Buzz Break: 2018 Pearl Jam Chicago trading cards (10 packs)

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The packs 2018 Pearl Jam Chicago trading cards (10 packs)
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: 10 (nine cards and one sticker)
Base set completion: 
59 of 61 (97 percent)
Duplicates: 30
Triplicates: 5

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

Insert/short-print cards: 10 (all cards in gallery below)
Chicago logo sticker (3)
Seattle logo sticker (4)
Boston logo sticker (3)

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: It was more than a year ago already that I picked up these 10 packs in search of basically one card or, really, a run of cards here that I had an inkling to slab for pure novelty reasons -- the cards where the band members donned MLB uniforms for the home team. My main focus? The Eddie Vedder Cubs card ... the only one for him that had eluded me as part of three sets with this concept. A quick rewind, though ... what are these? As part of the legendary band's merchandising for three big concert dates in 2018, Pearl Jam made three 60ish-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. I've ripped these a few times over the years and a couple of Vedder cards in uniform have been graded and are deep in my stash ... but the one where he wears the Cubs gear had eluded me until now. (That one has been tucked away somewhere deep into the get-graded stash so its image doesn't match the rest of the gallery from today.) This one was decent with two cards short of having them all -- one Boom Gaspar and a producer card (Brendan O'Brien). The wrappers here are paper but are securely sealed, so there are no worries there beyond the corners. There's no wax staining to worry about here, either, but the top card will have some surface damage more times than not thanks to the packaging. The silver-edge design is one that will showcase flaws easily but these are smoothly cut and clean for the most part, save for centering, and are way better than the set they are re-creating.

Product Grade: A-
Lot Grade: A- (landed the one I wanted ... but just short of set with some condition issues)
Fun Grade: B+ (see above)

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