The Pittsburgh Pirates made a massive trade offer Friday, and it wasn’t even for a player.
Pittsburgh offered an enormous package for whomever pulls the Paul Skenes Topps 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch card, including 30 years of season tickets behind home plate.
Would you take this deal? pic.twitter.com/AyxhZtnjHL
— cllct (@cllctMedia) November 15, 2024
The offer set the hobby ablaze, and since then, questions have flown in from every direction as to how to possibly get a hand on this card.
So we’re here to answer them.
What is the 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch card?
Beginning in 2023, Topps partnered with Major League Baseball to create a new tradition for rookies. When a player makes his major-league debut, he will wear a patch during the game.
The patch is verified by MLB authenticators both before and after the game, and is then sent to Topps. The card company places the patch on a baseball card, which the player will sign.
And the card is a one of one. There is no other card like it for that individual player.
For Major League Baseball, they are the new ultimate rookie card.
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What type of packaging should I look for?
All Rookie Debut Patch cards from this season will be part of the 2024 Topps Chrome Update series.
Can I get the card by just buying one pack of cards?
Yes. But it is very unlikely. Think about buying a pack vs a box the same way as Charlie Bucket trying to find the Golden Ticket vs. Veruca Salt in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
Charlie had one shot at the ticket, and Veruca’s father kept buying more and more candy to increase her chances.
What kind of boxes are there?
Topps sells multiple variations of boxes. You can purchase a Hobby Box, a Mega Box, and a Jumbo Box. You can then purchase cases of boxes. For example, a Hobby Case has six Hobby Boxes. And a Mega Case has 20 Mega Boxes per case.
Each type of box has different key cards to look for.
- Hobby Box has one Chrome Autograph per box.
- Mega Box contains 10 exclusive X-Fractors and two exclusive Raywave parallels per box.
- Jumbo Box has three Chrome Autographs per box.
There is then a Breaker’s Delight package, which is not currently listed on the Topps website.
The Delight package is just one pack, but it does not contain any base cards. It only comes with rarer and more expensive numbered cards of players.
How much are boxes?
They are pricey.
Purchasing from retailers, a box will be around a minimum of $300, bit you might be able to find better deals on the secondary markets.
Right now, a Jumbo Hobby Box is being sold for $624.99 at Steel City Collectibles in Pittsburgh.
Can I buy them from the Topps website?
They are currently all sold out. The only places to buy them are from retailers or on secondary markets, such as eBay.
What are my odds of pulling an autograph card in any of the boxes?
Hobby: One in 195 boxes Jumbo: One in 52 boxes Delight: One in 45 boxes
Remember, these are boxes, not individual packs! The chances for an individual pack might be in the hundreds of thousands to millions.
Happy hunting.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and editor for cllct.