What supplies does a card breaker need?
So you’re a sports card box breaker? Congrats! You’re one step closer to achieving happiness by combining your love for baseball cards with your career. The former CEO of Apple Computers, Steve Jobs, once said,
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
If you truly have the passion to do what you love, then you’re well on your way to becoming a successful sports card breaker. But if you’re still confused as to what a sports card box breaker is, then read up in this article.
As you continue your sports card case breaking career, you’ll need to invest into card breaking supplies. Keep in mind that you’re providing a professional service to your customers, and because they’re spending their hard earned cash with your card breaking company, then it’s very important for your continued to success that you handle, ship and possibly grade the cards that they are receiving. And the bare minimum that your customers deserve is quality card breaking supplies such as top loaders, sleeves, magnetic card holders, stands, padded envelopes and gloves to name a few.
You never know what you’re going to hit, so make sure you’re prepared with the proper card breaking supplies (like top loaders) protect the cards that you hit for your customers.
What card breaking supplies do you need?
Let’s break down the most important card breaking supplies that you’ll need to make card breaking company look good as well as providing that tender loving care that your customers expect:
Top loaders: These are a must-have. Stock up on them because you’ll always need them, but keep in mind that there are a variety of sizes and brands to consider. Here are a few top loaders that you’ll need to be successful whether it’s the first day on the job or you’re already one of the top sports card box breakers in the world.
20pt 3” x 4” Top Loaders: These are the must haves. With these sweet PVC plastic protectors, almost all of the cards you get from the sports card box break will be protected by this size. They’ll cover you for your case breaks of baseball, football, basketball, mixed martial arts and even Pokemon.
35pt 3” x 4” Standard Top Loaders: These are the standard 35pt plastic top loaders. Just buy these. We promise that you’ll always need them and you can never get enough of the standard sizes.
100pt Super Thick Ultra Pro Top loaders: These are pretty good to always have in stock for those thick cards. And we do love them thick! The worst situation is that you have just hit that Mac Jones one-of-one from a 2021 Panini National Treasures Football Hobby Box and you don’t have an easy way to store it. Yikes! Just get a bunch of 100pt top loaders for now, but we won’t stop there.
108pt 3” x 4” top loaders: While more rare than your standard or super thick top loader, it would be nice to have some 108pt top loaders on hand.
130pt 3”x 4” top loaders: This is a pretty stand size for the super thick cards, so grab a few of the 130 pointers.
168pt 3” x 4” top loaders: Now we’re in big boy territory. The 168pt is probably something you wouldn’t use everyday, but it’s nice to have a pack or two lying around for those times you rip open a nice 2022 Panini Immaculate Baseball Hobby Box.
180pt 3”x 4” top loaders: Same as the 168pt top loader, it would be nice to have a 25-pack of these super thick RPA (rookie, patch, autograph) card that you hit.
260pt 3” x 4” top loaders: Now these are for the big boys, and they’re pretty cool considering it’s meant for the landscape (aka wide angle) view for the really thick special case hit cards.
These are a good variety of top loaders. You’ll probably encounter different size requirments for you next sports card case break, so it’s important for you to have a bunch on hand, but be able to go to your LCS (local card store) and buy new top loaders as needed.
Sleeves: Sometimes these little pieces of plastic are called Penny Sleeves just because the cost per sleeve is around a penny (keep in mind inflation). You’ll want to a have a variety of these plastic sleeves on hand for you to package those top rookie hits and those serial numbered special edition gold card inserts. Keep in mind that you’ll use these in combination with the top loaders listed above. It gives the box hits from your break that extra TLC protection.
2.5” x 3.5” Standard Size Trading Card Sleeves: Just like the standard top loaders, you’ll need a bunch of these on hand. We just ripped a 2022 Panini Chronicles UFC Hobby Box ($172.95 from Giant Sports Cards) and we were surprised by the number of veteran and rookie super stars that were included in this hobby box. So we needed a bunch of penny sleeves. Luckily we were well prepared, and so will you.
Card Sleeves for Thick Cards: Did we already mention we like them thick? Yeah! These penny sleeves from Ultra Pro are great because they cover cards from the standard 35pt to 130pt thickness. Good for those slightly thick, but not overly big cards.
Booklet Card Sleeves: The Standard and Thick card penny sleeves will usually suffice for what you need, but when you rip open a basketball hobby case that has a booklet, you’ll be in a rush to be able to protect those cards. You don’t need to buy these now, but be prepared to go to your local card store or go to Amazon to pick these up quick.
Magnetic Card Holders: If you want to give your customers that extra feeling of love when they hit that one-of-one Mac Jones Rookie Card, then you’ll want to encase the card in a Magnetic Card Holder. It’ll cost you a few extra dollars, but the presentation in a pretty card holder goes a long way. Gone are the days of the screw-down card holders - so don’t ever use them unless you want to crush your cards.
Team Bags: You’ll likely be running a random team or pick-your-team card break, so when your customers hit the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Lakers and get good cards, you can easily pack them together in a team bag. Keep in mind that you’ll probably insert the top loaded cards into these team bags in addition to the common or just penny-sleeved cards.
