This past year was an important year for the hobby. Many (including myself) believed we were nearing a tipping point in the hobby….and many believe we are still in the “red” zone. But in 2017 we had arguably the most explosive year in the hobby since late 2009/early 2010 (Strasburg mania). Because of a string of awesome prospects/rc’s, great products, and a general maturity of the hobby…we seem to be entering 2018 in a good spot.

Intro….

But what I consider most important in 2017 is the solidifying of group breaking across the hobby. I believe this is the first full year where there was limited concerns/doubts/frustrations around group breaking. Our hobby had been running parallel courses — one with group breaking and one without – but I believe we are finally all in the same boat. We’ve all started to figure out how breaking can either drive or supplement our hobbyist desires, while still maintaining the purity of “collecting.” I’m excited to see what 2018 brings us… but before we write off this past year… we have a long string of awards/recognitions to highlight.

This year we’ve spent much more time trying to understand what makes the excellent group breakers standout. You’ve helped us by leaving 1,200+ reviews for breakers, many product reviews, lots of comments, and tons of small survey’s. We have an enormous amount of data to help us shed some light on our hobby. From a breaker perspective, there are a LOT of intricacies that go into running a successful breaking business. From a customer side, there are LOT of mental roadblocks that prevent you from liking breakers. Within all of this are a list of accomplishments that we are excited to point out. So without further ado…

Categories are…..

Our 2017 Group Breaker Award Categories are:

• Coolest Breaker Logo in the Hobby (1/7)
• Top LIVE Breaker Video Production (1/9)
• Top Social Media Mogul of 2017 (1/10)
• Top Rewards Program (1/11)
• Top Customer Experience & Communicator (1/13)
• Top Breaker Website of 2017 (1/15)
• Top Hobby Shop Breaker of 2017 (1/17)
• Top Rookie Breaker of 2017 (1/19)
• Our Favorite Breaking Product of 2017 (1/21)
• Top Breaker Pulls of 2017 (User Submitted) (1/22)
• Overall Most Impressive Breaker in 2017 (1/23)
• Top Difference Maker of 2017 (1/25)

Each post will be updated with links here, or go to the main awards landing page HERE.

Why?

At any given time we have 60-75 active breaker pages up on BreakerCulture.com — we scrub this every month or so to keep things relevant. But there are no less than 150 breakers fighting for your attention right now. Each day I come across another breaker I’ve never met/seen….and usually they replace one that couldn’t survive past honeymoon phase of their business. In other words, there is a LOT of noise in the group breaking world so we hope these awards will help steer the right focus to some of the folks who run spectacular business and deserve your attention.

Look forward to seeing you around the next few weeks.

As always email us at Ty@BreakerCulture.com or tag me us social @breakerculture if you have any thoughts / suggestions and KEEP reviewing those breakers + products!