Buzz Break: 2024 Topps Update baseball cards (blaster)

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The box: 2024 Topps Update baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist/odds: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (hobby & jumbo)

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

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 12
Cards per box: 88
Base set completion: 
67 of 350 (19 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Josh Gibson, Shota Imanaga

RC logo cards (25) – Notables include Wyatt Langford and Colton Cowser ... see all in gallery.

Insert/short-print cards: 21 (all in gallery below with some base)
Holiday parallel (4) – Junior Caminero, Fernando Cruz, Ramon Urias, Yasmani Grandal
Rainbow Foil parallel (1) – Anthony Maldonado, Eli Villalobos
Orange Crackle Foil parallel (1) – Andrew McCutchen (/299)
All-Star Game (3) – Paul Skenes, Jurickson Profar, Luis Arraez
1989 Topps (2) – Jackson Merrill, Eddie Murray
Stars Of MLB (7) – Paul Skenes, Jackson Holliday, Wyatt Langford, Marcus Semien, Austin Riley, Gavin Williams, Matt Chapman
Chrome Stars Of MLB (1) – Matt Chapman
Autumn Tales (1) – Bob Gibson
Mystical (1) – Spencer Strider

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: I didn't pre-order or jump right in on this one as I let the shelf-clearing rip-flip crew do their thing here but waiting on this blaster was rewarded with a slightly better than the norm box as the Orange here is one in 159 packs -- though I wonder if it really should be -- and then I landed a couple of Paul Skene appearances as well as hellos from Jackson Merrill and Jackson Holliday. But the card that got me to stop and look again after seeing it in-hand vs. the oddity that it is via the digital previews? That Mystical card. "What the?" was my reaction at first on-screen and here, well, it's a touch of the same but enhanced by sparkly foil, a panda and a big cat. Why? I'm not sure I care to be honest ... it's definitely a mystical mystery to me. (I'll leave it up to you -- another mystery whether I think this is a good thing or a bad thing ... it might still be a mystery to me, anyway.) The parallels for parallels sake are fine -- this stuff needs all that and more -- but I also think random striping might show how there should be obvious differences where people, at a starting point, can figure out what they are holding and not having to refer to an odds list for a guess. The base card star power was light here -- it typically is for later-year sets in recent years -- but the rookie volume was basically doubled vs. Series 2. That's a plus most of the time but my basic cards were light on the key names there ... but the rookies in the inserts made up for that. A couple of the inserts I found here aren't in every blaster and, along with that Orange, that gets this one to a higher grade, though this box absolutely can be topped. Will I open more? Maybe. The bigger formats seem to be delivering well at times for sure ... but there's also a lot of postseason MLB arrivals to compete with this. Plenty is made (based on those odds) and plenty are ripping but unless I get a madness for Mysticals I'm not sure I'm even going to do a big box. We'll see. Generally, I was left with a better impression after ripping for this one than Series 2, though my previous rip actually was stronger. I've seen better, I've seen worse ... but there's a lot to find here if you're chasing some of the newcomer names.

Product Grade: A
Box Grade: A- (good names among inserts with the Orange a statistically rarer pull)
Fun Grade: B+ (landed some slightly rarer cards that aren't one per blaster but nothing felt like a big deal in long run)

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