100% agreed they need to have lower end retail to spark kids interest so like a lot of us they relive the hobby later in life only problem I see with that right now is all the flippers and resellers buying it up before the kids could.
There's affordable product on the market. You ever buy retail packs? Those still exist, as do blaster boxes. Some hobby boxes still exist at reasonable prices, too, but you can't possibly expect zero price increases over the last few decades. If you really want a product that's expensive, save your money. This isn't that complicated.
Im to that point where im going to give up wax. I started back in the 80s collecting, granted I know times have changed but it just sucks how much it costs to buy wax. I know the fun factor is diminished buy not "pulling" your favorite PC card. But dang it sure is nice seeing it on the shelf after buying it from ebay and not wasting insane coin to chase it.. Great episode guys!
@@SportsCardInvestor Chris here - as usual, Phil is mostly right. It’s getting annoying. Some sets/products seem redundant to me, but they all seem to have fans.
The issue with breaking is also the cyclical issue of product pricing to breaking. Breaking is needed because products are too expensive even for collectors with solid wallets. The products are too expensive because Topps and Panini can sell their products at inflated prices to breakers who can divide up the format in a way that makes more sense than packs and boxes. Both need to be fixed, not just one. But both are dependent on each other
I don’t think breaking is needed. If you can’t afford the expensive 💩 you buy what you can afford. I don’t buy hobby and I’m just fine. I’m just happy to find some decent retail at the store.
Breakers are driving boxes prices up to unobtainable prices. I refuse to give the problem any of my money never did a break and never will. It’s gross gambling and just ridiculous.
Great topic as always guys! In my opinion the following steps are needed in the sportcard hobby: 1; Regulate breakers. Either have “breaker exclusive” cases for them with much less hits, or have them break less cases. I do not want them to go broke, just make them achive less money and help bring down prices. 2; Bring back competiton. UD should have a piece of the cake too so no excluisive rights. Competition is good for the hobby. 3; Grade prices should differ more. Speed up the process, cancel premium on good grades at least and educate people on grading. Pop reports are ridiculous. No point at all. 4; Have a National in the west coast and in the midlands. Spring/Summer/Autumn (Anaheim/Dallas/Orlando persay) 5; Involve the world. Companies should expand to Europe and Asia. The Hobby is U.S. heavy but those areas have great collectors and exclusive cards all over them. Food for thought!
Chris here - thanks for watching! Your #4 is happening! he Burbank Shows are our west coast national!! You;re right about competition - or lack thereof. Monopolies are rarely good for consumers.
Jeff making great points at 4:30 and on . I really think there are toooooooo many products, to many breakers, to many watered down products/ parallels. Cost of product is out of control and fanatics will state “that’s what the market dictates “ people are paying it because they(or their children) are addicted . It is gambling and very very few of us collect for being close to the game / players we love. Could easily rant , but won’t here
1. It’s very hard to get the product you want on Topps’ website. I assume this is because of breakers … more often than not for me, the products (both pre-sale and launch), are sold out before I can get a box. Hobby shops sell the stuff on the secondary market for like 50% or more over retail. It’s crazy. 2. I want to like Stadium Club and have bought a bunch of it. It has to be one of the lowest returns though on any of Topp’s products. Over the last few years, I have probably bought 12 hobby boxes. The autographs are super saturated with players who should not be in there. My guess is each hobby box is returning maybe 40% value, which is well below many of the other products.
Chris here - I'm with you on Stadium Club. I like ripping it because they cards look great, but the auto checklist is brutal and the ROI is probably closer to 20% at best. It can be brutal. If prices near and pass $150 for a hobby box, I doubt I'll rip any and that's just so sad for me.
yet those same dealers are still pricing singles at covid era prices and yelling bout how they are into it for to much meanwhile offering you 30 to 40 percent of what your card is worth smfh somethings never change
@@vendora1I was at a card shop recently, and was trying to buy three graded singles (rookies). Of course nothing had prices, so for every one we had to look up comps. They wanted to charge like 30% over what was in the range of the last 10 sales for each card. He kept on saying, “I just can’t let it go for that price. I really think the value is going to go up.” I was like dude, this is the entire point. The value could go up, or could crash. That’s why people settle on what the market demand is. don’t put your cards in the glass display if you don’t want to sell them.
I don't mind breakers who break without the bells and whistles because I enjoy buying my team in a case break and getting just my PC cards. I'm never buying a case on my own at current prices. What I don't like about breakers are those who have a 'show' atmosphere, with spinning wheels, blinking lights and "LET'S GO" on repeat. But Fanatics/Topps is now as much to blame for that as anyone else.
As a breaker for a big shop I appreciate this video a lot. Providing entertainment for a visually stimulating hobby is important. The gambling side is a little scary because I see people go crazy on breaks way beyond there means. Not enough people advocating the risks
breaking wasnt done for entertaining people it was a way for people to share the cost of hi end very expensive products not to drive up regular mid or flagship products which is exactly what happened the card companies are implicit in the neverending circle jerk of raising prices all the time and watering down the products (hits)
Most of the breakers are low life scammers. See Backyard Breaks - gold Trevor Lawrence Kaboom or /99 Brandon Cooks scam or “ya dip, Daniel?” 84 Topps Basketball scam.
It's gambling folks. Buying cards is like buying scratchers these days. There may be people how are in it for the cards but there are a lot of people in the hobby who want to strike gold and hit that life changing card.
It’s too late. It’s already ruined it. Because of breaking…price of product has went sky high. because of breaking… print runs are out of control. Because of breaking…More parallels which waters down the product. And the most serious part is if someone has any kind of trouble with gambling, this could be really detrimental to them.
Chris here - like I said, the gambling aspect of it is my biggest concern. I'm not ready to blame breaking for the higher prices. At least, not entirely.
Its not breaking, its the “type of people” breaking. This industry whether u like it or not aligns with gambling very well. Breaking has amplified that vs regular people opening boxes themselves but plenty of collectors use breaking to collect their cards. When u have degenerate gamblers just bidding on stuff because theres flashy signs and lights and promises of money to be made, we get what we have now. Its sad but theres no way to change it when its an open market
@@Apsportzcardz-There are positives to an open Market that one only realizes when they’re gone (Dodd-Frank legislation to Financial Markets). Everyone gets to choose what Products they Buy, the Breakers they use, how much they spend, the Players they Collect, Hobby/Retail/Singles and so many other things are open to every individual in Sportscards. Sports Betting has limits. Yes, Sportscards definitely has elements of Gambling - but it has positive aspects that allows us each to enjoy the Hobby in our own way.
@@grindstone11thank you OG, and so have I, honestly think some of these people believe breaking (highly coveted boxes of baseball cards especially) is somehow this relatively NEW Phenomenon.... It most certainly IS NOT....sure the shit in general has ballooned in prices, but in no way does that alone make breaking now any different than when 200 gathered at a hobby shop in 1989,92,95...except the fact (thanks to the internet, everyone simply knows way....way..fu$king quicker, what the latest hot shit has to offer...which ironically still carries that that past stinch of , well, HoT Shit, as most breaks... literally, basically always have....
