Buzz 8 in 8: Busting 2012 BenchWarmer Vault (Hour 5)

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 8 in 8 -- a series of a eight breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in as many hours today. We'll post one every hour ... this is Hour 5.

The box: 2012 BenchWarmer Vault trading cards
Where to buy: Here when available ...  See newer BenchWarmer boxes here

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

Packs per box: One Vault hits pack and one past BenchWarmer box (37 total here)
Cards per pack: 7 in hits pack, 8 per in 2004 BenchWarmer Series 1 packs
Cards in this box: 296
Base set completion: 
100 of 100 (100 percent) for the 2004 set
Duplicates: A bunch

Notables on base cards -- Christy Hemme, Kendra Wilkinson, Brande Roderick, Jaime Bergman, Nikki Ziering, Kerri Kasem, Lena Yada, Jennifer Walcott, Colleen Shannon, Katie Lohmann, Mary Riley, Tanea Brooks, Sandra Taylor

Inserts: 8 (all in gallery below with hits and some base)
From the hits pack ...
Promo cards (1) – Brande Roderick 2012 Philly Non-Sports Show promo

From the 2004 box ... 
Love Child (3) – Mary Iaconelli, Tira Provost, Valerie Baber
Classic Pinups (4) – Yvette Nelson, Rochelle Loewen, Lisa Ligon (2)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 9
From the hits pack ...
2012 BenchWarmer Vault swatch card (1) – Kayla Collins
2012 BenchWarmer Vault autographs (2) – Nikki Ziering, Tabitha Taylor
2011 BenchWarmer Bubble Gum autographs (1) – Charity Hodges
2012 BenchWarmer Happy Father's Day autographs (1) – Jessica Hall
2006 BenchWarmer School Girls autographs (1) – Flo Jalin

From the 2004 box ... 
BenchWarmer Autographs (2) – Brande Roderick, Chantelle Stanley
Double Kiss Card box-topper (1) – Roxanne Siordia & Colleen Shannon

What's Buzz-worthy: I always buy my boxes in pairs -- at least when they are bargain priced -- so you probably have seen one of these busted here before if you're a regular reader. (Or maybe a few ... if you read everything.) But even these boxes are drying up and rising in price as seemingly everything old is getting gobbled up since finding new boxes on the cheap seems to be getting tougher every day as we all await some across-the-board normalcy in the card shop or card aisle. I actually found a Canadian version of this box in the past (some extra inserts and an extra hit there) but this time a standard box included a one-per-case (one in 12 boxes) double-kiss box-topper and then the standard stuff, which did include ink from a former Baywatch star. The hits pack came loose at some point from the main box (it's rubber-cemented onto the inner box) so a couple cards had bummer corners but nothing that's the end of the world as the bonus pack was OK but not nearly as strong as some I have opened in the past. Why rip into BenchWarmer boxes? The hit volume for the price is typically pretty good and the occasional bigger name will pay for a decent chunk of everything. Most newer boxes are hits-only releases, too, but even BW boxes overall have dried up a bit. Hopefully that will lead to stronger autographed card prices as singles ... even bigger names can sometimes be super-cheap since the roster of signers has been pretty deep and steady for years.

Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: A- (double-kiss card is one per case of that one and then some decent names among autos)
Fun Grade: A- (the 2004 box is a good find vs. some others inserted)

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