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The Voyeuristic Lure of the Video Box Break
Jul 17 2008 2:51PM
By Erin Bolen
I have to admit, I'm a big fan of the relatively recent video box break phenomenon.
For the past couple of years, video breaks have become a growing part of the hobby community, allowing collectors showing off their pack and box breaks, usually on YouTube or other video sharing sites.
Part of it is a little voyeurism. We've all walked into a store where someone is breaking box after box of SP Authentic or Hot Prospects or International Ice and hung around to see what was pulled. We all love our own collections, but we also all love to gawk at nice cards.
Living in a small West Texas town where high-end hockey breaks are as rare as snowstorms, the only opportunity I might have to see a typical The Cup break is online. The real-time aspect of video breaks, especially live breaks where the owner sees the cards at the same time you do, makes it even more fun.
Video breaks can even help you decide what boxes to buy. If a product is fairly popular, four of five breaks will show up online in the first few weeks. If you're patient, you can view others live breaks to see if the product is worth your while.
Of course, there are the same risks to that method of evaluation as there are to trusting break reports to decide the value of a product. The vast majority of breaks will not be posted online. Collectors tend to report the very good or very bad breaks in writing.
Video breaks take out some of those risks because, at least for live breaks, it requires an investment of time and energy before the videographer knows what's in the pack or box. That type of energy generally means a video will be posted regardless of the quality of the break.
The other thing to consider is most video breaks will be of middle-or-high-end products for one simple reason – they translate better to video. Products that promise big hits every few packs, or one guaranteed big hit per box, are more rewarding both to film and to watch.
Products like MVP, Victory, OPC or even SP Authentic can be pack after pack of base, common rookie or low-end insert. While these products are my favorite to break, the relative rarity of big hits makes them more fun for the collectors rather than viewers.
As the internet becomes a bigger part of all of card collecting, from communities to auctions to dealers' online stores, the video box break has become one of the most enjoyable aspects of this new medium.
Check out all the latest Beckett video box breaks by clicking here.
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