Awesome pod fellas! Great questions, i especially liked the convo on breaks, great points all around. That being said, I really enjoy watching breaks, namely so I can see some cool cards and find find singles to buy. Like, I was watching Dynasty Breaks 10+ years ago and buying off ebay when I saw a cool insert or parallel. Today, I'm working 60-80 hours/week and don't have time to scour cardboard connection or Beckett checklists. If I don't know something exists, it's almost impossible to search eBay and come across it, but breaks are entertaining and provide a service, even though I've never bought into one! I do wish prices for wax wasn't so high, but that also increases the prices of singles, which I don't mind so much. Knowing I collected and ripped wax in an era that will never come again is kinda cool though, it's like a badge of honor... kinda like living in an age without smartphones and widespread internet, it gives perspective 🥂
Chris here - i think you're right about the entertainment value. Honestly, I've watched breaks before as well. FUn way to be introduced to a new product. It's totally a badge of honor. I remmeber 55 cent wax packs. No parallels. No autos.
I always have hot takes about 'breakers'. They have absolutely made a lot of products out of reach for most collectors to buy themselves. I don't even buy Chrome anymore, and that is/was my favorite product. Not for LMAO 200+ for a really thin hobby box. Jumbo hobby boxes of Chrome used to be less than 200...Like, not even 5 years ago.
Chris here - I just can't get over the $200 price tag for a hobby box and one guaranteed auto who will almst certainly be worthless. It's impossible to buy one.
I do agree that breakers and Fanatics/Topps have driving up the prices. For someone like me, who collect 30 yrs ago and back into the hobby. We didn't have breaking then and you could find the singles you wanted. This is just a greed game and money grab. Plus, I miss opening a pack. Thanks guys for the video.
@@l82thegame919 thanks for watching. There’s something kind of magical about opening a box. But it’s usually followed by an empty feeling of getting ripped off. Almost always better to just buy the card you want.
Breaking has fucked this hobby. The cost has exponentially exploded and they are the reason for it. The price for a team In a break now costs more than what the box used to cost. And if it’s the chase team the spot costs as much as the current prices of the boxes. Opening packs is fun and used to be an affordable gamble for the less than % chance to hit a big card. Now the price is so out of control hitting the big card only gets you even and that’s 1% chance at that. And if add breaking into the mix, you divide that 1% by 32 or more teams and it’s just stupid. Lastly it’s unregulated. Which is the worst kind of gambling anyone should take part of. Manufactures and breakers can and have screwed people big time and there’s really nothing anyone can do about it at all.
As far as too many products, I just want myself who grew up 15 ish years ago to voice what we collected starting out. Back in 2010 ish when I bought my first box of cards, or rather my parents did at a Kmart, there were multiple options as far as what to buy. Even a year or two later when I'd go to target around then, I'll be honest I had no clue what chrome cards were, as I rarely saw them on shelves, and my parents would always let me get a flagship box of topps. I don't think we have any problem with new people being overwhelmed, I know as a kid it didn't really matter that there were multiple options, we still had fun and got cards. I will say though, the confusing part for ALL collectors are the sets that are literally another set, but different design. No I'm not talking cosmic, opening day, etc that are similar, I'm talking logofractor, sapphire, etc that are all literally the same card and checklist. I don't dislike their designs, but they should 100% be a parallel in normal Topps Chrome. If we did away with those sets I think we'd be better off, but to half the products would really hurt the hobby, because Print runs would double, and there are sets people really like such as archives or allen and ginter for example that would be potentially cut
Breakers like filth bomb are running the hobby. They prey on new and uneducated hobby goers. I saw a person pay 450 for just the player Jackson Merrill in a 2 case break when if they went to other channels they could get the entire team of the Padres in a THREE case break for 390 dollars You can’t steal from people that badly and not destroy the hobby. Plus fanatics is all in on having then the face of the app. That needs to change. Good breakers are good for the hobby
@@stefan9229 there are definitely some gross characters in the business. And yeah, taking advantage of newbies is a big part of their plan. It’s gross.
Exactly! And when that's inflated, people have no entry to the product other than through a break. Chris here - I like the singles hitting market faster.
The hobby in this era has devolved into pure gambling with very little ROI. It discourages potential new collectors from wanting to stay in the hobby. For me, singles are the way to go. I’d much rather purchase a slab of a card that I actually want than spend that same money on a break for a minute chance of getting a hit.
Love the show guys. Interesting topics. I would love to see Fanatics reduced the baseball product by half, but no chance. Hopefully, maybe we see some changes when they get the NFL and NBA license. I hope they take a play from Leaf and offer cross products. As a Minnesota fan, I would love to see a dual jersey of something like Justin Jefferson and Anthony Richardson. Also, fewer product hopefully means more on card autos and game used jersey cards. I personally don't mind breakers. Like you guys mentioned, when I got back into the hobby I did a few breaks to get players from teams I follow. Then I realized that I got a bunch of base cards that I really do not want long term so I have not done a break in years. I don't we all are frustrated because no doubt breaking keeps box prices up, but at the same time, they keep product moving. Box prices in baseball are just starting to get bad. I am sure you guys are aware how much worse it is in football and baseball and the chance of getting a hit is lower. I am a little worried to see what happens when Fanatics gets full control. Just look at the price of unlicensed Topps Chrome basketball and football! Unti next time.....
I’m not a fan of breaking at all. I’ve seen too many friends destroy their finances getting caught up in breaking. The rip & ships make even less sense. Why would anyone pay someone else to open up a whole box of product for them? That’s the most fun part.
Q1, whole heartedly agree with Phil. It feels like asking people who are really into collecting, if product should be reduced, is like asking spicy food enthusiasts if Wendys should make their spicy chicken sandwich more spicy. Of course it can be more spicy, but they have to appeal to more than just super spicy lovers because they're catering to more than just a single demographic. I remember when people were complaining about the lack of product being produced in 2020/2021, and now there's too much. Compliants about lots of parallels: Rip a couple boxes of 1991 Upper Deck basketball with no parallels and see how much you actually enjoy it. Plenty of product is fine. If you don't like it, just ignore it.
The hobby only exists for me at shows and my local card stores. I just look for singles of players I like, take shots at grading singles and that is it. I miss being able to grab a box and open it, with the thought I might hit something good. Now the biggest hits always seem to come from breakers. The prices are just not rationally sound for most of us...
My issue with breaking is random breaks and using a card deck on whatnot to determine teams. I love what Stryker does, but I won't do one of his breaks because they're random. I get why the breaker wants a random break, 100%. They fill easier and streamline the process. However, the gamble on the gamble is what really gets me and what would make my wife leave me 😂
Fair enough - there are enough parallels for everyone!! Chris here - I know cosmic has fans, and some of the cards do look pretty cool. It's just not for me. Now if Topps makes a dinosaur-baseball set, my wallet is likely in trouble.
@SpitballinCards a Dino set would be awesome! The Allen & Ginter Dino relics are pretty cool though, but I'm aiming for an Anthony Bourdain relic or auto in the near future!
I have never entered a break (Canadian and no one would ship them to me), but I would only enter one to help support a (small) content creator I like while also getting cards out of the deal. People who give money to breakers who aren’t nice and don’t give a shit about cards at all confuse me
Stadium Club is great to open because the pictures are actually interesting. Opening something like bowman is soooooooooooooooooo boring, just a bunch of guys in a batting or pitching stance.
With all due respect, Sapphire is not a premium version of Topps/Bowman Chrome. It's an extension of parallels. End of the day true color from flagship (Super, Red, Black, Orange, Gold, Blue, Purple, Refractor) will always have a premium/more valued than any gimmicky Sapphire version/variation of the card. Great show as always! there's a right way and wrong way to approach breaking. unfortunately it does get abused and brings in people who don't really care about the hobby.
