Buzz Break: 2021-22 Topps Merlin Chrome soccer (hobby)

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The box: 2021-22 Topps Merlin Chrome soccer cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

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

Packs per box: 18
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 72
Base set completion: 
56 of 150 (37 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base card notables – Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham, Weston McKennie, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Alphonso Davies, Memphis Depay ... and others I'm sure.

Rookie Cards (19) – See gallery.

Insert cards: 15 (all in gallery below with some base)
Ageless Alchemy (1) – Andrea Pirlo
Prophecy Fulfilled (2) – Romelu Lukaku, Trent Alexander-Arnold
U23 Stars (3) – Jude Bellingham, Anthony Elanga, Pedri
Refractors (6) – Jon Pacheco, Rayan Cherki, Renan Lodi, Suso, N'Golo Kante, Duvan Zapata
Yellow Wave Refractors (1) – Marco Verratti (/225)
Aqua Speckle Refractors (1) – Ivan Romero (/199)
Speckle Refractors (1) – Alessandro Zanolo (/150)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Autographs (1) – Yeremy Pino

What's Buzz-worthy: This line that revisits past Merlin (European soccer stickers) designs on Chrome stock is pretty simple -- see the lineup at the checklist and the results above -- and that might be, to a slight degree, what holds it back here. The stock and printing/cutting here is top-notch -- what I'd wish to see on everything Chromed -- but the design felt a little stiff like a retro sticker. It's not bad, it's just simple compared to a lot of stuff these days and it being on Chrome kind of reinforces that. It almost has a lower-end baseball set (think Big League or an Opening Day-style release) feel -- and again that's not bad but it doesn't feel 100-percent right to me for a Chromed set with a steep price tag attached. You get one auto per box here and a number of inserts and then a few color parallels -- but not many -- and the three numbered cards I landed here aren't the easiest of pulls despite having higher numbering. Yellow Wave is one in 67, Aqua Speckle is one in 75 and then the rarest is one in 38 ... so some of those colors must have been allotted to the retail version with some only here. (I have not compared the odds on each box type.) ... Just like I said last year, this one didn't feel like a wowser of a box like my Stadium Club Chrome hobby box but this one did feel like it had really good potential. If you see this one, consider it -- even at retail -- as a key name in color could do well dollars-wise. If you like this one for sure, go hobby for perhaps the best results and guaranteed ink.

Product Grade: B+
Box Grade: A- (three rarer parallels here)
Fun Grade: B+

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