Why I'm disgusted with The Cup

[cygnusx1]

I can't really fault anyone but the buyer. It's betting good money on very poor odds, and if you're willing to just throw away money like that, why not just buy $1200 in lottery tickets instead?

[Nickwire]

I spent 50 on a 12 box break of john gibson and only got the base card . I probably will just look here and Ebay for others now.

[michaelpatko]

Agreed. I can't believe people are so blind. Production HAS to be WAY up, just look at the numbers.
And $800ish on release day for something that UD is producing in significantly higher quantity.
Wish I could buy stock in UD

[michaelpatko]

Agreed. However there is ONE card for each of these people.
Being a Sabres fan, I saw the listing for Zach Bogosian.
1 card available, booklet with all 4 printing plates.
Same for nurse and Khaira.
I "contact seller" on ebay, and basically called him out for listing a chance and taking money for a card that has basically ZERO chance of being pulled.

[10-4 collector]

when no one can find supply they seem to turn to breaks

The Benefactors - Breakers and Retailers means this trend may get worse before getting better sadly it won't stop till people refuse to pay for it anymore

Exactly! It has become a group break market which really sucks for a guy like me who like breaking boxes and cases. I’m not dumb, I’m not going to pay 1300$ for a tin of the Cup when it was barely 600$ last year! Even Leaf products have gone up with lesser quality in boxes!

[scarrman]

To each their own. Prices are out of control. Do you want to pay inflated prices for a box of anything, and gamble on what's inside? Or go the way of the box breaks, throw your money in and hope for the best? We are chasing the thrill when we do this, and no better feeling than getting a great pull, with the offset of that ulcer you feel when you get skunked.
Say you spend $1,000 on boxes, you get maybe some decent pulls - highly unlikely the pull you wanted, maybe/just maybe you get that case break that is a real beauty, but most likely you end up with a handful of base/common, a handful of GU or auto - and likely the third line guy or a "joe who" rookie. Odds just are not in your favor.
Or take your money and put it towards the card you ultimately hope to pull. Take your $1,000, put $500 towards your card/cards you REALLY want, and still have some change in your pocket.
Who are we kidding, we all know the game of breaking wax. There is the thrill, more often that awful feeling that you can't believe you blew that much money for not much in return. With the market the way it is now, that feeling of no return is more likely than ever before. I last bought wax in July 2020, miss it like crazy, but I know my spending is down, my count of useless fillers is way down, and my count of specific cards I buy/want is way up.
As far as the actual thread, throwback to 2005-06 and the intro of The Cup. What an absurd thought to think anyone would spend hundreds on a box of only 5 of 6 cards, 15 years later and it is still happening. Addiction, chasing the thrill, having more money than common sense, we can justify anything and UD is more than happy to fill that want. There really ought to be a therapy group for what this hobby does to some people.

[Nickwire]

The highest I've seen for a break is a bit over 2000 for makar. It's crazy. I'm sure McDavid is even more

[cjb]

when no one can find supply they seem to turn to breaks

If this statement is true then that's a bit of good news. It's means that UD is not mass producing like they did in the 90's

[10-4 collector]

If this statement is true then that's a bit of good news. It's means that UD is not mass producing like they did in the 90's

I don’t agree. The card market isn’t what it used to be. The reason why we can’t find supply online is because of the retailers keeping almost everything for group breaks. Easy way to sell at a higher price then what an actual box or case would cost. Unless you have good contacts, you can’t buy anything right now at a decent price online. Presale's are always sold out.

[cjb]

At the right time you can always go to walmart or london drugs to find boxes. As long as you don't mind retail over hobby