Hobby Packs, Value Boxes and Mega Boxes – A Guide to Topps and Panini

Topps and Panini release most sets in several formats, and the same set can feel very different depending on which one you open. Here's what each format means.

Hobby boxes are made for card shops and collectors. They usually carry the best odds of the set's big hits, such as autographs, relics and low-numbered parallels. We sell some hobby boxes whole, and also open them to sell single hobby packs. That lets you chase hobby odds for the price of one pack.

Value boxes and blasters are the retail formats. They cost less, hold fewer packs and come with lower hit odds. They often have their own exclusive parallels, like the pink refractors in Topps Chrome Basketball value boxes. They're a good way to try a set or chase a colour you can't get from hobby.

Mega boxes sit in between. They hold more packs than a value box, often with a guaranteed number of numbered parallels. Each 2025 Panini Squishmallows Hobby Mega Box, for example, contains 3 numbered parallels across 12 packs.

Which should you choose? Hobby is for chasing the set's top cards. Value and mega boxes give more opening for your money. Single hobby packs are the cheapest way to get hobby odds.

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