@@SpitballinCards that’s fair, early Sapphire def had a premium feel. I agree the overprinting has forced me to reevaluate my singles strategy to a less is more approach. I’m trying to exclusively collect Gold /50 or less (no higher than /99) for HoF’ers, pc, and all time greats (current/recently retired) to protect the long term value of my collection. We’ve seen Refractors go from being something valuable in the 90s and early 2000s to just being a mass produced parallel that carry a tiny premium off base. Who’s to say a refractor, shimmer, or even true purple /250 or higher parallels will follow a similar path to the OG refractors from ‘93 Finest
@@schotimecardsit also depends on the player, for example, for some reason Harper was not included in regular 2019 Topps chrome , his only Topps chrome cards are in Sapphire.
I feel sorry for folks who break product.... yet we need em (I'm sure they have a blast). Get me/us/we those HOF'ers!! I'm only going to collect the same 4-6 different issues aggressively. The other 50 are just not worth it IMO. Eat your vegetables guys... wanna grow old watching you all pontificate.
Great topics. I am not a fan of breaking for a few reasons. First, the gambling aspect, adults are one thing, but kids can develop a serious problem that can quickly get out of hand and lead to other issues. I’d also agree that the breakers are supporting these super high box prices…more people would be able to buy the product if they weren’t so cost prohibitive. Used to be that you could break even on many products…and you would sell or TRADE the cards you didn’t want for those you did. It helped develop friendships and networks. Also, this entire hobby has shifted from collecting cards to flipping for cash. Not enough end consumers for these cards, and without us, the hobby will wither on the vine and die out.
As much as i complain about breaking, it allows access to products that are out of my price range. IE say i wanted some pristine cards, or chrome sapphire, i can spend 20-30$ on a team and get some base with a chance at a really cool card. vs spending 400+ a box. that said, its also breaking that has made those boxes 400$+
I enjoy breaking myself. I dont get into a ton of breaks, but it is nice to get the cards of my favorite team (Reds) from a case without having to buy an entire case. It also lets me get into some products that I normally wouldnt.
Breaking got me back into the hobby. Mostly due to the fact there aren’t ant local card stores in my area there a few but not like they used to be. Also I have been finding it hard to find cards in other places like Walgreens. There are rare occasions that I find the stuff I want in Target and Walmart but most of the time not.
There should be a limit on how much product an individual can buy unless they can prove that they have a brick and mortar stores and won’t do breaks. Other than that, there is just an over-saturation of parallels and inserts, that you’re basically losing money unless you hit superfractors, SSPs, or parallel autos.
Just a heads up, LCSs are having allocation cut. Wave 1 and 2 of purchase options at different prices. You can buy 10 cases at pre release on a lot of products directly from Topps. Crazy times
PSA cards question? Why do the placards inside the PSA slabs get wavy. I've bought a few PSA 10 cards and they've had wavy placards. Not sure if it's from moisture or heat. But it definitely takes away from the ability to display the card. Will PSA switch out placards for free as part of their guarantee?
Never bought into a break, never will. I buy singles for my PC and the only boxes i buy are for my 8yr old nephew as he's really getting into cards and even grading now. My sister said I'm creating a grading monster 😂....i buy simple blaster boxes as he enjoys those as if they are the best thing. His dad and mom have no interest in collectibles, so Uncle coming in to save the day!
I do agree with Phil about breaking because I only use to collect TCG and did breaks occasionally but the breaker I watch got one case of cosmic chrome I didn’t buy into it but I really liked the cards so decided to venture into baseball cards. I know it gets joked on a lot but I really still do like that product lol Can’t wait till they make a 1st bowman cosmic chrome! Lmaooo jk Topps it’s joke please do make that
35 years ago UD forced Topps to make prettier and higher quality cards. I remember the quality of 1990 Topps which will be next year’s throwback was so poor of card stock that you barely touched the cards and the corners would badly fray
I’ve participated in exactly 5 breaks 4 of them I recieved no cards twice and base crap twice. Once and once only I got two autos for the guardians, it was a $20 team got a kwan 1989 auto and a gimenez gold auto #\50. My four losses cost me 290 and one good one cost me $20
the reason your LCS doesn't have it or that its to expensive is breaking. My son has completely left the hobby because he cant afford it. The kids wont be as involved they grow up and no ones wants cards. I hope I'm wrong but it doesn't look that way.
There’s another collapse coming, every year that goes by the bubble is getting bigger and bigger. Thankfully in my case my PC is built around childhood memories that I don’t care about the resale value on.
Fanatics having a monopoly is a huge problem for the hobby. There is no competition to lower prices so we are simply stuck with whatever the hand feeds us.
Something that ive noticed that proves the amount of degenerate gamblers on these breaking apps is PLAYER BREAKS OR PYPS. The player breaks will sit and sit for days until the breaker has to lower prices or practically give away players to get it to rip. Its because nobody knows who the players are when they dont collect. They rip to sell the big hits. The random style stuff FLYS. When the breaker tells you what teams and what players will sell, the gambler goes after those teams on the wheel till he hits them. They dont know anyone besides jackson holiday, elly, and Jdom. Its sad
Do you think 2023 Stadium Club chrome cards (and stadium club boxes) are more valuable because they didn't make a chrome set and changed the way future sets are going to be produced?
Breakers got so many people into or back into the hobby, especially during the pandemic when people were on their phones and stuck at home way more than usual. For this, we should be grateful, extremely grateful. However, it’s almost become the only way to buy into these products, especially anything high end (high end used to be $100 a box, not $500-$1000). It’s a catch 22. Breakers created a lot of the success and popularity we see in the hobby, but nobody wants them around now that the hobby (on paper) is thriving as a result of what the breakers helped create. I’d assume the average collectors thoughts are “I want as many people in the hobby as possible (as long as they aren’t scummy), but I want to rip as much good product as I can for really cheap.” I don’t think both are doable. Sorry for rambling. Great episode guys!
The economics of Products (Topps and Panini: 60+ and 10+) comes down to a finite amount of money chasing an expanding production run to balance the equation. Singles are cheap because value declines as time passes…approximately one year after a Product is Released the Singles are down significantly as to when the Product is brand new. This Value destruction should be catastrophic to Sportscards Hobby, but Collectors seem to accept this phenomenon. This is the definition of Junk Wax, but the Breakers open so much Product that the Supply is so limited that it doesn’t reflect the Expected Value from opening older Wax Products. Crazy distortion of Markets…2024 will be a Case Study in the future for MLB Cards. If Dela Cruz, the Jackson 3, Langford, Skenes or someone else becomes a Superstar in eight to ten years, then there shouldn’t be a lot of Price Appreciation because the overall Supply of 2024 is way too high. 🤓⚾️
No breaking gets singles out into market but only done if blind breaking if a client list ever gets out or sales of the scanners there will be a huge disruption.
breaking......instead of $600 worth of hobby boxes you can get in for $20 per spot....all it is is buying a lottery ticket and hoping...but I can deal with 20 better than 600
I hate breaking. I want to buy a box at a reasonable cost to open for myself or with my kids. But the prices are insane. I’m a 46 year old man who returned to the hobby at the beginning of this year. Paying $25-100 to hope I get a card for the team I picked from a breaker still sucks. It’s lottery BS run by someone else. There’s also waaaaay too much product. If I need a spreadsheet or a cheat sheet to learn what’s what then that’s not great
I'm going to be the odd man out, but I just think this hobby is filled with a bunch of hypocrites. Collectors are so quick to judge breakers on ruining things when most of the collectors have the same type of mindset. It's the hustling mentality that has thrown the market out of whack. While breakers can be lumped into that, its not just them. Breakers thrive so much because the majority of collectors buying into them are trying to make money as well. Because we do it on a smaller scale than others doesn't mean we aren't contributing to the demise of this market also.
