General Forum

Has anyone joined in one? I decided to give it a go on Saturday for the first time ever. It was 6 boxes of legacy for $15. I just wanted to see if I could get a few Raiders cards for my PC. I think I got two commons out of 6 boxes! Its two more than what I had,  I know its only $15 but what a total waste. So I think ill just stick to buying singles and trades.

Its just another form of lottery.  What slot did you get for $15 on a 6 box break??!  Normally they break it up by team or conference or card numbers.  They sell enough slots to more then cover the price of the box.  Some people get the Rookie Patch Auto some people get nothing.

I was able to pick up the Raiders. So for only $15 I figured Id give it a try.

If you enjoy watching a break then i dont see it as a big loss. My wife spent $30 the other day just to get Chillis delivered to our house only to take 4 bites out if it and throw it away. I joined a break once and it just wasn't for me, i prefer to just buy the cards i want. The only "gambling" i enjoy is opening wax which i can't do right now (not paying secondary market price). Breaks take the fun out of ripping open the packs for me.

Yeah I join one or two a year and regret it every time but I can stomach two losses a year for a little fun. I don't buy weekly lottery tickets so it's a push 

I did a handful a couple of years back but it wasn't for me. I think they are nice for a team collector as you are splitting up with a group and only getting your team but You are also paying quite a bit more on a per card basis to get into a break. I think breakers make some pretty darn good margin quickly as they can get in boxes and turn them right away. As I said earlier though it makes a lot more sense for a team collector in my mind.

One of our members here (flywheels) runs what he calls "Affordable Group Breaks", which is what it sounds like - usually his breaks are no more that $5 or $6 a team slot, and oftentimes, they are as little as $2 or $3 per team. He structures it based on the players available for each team in each product. I have sat out several breaks simply because I either already have the cards or can get the base set cards for less elsewhere (and be guaranteed the whole base team set), but many times there is the allure of the inserts and parallels.

My best friend from high school (SwamiLee) runs breaks on his FB page - but he always breaks by Division. And it's random. I don't participate in them. If I wasn't a team collector, maybe that would make more sense, but if I get the AL Central, it does me very little good.

C2Cigars has introduced the TCDB world to a husband/wife team who sells team spots in their breaks on ebay. They start the prices reasonably so the free market takes them wherever. I have attempted to get in their breaks on my own, but usually get priced out.

Being fully aware of the products you are being offered and what price you're really paying is the key. Yes, the breakers have to get their money back (plus some, else why would they do it), but some may be over-charging. But there are good breakers out there. Even Lee's breaks are very reasonable priced for the amount of cards you get, it's just not right for me.

Many breakers don't even send base cards. Only rookies and inserts plus any hits. If I am not getting base I'm not buying.  I am a set collector give me the base. 

I think we are all missing the boat on this site.  We have a ton of buying power and a ton of people.  This would only really help the team collectors, but what if we got together and everyone that joined picked the team they want and we all opened a box.  You only keep the cards from your team.  I know what everyone is going to say, but you will have to trust the people in your group.  There are enough people that have been here awhile and traded a lot I don't think this would be a issue. If you pull a cut signature from someone elses team, its theres.  Everyone would have to buy the same box, for example 2021 Series 2 Topps Hobby Jumbo. Right now they are about $300 a box, which is a lot.  But if there are 30 people doing this, you are going to get your team in 30 different boxes.  Sounds pretty cool to me.   I put myself in for the Red Sox!   ;)

Trade On!

I have been part of many breaks, but I only join ones within the card trading community. I don't do any of the Ebay or Facebook breaks or twitter if people have them there. I also usually only join after knowing a little about the host which is part of the reason why I only do breaks within the card trading commuinity. Also many of the hosts in the card community since they are collectors themselves will have fair guidelines and "rules" in their breaks.

I am part of a regular baseball monthly break at another forum and a few months back my Nationals only got me 3 base cards for the entire break (I think that might have included an Expo from one of the retro boxes). Since I had only gotten 3 cards from the break the host held onto those cards until the next break. Plus for the following break he only charged me 40% the regular group price since only 3 base cards is not getting nearly your money's worth. Not many break hosts would even consider giving a discount price on the next break. Sometimes there isn't a next break. Many would hold onto cards until there were enough to make a shipment worthwhile but not discounting the precious break "dues". That second break I ended up with about 25 cards so it balanced out in the end. I have been part of other breaks where the host will fill in with some cards of  a team from their own collection when break members get bupkis from the break.

There are some breaks I don't even enter if the product being opened doesn't have much of my team or is for those super high end 1 item per box things.