General Forum

I have done a lot of Ebay case breaks in the past very little success. I prefer to use Breakers with online stores and have had great success at times and got nothing at all depending on break type and card amounts per box. I mostly buy breaks now at Cards Infinity W/Chris Justice. I have gotten 1/1's and SSP's several times and he breaks every single box break item he sells if you want it opened. He even has a link with some of the best hits he has pulled over the years I believe he started in '06. Here it is:https://www.cardsinfinity.com/pages/big-pulls

I tend to be leery about Ebay breaks. Now breaks on trading card forums and from card bloggers I'll join in every now and then. But I only do ones where I can pick at least my first team. I don't do any of these totally random breaks, because I don't want to be stuck with a team I hate and in each sport I have at least one team I hate. I have only bought into Baseball and Football Breaks, Some years back I blog hosted a Basketball (the one Billy mentioned) break, and a Baseball break. Due to the work a beaker must do (prep work for the break, video host sites to do the break on, sorting of cards and sending out and much more)  to be fair and have a successful break, not to mention the cost of shipping now-days I have no plans to host any other breaks.

One thing to look into when thinking of joining them is to see if you get all cards of your team or just the "hits". Some breakers consider inserts and parallels to be "hits" but most do not, just the autos and relics (maybe printing plates if the brand includes plates as hits). Many of the forum and blog breakers will send you all cards of your team from the break including duplicates and multiples, unless you request no duplicates or no base. 

Also consider what product is being busted. A High End product might only be 1 pack of only 5 cards for the entire box. Not a great break to enter into. If your team is a below average team it might not be included in some of the cool inserts.

So before getting into a break RESEARCH everything from what product is being busted to the break host and their "rules" or guidlines for the particular break you are interested in. If possible check out previous breaks from the host as well to see how they show stuff in the video

I do them often. I have found a handful of breakers I like and trust. DO YOUR RESEARCH! www.breakninja.com will help give you an idea of how many hits each team has in the set and the likelyhood of hitting one per box or case of your team. Watching the a couple breakers to see who's style you like is good too. There are some TERRIBLE breakers out there. Watching a couple breaks of the same product you are looking at will give you an idea of the mix of the cards too, if you have time for that sort of thing. 

Stay away, stay far away. Huge rip off

Only breaks I got involved with were at a LCS (which is no longer there) were the break was done live and you had to be there.  Best thing I got was out of one of them Leaf boxes, got a Ivan Lendl signed Tennis shirt.  I had number 1 pick and the guy who had number 2 was certain I was going to take the Steve Young signed 49ers mini-helmet.  My buddy who ran the store knew I would be taking the Lendl shirt when he opened the box.

I've participated in breaks for the first time this year. I researched a lot up front and believe that, if done right, buying into a break is no more of a risk than spending cash on an unopened box of cards. I always do "Pick Your Team" breaks and I always pick the Yankees. Yankees cost a bit more, of course. That's just part of being a Yankees collector. I don't bet on pulling a high-end Yankees card, but I know for absolutely sure, I'm only getting Yankees cards. I'm not going to be disappointed with a signature of the third string catcher from a last place team.  

Breaks may not be your cup of tea, but they are definitely not a rip-off, if you do your homework - like we all should any time we spend a good chunk of change on a piece of cardboard history. 

I encourage everybody always be on the lookout for the fun part of the hobby. 
And, by the way, I really would like someone to explain to me why Panini baseball is an exciting product. Anyone?

Jay