Buzz Break: 2023 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (blaster)

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The box: 2023 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here

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

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 14 (one with extra manufactured Relic card inside)
Cards in this box: 99
Base set completion: 
85 of 330 (26 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Max Fried, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Bobby Witt Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Ronald Acuña Jr., Miguel Cabrera, Mookie Betts

Rookie Cards (18) – J.J. Bleday, Riley Greene, Jonah Bride, Liover Peguero, Lenyn Sosa, Graham Ashcraft, Brian Serven, Steele Walker, Jerar Encarnacion, Hunter Brown, Ezequiel Duran, Korey Lee, Michael Massey, Zack Thompson, Josh Winckowski, Brandon Hughes, Josh Smith, Max Castillo, Brandon Hughes

Insert/short-print cards: 14 (all in gallery below with some base)
Rainbow foil parallel (1) – Mike Yastrzemski
1988 Topps (2) – Max Scherzer, Sandy Alcantara
Home Run Challenge (1) – Riley Greene
2022's Greatest Hits (1) – Mookie Betts
Welcome To The Club (1) – Dale Murphy
Stars of MLB (7) – Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Riley Greene, Alex Bregman
Commemorative Team Logo Patch Relic Card (1) – Bo Bichette

Autographs/Memorabilia: None (manufactured Relic)

What's Buzz-worthy: OK, so my new-car smell of a strong hobby box has worn off a lot here ... but there was still some stuff I liked in this box, though I may be done for the year ripping this one. (For now.) These are a lot like previous recent years' blasters with a retail-only insert that's found relatively heavily, the Stars of MLB cards, and they are nice with a kind of pearlized/matte foilboard feel. But the rest of the box is heavy on base and lean on other inserts. Too lean. The manufactured (not a hit) Relic is the norm here but some do arrive with ink at high odds. In this case, I landed essentially my favorite active player so that was good but I don't think it was enough to wow me to do more of these ... at least right now. ... As I said before, I'll be the first to admit I was a bit skeptical about the base design of this one at first -- especially that gray bar on every card -- but this is a definite scenario where cards feel better in hand than they did on Photoshopped mocks. ... All in all, though, this one does have a busier design than some recent years but I think it feels tighter and more cleanly printed than some flagship sets. It wasn't perfect but nothing dramatically rough in terms of centering and stock -- and that has been an issue at times off and on of late. The array of inclusions here is good -- and jumbo boxes break with a lot more color and flash than hobby with guaranteed ink and more -- and about the only other thing I'd want to see would be a little more insert/parallel power in every pack in both hobby and here. That doesn't add cost ... just got to add to lineup to add some value here for boxes where the names aren't popping.

Product Grade: A
Box Grade: B+ (good names on the retail-only inserts here ... and my top name I'd want on the manufactured Relic)
Fun Grade: B (just needs more non-base stuff)

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