BuzzMania 8: Making A Case For Panini Chronicles (Hour 6)

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 case made last year's lineup and it had to get another crack when I found it cheap back on Black Friday. Why? This is a variety-packed brand that truly delivers that with volume -- it's a fun one to rip if you ask me -- no matter what can happen on the quality control front.

The Brand: 2022 Panini Chronicles WWE (20-box blaster case)

Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby and blaster lots)

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

Base Breakdown

Cards per pack: 7
Packs per box: 6
Cards per box: 42
Boxes per case: 20
Packs per case: 120
Cards per case: 840
Base (Chronicles only) set completion: 
100 of 100 (100 percent)
Duplicates: Oh yes ... between 1-5 copies of all cards in this portion ... but only one set built.

Notables on base cards: Technically they're all base cards in this one save for the Bronze/Green/Silver parallels and the autos despite the subsets having dramatically different looks -- I'll break down everything in the next section.

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Non-Chronicles Subset Breakdown

Absolute Memorabilia (28) – Solo Sikoa, Gigi Dolin, Mandy Rose, The Rock, Bret Hart, Liv Morgan, Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley, Goldberg, Ronda Rousey

Absolute Memorabilia Bronze (2) – Solo Sikoa, Goldberg

Black (16) – Bron Breakker, Jacy Jayne, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Doudrop, Ricky Steamboat, Odyssey Jones, Kevin Owens, Aliyah, Amari Miller, Carmelo Hayes, Brutus Creed

Black Bronze (7) – Bron Breakker, Nikki Bella, Doudrop, Gorilla Monsoon, Ricky Steamboat, Odyssey Jones, Kofi Kingston

Certified (16) – Tiffany Stratton, Aoife Valkyrie, Charlotte Flair, Grayson Waller, Roddy Piper, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Brock Lesnar, Yokozuna, Jake Roberts, Beth Phoenix , Becky Lynch, Shayna Baszler

Certified Bronze (7) – Cora Jade, The Miz, Butch, Drew McIntyre, Yokozuna, Brock Lesnar, Big E

Chronicles Bronze (37) – Notables include Bron Breakker, Cora Jade, Nikkita Lyons, Mr. T, Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Dominik Mysterio, Edge, Bayley, Ronda Rousey, Steve Austin, The Rock, Randy Savage, Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog, Charlotte Flair, Liv Morgan, Ludwig Kaiser, Jimmy Uso, Brock Lesnar

Contenders (32) – Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, John Cena, A.J. Styles, Finn Balor, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Alexa Bliss, Cody Rhodes, Asuka

Contenders Bronze (4) – Becky Lynch, John Cena, Finn Balor, Edge

Donruss (30) – Bron Breakker, Nikkita Lyons, Carmelo Hayes, Gable Steveson, Cora Jade, Roxanne Perez, Solo Sikoa, Tony D'Angelo, Veer Mahaan, Joe Gacy

Donruss Bronze (3) – Bron Breakker, Gable Steveson, Joe Gacy

Donruss Optic (9) – Cody Rhodes, Paul Heyman, Sami Zayn, Nikki Bella, Gene Okerlund, Ted DiBiase, Rikishi, Terry Gordy, Charlotte Flair

Donruss Optic Bronze Prizm (1) – Charlotte Flair

Elite (13) – Cody Rhodes, Lacey Evans, The Miz, Finn Balor, Bobby Heenan, Cactus Jack, Omos, Gable Steveson, Edge, Alba Fyre, The Great Khali

Elite Bronze (8) – The Miz, Axiom, Matt Riddle, Gable Steveson, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bianca Belair, Finn Balor

Illusions (19) – Liv Morgan, Gunther, Butch, Shinsuke Nakamura, Mandy Rose, Trick Williams, Rikishi, Bret Hart, Paul Bearer, Jerry Lawler, Gigi Dolin, John Cena, Big E, Austin Theory, Cameron Grimes, Dude Love

