Buzz Break: 2022 Topps Update baseball cards (blaster box)

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The box: 2022 Topps Update baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here

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

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 14
Cards per box: 99
Base set completion: 
84 of 330 (25 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Ozzie Albies, Manny Machado

Rookie Cards (23) – Notables include Bobby Witt Jr. (RC), Hunter Greene, Royce Lewis ... see all 23 of them from this box in the gallery.

Insert/short-print cards: 15 (all in gallery below with some base)
Gold parallel (1) – Archie Bradley (/2,022)
Royal Blue parallel (1) – Philly Phenoms (Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper)
Stars of MLB (7) – Anthony Rizzo, MacKenzie Gore, Tim Anderson, Seiya Suzuki, Kyle Tucker, Reid Detmers, Max Scherzer
1987 Topps (1) – Nolan Ryan
All-Stars (2) – Manny Machado, Aaron Judge
Generation Now (1) – Lars Nootbaar
Paragons of the Postseason (1) – Kirby Puckett
Commemorative Batting Helmet Medallion (1) – J.T. Realmuto

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: There's a lot to chase here but I'll say that after lots of delays and with a lot of stuff arriving after the MLB season is over, my interest is dampened by either price points or long odds. In this case, it's a smidge of both of those as these blasters are also among the $25 club ... though with so many other high-end hit-less releases/packs priced even higher it's perhaps a better buy even in blasters or hobby boxes. Why? Potential for something for nothing. Hobby boxes are the homes of guaranteed hits and more --- jumbos with guaranteed ink -- and that's safer but a good checklist on an update has been powerful for a long time even in bad years of the past. Perhaps delays will bring print runs down some here vs. previous flagship releases this year, but I'll let the odds crunchers decide on that. All I know is that the more that's made the more I can wait on digging in hard or dabble via singles if something strikes me. These packs are a little unpredictable with some delivering two inserts and some  delivering more -- and the super-girthy medallion cards here make that pack obscenely double the size of others. That makes that one alone an interesting thought ... until you land a J.T. Realmuto like I did. (Good on he field, not good value on cardboard.) This box did over-deliver with Golds being every other box and the same on the Blues, though neither one here were that special player-wise for the long-term. The set does have a good assortment of rookies -- and I like the dual-rookie cards here a lot though names here seemed more obscure -- and the inserts aren't bad, either. I think I just need to rip a larger-format box to get a better feel here. Perhaps you'll see some here at some point. This one was a little more interesting than I had expected and it could have been a scorcher with more RCs in play, though there are a good number of them as you can see in this box alone. More rookies is never a bad thing in baseball ... even if the season is over.

Product Grade: A- 
Box Grade: B+ (good mix just nothing big enough to get an A this time)
Fun Grade: B (manufactured relic is better than first series but still not that interesting)

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