How Card Breaks Work: Your Guide to Box, Pack, and Set Breaks

How Card Breaks Work: Your Guide to Box, Pack, and Set Breaks

What is a break? If you're new to Vintage Breaks (welcome!) or have never joined a card break at all, here is your easy, go-to guide.

At Vintage Breaks, we pride ourselves on the variety of breaks we offer. Unlike other breakers where you may pay for a break but receive ZERO cards, you're always guaranteed to receive your cards with us.

Here are the types of breaks and an explanation of what each break is with VB:

BOX BREAK 

A box break is when a full box of cards is opened for you, and you receive every pack and every card in that pack.

There are various types of boxes we offer, and the contents of each box vary. Here are a few typical box types you'll find:

  • Hobby Box 
  • Blaster Box
  • Mega Box

The Hobby Box comes from the manufacturer such as Topps and is meant for "hobby shops." These boxes contain more packs and more cards per pack than a Blaster or Mega box and often come with a guaranteed "hit" such as an autograph or memorabilia card.

A Blaster Box is much smaller, contains fewer packs, and fewer cards per pack. These smaller boxes are what you often find on store shelves. Blaster boxes are popular given their price point! The cost of a Blaster Box is a fraction of a Hobby Box and comes with plenty of cards to enjoy.

The Mega Box is slightly bigger than a Blaster Box. A Mega is in between a Hobby and a Blaster in both size and number of cards.

We always list the number of packs and cards per pack on the website for you!

Here is a video of a Box Break (Hobby Box):

PACK BREAK 

There are two types of Pack Breaks we offer at Vintage Breaks:

  • Personal Pack
  • By-the-Card 

A Personal Pack Break ensures you every card from the pack. A full, sealed pack is opened, and each card is yours. 

When a Pack Break is offered by-the-card, each spot your purchase guarantees you one card from the pack. After all spots have been purchased, the list of names is randomized on-screen during our live stream. The number your name lands on correlates with the card you receive in the pack. For example, if your name is in the third spot after the randomization, you receive the third card out of the pack.

A by-the-card spot is an affordable opportunity to land a high-end card at a lower price. For example, a 1986-87 Fleer basketball pack with 13 cards may cost $3,250 per pack. Rather than purchasing the entire pack, you purchase one spot (one card) in the pack for $250. All 13 spots have the same percentage at landing the coveted Michael Jordan rookie card at a much more affordable cost.

Here is a video of a Personal Pack Break:

 Here is a video of a By-the-Card Pack Break:

 

SET BREAK 

A complete or partial set of cards is offered via individual spots. Vintage Breaks is the WORLD LEADER in set breaks! 

Two types of Set Breaks are offered at Vintage Breaks:

  • Traditional
  • Repack

In a Traditional Set Break, the number of spots offered is equal to the number of cards in the set. Using 1952 Topps baseball, there are 407 cards in a complete set. Only 407 spots are offered in the break. When all 407 spots are sold, we randomize the list of names on-screen during our live stream. Exactly like the by-the-pack break random, the number you land on after the random is the card you receive in the set. If you land on spot #1 after the random, card #1 from the set is yours. Landing on spot #311 in a 1952 Topps baseball set break would score you the Mickey Mantle rookie! Another affordable opportunity at high-end cards for a lesser buy-in cost. Every spot you purchase provides the same odds at the top cards.

Repack Set Break spots offer instant gratification. Several cards from the set are placed inside of a sealed envelope. We try to include a Hall of Famer or star player in each envelope. One spot purchase provides you one sealed envelope. If you're watching the live stream, you can choose the sealed envelope for your set break! If you're not watching, we can choose at random for you. All repacks are opened on-screen during our live stream. Using that 1952 Topps baseball set as our example, your repack envelope may five cards from the set and hold that Mickey Mantle card! 

Here is a video of a Repack Set Break:

Here is a video of a Traditional Set Break:

 

HIT RANDOM BREAK 

A variety of cards listed in a break. Each spot ensures you one card in the break. All spots have the same price point. When all spots are purchased, both the list of names and list of cards are randomized separately. Your name is then aligned with the card number you receive.

Example: Five cards are in the break - 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth (1), 1954 Topps Hank Aaron (2), 1958 Topps Jim Brown (3), 1977 Topps Luke Skywalker (4), and 1980-81 Topps Magic Johnson-Larry Bird (5). You purchase one spot in the break and four other collectors purchase the remaining spots. Names are randomized, cards are randomized and then paired up. 

