Buzz 12 in 12: Busting 10 1991 Topps American Gladiators wax packs (Hour 9)

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 9.

The packs: 1991 Topps American Gladiators (10 wax packs)
The cost: About $3 total in a bulk lot ... originally 55 cents a pack (when not marked down to a nickel)

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

Cards per pack: 9 (eight cards, one sticker)
Cards in this lot: 90
Base set completion: 
68 of 88 (77 percent)
Duplicates: 20
Triplicates: 1
Quadruplicates: 1

Notables on base cards – Gemini, Gold, Rolling Thunder, Blaze, Laser, Ice, Zap, Turbo, Lace, Diamond, Larry Csonka, Mike Adamle

Inserts: 10
Stickers (10) – Logo, Ice (2), Laser, Zap (2), climbing cargo net, ring battle, Thunder, Gladiator group photo

Autographs/Memorabilia: None ... but what if there had been?

What's Buzz-worthy: This was a throw-in in a big wax lot Buzz found and these actually offered a fun surprise with their clean printing and crisp white stock which wasn't a given back in 1991. These cards are the only release for a competition TV show that ran weekly from 1989 to 1996 where it had amateur athletes squaring off against Gladiators in athletic events that were at times hokey but still oddly fun to watch -- a formula that's lived on to today in a few forms of filler television. Had some of these cards been more cleanly centered for the main character cards, there might be a surprise to be found in a future Making the Grade -- I'd bet very few of these have been graded despite the fact that they'd be fun talker piece you'd have if you could land one in top grade. With the packs being made of cellophane and being gum-free, there's no worry about damaged cards from those things -- so ripping into a box of this one might be a little more guilt-free compared to some stuff from the same era. These aren't as plentiful as some boxes from that timeframe, so it seems there's a little bit of interest in these -- at least when it comes to their asking prices. I didn't land a whole set here, but I might finish it out because this is a simple throwback set.

Product Grade: A
Lot Grade: B+
Fun Grade: B

What's next? Be back in an hour ...

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com