Illusions Bronze (7) – Liv Morgan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Mandy Rose, Jerry Lawler, Cameron Grimes, Austin Theory

Legacy (29) – Undertaker, Randy Savage, Andre The Giant, Chyna, Triple H, Steve Austin, Batista, Ultimate Warrior, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan

Legacy Bronze (5) – Undertaker, Randy Savage, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Triple H

Luminance (28) – Carmella, Roddy Piper, Bayley, Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E, Valentina Feroz, Alba Fyre, Guru Raaj, Edris Enofe, Brooks Jensen

Luminance Bronze (5) – Brooks Jensen, Valentina Feroz, Alba Fyre, Edris Enofe, Big E

Origins (27) – Randy Orton, Damian Priest, Gunther, Jake Roberts, Brie Bella, Eddie Guerrero, Batista, Kit Wilson, Nathan Frazier, Axiom

Origins Bronze (2) – Gunther, Randy Orton

Playoff (28) – Shotzi, Kofi Kingston, Roderick Strong, Raquel Rodriguez, Nikki A.S.H., Beth Phoenix, JBL, Terry Funk, Aleah James, Von Wagner

Playoff Bronze (5) – Shotzi, Kofi Kingston, Beth Phoenix, JBL, Von Wagner

Prestige (30) – Razor Ramon, Elektra Lopez, Nikki Bella, Sonya DeVille, Kevin Owens, Ikemen Jiro, Dante Chen, Bruno Sammartino, Jerry Lawler, Ru Feng

Prestige Bronze (3) – Kevin Owens, Elektra Lopez, Ru Feng

Rookies & Stars (33) – Tiffany Stratton, Ivy Nile, Grayson Waller, Jacy Jayne, Wendy Choo, Shanky, Elton Prince, Julius Creed, Brutus Creed, Blair Davenport

Rookies & Stars Bronze (3) – Jacy Jayne, Brutus Creed, Julius Creed

Score (34) – Trish Stratus, Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Kayden Carter, Odyssey Jones, Drew McIntyre, Cameron Grimes, Queen Zelina, Alundra Blayze, Billy Graham

Score Bronze (4) – Trish Stratus, Iyo Sky, Queen Zelina, Billy Graham

XR (16) – Shotzi, Carmella, Rhea Ripley, Aleah James, Dallas Page, Ronda Rousey, Solo Sikoa, Guru Raaj, Jinny, Blair Davenport, Cactus Jack, Dusty Rhodes

XR Bronze (9) – Roman Reigns, Rob Van Dam, Ciampa, Guru Raaj, Paul Heyman, Cruz Del Toro, Carmella, Dallas Page, Dusty Rhodes

Flux (8) – Solo Sikoa, Duke Hudson, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Ron Simmons, Scott Steiner, Doudrop, Ru Feng

Flux Prizms (1) – Dusty Rhodes

Phoenix (6) – Queen Zelina, Sonya Deville, Bobby Heenan, Edris Enofe, Bobby Lashley, Ciampa

Phoenix Prizms (1) – Cruz Del Toro

Spectra (10) – Alexa Bliss, The Miz, A.J. Styles, Asuka, Trick Williams, Xia Li, Raquel Rodriguez, Iron Sheik, Billy Gunn, Johnny Rodz

Spectra Prizms (3) – Alexa Bliss, Kurt Angle, Sami Zayn

Certified Green (1) – Roddy Piper (/99)

Chronicles Green (3) – Elektra Lopez, Jagger Reid, Jagger Reid (/99)

Contenders Green (1) – Alexa Bliss (/99)

Donruss Green (1) – Cora Jade (/99)

Playoff Green (1) – Nikki A.S.H. (/99)

Score Green (1) – Queen Zelina (/99)

XR Green (1) – Rob Van Dam (/99)

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The Hits (Autographs/Memorabilia) Breakdown: 1
Origins Autographs Red (1) – Titus O'Neil