There are few good breakers. Stryker and run good life are my favorites because they are collectors themselves and dont push BS products just to make money. Not all breakers are created equally. Without them, it would be tough for the average guy to get a chance at the high-end product. I do think there are many who are greedy and just suck at life...aka back yard breaks...f-ing 🤡 show
I love RunGoodLife but I think Stryker is changing. He said in a video recently that a jumbo paper at 400 was a fair price. Plus acting like all $4 cards he pulls for everyone is fire
Breaking is horrible...about 2% are winners and the rest are all losers....you want to introduce people to the hobby, send them to local card stores or ebay
In my opinion, Ebay is the worst place for buyers and sellers. The fees and taxes are rough. Random team breaks are a great way to do more than just aquire cards. This year I had 28 seats at an Indians game and many more in town from all over the country for the National when it was here in Cleveland. I am now part of a larger cardmunity, card community. Today we did a fundraiser where we all donated product to raise funds for a member who passed. It's an annual thing and all funds go to his daughter. Never met the person, but we have done many of these and it has brought a lot of new faces to the hobby, and many new friendships have formed. Today you can now see a lot of video talks all over UA-cam about 2025 National and meet ups, hangout with fellow collectors etc. To me the hot button topics will drive the clicks and various opinions. No one gives 2 shits about the stuff I mentioned above. Absolutely no one, you can make a video about it every day for 2 years and you would die waiting to scratch 100 views on UA-cam. I vented in my other comment as I was tired of hearing how all this is bad or dying and with or without me and you, the hobby moves along. You get what you put into it, stay within budget, find other ways to collect, trade etc. You can be very active in the hobby with a small budget.
As someone that has been in and out of the hobby for 40 years, my vote would be a 5. Breaking is the main factor to pricing, like 95% of the reason. All the other ones wouldn't hold a candle.
With no breakers in a Fanatics world, there would still be influencers endlessly pumping products IMO. So the marketing would just take a different form. Obviously breaking takes it to a different level.
@Philmington yes but those influencers wouldn't be buying cases and cases to do it. It still might see temporary spikes for product but those would be smaller and shorter lived. Supply wouldn't dry up like now. We saw a taste of that style with 1989 upper deck back then.
If I'm watching a breaker and they consistently are getting less than a 50% ROI on the products they're opening, it's not their fault. It's the card companies.
I opened the box of stadium club with my son last year, and 99% of the cards were damaged on the corners or edges. Very disappointing! I sent it back to Tops! Nothing in return. Just this week, they sent me a new box. So I opened it with my son, And 99% of the cards were damaged on the corners or edges :-) quality control is out of control. Any errors are because of voice text while driving :-)
Just that one product? Because there are new products that we like, but most that feel like a cash grab. Do you think there are too many products, and just like cosmic? Or do you think they should keep pumping out all of these products?
💯 they have ruined it. Panini has also screwed the hobby over by offering 15k different rookie cards for a single player too. It’s just dumb now. Having a rookie of a player no longer means much, unless you have a /10 or less.Its 🤮
Because of breaking wax has skyrocketed, and the price of singles tanks over the first several months. Instead it should sell at a price and maintain, but it doesn't. People will keep maxing out their credit cards till they cant.
The answer is absolutely yes, 100% without a doubt and Fanatics/Topps seems to be aiding them in this endeavor.
Breaking definitely seems to be how fantatics wants their product to get out there.
Yes, children can't afford them and enjoy the fun any longer. It's becoming a rich man's hobby.
sadly, you're spot on
100% agreed they need to have lower end retail to spark kids interest so like a lot of us they relive the hobby later in life only problem I see with that right now is all the flippers and resellers buying it up before the kids could.
@@JdmdxCardsyeah leave gambling to the casinos. My son and I just want cool looking cards of our favourite players.
There's affordable product on the market. You ever buy retail packs? Those still exist, as do blaster boxes. Some hobby boxes still exist at reasonable prices, too, but you can't possibly expect zero price increases over the last few decades. If you really want a product that's expensive, save your money. This isn't that complicated.
Im to that point where im going to give up wax. I started back in the 80s collecting, granted I know times have changed but it just sucks how much it costs to buy wax. I know the fun factor is diminished buy not "pulling" your favorite PC card. But dang it sure is nice seeing it on the shelf after buying it from ebay and not wasting insane coin to chase it.. Great episode guys!
@@TheHide 💯💯💯
The smart move is always to just buy the card you want!!
Just not always the most fun move.
You guys are GREAT for the hobby! On card autos rule!! Accept no imitation!!!!!!’
Thanks for watching and YES!! On card only FOREVER!!!
I completely agree with Philmington’s answer to the first question - having a wide variety of sets has some positives.
@@SportsCardInvestor Chris here - as usual, Phil is mostly right. It’s getting annoying.
Some sets/products seem redundant to me, but they all seem to have fans.
The issue with breaking is also the cyclical issue of product pricing to breaking. Breaking is needed because products are too expensive even for collectors with solid wallets. The products are too expensive because Topps and Panini can sell their products at inflated prices to breakers who can divide up the format in a way that makes more sense than packs and boxes. Both need to be fixed, not just one. But both are dependent on each other
yep, it's a circle. repeating itself.
I don’t think breaking is needed. If you can’t afford the expensive 💩 you buy what you can afford. I don’t buy hobby and I’m just fine. I’m just happy to find some decent retail at the store.
@@SpitballinCards circle jerk tbh
Breakers are driving boxes prices up to unobtainable prices. I refuse to give the problem any of my money never did a break and never will. It’s gross gambling and just ridiculous.
@@28relics Chris here - I understand this point of view.
I also agree with Philmington’s comments on breaking - maybe Philmington is my ride or die and I never knew it!
Oh jeez. I feel even less confident now!
How are your investments going lol?
Great topic as always guys!
In my opinion the following steps are needed in the sportcard hobby:
1; Regulate breakers. Either have “breaker exclusive” cases for them with much less hits, or have them break less cases. I do not want them to go broke, just make them achive less money and help bring down prices.
2; Bring back competiton. UD should have a piece of the cake too so no excluisive rights. Competition is good for the hobby.
3; Grade prices should differ more. Speed up the process, cancel premium on good grades at least and educate people on grading. Pop reports are ridiculous. No point at all.
4; Have a National in the west coast and in the midlands. Spring/Summer/Autumn (Anaheim/Dallas/Orlando persay)
5; Involve the world. Companies should expand to Europe and Asia. The Hobby is U.S. heavy but those areas have great collectors and exclusive cards all over them.
Food for thought!
Chris here - thanks for watching! Your #4 is happening! he Burbank Shows are our west coast national!!
You;re right about competition - or lack thereof. Monopolies are rarely good for consumers.
@@SpitballinCards appreciate the response Chris! Heard great things about Burbank tho, gonna visit next year!
@@peterhappenshere You won't be disappointed! IF you see Jeff and I there, say hello!
Jeff making great points at 4:30 and on .
I really think there are toooooooo many products, to many breakers, to many watered down products/ parallels.
Cost of product is out of control and fanatics will state “that’s what the market dictates “ people are paying it because they(or their children) are addicted .
It is gambling and very very few of us collect for being close to the game / players we love.
Could easily rant , but won’t here
Jeff here: appreciate it! Pretty frustrating and shows no sign of changing.
