Buzz Break: 2012 Panini America USA Baseball boxed set

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2012 Panini America USA Baseball boxed set
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com when available ... see all USA Baseball boxes here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this one.

Packs per box: 1 (set and inserts/hits)
Cards in this box: 74
Base set completion: 
62 of 62 (100 percent)

Notables on base cards – Cavan Biggio, Trea Turner, Kris Bryant, Michael Conforto, Nico Hoerner, Kyle Tucker, Kyle Farmer, Nick Madrigal (and other MiLB prospects and young MLB stars)

Insert/short-print cards: 3 (sampling of inserts/base in gallery below with all hits)
Team photo checklists (3) – 15U National Team, 18U National Team, Collegiate National Team

Autographs/Memorabilia: 9
15U National Team Signatures (2) – Coby Weaver, John Aiello (/299)
18U National Team Signatures (1) – Connor Heady (/349)
Collegiate National Team Signatures (2) – Jordan Hankins, Jonathon Crawford (/399)
America's Best 18U National Team (1) – Christian Arroyo (/100)
15U National Team Jersey Signatures (1) – Danny Casals (/99)
15U National Team Dual-jersey (1) – Parker Kelly (/49)
18U National Team Jerseys (1) – Reese McGuire (/99)

What's Buzz-worthy: The top names in the base set noted above can all be found among the hits here with easy stuff and more tougher finds all in play and Kris Bryant's ascension in MLB made this one among the tougher USA sets from the Panini years to be found -- and this one was the first. However, it's not a year that has aged all that well player-wise beyond those stars, so I'd not be ripping into this one unless it was cheaper. (This one was.) Finding ink from Cavan Biggio, Trea Turner, Kris Bryant, Michael Conforto or Nico Hoerner could make one of these boxes a win, but without them you can have some average results -- and boxes can include patches, ink variations and even lineup card autos ... not this time. The base set design here is a solid one -- one of my favorites -- but I ripped quite of a few of these in the past so those aren't what I'm ripping for here. While I like the hits of the current stuff I do admit I miss the set approach with a bunch of hits atop it. Perhaps boxes could exist where there are packs inside for each squad that include the team set and hits? Something like the rack sets but with more? It's a thought ... but all in all I'd rip USA Baseball stuff no matter what because come draft time there are a bunch of players who can sell well on cardboard or make for some strong breaks.

Product Grade: A
Box Grade: C- (average box at best considering big names and big possibilities)
Fun Grade: B

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