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My Take Before I Broke This: I still have a love-hate relationship with this release -- love the variety overall here but hated the hobby collation and a lot of the odd damage that's found on some cards in this release, particularly some of the subsets (Rookies & Stars for example) that can have odd heavy surface dents into the card backs more often than not in blasters. It's like those sheets were laid upon gravel before printing and got dented up. Overall, though, the rookie crop here is nice and there are some retail-only colors as well as hits -- but ink was really elusive for me in all of my loose-box breaks of this one. (I ripped a bunch ... barely landed any numbered cards, let alone autos.) There's a ton to find here and the hobby boxes never really have dipped in price as they have guarantees despite being smaller boxes -- that makes these an interesting option and I found this case at a good price around Black Friday. This cost me about the same as a hobby box would now, and, given the rookies and the volume here, I think that makes this a better break for the volume and variety with several young names. There's not a boatload of pricey normal stuff to be found here -- it's just fun.

Who Won The Battle? The collation was definitely weird here again with just one hit this year vs. three autos in my case last year. Once again, I landed just one base set of 100 Chronicles subset cards -- and as many as five copies of some cards -- while other subsets also went wonky with the same names dropping several times over, too, though some of that is based on the subsets being small yet planned to regularly show up in boxes. This case was stronger on the rookie front with Tiffany Stratton showing in more than one spot -- last year it was just one and that was a bummer -- while others flowed pretty well among the key newcomers. In all, key names here included Stratton four times, Lyra Valkyria (with her old name) just once, Cora Jade several times (keep reading), Solo Sikoa nine times, Carmelo Hayes five times, Bron Breakker nine times and Roxanne Perez five times ... in some ways this was better than last year, though the weird collation here could have names pop up more or less than that one. (Two of my Green Chronicles /99 parallels were the same guy ... so it can go both ways.) Check out the gallery for a tiny sampling of everything -- about six cards per TV show or subset type here this time. Poke around in the archives if you want to see more ... I busted boatloads of this one since arrival. I think this one was a bummer with the hit but a good break at its reduced price.

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The Top Rookies: Cora Jade won this year's top nod with variety, parallels and a rarer key card in there, too, on a total of nine cards. The newcomer crop hits home quite well with the Donruss, Rookies & Stars and Certified sets all having some nice RCs, though dollars-wise they don't really jump out from the pack unless you land a rarer parallel ... that's more easily done in hobby boxes as there are some nice rarer chases and good names there -- and autos to be found there, too. Some names I landed this time I didn't see at all in last year's case ... so cases can be hit and miss for sure.

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Card That Stole The Show: This Cora Jade RC parallel would have been bigger at release, but she's had ups and downs due to injuries that have taken time away from the ring and TV. Of the parallels here, this still is probably the best card in both the here and now as well as a card with some upside, though its centering could have been better.

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Box/Case Grade: B ... One autograph in a case this year vs. three last year -- I really have no idea what the norm should be at this point even a few years later. Had it delivered more hits along with this slightly rarer Jade, the volume here would have gotten it to a high-B or low-A grade ... since I found this at a cheap price. At regular price, this would have been rough -- that auto is about $5 on a good day, though it is a retail color parallel and he is a former college football (Florida Gators) standout and in a WWE ambassador role now.

Fun Grade: B ... Just like last year, had this one included one more bigger name on a numbered parallel or hit, it'd probably be an A. The overall volume made this rip fun but I'm sure it was not a winner if I was doing the ol' rip-and-flip game. (I was really optimistic about this one ripping into the boxes.)

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The Bottom Line: I still think this has good potential ... at least at rock-bottom prices. Those probably won't last as it keeps getting opened and the younger stars and key names here deliver -- plus stuff like this is an affordable option if Topps' WWE stuff remains high-end, high-risk stuff price-wise. This is a brand made for a collector for sure -- hit hobby boxes at link up top if you really dig it. I'll perhaps dig in there again at some point.

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