They're not the biggest boxes when it comes to their price -- but they're definitely packing a lot more than a Happy Meal.

In fact, with some luck when it comes to the 2022 Topps Chrome McDonald's All-American basketball boxes, you can feast with some of the first cardboard for a number of newly drafted NBA players, some likely future picks and even potential WNBA talent a little further down the line. (They have different draft rules so players can't be picked out of high school.)

A dozen players in this release were NBA Draft picks this year -- seven of those among the Top 20 -- and others who weren't are still active in the college ranks, transferred or are waiting on the draft due to injury. While it appears that only three players on the men's squad that year are not on cards in this release, there's still plenty to be found and a lot of it with big-dollar potential thanks to it being Chrome, and, of course, there being plenty of parallels to chase as well as autographs.

Brandon Miller, for example, was taken by the Charlotte Hornets with the No. 2 pick in this year's draft after a dominating season at Alabama and he appears on more than 70 cards in this release with a dozen certified autograph cards. Gameday Autographs in this one are traditional-stock on-card autos signed by players at the prep All-Star event, while the rest of the cards are Chromes and all parallels are numbered to 99 copies or less. Atop ink, there's a 100-card base set (some players are on the checklist more than once) and then photo variations for 10 notables, four insert sets packed with top names and then the ink. A lot of those versions of both base Chrome and autographs are found in both hobby boxes (a sure thing for ink) and then in blasters, too, with the ink flowing a little less easily -- but still in there .

While Bronny James' cardboard debut in the 2023 set to come soon undoubtedly will be a monster, this one is packed with a lot of break-out potential beyond just one headling-making big name. Heck, this one might have been passed over by many when James wasn't in there (he shouldn't have been, but it arrived around this year's event) -- but the roster is there for this marquee event. It's one that has seen legends such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant suit up in the past (but without cards in their era) and then cards in limited volumes in the early 2000s for stars such as Kevin Durant, James Harden and Chris Paul. (WNBA stars have been in there, too, but few on cards.) The combination of talent here without a monster price tag at the moment -- plus it being Chrome -- makes this one with relatively fertile potential in both the short-term -- and longer -- without breaking the bank like high-end NBA releases might.

Keep reading for more on who else is in this one as well as a rundown of where they are now.

Continue reading →