Buzz Break: 2005 Tesla WWE Smackdown Series III (10 packs)

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The packs: 2005 Tesla WWE Smackdown Series III (10 packs of Italian gaming cards)
Where to buy: Will take some looking -- get new WWE boxes here

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one as well as a gallery of highlights.

Cards per pack: 4
Cards per lot: 40
Set completion: 39 of 132 (30 percent)
Duplicates: 1

Base cards: Stacy Keibler, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Triple H, Coach (2), Snitzky, Sylvain Grenier, The Rock, Batista, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Rob Van Dam, Bubba Ray Dudley, Chris Jericho, Paul Heyman, Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, Kane, Eugene, Eddie Guerrero, Eugene, Lita, JBL, Chris Benoit, Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak, Charlie Haas

Insert cards: 10 (everything in the gallery below)
Crystal parallels (10) – John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Jim Ross, Kurt Angle, Tazz, Big Show, Maven, Carlito, Rene Dupree

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: I picked up this lot of Italian cards perhaps months ago at this point and was going to clear them from my Buzz Breaks bin unused as they are admittedly obscure but then as I went though them I was reminded of the big names here ... and they kept coming. The lineup here is pretty simple -- four cards per pack with one being a Crystal (etched chromium) parallel card. The basic set is 132 cards with subsets for Raw, Smackdown, Moves and Backstage where the fronts show Italian phrases for moments where, well, they aren't all that backstage. (Oh bene.) Oddly, it does include all stars despite being branded as a Smackdown set. I opened other packs similar to these and from other import brands and some have a lot more sticky feel than these. These had perhaps a pack's worth of damaged cards (mostly ink pulling off the backs but they are holding up pretty well for what seems like acetate stock. There's also no fading issues (yet) compared to others I have opened like this. The trademarks here are 2005 cards and there are early appearances here for John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton and others while the women's presence isn't big here -- you'd think it might be for the Divas era -- but the few that were here were pretty strong. The parallel set appears to only be for the Raw and Smackdown portions of the set (64 cards) but those backs do have the same XX/132 numbering on the back (see last card in gallery for that). That makes the odds of landing any one Crystal card one in 60 packs as long as nobody was short-printed. Landing Cena, Orton and Batista there makes me think this is a strong lot. All in all, I liked this one. Do I need more? I think I'll have to chew on the checklist to see who I missed but it's nice -- and these are definitely cards you don't see popping up every day.

Product Grade: A-
Lot Grade: A (names here are very strong ... I almost gave this an A+ with those Crystal names)
Fun Grade: B+ (small packs and plastic cards can stick -- but not a ton of them were damaged)

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