Buzz Break: 2021 Donruss Optic football cards (mega box)

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The box: 2021 Donruss Optic football cards (mega)
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for this and a few formats)

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one along with a gallery of images.

Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 40
Base set completion: 22 of 200 (11 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards: Peyton Manning, Emmitt Smith, DK Metcalf, Russell Wilson, Cooper Kupp, Jalen Hurts, Damien Harris, Jerry Jeudy, Irv Smith Jr., Calvin Ridley, Jarvis Landry, Vince Young, Marcus Davenport, Hunter Renfrow, Carson Wentz, Jamaal Williams, Mike Davis, Devin Singletary, Mark Andrews, Chris Godwin, Deion Jones, Stefon Diggs

Inserts/short-prints: 17 (all cards from box in gallery below)
Rated Rookies (SP) (10) – Mac Jones, Davis Mills, Khalil Herbert, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Dez Fitzpatrick, Joseph Ossai, Kene Nwangwu, Terrac Marshall Jr., Kwity Paye, Frank Darby
Silver Prizm Rated Rookies (2) – Kadarius Toney, Richie Grant
Blue Hyper Prizm Rated Rookies (3) – Najee Harris, Joe Tryon-Shoyika, Jaret Patterson
Gifted Rookies (1) – Ja'Marr Chase
Retro Series (1) – Roger Staubach ... with some definite retro centering

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Rookie Phenoms Red (1) – Rondale Moore

What's Buzz-worthy: Just like last year, my first look at this brand -- typically one of my favorites for NFL -- was delayed quite a bit ... but I think the Cardboard Gods rewarded me for the wait slightly with two rookies I'd want to find here and then a number of guys with school ties. (Nothing to make big money on that last part ... just a nod to a collector.) I found this one at around the suggested retail price, give or take the big-box store add-0ns, and it was OK for that price. I would have had higher expectations or just stick to singles any higher ... but that's just me and collecting NFL in general is not at my collecting core. (I'm more a school stars dabbler.) These do guarantee a memorabilia card -- and there are other things noted on the inclusions panel beyond this style of hit I found (see below) -- and then there are things like Optic Downtown cards to look for along with a few other parallel colors in general. This format guarantees three Blue Hyper Rated Rookies and that's what I landed -- and all of my parallels were rookies here. It's really a rookie show in general -- maybe too much -- as the insert volume here is quite low and my Retro card is a bit of a throwaway with its centering and surface stock issues that won't rub off (I initially thought it was just fingerprints or some packaging funk). The Chase insert made up for that perhaps. All in all, I found some stuff I would have been looking for ... I just think there should be more emphasis on inserts here, too, to add to an already-meaty stack of base and rookies. Will I do more? Maybe. I'm going to scout how singles look and then the printing quality ... this box had some minor funky spots but I'm more interested in a few players and slab potential vs. the chase of bigs.

Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: A- (Jones, Harris and Chase work for me)
Fun Grade: B+ (heavy on rookies ... too heavy?)

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