The Hobby Glossary: Trading Card Terms from A to Z

1/1 (one of one). The only copy of a card that exists. See What Is a Parallel?

Auto. A card signed by the player and certified by the manufacturer.

Base card. The standard version of a card in a set, printed in the largest numbers.

Blaster. A retail box format with few packs and no guaranteed autograph.

Break. A box or case opened live, with the cards going to buyers of spots. See What Is a Break?

Breaker. The person or shop that runs a break.

Card saver. A semi-rigid holder. What grading companies want in your submission.

Case. A sealed carton of several hobby boxes, often 12.

Case hit. A card so rare it falls about once per case. See What Is a Case Hit?

Centering. How evenly the image sits between the borders. One of the four grading criteria.

Cert number. The unique number on a slab. Check it on the grader's website before you buy.

Checklist. The full list of every card, insert and parallel in a set. Ours are on Checklists.

Chrome. Shiny, metallic card stock.

Comps. Comparable sales: what the same card sold for recently. See How to Value a Card.

Die-cut. A card cut into a special shape instead of a rectangle.

FOMO. Fear of missing out. The feeling that sells most overpriced cards.

Gem rate. The share of graded copies that came back a 10. Look it up on GemRate.com.

Gem Mint. The name for a 10 at PSA and other graders.

Grading. Having a card's condition rated and sealed by a company like PSA. See Grading Companies Compared.

Hit. Any special card in a pack: auto, patch, numbered or case hit.

Hobby box. A box sold through card shops, usually with guaranteed hits.

Insert. A card from a special subset with its own design, separate from the base set.

Jumbo. A hobby box with bigger packs and more hits.

Licensed. Made with the league's permission, so team logos and names are shown.

Lot. Several cards sold together as one item.

Magnetic one-touch. A hard case with a magnet closure for display.

Mega box. A larger retail box format with its own exclusive parallels.

Numbered. A card with a serial number like 23/99, which tells you how many exist.

On-card auto. Signed directly on the card. Usually worth more than a sticker auto.

Optic. Panini's chrome version of Donruss. Rookies carry the Rated Rookie logo.

Parallel. The same card in a different color, finish or pattern.

Patch. A card with a piece of game-worn or event-worn jersey.

Penny sleeve. A thin plastic sleeve, the first layer of protection.

Pop report. How many copies a grader has graded in each grade.

Prizm. Panini's chrome flagship set. Its classic parallel is the Silver Prizm.

PC. Personal collection: cards you keep for yourself, not to sell.

PYT. Pick your team. A break format where you choose your team.

Rainbow. Every parallel of one card, from base to 1/1.

Raw. An ungraded card. See Raw vs. Graded.

RC. Rookie card, a player's card from his first season. See What Is a Rookie Card?

Refractor. Topps' name for its shiny chrome parallels.

Retail. Box formats made for supermarkets, like blasters and megas.

RPA. Rookie patch autograph: a rookie card with a patch and an autograph. Usually the top card of a player's rookie year.

RTB. Random team break. Teams are assigned by a randomizer.

Slab. A graded card sealed in a hard plastic case.

SP. Short print. A card printed in smaller numbers, without a serial number.

SSP. Super short print. Even rarer than an SP.

Sticker auto. Signed on a clear sticker that is applied to the card later.

Team bag. A resealable bag that closes a toploader.

Toploader. A rigid plastic holder for a sleeved card.

Trimmed. A card with edges cut to look sharper. Graders mark it as altered.

Value bin. Cheap singles sorted by fixed price. Ours start at €1.

Wax. Sealed boxes and packs. The name comes from the wax paper packs of the past.