What to do with old common cards is a question and a challenge for many collectors, especially as they continue to pile up.

But for 19-year-old New York-based Blowout member Steven Verdile, aka Metsfan1121, the temptation to simply throw them away was thwarted when the graphic design student received an assignment in a 3D class earlier this year.

"We had to take items that we already had and aren't typically used for art, and use them to create a 3D piece," he wrote on a post on the forum. "I quickly thought about using my cards, and came up with an idea. I decided to make a baseball field, along with bleachers and a dugout, out of cards."

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Vintage cardboard, 2015 Topps Strata, penmanship & more.

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What: 2015 Leaf SportKings trading cards
Arrives: January 2016
Box basics: One autograph, one memorabilia card, four base cards and one mini per box.

What's buzz-worthy: SportKings returns with a new mix of cards that includes numbered autographed parallels and buyback autographs for stars throughout the sports world (and even a few from elsewhere) on the famed design from the 1930s.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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When Panini America first revealed 2015 Elite Extra Edition back in October, it promised that the annual prospecting staple would include plenty of autographs -- eight to 10 in the warmest of Hot Box scenarios and six autos for the standard boxes.

But there will be even more ink when it arrives next Thursday.

A lot more in every case.

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What: 2016 Leaf Best of Basketball
Arrives: February 2016
Box basics: One buyback or redemption card plus one new Leaf card per box.

What's buzz-worthy: The elite basketball cards from the past will be found here in buyback form accented with new creations featuring Hall of Fame-enshrined players.

Keep reading for more.

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Panini America's annual USA Baseball boxed set arrived in hobby shops today with a new inclusion inside.

As in the newest players ever.

New in 2015 Panini USA Baseball are autographs and memorabilia cards like those of Adam Crampton seen above. He was a member of the USA Baseball 14U squad this year. That's the 14-and-under squad -- do the math and you'll figure out that the third-baseman was born sometime in the 2000s. (It's May 24, 2001, to be precise, meaning he's now a grizzled veteran and too old for that roster.)

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It's a standalone and it's looking spectacular.

The arrival of 2015 Topps Strata as a standalone brand is today and the results ripped from wax boxes are starting to appear on eBay with some big names but also more affordable ones, too.

(They all just look like a million bucks.)

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If you've watched any NFL games this season, you've likely heard the word "concussion" many times as the league has implemented new tests on players to help prevent future problems by assessing the here and now immediately following a hard hit.

On Christmas Day, a film about the issue of concussions in football called Concussion opens in theaters. You've probably seen the commercials for the film during NFL games.

Will Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered the degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. It's a real-life issue that has affected more than 80 former players -- many you've seen on football cards and might have collected. The movie is an important one and Sports Illustrated has Smith on its cover this week to discuss the movie.

Is it the first time a celebrity has appeared on the cover of the highly collectable sports magazine?

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Stacy Marlow
Also known as: @slmsolo on Twitter
Website: No personal site
Email: stacy@livecasebreak.com
Location: Georgia
Work away from cards: Estate Manager for private family
Collecting since: 2012

Main focuses: Atlanta Braves -- prospects, veteran/Hall of Fame autographs, in-person
Heritage autos, in-person sweet spot autographs, graded Bowman first-year autos

Favorite players/teams: Atlanta Braves -- Chipper Jones, Craig Kimbrel, John Smoltz

Current collecting projects: Currently working on 2015 Topps High Tek John Smoltz auto rainbow/collection (needing two printing proofs to finish) and 2012 Bowman Sterling Lucas Sims rainbow

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Bowman's Best officially returns tomorrow for the first time in eight years and it's going to pack two autographs into each mini box, four per master, when collectors tear in.

First introduced in 1994, Bowman's Best ran for more than a decade before a year off and a return in 2007. It's been sidelined ever since. This time around, the brand replaces Bowman Sterling and offers a selection of young stars that have captivated collectors already this past season or so along with a crop of new draft picks as well. Nearly all autographs are signed on-card for this release.

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Stanford's Christian McCaffrey picked up The Associated Press College Football Player of the Year nod on Tuesday, becoming the first non-Heisman Trophy winner since 2009 to win the award.

But if you want his first football cards? Well, you'll have to do some digging -- because six years ago was the same year he made his debut on cardboard.

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What: 2016 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards
Arrives: May 25, 2016
Box basics: Two autographs and two Relics in every 24-pack hobby box

What's buzz-worthy: Future stars, eccentric promo night uniforms and Fragments of the Farm Relics are back in the newest chapter of the ongoing Minor League Baseball card saga called Pro Debut.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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Among the items in the Pro Football Hall of Fame's online gift shop are a series of five mini busts that Buzz couldn't help but be drawn to.

Why? Buzz can't figure out whether they are cool or creepy.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: High-end brands like Panini Immaculate and Panini Eminence, keeping vs. flipping, Chris Bosh's Hall of Fame chances and golf greats find a spot in this one.

