Boom City Breaks just recently (within last 6 months) entered the breaking market. In a marketplace flooded with new breakers (almost monthly), Boom City has focused on a niche around Memorabilia. They are a great example for new breakers/businesses trying to find a way into a market. You’ve got to focus on what you enjoy, where there is a need, and products that are exciting! They are making their mark, forming good partnerships, and driving demand around a new area of breaking. Read more from the guys at Boom City Breaks and go check them out!
How did you get started into breaking?
First off I would like to take a second to thank you for allowing us the time to talk about our channel and what we do. It means much to us when any sites devoted to the breaking culture take notice let alone one so well respected as yours.
The company was founded by the three of us. Jay (JayBo64), Ray (Gatsby) and myself (Bobby 2 Pops). Both Jay and Ray had been regulars in many rooms around breakers.tv and had been talking about setting up a channel of our own for a while. I became interested in breaking, and loved the idea.
I personally enjoy “cards” but really love the other forms of memorabilia. However other than eBay auctions, there were so few breaks to be found on a regular basis. We figured we were likely not the nly ones who wanted to see more of this type of product broken so it seemed like an easy choice to us.
It has really taken off beyond our expectations in only a few months time and seems to still be growing.
What’s up with the DraftAnalyzer.com website – can you share the short story of this site?
DraftAnalyzer.com is a Fantasy Football draft software that will analyze the projections and produce the best optimal team according to your leagues scoring, rules etc. It is the software offered by many of the top fantasy sites such as 4for4.com and others. Both Jay and I have worked there for many years and love it very much – but unfortunately the work is seasonal. Knowing we needed to find something to fill the winter months we all decided it was time to get the breaker channel going.
We launched Boom City Breaks toward the end of last year and it really took off beyond our expectations. We will not be quitting our DA jobs but make no mistake, breaking is a full-time requirement!
Funny part is, what initially appealed to me, was the work at home part of it. I have some health issues so this seemed perfect but people very much underestimate just how hard this is. Not just being on air…but the amount of shipping, managing, and inventory etc… It really is crazy. I have said it many times on-air, but I do not know how some of these guys do it alone.
Outside of competition, what has you worried about the breaking marketplace?
Other than competition and the overall economy, I feel pretty good about the Breaking industry as a whole right now.
How have card manufacturers made breaking easier for you? More difficult?
We are currently strictly memorabilia and distributors such as Steel City and Hit Parade (Dave and Adams) have welcomed us and seem more than happy we came on the scene.
We are moving more product then most of their other clients combined and it has allowed them to also offer a far wider variety of products. Win win for both parties.
We have also started to take some steps to make sure our users get the value they deserve by offing our own line of products which we are calling Boom Boxes.
We are actually finishing up our second series of MMA gloves which we put together in conjunction with MMA Signatures LLC themselves.
I think this is a great time to be a memorabilia collector.
In regards to your breaks, what are the rules that you absolutely WON’T compromise on?
Our rules that must be followed are those on all breaking channels I guess. The only one that may be a bit different is, because I am on air and Jay is tracking the entries, Jays screen is the “law” when it comes to the lines we drop.
Luckily, we have not had many customer issues others than some very small things. I know things will eventually arise but so far we have been on top of things and customers seem happy and keep coming back. This is the biggest measurement of success for any channel, so we are excited.
How do you typically handle customer issues and/or breaks that don’t fill?
Towards the end of the night we’ll start to get a feeling whether something will fill/not fill. We always ask guys if they want to be taken off the board before they leave the room or before we go off air later that night. Most wish to stay on for the next days early breaks.
Customer support is our top priority. We have a facebook group that many of our customers have joined. One of us three are available at most any time for any concerns any customer may have.
How about sorting? Do you hire others to sort or are you content with at piece of the business?
I have already mentioned sorting can be crazy and takes me days. The stacks of jerseys are taller than me every week. Several of them and that is just the days I am on. Gatsby (Ray) has just as much to do from his offices. We handle the sorting amongst ourselves.
What makes you different than any other breaker?
