Buzz Break: 2022 Topps Chrome baseball cards (hobby box)

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The box: 2022 Topps Chrome baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Click here (a few formats)

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

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 96
Base set completion: 
71 of 220 (32 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Ronald Acuña Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dylan Carlson, Giancarlo Stanton, Jacob deGrom

Rookie Cards (18) – Wander Franco (RC), Cal Raleigh, Josh Lowe, Lars Nootbaar, Connor Wong, Seth Beer, Bryan De La Cruz, Trey Amburgey, Zach Thompson, Tyler Gilbert, Riley Adams, Joe Ryan, Zac Lowther, Hoy Park, Tony Santillan, Eli Morgan, Vidal Brujan, Jake Meyers, Rodolfo Castro

Insert cards: 23 (all inserts and some base in gallery below)
Refractors (8) – Oneil Cruz, Adam Frazier, Chris Sale, Sean Manaea, Lucas Giolito, Jose Berrios, Jon Gray, Chris Sale
Prism Refractors (4) – Jonathan India, Jesse Winker, Lars Nootbaar, Josh Lowe
Aqua Wave Refractors (1) – Nolan Arenado (/199)
Future Stars (2) – Kyle Lewis, Ke'Bryan Hayes
1987 Topps (4) – Wander Franco, Shohei Ohtani, Jesse Winker, Joey Votto
New Classics (2) – Bo Bichette, Randy Arozarena
Heart Of The City (1) – Rafael Devers
Pinstriped (1) – Pete Alonso

Autographs/Memorabilia: 2
Chrome Rookie Autographs  (1) – Ronnie Dawson
Chrome Blue Wave Refractor Rookie Autographs (1) – Matt Vierling (/150)

A couple days after opening, many of my base cards are seriously sticking together and fogging ... thankfully, it all wipes off.

What's Buzz-worthy: This break won't be about the missing SP rookies and the fix -- I'll open this expecting that I wouldn't have landed any anyway -- but what I found was a lot of miscut cards (some normal, some less than normal) and then cards that are fogging up and sticking together after sitting just a few days after opening (particularly more on base and the rookies, not inserts). The fog cleans right off, of course, but both seem like they could be signs of this one having production that perhaps needed more time to cook. The autograph checklist is deep this time and it includes veterans, too, which will not make some rippers happy if they are shredding packs for rookie autos -- but that's perhaps more the norm than solely fulfilling an entitled wish list. (I'd just like that norm at a more reasonable price ... even if it meant fewer autos per box.) The parallels delivered good volume here but not as much as variety or scarcity as one might expect -- but that means when you land a good one you will probably know it. It'll take you roughly 28 boxes to find any one card here in Refractor form based on this box due to the set size ... so that Oneil Cruz looks a little better to me here, though there are variations and those do have parallels ... so all those "other" options will draw attention away from these. The inserts here -- New Classics and Heart of the City in particular -- seem like improvements over some past options, though the Pinstriped cards feel like a miss and the Future Stars feel like a holdover that need tweaking or a revamp. The ink here was on the rookie side but neither player is a money guy right now -- but that blue is one in 540 packs (23 boxes) to get it a statistical A-grade from me. This is a box that could be topped. All in all, Topps Chrome has been a brand that has been very good to me in the past -- the recent years with strong rookies and then the distant past (mid 2000s) with rookie ink -- but in both of those instances it was a far cheaper box price with color flowing well ... and that led me to the brand. The base design here is an improvement over last year but I'll also admit it hasn't grown on me, either this year -- so the few insert sets I like here are probably my biggest interest in this release. Production might be (should be) higher here given the checklist depth and the odds for cards numbered like what I landed -- that Aqua Wave is one in 248 packs (11 boxes), though the cards are spread around between formats -- so it's a good thing there are a few options to explore. The LITE boxes might be a better way to go if you're not chasing ink -- they supposedly did have the SP rookies included -- but I think this one ultimately just comes down to what you are looking for when you are ripping and then your balancing of that vs. cost/return.

Product Grade: B (huge auto checklist hurts some in general as die some cutting/sticking issues in this box but otherwise it's nice)
Box Grade: A- (Blue Wave auto is one in 540 packs to get it here despite the miscut/sticky cards)
Fun Grade: B (I like Chrome in general but this box had some issues)

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