Buzz Break: 2023 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster)

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The box: 2023 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

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

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 56
Base set completion: 
50 of 300 (17 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Spencer Strider, Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Thurman Munson, Derek Jeter, Robin Yount, Tom Seaver, John Smoltz, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Honus Wagner, Tom Glavine, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Roberto Clemente, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Ford, Warren Spahn, Harmon Killebrew, Darryl Strawberry

RC logo cards (8) – Max Meyer, Joey Meneses, Riley Greene, Edouard Julien, Garrett Michell, Brett Baty Brayan Bello, Michael Harris II

Inserts: 6 (all in gallery below with some base)
1957 Topps Hit Stars (1) – Honus Wagner
1969 Topps Single Player Foil (3) – Ken Griffey Jr., Juan Soto, Byron Buxton
1979 Topps Comic (1) – Shohei Ohtani
1989 Topps Doubleheaders (1) – Albert Pujols & Paul Goldschmidt

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: Topps tricked this one up for its hobby channels with the standard box having some exclusives, adding a smaller box still having a guaranteed auto and arriving in a lunch box (a good move for the ballpark price point) and then, well, the blasters felt lean to me. It might be the format talking, but this one just felt flat with three cards per year (1956, 1965 and 2003) per pack unless an insert flipped that around. The Silvers here are a blaster-exclusive and I'd really wonder how these boxes would feel without them. (With them, there's just not much going on here at all ... and, well, foilboard ain't doing much for me as it is.) Atop that, this box of relatively standard cardboard (only the 2003 part is more advanced with foil stamping) had issues with the corners curling if not dented (and the 2003 format's color is tricky as it is), cards with surface scratches that, frankly, should not be there, bad centering on a lot of it, too, and then smaller scuffs and dents that are also not the norm with a lot of the retro stock used here. All that made this a not-fun rip for $25 though it didn't damper this one for me completely enough as I'll probably grab a lunch box at some point but the QC issues similar to this in some previous stuff this year made me buy less. This one is a collector release -- those two autos per hobby box aren't likely to get you ahead value-wise with most boxes but the collective total should have some potential here and there with a selection of good names past and present found here. It's fun but condition issues on simple cardboard like the face of Strider above or the top left corner on the Harris RC pretty much make them worthless to me and those are names I'd want to find. Maybe it will be cleaner when I dabble with the lunch box but my expectations are probably dampered there. There are perhaps more chase elements to liven this release up this year and the set's build is a bit simplified but fundamentals like basic print quality also matter.

Product Grade: B (it may be the format here talking ... but it just felt flat)
Box Grade: B- (good names but not very generous beyond base in this format ... plus see below)
Fun Grade: C- (most of the 1965s and 2003s with curled corners, cards with surface scratches and spots/dents)

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