Strictly sticking to the memorabilia is one of the things that made us stand out instantly and drove customers to our room. I am far from a perfect breaker but we all try to make people feel comfortable in our room and many of our customers have become friends not only to each other but with us. It is often the silly mistakes (i.e. mispronouncing or forgetting names or the stupid jabs we all take at each other) that people seem to enjoy as well. We have many people who just stop in to watch and chat because they enjoy the company there…we really do appreciate every one.
Though we do try to have fun, we also take this very seriously and are trying to do this right. We have quickly become one of the largest breakers of memorabilia in the market and have already taken steps and incorporated to protect the business as we continue to grow. We do not intend to be some fly by night channel. We intend to be around and lead our niche for as many years as possible. More importantly, we hope to be a driving force in what we believe will be a surge in memorabilia collectors and prices.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time (not-breaking)?
From Bob:
I don’t understand what you mean by this term “spare time?”
I remember hearing a phrase like that a long time ago but the meaning is long forgotten!
Seriously though, it may sound crazy but I still love fantasy sports of all types and enjoy that very much. It is one of the reasons both Jay and I enjoy our Draft Analyzer jobs so much. We get to talk Fantasy Football all day and have a great boss there in Ted Kasten.
From Jay:
Spending time with Family and Friends is the most important thing in life in general but besides that I enjoy anything sports related. Fantasy Football is one of my favorite times of the year. I also enjoy playing and shooting basketball any opportunity I have. Also, enjoy playing Xbox and as you can tell I enjoy playing the sports titles. I guess I should maybe look into expanding my hobbies!
From Ray:
Spending time with my wife and daughter would be the number one thing on my list that I enjoy the most during my spare time. Then there is Fantasy Football, I consider my partnership with my friend Tyson aka Big_Smirk as one of the top duos in the industry. We have built a stealthy resume in the industry and continue to crush our competition each year. I played some DII NCAA baseball back in the day, so anything to do outdoors with baseball, football, and basketball I’m always up for! I also work for a Company Full time that provides care for Special Needs Individuals. I absolutely enjoy being in their lives and teaching them life skills, mentoring etc.. Truly puts life in general into perspective everyday!
What is your favorite product of the year?
From Bob:
Sort of a loaded question as I of course am going to say our boom boxes!
Other than that, I really enjoyed the Hit Parade NHL jerseys far more then I ever thought I would. When I was younger I loved NHL so much and fell out of interest during the strike and had not cared since.
Pulling some of the old names I grew up loving so much brought back a love for it I had not realized I missed.
If you have watched the vid where I pulled the Jordan or Brady, you know my personality cannot help come out in many breaks. Another reason people enjoy our room I guess. When I pulled The Guy LaFluer, I was every bit as excited as when I pulled that $2000 Jordan. Growing up Guy was the Gretzky of my era and he was the last guy I expected to pull that night. Sounds corny I know but, such an awesome feeling.
From Jay:
My favorite product is by far the MMA Boom Boxes. I worked closely with MMA Signatures LLC to get this set put together. The first series was a huge success and we are about mid way through series 2. I really enjoy offering some different options outside the typical Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey Breaks. I also really enjoyed the 2016 Leaf Memorabilia Vault series. You never knew what you was going to see coming out of those cases.
From Ray:
My favorite product of the year are Full Size Helmets, whether they are from Leaf or Steiner and also I REALLY enjoyed the Leaf Memorabilia Vault series this past year. There are so many diverse hits in the Vault series!
That leads to the question of what advice would I give another breaker starting out?
It would be to break products you personally enjoy breaking if at all possible and not products that every other channel is breaking. It is hard to hit the scene with a product that 5 other rooms are breaking that night when they have been on the air for months or years. Has to be something other than your name that is going to draw them. Keeping them in the room is a whole other battle…and even more difficult.
What is one thing you’d do differently if you could start your breaking business over?
I am not sure I would do a whole lot different as we are way beyond where we had hoped to be… so whatever we did has turned out ok so far. We just hope we can keep things moving forward and not shoot ourselves in the foot. :-/
Thanks so much again for the time in allowing us to introduce ourselves to your readers.
Boom City Breaks
