Buzz Break: 2018-19 Donruss Optic NBA cards (Mega Box)

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The box: 2018-19 Donruss Optic basketball cards (Mega Box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

Packs per box: 10 (eight standard, two Hyper Pink)
Cards per pack: 4 per standard, 5 per Hyper Pink
Cards in this box: 42
Base set completion: 20 of 150 (13 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards: Ben Simmons, Anthony Davis, Donovan Mitchell, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rajon Rondo, Lauri Markkanen, Goran Dragic, Evan Turner, J.R. Smith, Denzel Valentine, Dion Waiters, Jrue Holiday, Zach Collins, DeWayne Dedmon, Patrick Beverley, Clint Capela, George Hill, Wesley Matthews, Mario Hezonja, Kyle Korver

Inserts/short-prints: 22 (all inserts/short-prints and some base in gallery below)
Rated Rookies (SP) (4) – Bruce Brown, Jacob Evans III, Landry Shamet, Justin Jackson
Rated Rookies Holo Prizms (1) – Gary Trent Jr.
Rated Rookies Checkerboard Prizms (1) – Robert Williams III
Holo Prizms (1) – Denzel Valentine
Rated Rookies Hyper Pink Prizms (2) – Gary Trent Jr., Donte DiVincenzo
Hyper Pink Prizms (8) – Ben Simmons, Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo, Josh Jackson, Zach Collins, Lauri Markkanen, Bojan Bogdanovic, LaMarcus Aldridge
Express Lane (2) – Ben Simmons, C.J. McCollum
Franchise Features (1) – Lauri Markkanen
Lock It Up (1) – Paul George
Winner Stays Prizms (1) – Kobe Bryant

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: A Checkerboard Rated Rookie, a Silver Rated Rookie and a few appearances from top stars among the parallels and inserts help make this one a pretty solid box -- though there are definitely boxes out there that will top it. I added this to my cart on a whim and it did pretty well for me. ... As said before, if you want the chase and the color of Prizm but perhaps without the elevated price -- and most importantly on-card autographs here -- then you should take a strong look at Optic. The base set of this one is just as Optichromed as Prizm but with more traditional photography frames for the base cards, a good comfy design for the Rated Rookies and a smattering of inserts and parallels. It's the inserts I'm not that big of a fan of -- the 1980s Miami Vice-inspired colors and typography (especially the typography) seem better suited to stay in the past. I don't think they work here and that hurt the grade of what would have been an A release to me. These carry a suggested retail price of $35 (the Walmart version of the Mega Box) and you get two packs of Pinks only found here. Autographs are possible, too, with Holo and Purple versions -- not here but it's nice to know it's possible. If you're chasing Luka Doncic Rookie Cards, then this is a place to look. For the money, there could be some strong boxes to be found with big names only found in this format.

Product Grade: B+ (1980s-style inserts hurt this one in my mind)
Box Grade: A-
Fun Grade: B+

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