30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, November 21, 2011

Breaking Down the Pro's & Con's of Group Breaks

Wow... thank you to everyone who left me feedback on the... What's your take on Group Breaks? question. I already had an opinion on the issue, but all of you helped me reflect on the issue... and even revise my personal stance.

Here's a look at the breakdown as of 5:30 this morning:


I probably should have created a poll to begin with, but I honestly was surprised at the amount of feedback all of you gave. I took it upon myself to decipher your feedback and put you into one of three categories. It looks like nearly 60% (11 out of 19) of you enjoy to some extent participating in "group breaks". A little over 30% (6 out of 19), are like me and felt that they're not quite worth it. And just over 10% (2 out of 19) of the people who left feedback are caught in the middle.

After digesting all of your responses, I tried to organize & summarize the information, so that people can see what collector's thoughts (plus added my own thoughts in red) are:

The Advantages of Group Breaks:
- there's the rush you get from gambling
- the thrill of pulling the BIG hit
- they're great for team collectors
- save money, compared to buying a whole box
- affordable way to see new product
- certain teams are better in certain products
- add to the treasure hunt mystique
- opportunity to get cards from sets you normally wouldn't buy
- it's great for overseas collectors (see Tony's comments)
- great way for collectors to interact & bond

The Disadvantages of Group Breaks:
- it's not worth the gamble
- I'd rather buy the cards I want instead
- you only get a fraction of the box, some want it all
- they're not good, if you have very specific "wants"
- there's plenty of "unwanted" extra cards
- not cool when the "breaker" tries to make money
- certain teams are worse in certain products
- sometimes you only receive the "hits" and not the "base"

Other thoughts on Group Breaks:
- it's hit or miss... you can pull a huge hit or nothing at all
- the attractiveness of group breaks can depend on who's running it

I was also intrigued by Offy's (Mr. Traver) comments. He made a few valid points when it comes to running "group breaks". If you're going to let people choose their teams, then certain teams should be priced higher/lower depending on the product.

The fact is... card companies typically do not create an equal amount of cards for each team. Hiflew supported this theory when he wrote, "as a Rockies collector, usually I end up regretting my purchase because of not enough cards."

Here's my updated take on group breaks...

I typically stay away from "group breaks", because I'm not a big gambler and I'd rather spend my money on purchasing specific singles for my collection. However, I definitely can see the benefits for "team collectors" and the fact that it's a way for collectors to "bond".

Thanks again to everyone who left a comment on my previous post.

One of the best things about authoring a blog is the feedback you receive. It's the whole reason I try to include a question in each of my posts. Ironically, I'm not inserting a question today, but I truly appreciate everyone and anyone who has ever taken the time to read and/or respond to one of my blog posts.

My motto is... I'll keep writing them... if you keep reading them.

Have a great week everyone... and sayonara!

Nablo WriMo Daily Total: 595 Words
November Total: 5,324 Words

3 comments:

Robert said...

Excellent post here Fuji, love the analysis. Keep em coming!!

Kbrewster/90 said...

I know you've put this to bed, but as a new blogger and break participant, the two things that really bug me are not doing what you say you are going to do and not mailing the cards quickly. Dimwit just did a great job posting about the results exactly as he said he would. Others struggle to get the results posted and do not communicate about the delays, leaving the breakees hanging.

So, how about a poll about card drafts?

You know, I still need five drafters! ; )

Fuji said...

robert - thanks!

kyle4kc - yeah, i totally agree. those things would definitely drive me nuts.