Buzz Break: 2018 Donruss baseball cards (hanger box)

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: 2018 Donruss baseball cards (hanger box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 1
Cards per pack: 60
Set completion: 
50 of 270 (19 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Cody Bellinger, Nolan Ryan, Clayton Kershaw, Giancarlo Stanton, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jose Altuve, Josh Donaldson, Alex Bregman, Stephen Strasburg, Frank Thomas, George Brett, Duke Snider, Aaron Judge, Joe Morgan, Tony Gwynn, Justin Verlander

Insert/short-print cards: 17 (gallery of these and more below)
Variations (7) – Chipper Jones (full name), Carlos Correa (nickname), Cody Bellinger (alternate photo), Yadier Molina (nickname), Al Kaline (last name only), Andrew Benintendi (alternate 1984 photo), Mike Trout (alternate 1984 photo)
Rated Rookie (2) – Ozzie Albies, Clint Frazier
Diamond Kings (3) – Nolan Arenado, Corey Kluber, Ryan Braun
Holo Green parallels (5) – Nolan Ryan, Alex Bregman, George Springer, Noah Syndergaard, Freddie Freeman

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Promising Pros Materials (1) – Pedro Severino

What's Buzz-worthy: This year's blaster boxes for Donruss don't have a guaranteed hit in them every single time like last year, but there are autographs and memorabilia cards that can be found in both those boxes and these hanger boxes. What you will find in these every time? A boatload of inserts and variations -- they don't have to be rare to be fun or collectable -- and they're often featuring top players from today and the past. (Ironically, you'll also find more cards in these hangers vs. the 56 in the blasters.) This new Donruss design is joined by a subset of 1984 cards as well as the typical somewhat short-printed Rated Rookies and Diamond Kings. Rounding things out is a selection of cards showing multiple players in the style of late 1980s and early 1990s Fleer's "Superstar Specials." You won't land a hit every time in these boxes -- I've already ripped a few and you'll see them here soon -- but you will find this one relatively appealing if you were around for the years when errors and variations were part of the chase and the cardboard was a little simpler. A big reason to dig in on hobby boxes here? Shohei Ohtani Rookie Cards, inserts, memorabilia cards and autographs, though (spoiler alert) I found none in the several hangers I've ripped. Nevertheless, I'll keep on ripping this one if it presents itself. About the only drawback is a simple base design that really feels like it's ready for being Optichromed later in the year. We'll see.

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

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