Buzz Break: 2018-19 NBA Hoops Holiday Edition (blaster box)

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The box: 2018-19 NBA Hoops Holiday Edition (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (several formats)

Packs per box: 11
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 88
Base set completion: 71 of 280 (25 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, Lonzo Ball, Paul George, Dirk Nowitzki, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tony Parker, Derrick Rose

Rookie Cards (8) – Josh Okogie, Zaire Smith, Robert Williams III, Jacob Evans III, Keita Bates-Diop, Landry Shamet, Mikal Bridges, Kevin Knox

Inserts/short-prints: 16 (all in gallery below with some base)
Hoops Tribute (Nos. 281-300) (5) – Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Larry Bird, Dirk Nowitzki
Purple parallels (3) – Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Hassan Whiteside
Get Out The Way (2) – Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum
Faces of the Future (2) – Collin Sexton, Mo Bamba
The Pulse (1) – C.J. McCollum
Lights Camera Action (2) – Lonzo Ball, Klay Thompson
Class of 2018 (1) – Mikal Bridges

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Rise N Shine Memorabilia (1) – Jacob Evans III

What's Buzz-worthy: Want a box of basketball cards where every single card has a wintery feel, including the inserts and the hits? This retail-only edition of Hoops, which has hit Walmart and Target now, is just that. It packs the same lineup of stuff as a standard blaster just with everything having snowflakes worked into the fronts of the images. All of them. If you land an elite name on a cool insert or hit -- or even in the base set -- these might be longer-term winners more than you might think. They have to have a lower print run than the standard stuff, especially on the hits and inserts. ... As said for the standard stuff, there are a number of possibilities here for collectors but if you want guaranteed ink then you'll have to rip hobby at the link above -- two per box. The base set design's irregular border might bug some people -- the cards look off-center when they are not -- but the hard cuts to the frame and the hardwood texture make me think 1987 Topps to a degree. Not a bad thing to me but also not a design that wows me in this case -- though the snowflakes seem to add some variety in this case. As said before, the photos of the base set feel distant as it appears that full-body shots are a default here -- I think a mix would be better since neither is required as part of this design -- but the variety of the inserts helps that some. The visuals in some of the inserts are pretty solid, though the short-printed Hoops Tribute cards are also a little basic feeling. The overall feel of this one is one part oldschool and one part modern, which I think is good. The hobby boxes will have more for you, so as long as you're comfortable with what you see here, ripping hobby for this one seems like the first option for your money. These Holiday Edition boxes seem like an oddity that you should keep an eye on, especially if they aren't as plentiful as they could be on that front. (The store I hit had just four blasters in advance of Black Friday sales.)

Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: A-
Fun Grade: A-

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