Mystery Box Buzz Break: Boston Red Sox Publications Grab Bag

Mystery Box Buzz Break is a new series here on The Buzz -- it's essentially a Buzz Break but only for "mystery boxes" that seem to be everywhere these days -- and not just in the sports realm. Like this and want to see more? Is there a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The mystery box: Boston Red Sox Mystery Publications Grab Bag
Where to buy: Via Red Sox on MLB.com (find new MLB cards at BlowoutCards.com)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and a gallery of what was in this box. (Yes, it was a box and not a bag ... but that's their image.)

Items in this mystery box: 10
Media Guides: 1993
Official Yearbooks: 2011, 2015
Game Programs: 2024 Fifth Edition (2), 2023 Second Edition, April 2021
Red Sox Magazine: Fourth Edition 2007
Others: 2023 NHL Winter Classic program, 2018 Harvard-Yale at Fenway Park

Names on covers: David Ortiz, Carl Crawford, Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, Eduardo Rodriguez, Rafael Devers, Kenley Jansen, Kike Hernandez and others

What's Buzz-worthy: It's not déjà vu all over again but it might as well be as this mystery box -- I often buy in pairs -- was almost identical to another from a few months ago. This time my older-era throwback was more of a pocket-style media guide and I got two copies of the Fenway cover, which I actually like the best here. Why open this? A cheap option among many. With all of the mystery boxes out there in the world these days, I figured I'd branch off with a department for just those kinds of rips -- and they won't only be cards or sports memorabilia mystery boxes -- on occasion. How cheap? This was $16.50 shipped after a discount. You never know what might pop up here -- older or newer -- that might be appealing showcasing stars or fan favorites. Why are these of interest? Memorabilia collectors, player collectors, team collectors, autograph collectors and slab collectors all might have something to draw them in here and the price per issue is good. They're generally all clean, not mangled and clearly unread copies from deep in the Red Sox archives -- I'm pretty sure the return address was from Fenway Park, too, but I threw out my box before prepping this. There's very little downside to a cheap, different "break" like this from time to time ... other than storage since mags are a little bit bigger than cards. It just comes down to what kind of stock they have left and whether it gets repetitive after you open a few.

Product Grade: A- (good volume and value most times)
Box Grade: B- (basically already got this lineup before ... but with a duplicate this time)
Fun Grade: B- (see above)

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