@@Blabbin_Bout_Slabbin hey ,
At least there are SSP golden mirrors and stadium club image variants..:::
For now and we have up until 2022 to chase 😏
1. It’s very hard to get the product you want on Topps’ website. I assume this is because of breakers … more often than not for me, the products (both pre-sale and launch), are sold out before I can get a box. Hobby shops sell the stuff on the secondary market for like 50% or more over retail. It’s crazy. 2. I want to like Stadium Club and have bought a bunch of it. It has to be one of the lowest returns though on any of Topp’s products. Over the last few years, I have probably bought 12 hobby boxes. The autographs are super saturated with players who should not be in there. My guess is each hobby box is returning maybe 40% value, which is well below many of the other products.
Chris here - I'm with you on Stadium Club. I like ripping it because they cards look great, but the auto checklist is brutal and the ROI is probably closer to 20% at best. It can be brutal. If prices near and pass $150 for a hobby box, I doubt I'll rip any and that's just so sad for me.
yet those same dealers are still pricing singles at covid era prices and yelling bout how they are into it for to much meanwhile offering you 30 to 40 percent of what your card is worth smfh somethings never change
@@vendora1I was at a card shop recently, and was trying to buy three graded singles (rookies). Of course nothing had prices, so for every one we had to look up comps. They wanted to charge like 30% over what was in the range of the last 10 sales for each card. He kept on saying, “I just can’t let it go for that price. I really think the value is going to go up.” I was like dude, this is the entire point. The value could go up, or could crash. That’s why people settle on what the market demand is. don’t put your cards in the glass display if you don’t want to sell them.
@@dero0808 exactly
I don't mind breakers who break without the bells and whistles because I enjoy buying my team in a case break and getting just my PC cards. I'm never buying a case on my own at current prices. What I don't like about breakers are those who have a 'show' atmosphere, with spinning wheels, blinking lights and "LET'S GO" on repeat. But Fanatics/Topps is now as much to blame for that as anyone else.
Chris here - agree on this!
As a breaker for a big shop I appreciate this video a lot. Providing entertainment for a visually stimulating hobby is important. The gambling side is a little scary because I see people go crazy on breaks way beyond there means. Not enough people advocating the risks
breaking wasnt done for entertaining people it was a way for people to share the cost of hi end very expensive products not to drive up regular mid or flagship products which is exactly what happened the card companies are implicit in the neverending circle jerk of raising prices all the time and watering down the products (hits)
I got back in 2018. Bought boxes. Then the prices went up. Went to breaks. Then they went up and no guarantees. So now I buy singles. Good stuff 🤙🏻
Seems like a pretty standard way of moving through the hobby these days.
This is the way.
Exactly the same. Bought a 2018 topps jumbo for $85!
Bought a Topps Chrome Jumbo in 18 for $199. Still have it sealed. Wish I would have bought more of it
@ well that’s a good one to have held on to. I ripped all mine.
Breakers provide as much value as mass robocalls asking you to buy warranties.
Chris here - thankfully my 88 year old father hasnt bought into as many breaks as he has extended warranties.
Entertainment value 🙄
And you provide UA-cam Comments, filled with the same mysery and hatred you have in that heart of yours
Most of the breakers are low life scammers. See Backyard Breaks - gold Trevor Lawrence Kaboom or /99 Brandon Cooks scam or “ya dip, Daniel?” 84 Topps Basketball scam.
It's gambling folks. Buying cards is like buying scratchers these days. There may be people how are in it for the cards but there are a lot of people in the hobby who want to strike gold and hit that life changing card.
exactly - and ToppsNow is taking it to the next level.
It’s too late. It’s already ruined it. Because of breaking…price of product has went sky high. because of breaking… print runs are out of control. Because of breaking…More parallels which waters down the product. And the most serious part is if someone has any kind of trouble with gambling, this could be really detrimental to them.
Breaking has been around for way longer than you think
Chris here - like I said, the gambling aspect of it is my biggest concern. I'm not ready to blame breaking for the higher prices. At least, not entirely.
Its not breaking, its the “type of people” breaking. This industry whether u like it or not aligns with gambling very well. Breaking has amplified that vs regular people opening boxes themselves but plenty of collectors use breaking to collect their cards. When u have degenerate gamblers just bidding on stuff because theres flashy signs and lights and promises of money to be made, we get what we have now. Its sad but theres no way to change it when its an open market
@@Apsportzcardz-There are positives to an open Market that one only realizes when they’re gone (Dodd-Frank legislation to Financial Markets). Everyone gets to choose what Products they Buy, the Breakers they use, how much they spend, the Players they Collect, Hobby/Retail/Singles and so many other things are open to every individual in Sportscards. Sports Betting has limits. Yes, Sportscards definitely has elements of Gambling - but it has positive aspects that allows us each to enjoy the Hobby in our own way.
@@grindstone11thank you OG, and so have I, honestly think some of these people believe breaking (highly coveted boxes of baseball cards especially) is somehow this relatively NEW Phenomenon.... It most certainly IS NOT....sure the shit in general has ballooned in prices, but in no way does that alone make breaking now any different than when 200 gathered at a hobby shop in 1989,92,95...except the fact (thanks to the internet, everyone simply knows way....way..fu$king quicker, what the latest hot shit has to offer...which ironically still carries that that past stinch of , well, HoT Shit, as most breaks... literally, basically always have....
Yep. New product is ridiculously expensive. I'm gonna stop buying new next year and go vintage only. Maybe I'll buy a Topps factory base set.
Prices have definitely gotten crazy. It's a shame
Awesome pod fellas! Great questions, i especially liked the convo on breaks, great points all around. That being said, I really enjoy watching breaks, namely so I can see some cool cards and find find singles to buy. Like, I was watching Dynasty Breaks 10+ years ago and buying off ebay when I saw a cool insert or parallel. Today, I'm working 60-80 hours/week and don't have time to scour cardboard connection or Beckett checklists. If I don't know something exists, it's almost impossible to search eBay and come across it, but breaks are entertaining and provide a service, even though I've never bought into one! I do wish prices for wax wasn't so high, but that also increases the prices of singles, which I don't mind so much. Knowing I collected and ripped wax in an era that will never come again is kinda cool though, it's like a badge of honor... kinda like living in an age without smartphones and widespread internet, it gives perspective 🥂
Chris here - i think you're right about the entertainment value. Honestly, I've watched breaks before as well. FUn way to be introduced to a new product.
It's totally a badge of honor. I remmeber 55 cent wax packs. No parallels. No autos.
I always have hot takes about 'breakers'. They have absolutely made a lot of products out of reach for most collectors to buy themselves. I don't even buy Chrome anymore, and that is/was my favorite product. Not for LMAO 200+ for a really thin hobby box. Jumbo hobby boxes of Chrome used to be less than 200...Like, not even 5 years ago.
Chris here - I just can't get over the $200 price tag for a hobby box and one guaranteed auto who will almst certainly be worthless. It's impossible to buy one.
I do agree that breakers and Fanatics/Topps have driving up the prices. For someone like me, who collect 30 yrs ago and back into the hobby. We didn't have breaking then and you could find the singles you wanted. This is just a greed game and money grab. Plus, I miss opening a pack. Thanks guys for the video.
@@l82thegame919 thanks for watching.
There’s something kind of magical about opening a box. But it’s usually followed by an empty feeling of getting ripped off.
Almost always better to just buy the card you want.
Breaking has fucked this hobby. The cost has exponentially exploded and they are the reason for it. The price for a team In a break now costs more than what the box used to cost. And if it’s the chase team the spot costs as much as the current prices of the boxes.
Opening packs is fun and used to be an affordable gamble for the less than % chance to hit a big card. Now the price is so out of control hitting the big card only gets you even and that’s 1% chance at that. And if add breaking into the mix, you divide that 1% by 32 or more teams and it’s just stupid.
