Group Breaks

A Group Break is when people share a box or case of cards by dividing up the product by teams, players, and other methods.

Our Group Breaks usually happen on Fridays at 4 PM PT. The break is streamed live on our Twitch channel! You can check updates about upcoming breaks here: https://zephyrepic.com/shop/category/sports-cards/group-breaks/

If you aren’t able to watch a live group break, it will be uploaded to our YouTube channel a few days after the break happens.

Group Breaks are when a group of people purchase spots or teams in a Group Break. Once the spots are all sold, the product will be opened live. Any card that is a “hit” (more on that below) will go to the person who has the corresponding spot/team. The way cards are distributed depends on the Group Break format.

You can join a Group Break by clicking here and visiting our Group Break section of the store.

In a Group Break, you get any cards that are considered a “hit”. A “hit” is any card that meets one or more of the following criteria:

• It is autographed
• It has a relic/memorabilia swatch (i.e. a jersey, a patch, a piece of stick, a piece of bat, etc.)
• It is serial numbered (i.e. the card is numbered /999)
• It is an insert (not part of the base set)
• It is a rookie card

We do not ship standard base cards unless otherwise noted in the break details.

Premium base cards (i.e. Stature, The Cup, Premier) will be shipped.

The break may be postponed to a later date once all the spots are filled. All  the updates regarding number of spots left or new group break date will be posted on the group break page.

After a Group Break is completed, the cards will be sorted and placed into protective packaging for shipping within 1 week. We sleeve, top load, and team bag all autos, relics and high value cards. For more common inserts and parallels, we will use acrylic 2-piece boxes.

The common group break formats you see are:

• Random Team/Division: Everyone pays the same fixed amount, then get a random team/division as determined via random.org once all the spots are full.
• Pick Your Team/Division: Every person chooses the team/division they want to buy for the break (each team/division can only be purchased once). The costs for the team are varied based on the product, the checklist, and the players on it.
• Team/Division Draft: Every person pays the same fixed amount, then the team draft order will be randomized via random.org. After that, each person drafts the team/division they want until all the teams are taken. If a person doesn’t pick their team within the specified time, they will be assigned the top team remaining based off of the list in the product description.
• Hit Draft (Random): Everyone pays the same fixed amount, then the hits are drafted. The draft order is determined via random.org
• Hit Draft (Fixed): Every person chooses the draft position they want to have, then will draft the hits in that order. Prices for the spot will be varied based on draft order.
• Random Hit: Every person pays the same fixed amount, then get a random hit from the product. This is typically done by randomizing a “hit list” which is the order that the hits are assigned in (i.e. person in spot one would get the first hit, spot two would get the second hit, etc.)
• Serial Number break: This format is only used for products that feature mainly serial numbered cards. 10 people pay the same fixed amount and receive a random number (0-9). A person then gets any card that ends in their number (i.e. 137/999 would go to whoever had 7).

The team of the card is solely determined by the team name/logo printed on the card by the card manufacturer.

There are a few circumstances where additional criteria is needed:

• If the logo on the card features a team that has seen the franchise move cities (i.e. the Minnesota North Stars moving to Dallas), the card is assigned to the current team within that franchise.
  • Important note: for hockey, this means any OLD Winnipeg Jets cards (involving players who played on the Jets from 1972-96) go to the Arizona Coyotes because the old Winnipeg Jets moved there and are a part of that franchise. The new Winnipeg Jets would receive any Atlanta Thrashers card, as the Thrashers moved from Atlanta to Winnipeg.
• If it is a defunct team (i.e. the team doesn’t exist any more), an all-star team, an international team, or a collegiate team, the card is assigned based on the following criteria, unless otherwise noted in the break notes:

1. If the All-Star logo refers to a specific All-Star game (i.e. 2019 All-Star Game), it will go to the team that player represented at the all-star game
2. If the player is an active player in the league, the card will go to their current team.
3.  If the player is a retired player but played in the league, the card will go to the team that the player played the most games with. If there is a tie, the card will be randomized between the teams with the most games played.
4. If the player was drafted, but never played in the league, it would go to the team that drafted the player
5. If none of the above conditions are satisfied, the card will be randomized among all teams

If a card has multiple teams on it, the card will be randomed off to the owners of the team. For example, if a card features two Vancouver Canucks players and one Arizona Coyotes player, the card would have a 3 team random (Vancouver, Vancouver, and Arizona).

In rare cases that there are enough of the same card to split between the teams, the cards will just be split between the owners of the teams.

Any cards or teams that need to be randomized will be done via Random.org and will be randomed 3 times.

If you have any more questions on Group Breaks, be sure to let us know!