Buzz Break: 2023 Topps Chrome baseball cards (blaster)

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 box: 2023 Topps Chrome baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Click here (a few formats)

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

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 4 stated (3-5 in some here)
Cards in this box: 31
Base set completion: 
22 of 220 (10 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, Fernando Tatis Jr., Mookie Betts, Max Scherzer

Rookie Cards (8) – Gunnar Henderson, Michael Toglia, Nolan Jones, David Villar, Riley Greene, Jonathan Aranda, Drew Waters, Shea Langeliers

Insert cards: 9 (all inserts and some base in gallery below)
Refractors (1) – Louis Robert
Prism Refractors (1) – Cedric Mullins
Sepia Refractors (2) – Wander Franco, Bryce Harper
Pink Refractors (2) – Alek Thomas, Michael Toglia
Purple Sonar Refractor (1) – Jose Abreu (/275)
1988 Topps (1) – Ezequiel Tovar
Titans (1) – Juan Soto

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: My first pack was short a card, ditto on the third. However, the Collating Cods did make up for it (I think) with one extra card in one pack but it's tough to know here as Topps has been collating its retail-only cards into packs as extra cards in some recent releases. There are a stated 28 cards per box and then two Sepia and two Pink Refractors to be in there, too, so if they're seeding as extras then I'm one card short of what should have been in there. Or, vs. that stated number if packed normally, I'm three cards ahead despite being two cards short. (As always, when a pack is missing a card I assume it was an autograph, though they aren't every box here.) Atop that, I did have a few cards with creases or crimps and in just a few days where I had these in a team set bag between opening and posting today that do appear to be slightly sticking like they did last year. Not a condition issue per se on the sticking ... but I don't like seeing that early on in a release's life. For the base cards, a Trout appearance was fine here and the Gunnar Henderson might be a short-term better find but Chrome basics won't be rare here over time so it all comes down to the inserts. In this box I got two fewer than I did in my most recently ripped version of last year's Chrom for starters. I landed some better names among some of the retail-only portion of the box (Sepia for the win there) and the Purple Sonar is one in 17 boxes or two per blaster case despite being something that seems, well, not all that interesting. (If you get a good name on that, sure, it's interesting but I don't really see the point on that design at all.) The MVP buyback promotion is back once again here -- so if you land Shohei Ohtani cards I think you're a lock there (basic details at the First Buzz link) if you have a participating shop. Meanwhile, Topps did make an effort to add a lot of stuff that's simply different into the mix here this year but the cards like TacoFractors are so rare you shouldn't rip expecting to find one (one in 14,000-plus packs or exactly one in every 2,090 boxes here). I suspect there will be a Taco Bell tie-in later in the year so maybe that played into the scarcity (It's a hunch based on the visuals ... poke around on my Twitter as to why I think that's the case.) But something fun and odd doesn't need to be rare to move some units or inspire people to buy more than they might normally and, you know, collect them. If they're too rare most people won't see them and may not care. There's more to be found here for sure -- hit the odds here -- but at $35 a blaster (SRP) I'm probably a one and done -- and the deep auto checklist might be too deep for me (just like last year) to open other formats that guarantee ink at substantially higher SRPs. I'll stick to singles at best.

Product Grade: B (same as last year despite some new, odd additions .... they were not seen in this one)
Box Grade: A (Purple Sonar is supposedly on in 17 boxes, which is pretty high for an unimpressive card)
Fun Grade: B (some better names in some spots but felt flat for price despite the one rarer card)

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