September 8 at MiLB St. Paul Saints Game
Anyone who collects cards is probably familiar with the term “pack war.” It’s typically when two people each rip a pack and the person to pull the best card is the winner.
Hobby shop Real Sportscards is putting a little twist into the concept.
Everyone who attends the Triple-A game between the Iowa Cubs at St. Paul Saints on Sunday, Sept 8, will be given a pack of 2024 Topps Series 1 Baseball. All the fans will open their packs simultaneously with a chance at winning a prize.
Dubbed the “World’s Largest Pack War,” it’s a promotion Bill Murray and Mike Veeck would have been proud to support during their tenure as Saints’ owners.
The idea is the brainchild of Real Sportscards owner Ryan Holland, who runs two shops in Champlin, Minnesota, and Waupun, Wisconsin. There is actually a Guinness World Record for the most packs opened simultaneously: 1,189 Pokémon packs.
“That’s the record I was originally thinking about going after, but the logistics side of it and the cost with Guinness, it was just like, ‘forget that,’” Holland said. “So, we’re just going to call it the ‘World’s Largest Pack War.’”
Real Sportscards has two locations: Champlin, Minnesota (pictured) and Waupun, Wisconsin.
Packs Galore
Holland has secured over 8,000 packs to be handed out at the game. The Saints, an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, have officially named the event their first Trading Card Day.
“Every attendee of the game is going to get a pack of cards with a sticker on it that says, ‘Please wait to open until the announcement in the third inning,’” Holland said. “Then, in the third inning, we’re going to make an announcement for the world’s largest pack war. Everybody gets to open their pack at the same time.”
The first 1,000 fans to pull a card of any Twins player can bring it to Real Sportscards’ popup booth at CHS Stadium for an autographed card of Minnesota Twins pitcher Louie Varland. The St. Paul native and former Concordia University, St. Paul star has had a few stints with the Saints in the past two years.
Scott Daniel, Director of Hobby Sales for Fanatics, is thrilled Real Sportscards is running this event to give 8,000 fans a taste of what The Hobby is all about.
“Anytime we can bring the excitement of the card shop to sports fans where they are, we think it is a win for The Hobby,” Daniel said. “Every collector was born from a first rip, and we believe that the Real Sportscards team is going to bring a lot of baseball fans into The Hobby at this event.”
Real Sportscards owner Ryan Holland secured a little over 8,000 packs of 2024 Topps Series 1 Baseball to give away for the “World’s Largest Pack War” event. (Photos Courtesy of Real Sportscards)
An Opportunity to Trade
Another unique activity tied with Trading Card Day is that collectors will have a designated area to trade during the game. Holland advises collectors to bring their Zion Case to wheel-and-deal.
“It is just like the trade nights in our shop,” Holland said. “There’s a trade day element to it and then the pack wars element to it.”
Trading Card Day starts at 1 PM, with the first pitch scheduled for 2:07 PM.
Holland encourages anyone looking for additional information on Trading Card Day to log onto realsportscards.com or the shop’s social media channels on X and Instagram @RealBreaksLive.
Holland is looking forward to Trading Card Day and hopes it will be a nice introduction to card collecting for baseball fans of all ages.
“Out of the 8,000 attendees, sure, there’s going to be a handful of people that are collectors,” Holland said. “But there are going to be a lot of people opening a pack for the first time in their life or the first time in 30 years since they were a kid. I want videos and photographs of thousands of people opening trading packs at the same time. I think that’s powerful.”
