Starting 2025 with a Hobby Box

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 My birthday falls towards the beginning of the year so I usually get a chance to open some sealed product to kick the year off. This year, my wife got me a hobby box of 2023-24 Topps Merlin soccer. There is one guaranteed auto per box, plus a few numbered cards. My box was a total dud with the exception of pulling a Bradley Barcola numbered rookie. My auto was unfortunately a big miss, as I ended up getting a rookie auto of Ajax forward (now with Wolverhampton Wanderers) Carlos Forbs. Even though it's a rookie auto, this is probably less than a $10 autograph. This is what usually happens with hobby boxes for me as I tend to counterintuitively have better luck with retail autograph pulls which are not guaranteed. 

Even though 2025 started off with a bit of a letdown of a box, I do think at some point I'll be pulling some big autos throughout the year which I should be posting on here. Happy new Year everyone.

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