Semi-rigid Card Holders: I remember back in the days (think 1980s through the 1990s), we would buy semi-rigid card protectors. We did that because the standard top loaders were a little more expensive to protect our 1989 Upper Deck cards. We opted for the next best alternative in semi-rigid holders. I don’t recommend buying these, but to each their own. They are more affordable and with volume, they aren’t as heavy as top loaded cards.
Trading Card Stands: As you rip your boxes and cases, you’ll want to make sure you display the hits, rookie cards, patches and autographs. Display these cards with professionalism using a simple card display stand. Grab a few since they’re easy to break.
Sorting Tray: These sorting trays are a life saver to stay organized. You’ll want to make sure you have enough modular spaces for each team. Baseball breaks and basketball breaks have 30 teams. NFL football and NHL hockey have 32 teams. BCW Modular Sorting Trays come in packs of 6, so buy a quantity of 6 and get a label maker to put in the proper team names so you don’t accidentally send the wrong card to the wrong customers.
Storage Boxes: Over time you may or may not want to ship the common cards. These cards are usually the non-stars that Panini America or Topps throw into packs. There usually isn’t a big desire for your customers to acquire these cards, but that’s your policy to ship them or not. If you decide to not ship the commons, then you may want to store them at home in these storage boxes and donate them to a new card hobbyist or a charity like Commons4Kids.org. These card storage boxes come in a variety of sizes, so buy ones that fit your space, and don’t just buy the largest storage box. Alternatively, because of their weight and size, you may want to just pick these up at your LCS.
Stock up on top loaders and card penny sleeves of all sizes. You never know what card you’ll hit in your next sports card case break.
Does the brand name of top loaders and penny sleeve matter?
This is a debatable topic, and in our honest opinion, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that your precious sports cards are protected from most falls and spills. I’m sure there’s a bunch of scientific studies that can prove the acidity levels contained the PVC plastics, and we’ll continue to research them. The last thing you want is a card that turns yellow like many comic books that we see at the local Comic Con.
If you are stickler for brand names when it comes to protection, then we do like the following:
Between these two companies, you’ll find the most comprehensive assortment of sports card, trading card, comic book and collectible’s protection.
Price compare thousands of wax boxes, cases, blasters and mega boxes at WaxStat.com
What is the best way to ship sports cards after a card break?
So you’ve just gone through a 20-box case of 2021-22 Panini Donruss Optic Basketball H2 Hobby Hybrid, and you’ve hit it big. Your customers are extremely happy and are excited to receive their cards. So what’s next? You got it! Shipping! Here are a few services and supplies that you’ll need on hand to properly secure and ship the valuable cardboard you just ripped open.
Pirate Ship: If you haven’t heard of Pirate Ship, then you’re missing out on the easiest way to ship from your home. With a few clicks of a button, you’ll be able to ship your cards quickly and easily to your customers via USPS or UPS with a tracking number. And there’s no monthly subscription! It’s shipping that is pay-as-you-go! While you likely won’t be shipping too large of a package, they also give discounts on cubic priority shipping via USPS.
Scale: This goes without saying, but since shipping prices vary depending on weight, you’ll want to know what the exact mass is for your shipment so that it doesn’t get delayed with the United States Postal Service.
Dymo Label Printer: At first, you can print at home with your stand HP Inkjet, but you’ll find rather quickly that having a dedicated thermal label printer like the DYMO LabelWriter 4XL will keep you organized and save you so much time. It’s pricey, but so worth it!
Labels for your printer: Don’t forget the labels! These self-adhesive labels saves you so much time from the alternative of printing at home, cutting the label out and taping it to your padded envelope.
Padded Envelopes: You’ll want to figure out what the optimal size for each of your breaks. If you’re a sports card box breaker then a standard 4”x6” padded envelope will work, but if you are doing a case break, then you’ll want to get larger padded envelopes. We like these plain looking yellow envelopes to be discrete and not scream “Expensive collectible sports cards inside!”
Bubble Wrap: When we do a card break where there’s really valuable cards, then it doesn’t hurt to just wrap them in bubble wrap. Bubble wrap gives you that extra piece of mind that in the event the delivery persons drops the padded envelope, the card will be extra protected. And it’s super fun to relieve stress by taking a portion of the bubble wrap and popping it.
Packing Tape: You may not need tape, but if you’re shipping an extra large package of cards, then you may want to reinforce it with clear packing tape.
That 2020 Panini Immaculate Football Hobby Box won’t penny sleeve and top load itself. Make sure to have the proper supplies on hand for such a valuable hobby box.
What other equipment do I need as a sports card box breaker?
We’ve already covered it in articles of the past from the SLabstat blog, but it doesn’t hurt to quickly cover the important stuff such as:
What equipment (such as lighting and gloves) will I need for my sports card break?
SLabstat’s Card Breaking software: Quit using Facebook comments to manage your box break. Use a super simple web app to manage your pick-your-team, random team and auction style card breaks.
SLabstat’s Waxstat: The easiest way for you to price compare the price of wax boxes and cases to save you money and maximize your profits. We use a lot of analytics to help you make the right decisions.