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When collectors crack into boxes of 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection College beginning tomorrow, they could find one of the more unique memorabilia cards made in a long time.

It's a card of baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn from his days as a player at San Diego State.

What makes it different, though? The card appears to include a swatch from the Aztecs jersey seen above.

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With the holiday season here, cardboard is probably on the minds of many Buzz readers as they wonder what might await them soon.

Others, like Buzz, might be thinking of Cardboard of Christmas Past -- you know, some of the Santa Claus trading cards we've seen throughout the years. Most of it's trivial and not all that collectable -- but they all stand out in a way compared to our traditional sports cards.

1989 Pro Set Promos #1989
When Dallas-based Pro Set created this card during its first season of making football cards in 1989, it sparked a trend that we saw in not just football cards but other areas in the years that followed. (Boy are there some bad Photoshop jobs there in the 1990s.) For all intents and purposes, though, Buzz would call this one a "Rookie Card." Yes, there were previous non-sports cards -- but this was the one that put cards like this on the minds of the sports-collecting masses after it was mailed out to dealers and selected NFL-related people.

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When the next Panini America soccer product arrives in January, it will bring all the international flair and fervor of The Beautiful Game, but it will take things up a notch in spots compared to its predecessor without a dramatic high-end hike in price.

The brand is 2015 Panini Select and it's set to arrive on Jan. 6 packing three autographs or memorabilia cards per box along with a selection of inserts and parallels. The previously released 2015 Donruss soccer boxes had just one autograph per box, while Select will include the first memorabilia cards made by the company for its international soccer releases.

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What: 2016 Topps Doctor Who Timeless trading cards
Arrives: May 5, 2016
Box basics: Two autographs or Relics per every 24-pack hobby box

What's buzz-worthy: The multi-generational, multi-series sci-fi staple Doctor Who is back on a new set of trading cards from Topps in the spring with this one spanning all of the action with a new selection of photos, autographs, inserts and more.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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After a heavy week of releases and some delays this month, this week is a bit lighter -- but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its highlights among the four brands set to arrive.

We have three baseball sets on the schedule and the return of Bowman's Best along with the launch of Topps Strata as a standalone brand. Throw in a USA Baseball set on the schedule and one high-end college brand from Panini America (keep reading) and that's it for the week.

The format for 2015 Bowman's Best will be similar to Finest with two mini-boxes each yielding two autographs (four autos per in every master box). The format for 2015 Topps Strata is all hits -- every box includes one autograph and one Relic and that's it for the acetate-layered cards.

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What: 2016 Topps UFC Top of the Class MMA cards
Arrives: May 11, 2016
Box basics: Two autographs or auto Relics plus one Jumbo Relic along with one insert and one insert parallel per box (16 boxes per case).

What's buzz-worthy: Topps takes its UFC brand into hits-based territory with a new line focusing on the best fighters in each weight class. The product doesn't have basic cards -- just hits and inserts/parallels.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2016 Topps Warcraft trading cards
Arrives: May 11, 2016
Box basics: Two autographs or Relics per every 24-pack hobby box

What's buzz-worthy: If you were at a movie theater this weekend, odds are you saw the
trailer for the next Topps trading card property -- Warcraft -- which is a movie based on the top-selling video game series. Just like other films you might have heard of (you know, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) this one will have autographs, Relics and more for a release that will be found in both hobby and retail boxes in advance of the film's June 10 release.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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It doesn't take much for a running back to establish himself quickly these days -- and it doesn't take much for one to fade into obscurity, either -- but one started that two-part journey with a big arrival game of sorts under the Sunday Night Football spotlight.

It's Arizona's David Johnson, who ran for a league-leading 187 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-17 win over the Eagles.

It was his third straight week of 92 yards or more but he'd gone scoreless in those other games, leaving him off Buzz's radar -- also probably since he's a Cardinal, not on a team that gets much hobby attention. You can find his RCs throughout this year's NFL lineup from Panini America and Topps. For the season, he has 517 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

>> Click here to shop for football boxes on BlowoutCards.com.

Keep reading for four more guys who generated some buzz on the field this week.

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A pair of 2015 Topps Star Wars The Force Awakens Mystery Redemptions have hit eBay since the set's release on Friday.

And the first one has sold -- for big bucks.

The card was initially announced as being for Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in The Force Awakens, but Topps unspoiled its spoiler by removing the reference to it being a card for her on the autograph checklist posted on its website.

So, how much did it go for?

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Panini America posted this photo online this weekend with a simple statement.

"Why did this chicken cross the road? That's easy: To become a clucking cool memorabilia card in @paniniamerica's upcoming 2016 Donruss baseball."

If you've read The Buzz this past week, then it's not a surprise -- but here are more details.

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The Bowman Critic is one who spends countless hours examining checklists and box scores to see who should be emerging on collectors' want lists soon. After the checklist for 2015 Bowman's Best checklist arrived -- click here to view it -- there's even more to say.

Keep reading for The Bowman Critic's pros and cons about this release, which is set to arrive on Dec. 23.

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