Buzz Break: 2020 Panini Illusions football cards (mega box)

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: 2020 Panini Illusions football cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

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

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 5
Cards per box: 35
Base set completion: 
26 of 100 (26 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Drew Brees, Christian McCaffrey, A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley, Jimmy Garoppolo, Alvin Kamara, Carson Wentz, J.J. Watt, Tyreek Hill, Kenyan Drake, Will Fuller, Robert Woods, Julian Edelman

Rookies (11) – Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, J.K. Dobbins, Joshua Kelley, Van Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, Gabriel Davis, Lynn Bowden Jr., A.J. Dillon, Jake Fromm

Insert/short-print cards: 7 (everything from box in gallery below)
Trophy Collection Sapphire parallels (3) – Chase Young (RC), Leonard Fournette, Darius Slayton
Trophy Collection Yellow parallels (1) – Justin Jefferson (RC) (/149)
Trophy Collection Starlight parallels (1) – Marvin Jones Jr.
Mystique (1) – Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Shining Stars (1) – Christian McCaffrey

Autographs/Memorabilia: 2
Superlatives Orange Autographs (1) – Eric Metcalf
Instant Impact (1) – Tua Tagovailoa

What’s Buzz-worthy: With its black foil on dark foilboard, Illusions is not a natural favorite of mine so this brand might be a one and done for me -- unless I happen to find more -- but this box delivered pretty well with appearances from Tom Brady, Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa for starters. It's a brand that has a lot of basic RCs in this version as part of a pretty small set and these mega boxes offer up an autograph and a memorabilia card every time to help things out, too. The lineup of inserts and parallels here is small but that will help things out when you land a notable name -- them not flowing that well helps their values -- and the Sapphire parallels are only found in this box type. (Blasters have Great Expectations memorabilia cards ... and oddly one more card than the mega boxes but no guaranteed ink.) The ink here will be Orange no matter what with either Rookie Sigs or Superlatives to be found. (No rookie love for me, instead I got a card of a guy who was a RC back when I started looking at NFL more intently ... though he has fewer than 100 different autograph card appearances in that time.) All in all, this was a solid box and there seems to be some really good potential here, too, but perhaps not with an approach that is as fun and colorful as others releases on the calendar. If you find megas, I'd do them ... or hit that link up top to try some hobby if you're sold on what things look like.

Product Grade: B+
Box Grade: A
Fun Grade: B

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