Buzz Break: 2023 Topps Series 1 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 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 – Wander Franco, Fernando Tatis Jr., Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, Rafael Devers, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso, Austin Riley, Paul Goldschmidt, Francisco Lindor

Rookie Cards (11) – Nolan Gorman, Oscar Gonzalez, Nick Pratto, Jonathan Aranda, Christopher Morel, Mark Appel, Gabriel Moreno, David Villar, Jermaine Palacios, Darick Hall, Marcus Wilson

Insert/short-print cards: 14 (all in gallery below with some base)
Home Run Challenge (1) – Aaron Judge
Stars of MLB (7) – Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Bo Bichette, Rafael Devers, Francisco Lindor, Gerrit Cole, Mookie Betts
Chrome Stars of MLB (1) – Mookie Betts
All Aces (1) – Luis Castillo
Blue parallel (1) – Adam Wainwright
1988 Topps (2) – Fernando Tatis Jr., Paul Goldschmidt
Commemorative Team Logo Patch Relic Card (1) – Bryce Harper

Autographs/Memorabilia: None (manufactured Relic)

What's Buzz-worthy: I didn't intend to buy any more of this one but this one was a straggler on the retail shelf and it gave me the puppy dog eyes ... or something. What was inside? On the base card front, a pretty un-remarkable mix -- and the same on the rookies but with almost half of the volume of my last blaster ... quite rough. But the highlight here of the last couple years came through again with the retail-only insert that's found relatively heavily, the Stars of MLB cards. They are nice with a kind of pearlized/matte foilboard feel and I got a run of top names for the most part as well as a Chrome that looked even better. ... The manufactured (not a hit) Relic is the norm but some do arrive with ink at high odds. ... 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+ (really good names on the retail-only stuff and some other inserts here ... but rest of box was rough)
Fun Grade: B (just needs more non-base stuff)

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