Buzz Break: 2018 Pearl Jam Boston cards (three packs)

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 packs 2018 Pearl Jam Boston trading cards
First Buzz preview: N/A
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... (click here for non-sports boxes)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Cards per pack: 11
Cards in this lot: 33
Base set completion: 
21 of 60 (35 percent)
Duplicates: 9

Notables on base cards – Eddie Vedder (vocals), Stone Gossard (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), Mike McCready (guitar), Boom Gaspar (keyboards), Matt Cameron (drums), Brendan O'Brien (producer)

Insert/short-print cards: 3 (all cards in gallery below)
Seattle logo sticker (1)
Chicago logo sticker (2)
Note: These should have been Boston stickers.

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: My finale here -- for this version at least -- is a trio of packs from a trilogy of card sets for the Hall of Famers and it included a few of what I think are the best cards in these sets ... the ones where the band members pose in jerseys of the home team. (In this case, the Boston Red Sox.) I picked these up at some point last year but am doing some late spring cleaning and this was the last of my stash for this one, which I have ripped a few times in search of those MLB homages. Why? They're unique and I've graded some -- I still need to do at least one more but I have pondered doing a baseball team set in slabs, too. Another reason why? I'm a collector and I like unique cards no matter what they might (or might not) be worth in slabs. ... They're not super-cheap at $5 a pack (when I bought) but there's still a lot of simplicity here as these were part of the legendary band's merchandising for three big concerts in 2018. Pearl Jam made three 60-card sets -- one for Seattle, Chicago and Boston -- using the 1990-91 NBA Hoops design (1989-90 Hoops wrappers) and with completely different photos for everything. They're not their first card sets as their previous releases using the 1991 Topps baseball design as a starting point were a big hit, so that's probably why these happened. ... The wrappers here are paper but are securely sealed, so there are no worries there. There's no wax staining to worry about, either, but the top card will have some surface damage more times than not thanks to the packaging. The silver-edge design also is one that will showcase flaws easily but these are smoothly cut and clean for the most part, save for centering or if a pack somehow got bumped/dropped, and are way better than the set they are re-creating. They made plenty of these vs. past year's sets so they're findable ... and that's also a plus for a collector.

Product Grade: A-
Lot Grade: A
Fun Grade: B+

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