With the NBA Playoffs in full effect, and with some dust accumulating on the top of the box, we decided to go mildly retro with this Brief Break and crack a retail box of 2017-18 Donruss Optic Basketball. For some reason, this one had been sitting in the shop for a couple of years without a taker.
For the longest time, Optic was one of my personal favorite products on the market. I love the souped up Topps Chrome-esque version of Donruss hoops and I have plenty of the Optic RCs in my own collection.
This particular box keeps depreciating, at least from the price point of where we purchased it, so we decided to take the gamble and open the four 20- pack box that offers four cards in each pack.
The first few packs didn’t bring much of note but we did get a really cool Rookie Kings blue parallel of Josh Hart, numbered to 85.
The former Villanova star is on his fourth NBA team six years after his debut but after being traded in February, he is making big time noise in the playoffs for the New York Knicks right now.
Our first rookie Prizm was that of then San Antonio Spurs Derrick White. Now a member of the Boston Celtics, White is also making his presence felt in the playoffs.
Speaking of playoff teams, we pulled a few fun Philadelphia 76ers cards including a Court Kings Prizm of current all world center Joel Embiid as well as a Hall Kings card of Sixers icon Allen Iverson.
…But then came the moment we realized opening the box was pretty darn good idea.
About half way through, we pulled a purple Rated Rookie card of Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum. This one alone should cover the cost of the box. Tatum is the key rookie in the set and has only gotten better as his stellar NBA career plays out.
We also scored a few solid base cards from the ’17-18 Optic box, including a nice LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki.
We also hit De’Aaron Fox and Lonzo Ball Rookie Kings inserts as well. Fox, an actual Sacramento King, is emerging as a young superstar, pushing the Golden State Warriors to the limit in the first round of the playoffs.
It’s not always about making money or the monetary side of the game with each pack and box we open. This was a really fun rip because pretty much every major rookie was represented (minus Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo. It’s a deep class.) in one way or another and there was a nice selection of inserts and veteran star players. With prices still dropping (you can grab one for $110-$115 right now) these boxes of 2017-18 Donruss Optic are becoming more and more reasonable by the day and this one was one of the highlights of our week.
Check out sports card boxes of all kinds in Sports Zone’s online store here.
Related Stories:
Brief Box Break: 2021 Prizm Football Blaster
Brief Box Break : 2022 Topps Update Baseball Blaster
Brief Box Break: 2022 Mosaic Football Hobby
Brief Box Break: 2021-22 Mosaic Basketball Hobby
Brief Box Break: 2022-23 Donruss Optic Basketball Hobby
Brief Box Break(s): 2022-23 Donruss Optic Basketball Mega, Retail
Brief Box Break: 2023 Panini Plates & Patches Football
Brief Box Break: 2023-24 Hoops Basketball Blaster