Lastly it’s unregulated. Which is the worst kind of gambling anyone should take part of. Manufactures and breakers can and have screwed people big time and there’s really nothing anyone can do about it at all.
Chris here - unregulated gambling. Terrifying when you think about it.
@@SpitballinCards its what ive been saying needs regs tbh
As far as too many products, I just want myself who grew up 15 ish years ago to voice what we collected starting out. Back in 2010 ish when I bought my first box of cards, or rather my parents did at a Kmart, there were multiple options as far as what to buy. Even a year or two later when I'd go to target around then, I'll be honest I had no clue what chrome cards were, as I rarely saw them on shelves, and my parents would always let me get a flagship box of topps. I don't think we have any problem with new people being overwhelmed, I know as a kid it didn't really matter that there were multiple options, we still had fun and got cards. I will say though, the confusing part for ALL collectors are the sets that are literally another set, but different design. No I'm not talking cosmic, opening day, etc that are similar, I'm talking logofractor, sapphire, etc that are all literally the same card and checklist. I don't dislike their designs, but they should 100% be a parallel in normal Topps Chrome. If we did away with those sets I think we'd be better off, but to half the products would really hurt the hobby, because Print runs would double, and there are sets people really like such as archives or allen and ginter for example that would be potentially cut
Chris here - I get your point and you;re right. We dont need all those versions of the same set!! I totally agree!!
Thanks for watching!
Yes. Especially the ones who open packs with gloves. Its killing the hobby, jacking the prices up.
Breakers like filth bomb are running the hobby. They prey on new and uneducated hobby goers. I saw a person pay 450 for just the player Jackson Merrill in a 2 case break when if they went to other channels they could get the entire team of the Padres in a THREE case break for 390 dollars
You can’t steal from people that badly and not destroy the hobby. Plus fanatics is all in on having then the face of the app.
That needs to change. Good breakers are good for the hobby
@@stefan9229 there are definitely some gross characters in the business. And yeah, taking advantage of newbies is a big part of their plan. It’s gross.
Breaking makes 90% of eBay singles cheaper by flooding the zone. It’s really only wax prices that get inflated.
Exactly! And when that's inflated, people have no entry to the product other than through a break.
Chris here - I like the singles hitting market faster.
Oh, flippers too. They suck just as much.
true
The hobby in this era has devolved into pure gambling with very little ROI. It discourages potential new collectors from wanting to stay in the hobby. For me, singles are the way to go. I’d much rather purchase a slab of a card that I actually want than spend that same money on a break for a minute chance of getting a hit.
Chris here - 100% I agree!!
unfortunately now we have junk era slab 3.0
Love the show guys. Interesting topics. I would love to see Fanatics reduced the baseball product by half, but no chance. Hopefully, maybe we see some changes when they get the NFL and NBA license. I hope they take a play from Leaf and offer cross products. As a Minnesota fan, I would love to see a dual jersey of something like Justin Jefferson and Anthony Richardson. Also, fewer product hopefully means more on card autos and game used jersey cards.
I personally don't mind breakers. Like you guys mentioned, when I got back into the hobby I did a few breaks to get players from teams I follow. Then I realized that I got a bunch of base cards that I really do not want long term so I have not done a break in years. I don't we all are frustrated because no doubt breaking keeps box prices up, but at the same time, they keep product moving. Box prices in baseball are just starting to get bad. I am sure you guys are aware how much worse it is in football and baseball and the chance of getting a hit is lower. I am a little worried to see what happens when Fanatics gets full control. Just look at the price of unlicensed Topps Chrome basketball and football! Unti next time.....
@@MG-FS_Sports_Cards thanks for watching! I think we’re all worried about the price trends. It’s getting out of hand already!
I’m not a fan of breaking at all. I’ve seen too many friends destroy their finances getting caught up in breaking. The rip & ships make even less sense. Why would anyone pay someone else to open up a whole box of product for them? That’s the most fun part.
I like the stadium club hybrid paper chrome. The bowman was is always the best way lol
Q1, whole heartedly agree with Phil. It feels like asking people who are really into collecting, if product should be reduced, is like asking spicy food enthusiasts if Wendys should make their spicy chicken sandwich more spicy. Of course it can be more spicy, but they have to appeal to more than just super spicy lovers because they're catering to more than just a single demographic. I remember when people were complaining about the lack of product being produced in 2020/2021, and now there's too much. Compliants about lots of parallels: Rip a couple boxes of 1991 Upper Deck basketball with no parallels and see how much you actually enjoy it. Plenty of product is fine. If you don't like it, just ignore it.
Chris here - Phil did make some good points there. I tend to ignore a lot of sets that come out, as we all do I think.
Too much spice on something and can't really taste what your eating.
The hobby only exists for me at shows and my local card stores. I just look for singles of players I like, take shots at grading singles and that is it. I miss being able to grab a box and open it, with the thought I might hit something good. Now the biggest hits always seem to come from breakers. The prices are just not rationally sound for most of us...
@@matthewpagh9522 Chris here - I like your style!
My issue with breaking is random breaks and using a card deck on whatnot to determine teams. I love what Stryker does, but I won't do one of his breaks because they're random. I get why the breaker wants a random break, 100%. They fill easier and streamline the process. However, the gamble on the gamble is what really gets me and what would make my wife leave me 😂
Gamble on top of gamble! Hard pass.
Also, as a 38 year old, i enjoy Cosmic (and Green Grass Bowman Refractors), just had to defend that one real quick 😊
Fair enough - there are enough parallels for everyone!! Chris here - I know cosmic has fans, and some of the cards do look pretty cool. It's just not for me. Now if Topps makes a dinosaur-baseball set, my wallet is likely in trouble.
@SpitballinCards a Dino set would be awesome! The Allen & Ginter Dino relics are pretty cool though, but I'm aiming for an Anthony Bourdain relic or auto in the near future!
Can you guys believe how crazy hot Freeman is!!! Now 5 consecutive WS games back to the Braves last 2 games he had HRs too
Chris here - you bet your ass i can!!!
One word: YES. Only thing worse is INFLUENCERS like TPOTTS BOSS being the WORST of them.
I have never entered a break (Canadian and no one would ship them to me), but I would only enter one to help support a (small) content creator I like while also getting cards out of the deal. People who give money to breakers who aren’t nice and don’t give a shit about cards at all confuse me
we are equally as confused!!
Stadium Club is great to open because the pictures are actually interesting. Opening something like bowman is soooooooooooooooooo boring, just a bunch of guys in a batting or pitching stance.
With all due respect, Sapphire is not a premium version of Topps/Bowman Chrome. It's an extension of parallels. End of the day true color from flagship (Super, Red, Black, Orange, Gold, Blue, Purple, Refractor) will always have a premium/more valued than any gimmicky Sapphire version/variation of the card. Great show as always! there's a right way and wrong way to approach breaking. unfortunately it does get abused and brings in people who don't really care about the hobby.
Chris here - Sapphire was at one point, but now its over printed (shocker) so it's basically a big nothing burger. Sad.
@@SpitballinCards that’s fair, early Sapphire def had a premium feel. I agree the overprinting has forced me to reevaluate my singles strategy to a less is more approach. I’m trying to exclusively collect Gold /50 or less (no higher than /99) for HoF’ers, pc, and all time greats (current/recently retired) to protect the long term value of my collection. We’ve seen Refractors go from being something valuable in the 90s and early 2000s to just being a mass produced parallel that carry a tiny premium off base. Who’s to say a refractor, shimmer, or even true purple /250 or higher parallels will follow a similar path to the OG refractors from ‘93 Finest
@@schotimecards I like the strategy. True Chrome Golds are great place to go. I'd go a litlte higher and add in Topps Black parallels too.