Here is a video of a Hit Random Break:

REPACK BREAK 

Two Repack Breaks offered at Vintage Breaks:

  • Third-Party Repacks
  • Vintage Breaks Repacks

A Repack is an envelope containing cards previously pulled from packs or sets. Example: A 1984 Topps Don Mattingly rookie card is inside of a Repack envelope. You know that card, at some point, was either pulled from a wax pack or a set. Now, that card is "repacked" into an envelope.

We offer various Third-Party Repacks. Not even we know what is inside of the third-party repacks! We've seen modern basketball cards of stars like Luka Doncic and autographed cards from Chevy Case get pulled in repacks.

Vintage Breaks repacks are catered and created by us, often containing vintage cards. Some cards are graded, too. 

Make certain to review the "floor" and the "ceiling" on repack purchases. The floor is the value of the least expensive card known in the repacks, while the ceiling is the value of the most expensive card in the repacks. Our Vintage Breaks repacks have this information listed along with the total number of repacks created.

Here is a video of a Third-Party Repack Break:

 Here is a video of a Vintage Breaks Repack Break:

OTHER BREAK TYPES

Other companies may have these various types of breaks below listed. We often avoid these breaks here at Vintage Breaks as we like to guarantee you a card! 

Pick-Your-Team: You select an available TEAM in the break. Every card pulled in the break with the team you selected is yours. Typically, the price point of each team is tiered as some teams have more desirable players. The New York Yankees team in a baseball break would usually be more expensive than a Miami Marlins team. Sorry, Marlins... 

Jaspsy's Case Breaks is a big breaker in the hobby and offers these types of breaks.

Random Team: Each person in the break is awarded a team at random. Every card in the break with your provided team is yours. The cost here is usually the same for every spot.

Layton Sports Cards offers random team breaks options in their breaks.

Pick-Your-Player: You choose a player, often tiered in price, and any card of that player pulled in the break is yours.

Blez Brothers has pick-your-player breaks on their site.

Random Player: Each person in the break is awarded a player at random. Every card in the break with your provided player is yours. The cost here is usually the same for every spot.

Filthbomb Breaks offers Random Player breaks.

Some companies may get more granular with the "Pick Your" or "Random" spots in breaks. If a break contains mostly numbered cards from a high-end product like Flawless or National Treasures, you might find a "Random Serial Number" beak. Perhaps you would be given all cards numbered /10. Pick your parallel could allow you to select any Gold insert cards. 

Dave and Adams is a breaker with the Random Serial Number breaks.

WHY VINTAGE BREAKS DOES NOT HAVE "PICK YOUR" BREAKS"

The trouble with the "Pick Your" breaks is that not every break is guaranteed to give you a card! If you picked the Yankees or Aaron Judge and zero of these cards were pulled in a break, you paid your money but receive nothing.

Always check which cards SHIP, too. Some breaks post that "vet base" or "base" cards do NOT ship to you. This means only rookies and insert cards that get pulled are shipped. If you pull a base (non-numbered, non-parallel card), it won't get shipped to you. Not here at Vintage Breaks, though! We ship all of your cards, even if it's a common base card.

Ready to join a break now that you're up-to-speed on each break we offer? 

You can check out ALL of our breaks any time HERE.

WHY CHOOSE VINTAGE BREAKS?

Vintage Breaks offers THE BEST VALUE IN BREAKING.

When you check out for a spot on the site, the price you see is the price you pay. Taxes and shipping are included! Your cards always come protected in holders. The last time you mailed a package out had to have set you back more than three bucks, right? If you buy a $3.00 spot, you get your card holdered and shipped for that price.

Lack of product in stores has been a problem; we see the same empty shelves that you do. If you can't find cards, Vintage Breaks is your solution.

FUN!  Cards are our passion! Isn't it just more fun to chat with other collectors? Come hang with us and other collectors just like you during our breaks!  

At Vintage Breaks, we have our main breaking show in New Jersey (The North), our mornings in Michigan (Mid-West), our night owls in the South (Georgia), and the West (Arizona). Our Sunday morning show in New York is now live, too! We break all seven days of the week fit YOUR schedule! 

VINTAGE BREAKS IS BUYING!

If you have sealed wax, vintage or modern, that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer.  We're always interested in both sealed product of both sport and non-sport.  Whether you have that pack of 1977 Star Wars, that rare 1955 Bowman cello pack, a wax box of 1984 Topps football, Pokémon, or 2019 Panini National Treasures basketball you'd like to sell, we'd love to hear from you!

CONTACT US ANY TIME

If you have any questions about a product, break, shipping, or even if you're interested in SELLING a collection, reach out any time!

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