BuzzMania 7: Playing Favorites -- Ripping 2018 Topps (Hour 3)

The biggest weekend in pro wrestling is here with WrestleMania 40 set for this Saturday and Sunday from Philadelphia. We'll make today a big one for wrestling collectors right here on The Buzz with #BuzzMania7, a marathon of WWE wax box/pack breaks all day long.

This one was -- and still is -- a favorite of mine from the Topps WWE years with it being a second affordable series of flagship that is loaded with simple, clean photos showcased in a minimalist design and a set that's loaded with first/early cards for a lot of young stars.

The Brand: 2018 Topps WWE Then Now Forever (aka Series 2) -- five blaster boxes

Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

Base Breakdown

Cards per pack: 7
Packs per box: 10 (plus Relic/Shawn Michaels bonus pack in this box version)
Cards per box: 72
Cards per lot: 360
Base set completion: 
100 of 100 (100 percent)
Duplicates: Yes, but I'm not sorting it all ... even for BuzzMania.

Notables on base cards: Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Drew McIntyre, Bray Wyatt, Finn Balor, Goldust, Matt Hardy, Bayley, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, Nikki Bella, Mandy Rose, Becky Lynch, Dakota Kai, Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Steve Austin, Randy Savage, Edge, Sting, Jake Roberts, Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, Lita, Beth Phoenix

Notables on RCs: Ronda Rousey, Liv Morgan, Andrade, Ricochet, Ember Moon, Billie Kay, Zelina Vega, Hanson

(Note: A sampling of everything in the gallery below -- but check other breaks to see more base cards.)

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Insert Breakdown: 140
Blue parallel (3) – Ronda Rousey, Roman Reigns, Mandy Rose (/99)

Bronze parallel (26) – Notables include Eddie Guerrero, Sasha Banks, Ricochet, Andrade, Billie Kay, Beth Phoenix, Big Show, Randy Savage, Finn Balor

Roddy Piper Hall of Fame Tribute (6) – "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

Shawn Michaels Tribute (5) – Shawn Michaels

Raw 25 Years (100) – Notables include Vince McMahon's limo, D-Generation X, Edge, The Shield, Kevin Owens, John Cena, Ric Flair, Evolution, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, Lita, Undertaker, Batista, Steve Austin, Jeff Hardy, Bret Hart

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The Hits (Autographs/Memorabilia/Manufactured Relic) Breakdown: 5
NXT: Takeover Philadelphia Mat Relics (1) – Adam Cole (/299)

Royal Rumble Mat Relics (1) – Matt Hardy (/299)

Bronze Royal Rumble Mat Relics (2) – Cesaro, The Miz (/199)

Gold Money In The Bank Mat Relics (1) – Baron Corbin (/10)

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My Take Before I Broke This: This was a safe go-to hobby box for me back in the day -- back when they were about $40 for hobby -- with an autograph every time, a second hit and then plenty of everything else. It's a design that showcases the photographs by getting out of the way and it's got a checklist that is packed with legends, current stars and a number of RCs from both the main roster as well as NXT as those names are in the base set here but not marked as RCs. (They used the logo for Raw or Smackdown cardboard arrivals.) Blasters had been surprisingly still findable for this one -- I grabbed these the instant I saw them at the link up top but now two other options are all that's available (still worth a look). These have a guaranteed hit every time (mostly Relics but long-odds auto Relics are possible) and plenty of Blue parallels that are arguably the nicest of the parallel colors in this release.

Who Won The Battle? The Blues weren't the rarest find in this release but they stole the show in these boxes with Reigns, a Rousey RC and Mandy Rose all in just five boxes despite the posted odds of one in 73 packs ... to just find one, let alone three top names in terms of prominence or popularity/value. By the odds, I shouldn't have seen any Blues in this lot at all.

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The Top Rookies: Tough call today but back when this one arrived it was Rousey for sure -- and a Blue is still a nice card and I'll end up slabbing it. Oddly, I've pulled this card twice despite there only being 99 made and both were in blasters. As they stand today, the RC crop is perhaps led by Liv Morgan and that card is a solid one ... but quite cheap. (This is fertile grading ground with a lot of younger names and debuts, though the skinny stock can make for a lot of challenges for elite marks -- even too much pressure opening pack can damage corners and edges easily.)

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Card That Stole The Show: The Blues won here for sure, though this Gold Corbin Relic is one in 66 boxes -- yes, boxes.

Lot Grade: A+ ... Those Blues were strong but the decent volume with an affordable price here -- all of this would cost less than a hobby box now if you can find one -- and that makes this one a low-risk favorite with some potential.
Fun Grade: B+ ... It delivered well but I was hoping for some of the color or ink to arrive on Relics ... I got the color part.

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The Bottom Line: RCs and rarer parallels still pack punch ... and these show how some blasters can still deliver. The interesting part with retail here? The jumbo packs and hangers -- still available -- deliver way more variety among the hits vs. blasters. I'm very tempted to rip some of those next.

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