Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 2018 Topps Series 1 hobby box (Hour 3)

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 on the hour all day long today ... this is Hour 3.

The box: 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (hobby)
The cost: Click here

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

Packs per box: 36
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 360
Base set completion: 
322 of 350 (92 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Giancarlo Stanton, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Miguel Cabrera, Buster Posey, Carlos Correa, Andrew Benintendi, Gary Sanchez, Yoan Moncada, Ichiro Suzuki

Rookie Cards (39) – Rhys Hoskins, Rafael Devers, Victor Robles, Amed Rosario, Clint Frazier, Miguel Andujar, Garrett Cooper, J.P. Crawford, Max Fried, Luiz Gohara, Ozzie Albies, Jackson Stephens, Greg Allen, Richard Urena, Austin Hays, Jimmie Sherfy, Raudy Read, J.D. Davis, Andrew Stevenson, Zack Granite, Nicky Delmonico, Harrison Bader, Luis Santos, Dominic Smith, Ryan McMahon, Cam Gallagher, Aaron Slegers, Brandon Woodruff, Alex Verdugo, Nick Williams, Brian Anderson, Walker Buehler, Tyler Mahle, Erick Fedde, Jack Flaherty, Parker Bridwell, Chance Sisco, Paul Blackburn, Anthony Banda

Insert/short-print cards: 39 (all in gallery below with some base)
Photo variation (1) – Gary Sanchez
Clear parallel (1) – Ian Happ (/10)
Gold parallel (2) – Whit Merrifield, Avail Garcia (/2,018)
Superstar Sensations (4) – Khris Davis, Adam Jones, Freddie Freeman, Miguel Sano
Rainbow Foil parallel (4) – Ian Happ, Luiz Gohara, New York Yankees, Tyler Mahle
Home Run Challenge (1) – Logan Morrison
Topps Now Top 10 (2) – Aaron Judge, Babe Ruth/Aaron Judge
1983 Topps (9) – Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Robinson Cano, Yoan Moncada, Bryce Harper, J.P. Crawford, Khris Davis, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken Jr.
MLB Awards (5) – Nolan Arenado, Eric Hosmer, Mookie Betts, Evan Longoria, Mike Moustakas
Salute (10) – Ian Happ, Ryan McMahon, J.D. Davis, Trey Mancini, Roberto Alomar, Zack Granite, Michael Fulmer, Andre Dawson, Keon Broxton, Ivan Rodriguez

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Major League Material Relic (1) – Gary Sanchez

What's Buzz-worthy: The first 2018 baseball product is here and it's one that has a very Stadium Club feel with a full-bleed photo approach with no borders, forcing collectors to ride the wave of the design from card to card. Some will love it, some might not but it's the flagship for 2018 -- and I think it's better to be non-formulaic than super-traditional on the border front. That said, there are some drawbacks to the approach -- at least to this collector -- in that the insert cards also with similar designs also feel the same. That hurt the fun grade to me in that stuff all felt too similar when ripping, though that did force me to look closer at the cards to sort and organize things -- not always a bad thing. There are more easier variations to be found here, which also feeds into that slower sorting. That said, this one is still hard to argue against in everything that is found across the whole run. This particular box included one really rarer card -- a Clear parallel that's found one in every 1,725 packs or one in 48 boxes. Other cards delivered about how they should and the box was relatively clean in its printing and cutting, though some cards'  photos feel a little dark -- perhaps it's just a reaction to the full-bleed approach. The parallels here aren't the easiest to spot but there are fewer per hobby box this time around so that's not as big of a deal. Generally, this one feels like it needs more inserts or some cards with other types of stock or approaches in each box (the 1983s aren't on real retro stock) to help with the variety. (Blasters do this with their retail-only inclusions atop what's here.) Otherwise, this one is packed with Rookie Cards and a lot of those young stars are in the 1983 set, too, with ink possible as well. Those are positives -- and if we get another Aaron Judge-style break-out rookie here this spring or early in the season, then this one will be even more popular than the Topps flagship typically is.

Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: A
Fun Grade: B+

What's next? Be back in an hour ...

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