4 Mega Boxes of 2024 Topps UFC Chrome

I hadn't planned on getting any UFC Chrome from Topps this year, as the $250+ price on hobby boxes was a little off-putting. Then they released these Mega Boxes at $60 apiece, and I couldn't help myself. With one autograph per box and a variety of exclusive inserts I figured I couldn't pass up the chance to chase the base set and some hits.

As I mentioned, each box offered up 1 autograph and 10 XFractors, as well as an assortment of inserts that were different from the offerings found in other configurations. I ordered 4 boxes. I wound up getting 110 base cards, 40 XFractors, 24 inserts, 14 various Refractors, and 4 autographs.

Here are a handful of the vertically-oriented base cards. The 200-card checklist features a good cross-section of current and former fighters on the UFC roster. I kind of wish there were fewer XFractors and more base cards, as half a base set from these 4 boxes was somewhat underwhelming for a set collector. I imagine if I buy more boxes I will run into more duplicates and eventually I'll have to fill out the set with singles.

The checklist also includes plenty of horizontal shots, including one of the headliners for tonight's fight, Manon Fiorot. I pulled a few doubles in my base cards, so I've got roughly 100 out of 200 cards in the base set from these 4 boxes.

As mentioned before, each box contains 10 XFractors, for a total of 40 in my break. I think these are exclusive to the Mega Box format. I would rather have base cards, but at 10 per box you could have a reasonable shot at building a whole set of XFractors if that is something you wanted to chase.

Of the 14 various Refractors I pulled, most were of the regular and Prism variety. I pulled a decent variety of them, with a small selection pictured here.

I got 2 numbered Refractors, an /199 Aqua of Cory Sandhagen and a /299 Speckle of Brunno Ferreira.

Here are some of the different inserts I got in my boxes. Apparently the inserts in the Mega boxes and blasters are entirely different from those found in Hobby configurations. Inserts shown here are Allen & Ginter, Brick by Brick, Fired Up, Embedded, and Pathblazers. I like the inserts in this product. They all look pretty good.

Finally, I picked up four autograph cards. No huge names, but a couple of names I recognize in Marvin Vettori and Andrei Arlovski. The Jack Jenkins rookie autograph is a Gold /50, and 3 of the 4 autographs I pulled are numbered autos.

Overall this is a fun product to break. I am looking to complete the base set, so I'd imagine a few more boxes are in my future, although I don't think I'll dabble in the Hobby side of things.

2023 Panini Prizm UFC Undercard Box

I'm returning to the recent order I made from Blowout Cards, with a box of 2023 Panini Prizm UFC Undercard. This is a watered-down Hobby product, bypassing most of the exciting stuff but also adding a few Undercard-exclusive parallels. The draw for me here is that you're guaranteed an autograph and a large portion of the base set at a pretty significant discount from the regular Hobby boxes. Although I am kind of a scattershot singles collector, I do value being able to complete base sets, and I'm trying to collect on a limited budget. I just can't afford most Hobby wax these days. The value isn't there for me.

The last card in the set is a famous UFC fan, Hasbulla Magomedov. He's a social media personality with dwarfism who hangs out with the Dagestani contingent of UFC fighters.

Most of the non-base cards in the box are these Undercard Prizms, which have a disco-style background that is exclusive to Undercard boxes. Similar to the 2022 set I showed a couple of days ago, there are 100 horizontal and 100 vertical cards in the set. The Valentina "Bullet" Shevchenko card shown here is a special nickname variation that is again exclusive to Undercard boxes. 

Here are a couple of the vertically-oriented Undercard Prizms. The set is pretty comprehensive, with 200 cards featuring current and retired fighters.

This Silver Prizm of Saidyokub Kakhramonov was the only regular Prizm in the box. They are more common in other packaging configurations, but here they apparently take a back seat to the Undercard Prizms.

I was moderately surprised to find 2 numbered parallels in my box. The Alatengheili Red Undercard Prizm is #/99 and the Francis Ngannou Blue Undercard Prizm card is #/25. Ngannou is the more recognizable name for me here. He famously left the UFC during his time as Heavyweight champion when the two sides couldn't agree on the terms of a new contract. He is currently signed with the PFL and participated in an exhibition boxing match with Tyson Fury.

All of the insert cards in the box featured Undercard Prizm backgrounds, so someone trying to complete the inserts would have to choose between regular packs and Undercard packs. I guess you could try to build mixed sets, but what kind of collector mixes sets?

The Dominance insert set appears to feature champions, with Stipe Miocic and Henry Cejudo being the pulls from my box. Cejudo is mildly irritating, but he embraces being a villain and is undoubtedly good at fighting. I've mentioned before that I collect Miocic cards, so I was happy to pull an insert of him here.

The Fearless insert is a nice-looking colorful insert that I'd consider collecting if I had the bandwidth to pursue such a thing. Holly Holm is another fighter I collect, so it's nice to get another PC pull from the inserts. Brock Lesnar is a fearsome person, but over in the WWE world he's been tied to some pretty disgusting allegations along with Vince McMahon, who has been ousted from the company (again). Of course everyone is innocent until proven guilty legally, but in the court of public opinion there is certainly enough smoke for me to suspect some of the fire is real.

Hall Monitors showcases Hall of Fame-level fighters, and I pulled one of the best in Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dagestani friend of the previously-featured Hasbulla.

Finally, the autograph in the box was Damon Jackson, who I am unfamiliar with. He had a stint in the UFC prior to the period when I was watching events heavily, and again after I stopped watching the UFC on a regular basis. He's fought a lot of fights, but they happen to coincide with times I wasn't paying attention.

This was a decent box break for the price. I could see myself buying a couple more boxes to chase the base set in this format. Although a lot of the big hits are off the table in this configuration, there is enough interesting and exclusive stuff to hold a little bit of value.