying a couple of packs will get anything but base cards. I'll bet that the reason you bought 200 retail packs and pulled only one costume is because someone cherry picked the packs before you found them.

Good luck finding the cards you want!

kbmum gave you some very valuable information. Welcome to the forum!!

Also, you mentioned you are 14, so I figure you can not register on eBay, which makes it more difficult for you to be able to just "buy" the cards you want. I have been to some card shows, and you can find them there, but usually priced more than on eBay. Do you know someone (a parent or sibling) who may be able to help you with this?

I too buy packs at Suncoast hoping to get a retial costume, but so far have been unsuccessful. As kbmum said, someone most likely already went through and cherry picked the one with the costume card in it, but I still buy a couple packs each time i go, hoping.......

The booster packs are the game cards (I have some of these too) and do not contain these special cards. And I think you would be very happy with a box of the hobby version of these particular trading cards, so you could get an autograph or prop. Get out your phone book and look up comic stores. Call around and ask if they have the Harry Potter PoA trading cards, hobby version. If you find a store that does, maybe you can get someone to take you there to buy some packs, or a whole box. But it is easier to just buy the single cards you want from a site like eBay, if you can figure out a way to do that. Hope this helps!!!

Thank you for all your help. My mom has signed up on EBay but we dont have anything really interesting to sell on the site. I have found some cards I like on EBay but I havent got the money to pay for it. I have found some Hobby boxes on a site called ToyWiz.com, both the Update a older versions. My mom told me I might have more luck with a box. For Cherry Picking, I've posted on other card sites that I dont know how someone can do that and do not wish to find out and I would never do something like that because I feel everyone should have a change to own a piece of movie history.
Thanks again
Mike

Toywuz us extremely expensive compared to other places. They sell single packs from the old set for $12.99 EACH!!! And their boxes are $229!!! The prices on eBay are much better, even for people selling the boxes from both sets, as Toywuz has the update boxes for $70, with pretty high shipping. I am sure someone here can recommend better sites.

Also, with an eBay account, you don't need to sell anything. You can just bid on stuff to buy. If you see a card you like, and save up some money, your Mom can bid on them for you. Good luck!!!

Your first thing would be to check there feedback that is one of the best indications on ebay. but other than that you might want to check what forum members have to sell as i have never meet any mean forum members here in fact i think everyone is great.
Also you will have to decide if you want to buy only in your country or world wide.

I am in australia so you also have to take into account postage costs.

If you are after certain cards you should check diagon alley and see if there are any there that you want .
if you have any other questions feel free to ask anyone .

The Yak Shack Forum

Harry Potter => Prisoner of Azkaban Artbox Update set => : EmmasOneandOnly February 04, 2005, 02:18:51 PM