BuzzMania 8: An Absolute AEW Allure Invasion II (Hour 5)

The biggest weekend in pro wrestling is here with WrestleMania 41 set for this Saturday and Sunday from Las Vegas. We'll make today a big one for wrestling collectors right here on The Buzz with #BuzzMania8, a marathon of wrestling breaks all day long.

This one is a replay of Hour 4 from last year -- a hobby box vs. a blaster box of a colorful favorite of mine where it's got a lot of variety but the hits don't always flow all that regularly. Can they deliver this year?

The Brand: 2022 AEW Allure -- hobby box vs. retail blaster

Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

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

Base Breakdown -- see all inserts and a selection of base from both boxes in the gallery below.

Hobby box
Cards per pack: 8
Packs per box: 8
Cards per box: 64
Base set completion: 
39 of 100 (39 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Retail blaster box
Cards per pack: 6
Packs per box: 5
Cards per box: 30
Base set completion: 
15 of 100 (15 percent)
Duplicates: 0

--

Hobby box (blue background in gallery)

Notables on base cards: Orange Cassidy, Sting, Chris Jericho, Taz, Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Jim Ross, C.M. Punk, Buddy Matthews, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Athena, Dustin Rhodes, Rey Fenix, Riho

A note on Rookie Cards – None are noted on-card via a RC logo, but anyone in base set without previous-year AEW, WWE, WCW, Impact, Panini Lucha Libre AAA or BBM (Japan) or Leaf in-pack cards is likely a RC here based on traditional definitions. (So there are some this time but perhaps not as many as other sets.)

--

Hobby Box Insert Breakdown: 24
Star Futures SPs (8) – Anna Jay, Julia Hart, Jade Cargill, Hook, Dante Martin, Jack Perry, Konosuke Takeshita, Lee Moriarity

Star Futures Red Rainbow (1) – Jamie Hayter

Red Rainbow parallel (1) – Daniel Garcia

Black Rainbow parallel (2) – Julia Hart, Malakai Black

Black Rainbow Horizontal SP parallel (1) – Anna Jay

Orance Slices parallel (1) – Marq Quen

Title Fights (1) – Jake Hager

Title Fights Pink Rainbow (1) – Lance Archer (/100)

My Squad (1) – Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland

I Scream For (1) – Sting

Title Ambitions (2) – Serena Deeb, Lance Archer

Red & Orange Color Flow (2) – Penta El Zero M, Jade Cargill

Orange & Yellow Color Flow (1) – Rey Fenix

Blue & Purple Color Flow (1) – Serena Deeb (/199)

--

Retail Blaster (black background in gallery)

Base cards (16): MJF, Athena, Stokely Hathaway, Rey Fenix, Daniel Garcia, Anthony Bowens, Colten Gunn, Adam Cole, Scorpio Sky, Keith Lee, Matt Menard, Jake Hager, Brody King, Cash Wheeler, The Butcher, The Blade

Retail Blaster Insert Breakdown: 14
Horizontal SPs (5) – Jon Moxley, Sting, Chris Jericho, Keith Lee, C.M. Punk

Table parallel Horizontal (1) – C.M. Punk

Black Rainbow (1) – Chuck Taylor

Star Futures Table parallel (1) – Austin Gunn

Table parallel (3) – Kenny Omega, Powerhouse Hobbs, Jungle Boy

Red Rainbow parallel (1) – Sting

Orange Slices Horizontal parallel (1) – Darby Allin

Yellow & Green Color Flow (1) – Toni Storm

--

The Hits (Autographs/Memorabilia) Breakdown: 1

Hobby box
Red Rainbow Autographs (1) – Alex Reynolds

Blaster box: None

--

My Take Before I Broke This: I've busted plenty of blasters here and some hobby boxes -- and thanks to hits not always arriving in either format every time the box prices are affordable on both ... and that's kept me ripping. Why? Potential. There's a bunch of variety here with subsets and parallels where a younger name or established star can be found more than once on base ... and then among all of the various parallels. And a ton of AEW names here are either now in WWE or have been in the past -- it's a good mix of young and old, promising potential stars and all-time greats without a high cost.

Who Won The Battle? Tough call here, especially when you compare the two boxes. Blasters are cheap (about half price of SRP in this case), while hobby boxes are higher than that but can be found far cheaper than the price when they arrived. Is there a dramatic difference in what they deliver? Not really. For inserts, I've seen 14-15 cards in retail and 25 in hobby. Is that dramatically better? I don't know ... but the hobby box wins because they regularly have serial-numbered cards and then can have either an auto or something that's substantially rarer among all of the finds.

--

The Top Rookies: There are a number of first-timers here if you go by the traditional Rookie Card definition of a card being an in-pack release from a major-manufacturer at a top level of competition. (At the same time, a lot of the new names here also have indy cards, too.) I'll go with the Hook RC parallel. He's the son of wrestling legend Taz but he probably has more high-profile work in the ring, too, vs. other rookies I found.

--

Card That Stole The Show: Ultimately, there isn't one here and that's part of the reason why these boxes can be cheap despite being a dazzler of a chromium show. The auto is a parallel and a good color but not a money guy at all. This Pink insert parallel is the rarest find at /100 but also a veteran who's not going to command a payday.

Lot Grade: B- ... I like this release as a collector but even for the discounted prices here I didn't land a whole lot of cards that, over time, feel like they'll be that big of a deal. They are really nice, though.
Fun Grade: B ... See above -- but the depth and variety is good. Hobby box did well for younger names.

--

The Bottom Line: It's got a lot of flash and variety -- and the AEW roster has a good mix of young and old ... so that's why this one is here. I don't hate it at all but this one again didn't deliver as well as I had hoped ... and I think retail might be better, or at least safer, for volume of cards vs. dollars. (A swing and a miss will cost less.) I'll still revisit this one from time to time because a big win might command a lot of attention (a pricey find) when it happens. Maybe this one hits it big if I run it back again next year?

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy AEW packs & boxes on BlowoutCards.com