Buzz 8 in 8: Busting 2020 Topps Series 1 MLB cards (Hour 3)

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 3.

The box: 2020 Topps Series 1 baseball cards 
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
First Buzz preview with checklist/SPs/more: Click here

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

Packs per box: 24 (plus one 1985 Chrome pack)
Cards per pack: 14 (four in Chrome)
Cards in this box: 336
Base set completion: 
310 of 350 (89 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso, Eloy Jimenez, Austin Riley, Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Ronald Acuña Jr., Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Cody Bellinger, Manny Machado, Gary Sanchez, Buster Posey, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, Andrew Benintendi, Jacob deGrom, Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rendon, Carlos Correa, Gleyber Torres, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman, Christian Yelich

Rookie Cards (48) – Notables include Aristides Aquino, Bo Bichette, Yordan Alvarez, Dustin May, Nico Hoerner, Gavin Lux, Nick Solar, Jesus Luzardo, Jaylin Davis, Seth Brown

Insert/short-print cards: 25 (all in gallery below along with Chromes and some base)
Photo variation (SP) (1) – Mariano Rivera
Advanced stats parallel (1) – Trent Grisham (/300)
Gold parallel (2) – Michael Conforto, Trea Turner (/2,020)
Rainbow Foil parallel (3) – Brian Anderson, Jacob deGrom, Yasmani Grandal
Home Run Challenge (1) – Manny Machado
2019 Topps Now Review (1) – Shohei Ohtani
Decade's Best (3) – Hank Aaron, Luis Aparicio, Los Angeles Dodgers
Decade's Next (1) – Nico Hoerner
Decade of Dominance (1) – Mariano Rivera
Topps Choice (1) – Ken Griffey Jr. (2011 Topps)
1985 Topps (6) – Gleyber Torres, Rickey Henderson, Manny Machado, Rafael Devers, Robin Yount, Nolan Ryan
1985 Topps Chrome Mojo Refractor (bonus pack) (3) – Pete Alonso, Rafael Devers, Darryl Strawberry
1985 Topps Chrome Gold Mojo Refractor (bonus pack) (1) – Mike Trout (/50)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
1985 Topps Black Relic (1) – Nolan Arenado (/199)

What's Buzz-worthy: Another strong box for this one shouldn't be a surprise as the loaded rookie crop will deliver well often here and that can always translate to those guys making appearances in parallels. The inserts are also good volume here and give a strong mix of stuff that I pretty much expect in releases today -- they add fun, nostalgia and value beyond the financial with a history lesson within a set. As I said before, this year's edition of the hobby's flagship product isn't perfect -- it could definitely use a lot more color -- but its overall feel is one that's not the traditional and the norm and that helps propel it to an A mark in my book. (I'd rather it swing big and come up short of the HR than do the predictable.) ... The photos are a clean full bleed here -- a plus -- but that does affect the colorful feel within the design. That all works on a really good photo and there are many. (Some don't work as well, too.) One big drawback? The Gold parallels really do not stand out from the pack this year -- the color is limited to the area on the outside edge of the nameplate graphic. The overall feel of the basic cards is solid and modern ... they just feel like they needed some secondary striping/framing element to add a bold bit of color. (The design should look pretty sweet when the area is colored in for Chrome Refractors.) ... One big plus this year over last year is the Rookie Card crop -- there are some key names in here, including the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, Yordan Alvarez, as well as Aristides Aquino, Bo Bichette and a few others who had moments last year. My Rivera card here is a standard SP (one in 43 packs) and you can see the SP gallery here, but this box was a big winner from the second I opened the box-topper pack with that Trout.

Product Grade: A
Box Grade: A+ (Trout, SP and more make it a strong box ... and it can still be topped)
Fun Grade: B+

What's next? Be back in an hour ...

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