Buzz Break: 1996 Topps Series 2 baseball cards (mag pack)

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 pack: 1996 Topps Series 2 baseball cards -- magazine (retail) pack
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... BlowoutCards.com for other Retro Rips

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Cards per pack: 17
Set completion: 16 of 220 (7 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Notables include Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Will Clark, Kirby Puckett ... see it all in gallery.

Rookie Cards (5) – Alvie Shepherd, Jason Brester, Shane Monahan, Daryle Ward, Michael Coleman (not all players on Prospects cards are RCs)

Insert/short-print cards: 1
Profiles By Kirby Puckett (1) – Kenny Lofton

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: I picked up a few retro packs from the past -- nothing that'll break the bank -- and this one is the last of those (for now) beyond some oddball non-sports selections. For this Flashback Friday rip, I figured this one was appropriate as we'll likely be seeing the first glimpses at 2026 Topps any day now, which will also make this one 30 years old as the calendar flips. This year's release was an ode to Mickey Mantle where his No. 7 (in Series 1) was the final No. 7 card for years until it was un-retired for new a Mantle appearance in 2006. (Yes, that means all flagship Topps sets in between did not have a No. 7 card.) This jumbo pack is a retail version sold mainly via magazine distributors (hence that name and the hanger hole for a spot on a rack) and the only chases here needing odds were Mantle Finest inserts, their Refractor counterparts and then Profiles cards like the one I landed one here. There's not a boatload of stuff to be found here -- it's one of the smallest Topps sets of the modern era -- and the chases are lean, but those Mantles are still sought after. This pack included some of the top possible names for sure among the veterans but the mess of rookies is rough as was typical back in the day (pre-2006) for many brands not named Bowman. Atop that, 1990s packaging and drama along the way meant a lot of mangled cards here with the Griffey getting the dreaded pack-seal "parallel" that can still pop up from time to time (at right). This was a cheap pack so I didn't expect anything, really -- and it's probably been 25-plus years since I opened any -- but it wasn't bad. That $1.99 price for a pack wasn't bad back then, either.

Product Grade: A- 
Pack Grade: B (would have been an easy A except for a lot of card damage with the loose wrapper and then that Griffey)
Fun Grade: B- (see above)

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