National’s Case Breaking Pavilion Another Success – The vision of founder Mike Berkus and executed by a team headed by RippingWax.com’s David Gelfman, continued to grow at this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention. Now its third year, the pavilion provides National attendees a destination point for those looking to learn more about group case breaking and to buy slots in actual live breaks.
This year over, almost 20 different breaking companies set up at the National’s Ripping Wax Case Break Pavilion. GTS Distribution, once again provided the breakers a lounge environment, complete with complimentary food and beverages throughout the show.
On behalf of all of us here at GTS Distribution, we would like to thank all participants, customers, vendors, organizers and attendees who helped make this year’s National Case Break Pavilion a HUGE success!
A list of attending case breakers included:
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The pavilion was anchored by the Mike Berkus Main Stage which was dedicated on the opening day of the show. Executive Director John Broggi, introduced both of Mike’s sons, Dan and Nate, who gave moving speeches.
Emceeing events on the main stage throughout the show were Go GTS Live hosts, Rob Bertrand and Ivan Lovegren. Go GTS Live – The Hobby’s Web Show is a live streaming web series that broadcasts at 9pm EST on Thursdays at www.Livestream.com/gts. The stage not only featured case breaks but interviews with manufacturer representatives, industry personnel, bloggers, social media influencers and many others.
Some of the featured guests included:
Steve Grad of PSA, Jeff Rosenberg of TRISTAR, Tracy Hackler of Panini America, Chris Harris of Stale Gum, Paul Zickler of the MLBPA, Rick Klein, ABC News political correspondent and collector, Jesse Morgan, Toy Category Manager for GTS Distribution, Karvin Cheung, former Director of Product Development at Upper Deck, and child philanthropist Brady Khale to name a few.
Subscribe to the Go GTS Live YouTube channel as we upload these interviews over the coming days.
Rob and Ivan hosted daily and sometimes hourly trivia competitions in which hundreds of prizes were awarded including packs, boxes, autographs and more.
A new edition to this year’s case break pavilion was the presence of several high profile You Tube personalities. Gamers by nature, these minor celebrities have social media followings and a subscriber base that exceeds one million people.
In an effort to expand the hobby to sports fans and hardcore gamers, these YouTubers, as they are called, have begun incorporating box breaks into their show repertoires. The crowd was treated to a real thrill on Friday when NBA Hall of Famer, Dominique Wilkins stopped by to take on one of the YouTube gamers in a match of NBA2K.
Some of the attending YouTubers included:
- CashNasty
- ToKeNasty
- LSK
- Shake4ndBake
- TheFlightMike
See you all in Chicago next year for the 2017 National Sports Collectors Convention!
National’s Case Breaking Pavilion Another Success – Image Gallery
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- Scott Bateson of Nasty Breaks and Matthew Bleiberg, Product Development Manager at Topps, break a case of 2016 Topps Chrome Baseball JUMBO
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- Ultimate Box Breaks’, Brian Gavin, facilitates the FREE Panini Kids Break
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- Rob and Ivan play trivia with the crowd
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- ABC News political correspondent, Rick Klein, talks about being in 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter
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- MLBPA rep Paul Zickler talks National Baseball Card Day
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- Brian Gray gives the hits away from a case break of 2016 Leaf Pop Century
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- Giving away the hits from a FREE case break of 2016 Onyx Authenticated Platinum Elite Baseball
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- Lance Fischer, CEO of Onyx Authenticated talks about the company’s 2016 Platinum Elite Baseball card set
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- Prepping for the Panini breaks
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- PSA/DNA autograph expert , and star of Pawn Stars, Steve Grad, talks autograph authentication
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- Lining up for another #WinWithGTS prize giveaway
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- A collector shows off a #WinWithGTS giveaway prize
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- NBA Hall of Famer, Dominque Wilkins plays NBA2K
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- Another happy collector
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- Tracy Hackler, Hobby Marketing Manager at Panini America talks about all things Panini
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