Buzz Break: 2022 AEW Metal Universe wrestling (blaster)

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and break down 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: 2022 AEW Metal Universe wrestling cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby) 

Keep reading to see a full breakdown and gallery from this one.

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 35
Base set completion: 23 of 100 (23 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Jade Cargill, Emi Sakura, The Bunny, Aubrey Edwards, Ricky Starks, Danahausen, Malaki Black, Bryan Danielson, Keith Lee, Jon Moxley, Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, William Regal, Wheeler Yuta, Tony Nese, Isiah Kassidy, Alex Reynolds, Shawn Spears, Rush, Lee Moriarity, The Blade, Q.T. Marshall, Matt Jackson

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 last time.)

Inserts/short-prints: 11 (all cards from box in gallery below)
Blue Spectrum parallels (5) – MJF, Billy Gunn, The Butcher, Anthony Ogogo, Chuck Taylor
1997-98 Retro (1) – Riho
Technicians (1) – Powerhouse Hobbs
Bonzo Gonzo (1) – Adam Cole
Skybox Premium (1) – Stokely Hathaway
Feeling The Love (1) – Adam Page
SPs (Nos. 101-150) (1) – Kris Statlander

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Skybox Premium Star Sapphire Autographs (1) – Julia Hart

What's Buzz-worthy: This one delivered very, very well with that auto (a retail exclusive one in 200 packs ... one in 40 boxes as well as a debut signer) and the Blue MJF and the Statlander SP all in the same pack. Atop that, the Love card is one in 38 packs and then the run of names -- new and old -- made the rest of this a very respectable box that got its A+ grade from that one pack alone. The hobby boxes don't ultimately guarantee an auto every time -- or one of the pricier PMGs that are numbered -- which is a bit of a bummer (they need to guarantee more for the price) but there is good potential there more regularly than here. This was my first of two blasters I grabbed for this one ultimately out of curiosity and the other one, while it delivered well on names and other inclusions, came nowhere close to a big pop that this one was. I was on the fence here but I'll likely be tempted more at some point to rip some more and grab some more singles as a number of younger names are here and these are looking clean other than minor corner and edge issues from packaging. It's definitely a good box talking here but this one did impress me more than I had expected and some of the inclusions here are only found here, making these boxes perhaps more lucrative in the long run if people want to collect master sets or rainbows -- I could be wrong, but, off the top of my head, retail exclusives don't come out of ePack but a lot of the other stuff here will. All in all this was worth the wait and was a good rip for a basic price ... the collecting world needs more of that these days with all the SRPs out there. (Yes, this is still the good box talking.) I'll offer more thoughts on this one in my next break ... probably this time next week.

Product Grade: A- 
Box Grade: A+
Fun Grade: A

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