@@schotimecardsit also depends on the player, for example, for some reason Harper was not included in regular 2019 Topps chrome , his only Topps chrome cards are in Sapphire.
I don't think people should regret buying Stanton because he'll make the HOF
I feel sorry for folks who break product.... yet we need em (I'm sure they have a blast). Get me/us/we those HOF'ers!! I'm only going to collect the same 4-6 different issues aggressively. The other 50 are just not worth it IMO. Eat your vegetables guys... wanna grow old watching you all pontificate.
Chris here - same! I just ignore most products, which is kind of sad.
Absolutely on the vegetables!
Great topics. I am not a fan of breaking for a few reasons. First, the gambling aspect, adults are one thing, but kids can develop a serious problem that can quickly get out of hand and lead to other issues. I’d also agree that the breakers are supporting these super high box prices…more people would be able to buy the product if they weren’t so cost prohibitive. Used to be that you could break even on many products…and you would sell or TRADE the cards you didn’t want for those you did. It helped develop friendships and networks. Also, this entire hobby has shifted from collecting cards to flipping for cash. Not enough end consumers for these cards, and without us, the hobby will wither on the vine and die out.
It;s almost impossible to break even on any boxes now.
As much as i complain about breaking, it allows access to products that are out of my price range. IE say i wanted some pristine cards, or chrome sapphire, i can spend 20-30$ on a team and get some base with a chance at a really cool card. vs spending 400+ a box. that said, its also breaking that has made those boxes 400$+
That's true. At least you can get some cards of your team - no guarantee when you rip a box yourself.
I enjoy breaking myself. I dont get into a ton of breaks, but it is nice to get the cards of my favorite team (Reds) from a case without having to buy an entire case. It also lets me get into some products that I normally wouldnt.
Breaking got me back into the hobby. Mostly due to the fact there aren’t ant local card stores in my area there a few but not like they used to be. Also I have been finding it hard to find cards in other places like Walgreens. There are rare occasions that I find the stuff I want in Target and Walmart but most of the time not.
chris here - I almost never find retail product in the wild, but the place i've found it the most often is Barnes and Noble. Oh, and LIDS.
What you think of collecting older baseball card sets complete
There should be a limit on how much product an individual can buy unless they can prove that they have a brick and mortar stores and won’t do breaks. Other than that, there is just an over-saturation of parallels and inserts, that you’re basically losing money unless you hit superfractors, SSPs, or parallel autos.
The trouble with that is if the brick & mortar is the only source than that is just as likely to jack up the prices (if B&M is LCS).
ROI is basically impossible when ripping boxes now
@@russellbradleigh3393 I would rather pay outrageous prices at a LCS than for a breaker.
Just a heads up, LCSs are having allocation cut. Wave 1 and 2 of purchase options at different prices. You can buy 10 cases at pre release on a lot of products directly from Topps. Crazy times
@@TheCardDeal Ridiculous
I get that Fanatics loves/needs large breakers due to the amount they’ve invested scooping up the major licenses.
All of them can go except for Stryker :(
PSA cards question? Why do the placards inside the PSA slabs get wavy. I've bought a few PSA 10 cards and they've had wavy placards. Not sure if it's from moisture or heat. But it definitely takes away from the ability to display the card. Will PSA switch out placards for free as part of their guarantee?
Never bought into a break, never will. I buy singles for my PC and the only boxes i buy are for my 8yr old nephew as he's really getting into cards and even grading now. My sister said I'm creating a grading monster 😂....i buy simple blaster boxes as he enjoys those as if they are the best thing. His dad and mom have no interest in collectibles, so Uncle coming in to save the day!
Uncle of the Year!!!
@@SpitballinCards 😂
I do agree with Phil about breaking because I only use to collect TCG and did breaks occasionally but the breaker I watch got one case of cosmic chrome I didn’t buy into it but I really liked the cards so decided to venture into baseball cards. I know it gets joked on a lot but I really still do like that product lol
Can’t wait till they make a 1st bowman cosmic chrome! Lmaooo jk Topps it’s joke please do make that
Chris - I admit the Cosmic cards look good, but I know it's not for me.
Now a dinosaur themed set....
Yes.
I’d like to see upper deck get into baseball, this could all be solved by mlb saying you can only print 5 sets a year
Jeff here: I miss the competition between baseball card manufactures.
35 years ago UD forced Topps to make prettier and higher quality cards. I remember the quality of 1990 Topps which will be next year’s throwback was so poor of card stock that you barely touched the cards and the corners would badly fray
@@russellbradleigh3393 YES!!!
And the MVP, most valuable perspective, for this episode goes to Chris's wife.
hahaha - i begged her not to pull on these hobby threads!!
I’ve participated in exactly 5 breaks 4 of them I recieved no cards twice and base crap twice. Once and once only I got two autos for the guardians, it was a $20 team got a kwan 1989 auto and a gimenez gold auto #\50. My four losses cost me 290 and one good one cost me $20
Ouch. Yeah, it's a spin on the roulette wheel!
the reason your LCS doesn't have it or that its to expensive is breaking. My son has completely left the hobby because he cant afford it. The kids wont be as involved they grow up and no ones wants cards. I hope I'm wrong but it doesn't look that way.
@@carskyfavre1384 I’m afraid the costs are pushing more and more kids away.
There’s another collapse coming, every year that goes by the bubble is getting bigger and bigger. Thankfully in my case my PC is built around childhood memories that I don’t care about the resale value on.
Sounds like true collecting!!
Yeah boy
Fanatics having a monopoly is a huge problem for the hobby. There is no competition to lower prices so we are simply stuck with whatever the hand feeds us.
good point!
Something that ive noticed that proves the amount of degenerate gamblers on these breaking apps is PLAYER BREAKS OR PYPS. The player breaks will sit and sit for days until the breaker has to lower prices or practically give away players to get it to rip. Its because nobody knows who the players are when they dont collect. They rip to sell the big hits. The random style stuff FLYS. When the breaker tells you what teams and what players will sell, the gambler goes after those teams on the wheel till he hits them. They dont know anyone besides jackson holiday, elly, and Jdom. Its sad
That's extremely sad
cosmic is the best set I've seen....
Do you think 2023 Stadium Club chrome cards (and stadium club boxes) are more valuable because they didn't make a chrome set and changed the way future sets are going to be produced?
@@joealessandra7726 no, not really. We only got 3 years of the stadium club chrome standalone set. So it’s usually just stadium club anyway.
Breakers got so many people into or back into the hobby, especially during the pandemic when people were on their phones and stuck at home way more than usual. For this, we should be grateful, extremely grateful. However, it’s almost become the only way to buy into these products, especially anything high end (high end used to be $100 a box, not $500-$1000). It’s a catch 22. Breakers created a lot of the success and popularity we see in the hobby, but nobody wants them around now that the hobby (on paper) is thriving as a result of what the breakers helped create. I’d assume the average collectors thoughts are “I want as many people in the hobby as possible (as long as they aren’t scummy), but I want to rip as much good product as I can for really cheap.” I don’t think both are doable.
Sorry for rambling. Great episode guys!
great points
Have you ever watched a break and Talley up each team won, on a 400 box they are making 800-1000 each time.
They better not get rid of Topps Gilded!!! Lowest numbered base set in ALL of the Topps Chrome lineups.
