Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Chrome baseball cards (hobby box)

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: 2017 Topps Chrome baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 96
Base set completion:  70 of 200 (35 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – David Ortiz, Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story, Albert Pujols, Gary Sanchez, Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana, Carlos Correa, Paul Goldschmidt

Rookie Cards (24) – Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Yulieski Gurriel, Trey Mancini, Tyler Glasnow, Carson Fulmer, Kyle Freehand, Amir Garrett, Antonio Senzatela, Jeff Hoffman, Luke Weaver, David Dahl, Tyler Austin, Orlando Arcia, Matt Strahm, German Marquez, Hunter Dozier, Mitch Haniger, Jose DeLeon, Jesse Winker, Joe Jimenez, Manny Margot, Jordan Montgomery, Christian Arroyo

Insert cards: 19 (all in gallery below with some base cards)
Refractors (8) – Andrew Benintendi, Jose Abreu, Steven Matz, Clayton Kershaw, Khris Davis, Nolan Arenado, Masahiro Tanaka, Starling Marte
Prism Refractors (4) – Antonio Senzatela, Luke Weaver, Justin Upton, Kyle Freeland
Purple Refractors (1) – Troy Tulowitzki (/299)
Future Stars (3) – Corey Seager, Noah Syndergaard, Michael Fulmer
1987 Topps (4) – Andrew Benintendi, David Dahl, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell
Then & Now (1) – Joe Panik
Freshman Flash (2) – Dansby Swanson, David Dahl
Award Winners (1) – Carlos Correa

Autographs/Memorabilia: 2
Rookie Autographs (2) – Chad Pinder, Braden Shipley

What’s Buzz-worthy: Topps Chrome continues to gain steam compared to its Bowman counterparts and this year’s edition is one that delivers on the rookie and insert front quite well. The back card in the first pack in this one? Cody Bellinger. We pulled 23 other rookies (one per pack on average but many had two or even three) and even more newcomers of note on inserts. There was no judge to be found across the board, but Andrew Benintendi joined Bellinger as did Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman. The Award Winners inserts are found one per case (one in 288 packs) but aren’t all that flashy or pricey unless a parallel or auto. The winning inserts in this box were the standard Refractors with the Benintendi but the 1987s really do look good here once again. The ink in this one wasn’t great — that’d be painful at the premium prices boxes are fetching — but as a collector there was enough here that this collector wasn’t unhappy with the rip. The variety and names felt pretty good. There are a few options for Chrome this year so you have a few options if collecting on a budget. This hobby box shows that even a lesser box can be pretty good.