Bottom line is it's missing legitimate increased activity:
If a board only has a small handful of posts a day and then rockets to 150 posts a day, any legitimate traffic into the board is likely those outside the $30 gang wanting to see what's up.
If the traffic was organic, i.e., it built slowly and steadily day after day prior to a post run-up THAT DID NOT include a $30 gang, then I would agree the activity would be legit.
Personally, the breakout boards are meaningless to me, as I liken them to promotion emails looking for volume.