Gilded best of all the chrome products.....period!
I will say the gilded cards to look good. I don't own any yet, but theres a freeman auto i need a copy of eventually.
The economics of Products (Topps and Panini: 60+ and 10+) comes down to a finite amount of money chasing an expanding production run to balance the equation. Singles are cheap because value declines as time passes…approximately one year after a Product is Released the Singles are down significantly as to when the Product is brand new. This Value destruction should be catastrophic to Sportscards Hobby, but Collectors seem to accept this phenomenon. This is the definition of Junk Wax, but the Breakers open so much Product that the Supply is so limited that it doesn’t reflect the Expected Value from opening older Wax Products. Crazy distortion of Markets…2024 will be a Case Study in the future for MLB Cards. If Dela Cruz, the Jackson 3, Langford, Skenes or someone else becomes a Superstar in eight to ten years, then there shouldn’t be a lot of Price Appreciation because the overall Supply of 2024 is way too high. 🤓⚾️
None of the big hobbies feel the same after lockdown. Pokemon, Magic, Sports cards, video games, Lego etc.
No breaking gets singles out into market but only done if blind breaking if a client list ever gets out or sales of the scanners there will be a huge disruption.
The CT scanner situation is a serious problem.
Overprinting is killing the hobby
Which is a direct result of breaker induced demand.
ive had issues with breaks before and i agree, the pull makes it so easy to overspend. i can afford it, but i hate it.
Your gambling when you buy a box. I spend way less on card breaking going for the team of my choice
That makes sense!!
Stadium club is always my favorite release. hit a monster last year that paid for everything stadium club in ripped
Lol omg I'm agreeing with Scott on a topic.
breaking......instead of $600 worth of hobby boxes you can get in for $20 per spot....all it is is buying a lottery ticket and hoping...but I can deal with 20 better than 600
Great market for selling. Sell sell sell
I like variety. I’m sitting here hoping Archives & Inception haven’t been canned.
Breakers aren’t even breaking real products now..they are doing “Mystery” packs…a new way of gambling!
@@staleprad Chris here - mystery packs, repacks 🤮🤮
Avoid at all costs.
I hate breaking. I want to buy a box at a reasonable cost to open for myself or with my kids. But the prices are insane. I’m a 46 year old man who returned to the hobby at the beginning of this year. Paying $25-100 to hope I get a card for the team I picked from a breaker still sucks. It’s lottery BS run by someone else.
There’s also waaaaay too much product. If I need a spreadsheet or a cheat sheet to learn what’s what then that’s not great
Yes
I'm going to be the odd man out, but I just think this hobby is filled with a bunch of hypocrites. Collectors are so quick to judge breakers on ruining things when most of the collectors have the same type of mindset.
It's the hustling mentality that has thrown the market out of whack. While breakers can be lumped into that, its not just them.
Breakers thrive so much because the majority of collectors buying into them are trying to make money as well. Because we do it on a smaller scale than others doesn't mean we aren't contributing to the demise of this market also.
Good points 👆
There are few good breakers. Stryker and run good life are my favorites because they are collectors themselves and dont push BS products just to make money. Not all breakers are created equally. Without them, it would be tough for the average guy to get a chance at the high-end product.
I do think there are many who are greedy and just suck at life...aka back yard breaks...f-ing 🤡 show
Chris here - agreed all around!!
I love RunGoodLife but I think Stryker is changing. He said in a video recently that a jumbo paper at 400 was a fair price. Plus acting like all $4 cards he pulls for everyone is fire
@@timmccray7507 $400 for a hobby jumbo is completely absurd.
No. Breakers bring the hobby to everyone and allows them to get into high end products at a cheaper price.
Yes breakers suck haven’t wasted a dime though on a break
No greedy store owners with 80% margins are
Breaking sucks! A lot of the value in wax (at least for me) is being able to rip the packs myself
RIpping is FUN!! It's just hard to swallow a $200 loss every time.
Low print runs of on-card autos in Topps. Cosmic and you wouldn't be caught dead holding one? 🤔
Cosmic > Sapphire
Breaking is horrible...about 2% are winners and the rest are all losers....you want to introduce people to the hobby, send them to local card stores or ebay
In my opinion, Ebay is the worst place for buyers and sellers. The fees and taxes are rough.
Random team breaks are a great way to do more than just aquire cards.
This year I had 28 seats at an Indians game and many more in town from all over the country for the National when it was here in Cleveland. I am now part of a larger cardmunity, card community. Today we did a fundraiser where we all donated product to raise funds for a member who passed. It's an annual thing and all funds go to his daughter.
Never met the person, but we have done many of these and it has brought a lot of new faces to the hobby, and many new friendships have formed.
Today you can now see a lot of video talks all over UA-cam about 2025 National and meet ups, hangout with fellow collectors etc.
To me the hot button topics will drive the clicks and various opinions.
No one gives 2 shits about the stuff I mentioned above. Absolutely no one, you can make a video about it every day for 2 years and you would die waiting to scratch 100 views on UA-cam.
I vented in my other comment as I was tired of hearing how all this is bad or dying and with or without me and you, the hobby moves along. You get what you put into it, stay within budget, find other ways to collect, trade etc. You can be very active in the hobby with a small budget.
If you have a an LCS to go to!
All yall on teams? There is hand raise button 😂
As someone that has been in and out of the hobby for 40 years, my vote would be a 5. Breaking is the main factor to pricing, like 95% of the reason. All the other ones wouldn't hold a candle.
With no breakers in a Fanatics world, there would still be influencers endlessly pumping products IMO. So the marketing would just take a different form. Obviously breaking takes it to a different level.
@Philmington yes but those influencers wouldn't be buying cases and cases to do it. It still might see temporary spikes for product but those would be smaller and shorter lived. Supply wouldn't dry up like now. We saw a taste of that style with 1989 upper deck back then.
What baseball cards are considered staples that hobby purists see as essential?
Topps
Topps Chrome
Bowman Chrome
Stadium Club
Heritage
Those are probably your core 5.
Allen & GInter has its niche as well.
They have ruined it. And it will continue to be out of hand. The kids and the average joe like me have been pushed to the side.
If it means I just don't rip any boxes anymore, I'm ok with that. And so is my wallet.
If I'm watching a breaker and they consistently are getting less than a 50% ROI on the products they're opening, it's not their fault. It's the card companies.
I opened the box of stadium club with my son last year, and 99% of the cards were damaged on the corners or edges. Very disappointing! I sent it back to Tops! Nothing in return. Just this week, they sent me a new box. So I opened it with my son, And 99% of the cards were damaged on the corners or edges :-) quality control is out of control. Any errors are because of voice text while driving :-)
They definitely arent making it any better.
i love ya'll and ya'll do a killer show. but everytime ya'll hate on chrome cosmic it gives "get off my lawn" vibes
I was just trying to use it to make a point because the other guys don’t like it. I’m actually a pretty big fan of the product.
Just that one product? Because there are new products that we like, but most that feel like a cash grab.
Do you think there are too many products, and just like cosmic? Or do you think they should keep pumping out all of these products?
haha - that's funny. People have sent me the grimacing Clint Eastwood gif after I complain about somehting Topps does.
💯 they have ruined it. Panini has also screwed the hobby over by offering 15k different rookie cards for a single player too. It’s just dumb now. Having a rookie of a player no longer means much, unless you have a /10 or less.Its 🤮
Because of breaking wax has skyrocketed, and the price of singles tanks over the first several months. Instead it should sell at a price and maintain, but it doesn't. People will keep maxing out their credit cards till they cant.