Buzz Break: 2024 Keepsake Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary

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: 2024 Keepsake Edition Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary trading cards
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

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

Cards per pack: 6
Packs per pack: 2 (technically ... an illuminated display box with one encased card plus sealed pack of five cards and a stand)
Base set completion: 
3 of 50 (6 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base (Silver Ice) cards – Bruce Lee (Nos. 7, 36, 37)

Inserts: 2
Green Ice parallels (1) – Bruce Lee (/150)
Orange Ice parallels (1) – Bruce Lee (/50)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Laser Signapatch (1) – Bruce Lee -- piece of stereo (/99) with laser-printed facsimile autograph

What's Buzz-worthy: First, a full-disclosure before I go into why I like this one -- and why, in some ways, I might not. I bought this box 100-percent knowing what the hit was as it was opened but the seller threw in the sealed pack and the stand ... so that's why we're here as a Buzz Break instead of this unique card making a Buzz Buys post. (Had the sealed pack not been thrown in, we wouldn't be here.) ... When this one was first revealed, it immediately struck me as one I'd dabble with here as long as the price is right -- and it was close with an SRP of $160 a box. What makes this a compelling one to me? There are some big, big chase cards here -- click here to see some -- such as a cut auto, handwriting samples from Lee, pieces of sparring equipment used by Lee and then cuts with sketches from others in popular culture known for fights in the real world as well as the reel world. (Everybody from Muhammad Ali, Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan to Jack Dempsey, Robert DeNiro and Mark Wahlberg.) However, there are some riskier-value hits here (or at least not as compelling to me for sure) in that some of the encased premium cards will be gem cards and a number of the others are nice-looking cuts from licensed Lee-model merchandise that's sold via the website for this pop culture legend. (Those types of cards, to me, are fine ... just not appealing to me for the box price right now.) This card, however? Well, to me, it's perhaps the most-interesting and odd ones ... that wood-panel swatch is a piece of his office stereo. Buzz owns plenty of weird memorabilia cards -- I'll buy 'em if they're odd and the price I right (this was less than the price of an unopened box) -- and this one was immediately on my radar when I saw it. The sparring equipment mem cards will perhaps be on my radar, too, over time and a handwriting sample card would be, too, but that particular kind of card is pricey right now. The packaging and presentation here as well as the mem cards are Uber-deluxe in their feel, while the base cards are not chromium but don't feel far off of that. I like the color aspect here -- and everything can be found with parallels -- though the base set is very simple, especially on the backs. Every case will have at least one mem card for an item used by Lee and one gem card with the three others being a mix of the others or perhaps something rarer. There are also some oversized redemptions to be found, too, and I'll be watching all of these for sure but only dabbling when I think the price is right. All in all, given the big potential of the rare stuff here, the boxes and cases of this one could go fast given the international appeal of this star. If they end up dipping over time, I'll probably rip some. All in all, the big stuff in this fully licensed release make this one worth the look.

Product Grade: A- (big, big potential without a super-premium box price)
Box Grade: A- (this was the memorabilia card I wanted, so it gets an A from me)
Fun Grade: B (they are quick rips)

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com