Buzz Break: 2023 Panini USA Baseball Stars & Stripes (mega)

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The box: 2023 Panini USA Baseball Stars & Stripes baseball cards (mega)
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (all years of USA)

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

Packs per box: 6
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 61
Longevity base set completion: 
50 of 100 (50 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards — see everything in gallery.

Insert cards: 7 (all cards from box in gallery below)
Silver parallel (1) – Joshua Woodworth
Stars parallel (3) – Paul Skenes, Brady Murrietta, Tre' Morgan
Stripes parallel (3) – Dylan Crews, Carson Bolemon, Stunner Gonzales

Autographs/Memorabilia: 4
U-18 World Cup - Italy Materials (1) – Alessandro Ercolani
Collegiate National Team Signatures Holo (1) – Zach Agnos (/100)
Collegiate National Team Training Camp Signatures (1) – Hudson White
National Team Athlete Development Program Signatures (1) – Elijah Clayton

What's Buzz-worthy: It's been a while since I opened one of these -- the year USA Baseball went Optichromed -- and this retail mega box actually delivered pretty well with two key names on parallels and base cards and then a parallel auto among my four hits. Interestingly, the Italian player here is a Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguer, Agnos is a Colorado Rockies prospect, Hudson is a Boston Red Sox prospect and Clayton finished up his freshman season for California Golden Bears -- so all are in the game and in this box. ... No, nothing here was massive -- but the box price here wasn't, either -- but landing parallels of Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews and then three autos and a mem doesn't exactly happen elsewhere for less than $40 in 2025. Some names here aren't drafted yet -- and might not be for years, if at all -- while others are in spring camps now and others are locks to be on MLB fields this summer. That's the kind of mix I like. ... As noted previously, this is an interesting format as it's one of two at retail and it's one that delivers half of a base set for USA for the first time -- and also packs four hits with the full array of possibilities. Hobby boxes (link up top) give you nearly double the the hits every time but are smaller boxes at a higher price to go with the additional hits. Blasters are small, of course, but still pack two ... and between the three this is perhaps the sweet-spot box if you're one who wants to load up on base (again, on Optichrome) with some flashy but simple parallels (Silver, Stars, Stripes). There are also other possible finds -- lots of possible finds, actually. It's a simple way to load up.

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Product Grade: A  (all that USA potential with more depth than ever ... and an all-Optichrome base set is a win)
Box Grade: A-  (for the price, this delivers a lot ... with good potential)
Fun Grade: B+ (not a ton of variety here beyond the hits)

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