Case Breaker of the Week: Grand Slam Collectibles
Case Breaker of the Week is a bi-monthly feature that focuses on case breakers throughout the Hobby. This week we spoke to Nathan Burns owner of Grand Slam Collectibles in Mufresseboro, TN.
Grand Slam is a brick-and-mortar card shop which hosts box breaks and streams them live on Facebook. Burns doesn’t consider himself a “case breaker” necessarily because they do their breaks a little differently. He explains their system below.
Case Breaker of the Week is brought to you by GTS Distribution, the Hobby’s leading supplier for sports and entertainment collectibles.
BM: How did you get involved in collecting?
NB: I bought my first pack of 1984 Fleer at a gas station. My older brother was about 5 or 6 years older than me and that was the first thing of mine that he ever wanted. That was the moment when I realized they were cool. From then o I collected through college and then took a few years off before I got back into it.
BM: What is your favorite all-time card?
NB: My favorite all-time card that I own at the moment is the 1952 Topps Mantle. It’s a 2.5, we are putting it in our next product that we are releasing on Black Friday. We make our own re-packed product, I always try to put something that is mine in the product. We are selling 500 boxes that day with 10 Golden Tickets spread out in them. Those 10 winners are randomized and whatever you line up with, you get. We don’t want someone pulling the Mantle in the first ten boxes and then I’m stuck with 490 boxes.
BM: What lead you to case breaking?
NB: I opened a brick and mortar store in August 2016. And it was just the way you have to operate as a local card shop these days. We just started doing box breaks and pack wars on Facebook. It was mostly local guys watching. And one night it just blew up. We had 10 or 12 people and then one night it to 70 and then to 100 and we have even had as many as 2,500 people watching our feed at one time. On an average night it’s between 400 and 800 that watch. It’s been kind of a miracle.
BM: How long have you been breaking?
NB: Around August or October of 2017.
BM: What’s your favorite part of being a case breaker?
NB: The people that we have met. At the National this year we probably had between 25 and 50 customers bring their kids to visit us and just want to meet us. It’s been a whirlwind. Just getting to meet regular people who want to have a little fun and get away from reality for a little bit each week is great. We’ve built a community through this.
BM: What’s the coolest experience so far?
NB: I’ve probably had between 50 and 100 military challenge coins sent to me. A lot of military members send them to me. We display them in the store. Kids wanting to meet me is really cool, too.
BM: You have a unique angle on breaking, mind explaining that?
NB: Before I opened my store, I was a customer and it just felt like out of 32 spots then only 10 guys would get hits and the other 22 would be upset. And that would make the whole thing uncomfortable.
So I did mine differently to where if you pay for a spot you are going to get something in the box. Obviously the cost is more, but your odds are increased dramatically to get something good. We wanted to build a positive room. That was what I saw and didn’t want that negativity.
BM: How often do you break?
NB: Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 pm central on Facebook.
BM: How many people do you have working with/for you?
NB: Four plus me at the moment.
BM: What’s your favorite thing to break?
NB: National Treasures basketball, Flawless and Immaculate Basketball. I love the LogoMan cards that they make.
Burns adds, “We would like to thank our customers, without them we wouldn’t be in existence. We appreciate their loyalty and trust in us.”
