Buzz Break: 2018 Donruss Optic baseball cards (Mega 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 Optic baseball cards (Mega Box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 4
Cards per box: 40
Set completion: 
10 of 100 (10 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Cal Ripken Jr., Joey Votto, Eddie Mathews, Josh Donaldson, Justin Turner, Jose Ramirez, Marcus Stroman, Salvador Perez, Michael Conforto, Gerrit Cole

Insert/short-print cards: 29 (all in gallery below)
Variations (1) – Francisco Lindor (2X All-Star)
Rated Rookie Variation (1) – Ozzie Albies (The ATL)
Rated Rookie (4) – Ozzie Albies, Dominic Smith, Nick Williams, Chance Sisco
Diamond Kings (3) – Aaron Judge, Jose Bautista, Paul Goldschmidt
Holo Prizm (1) – Kirby Puckett
Holo Prizm Rated Rookie (1) – Tyler Wade
Holo Prizm Rated Rookie Variation (1) – Gleyber Torres (#Gleybergood)
All-Stars (1) – Bryce Harper
Out of This World (1) – Shohei Ohtani
Bronze Holo Prizm (2) – Cody Bellinger, Jean Segura
Bronze Holo Prizm Variation (1) – Giancarlo Stanton (2017 MVP)
Bronze Holo Prizm Rated Rookie (1) – Austin Hays
Bronze Holo Prizm Diamond Kings (1) – Clayton Kershaw
Red & Yellow Holo Prizm (5) – Nolan Ryan, Nolan Arenado, Manuel Margot, Noah Syndergaard, Freddie Freeman
Red & Yellow Holo Prizm Variation (1) – Andrew Benintendi (alternate photo)
Red & Yellow Holo Prizm Rated Rookie (2) – Ronald Acuna, Dominic Smith
Red & Yellow Holo Prizm Rated Rookie Variation (1) – Victor Robles (alternate photo)
Red & Yellow Holo Prizm Diamond Kings (1) – Robinson Cano

Autographs/memorabilia: 1
Optic Autographs (1) – Derek Law

What's Buzz-worthy: Buzz bought a lot of Donruss when it arrived simply because of the serious star power and the sheer variety of what can still be inside those packs. Optic, while there are fewer cards, ups the ante on that one -- at least in these boxes -- with a mess of color (Bronze and Red & Yellow cards only found here), variations with parallels and, most importantly, a guaranteed autograph for just $35 at retail (this being the Walmart version of the box). The autograph in this one wasn't as strong as the first box we busted here but still did pretty well with the names among the inserts, parallels, rookies and variations among them -- still a pretty strong box. How do you know you have a variation if it's not obvious? Check the backs and look for black baseballs instead of white ones. These boxes deliver almost double the cardboard than the blasters and they deliver a whopping 15 cards that are parallels only found in this format. The guaranteed ink makes this one a guaranteed rip when I see it. Its premium format means there will likely only (initially) be two boxes per store but I'd expect that there could be more to come this summer. (You never know, though.) With the strong rookie crop, the variations and the parallels, these boxes have strong potential in what they can deliver for less than the price of two blaster boxes.

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

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