Buzz Break: Star Trek Deep Space Nine Heroes & Villains

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: Star Trek Deep Space Nine Heroes & Villains trading cards
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this over-delivering box as well as a gallery.

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 120
Base set completion: 
100 of 100 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 10

Inserts: 6 (in gallery below with hits and some base)
Metal base parallels (1) – Leeta (/75)
Rules of Acquisition (3) – Rule Nos. 16, 47, 190
Aliens of DS9 (1) – Klaestron/Klingon/Kobheerian/Kobliad/Kressari/Lethean
Ships of the Line (1) – USS Defiant & Cardassian Battlecruiser

Autographs/Memorabilia: 4
Comic Cuts (1) – The Cancer Within: Part 2
Autographs (3) – Heidi Swedberg as Rekelen, Brett Cullen as Deral, Salome Jens as Female Changeling (all "very limited")

What's Buzz-worthy: Three "very limited" autos didn't translate into three money autos in this box but there are some notable sigs possible here beyond the main cast members' cards. Who? Rock star Iggy Pop, singer Vanessa Williams, former NFL player turned actor Bernie Casey and then actors you might know from elsewhere -- Steven Weber, Dick Miller, Wallace Shawn -- and some dual-auto cards with solid combos. (See the full checklist here.) This release coughs up ink easily so only the rarest of the bunch will command top prices -- that's not necessarily a bad thing if you're a collector -- and this box actually delivered a few other rarities. (The Brett Cullen auto was on my want list as he was the jackass quarterback Eddie Martel in The Replacements and he's had quite a few other film and TV roles where you might remember him.) This box included its Metal parallel -- surprising to see those so low-volume but then again only 4,000 of these boxes were made -- as well as a rarer (every other box) Ships insert and a Comic Cuts card that's one in 144 packs (six boxes). It's got a cut from a page of a past comic book -- not all that rare of a book but a different type of card that helps add some variety to the break. Really the only criticism here is that its heavy on base cards (feels like it needs some type of regularly occurring insert or parallel) but the base set is stronger in my opinion in that it focuses on characters more than episodes with some of those key auto subjects also having cards. (Do wish actors' names were on the card backs somewhere.) All in all, my autos weren't the best here but this box over-delivered well enough it still got an A out of me, especially since it's a sale box in the big sale.

Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: A (based on a couple of rarer inclusions and three autos at sale price)
Fun Grade: B

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