The green-tongued turnbuckle eater is gone.

George "The Animal" Steele, a veteran professional wrestler whose career ended during the 1980s peak of the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) and was known for his appetite for mayhem has died. He was 79.

Born Jim Myers, he was a multi-sport star in high school and a football player for (and graduate of) Michigan State. He also earned a master's degree before he turned to professional wrestling in the 1960s -- all this while also working as a high school teacher and coach the entire time. (He's also a member of the state's football coaches hall of Fame.)

Continue reading →

What: 2017 Historic Autographs Friends & Foes Football
Arrives: March 22
Box basics: One autograph per box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Friends & Foes comes to the gridiron with cut autograph duos that should grab some attention.

Keep reading for more information.

Continue reading →

Day 1 of 2017 Topps Now is here -- and it launches with 450 base cards.

And autographed cards atop that ... and incentive bonus cards possible, too.

How? Team sets documenting spring training -- 42 in all -- that launch now and are on sale until April 4.

Continue reading →

What: 2016-17 Panini Aficionado soccer cards
Arrives: March 29
Box basics: One autograph and one memorabilia card per 10-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here to view

What's buzz-worthy: Aficionado's return with Panini America continues with a take on the world of soccer with an array of inserts, autographs, memorabilia and a number of Artist's Proof parallels.

Keep reading for more info and a full gallery.

Continue reading →

Real cards in real time -- or at least the next day. It was a simple idea that became Topps Now that has helped in some ways transform collecting beginning on April 3, 2016.

Need proof?

There are 1,184 different Now cards now for MLB alone -- some with autographs and game-used memorabilia from the games that are depicted on the card. There are also Topps Now cards for last year's election and presidential debates, Now cards for WWE and for UFC and even real-time cardboard releases from AMC's Preacher and the Garbage Pail Kids taking on real-time scandals and viral curiosities. Oh, and there are other companies in on the real-time card business now for the other leagues, too.

Let's take a quick look at some of the highlights from last year's MLB releases before the 2017 Topps Now cards -- with a new look and numbering -- start soon and some basic info on every single one of the 2016 releases.

How do we knew there's a new look? Buzz checked the mailbox and found something inside. Keep reading for a first look at 2017 Topps Now.

Continue reading →

A new NASCAR season is nearly here -- the Daytona 500 is set for Feb. 26 -- but before then we get the green flag for a new season of racing cardboard from Panini America.

The season-opening set is 2017 Donruss and it arrives on Wednesday with a new look for a familiar design with plenty of touches from the past that evoke fun collecting potential while showcasing racing stars of the past, present and future.

Continue reading →

What: 2017 Super Break Football Buyback Cards Edition
Arrives: March 3
Box basics: One or two buyback NFL cards per box (four boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Super Break's first football product of a new year includes nothing but buyback cards.

Continue reading →

What: 2016-17 Leaf Metal Draft hockey cards
Arrives: April
Box basics: Seven autographs or vintage memorabilia cards per box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf Metal Draft returns with more autographs per box, a smaller case size and a lower print run than last time around while also including notable players from the past and the present.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

Continue reading →

A veteran cartoonist is batting health issues and mounting medical expenses and he'll be getting some help from his kids and Topps.

His Garbage Pail Kids, actually.

Just some of the career credits of Jay Lynch include writing for Bazooka Joe comics, work on Wacky Packages and the Garbage Pail Kids and a new set of 11 cards from Topps revealed on Wednesday aims to help him.
Continue reading →

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 Today: First cases, big sale breaks delivering big results, busting BBM True Heart, USA Soccer, Ben Simmons hauls and more.

Continue reading →

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: 2011 Topps WWE Classic cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 142
Base set completion: 
90 of 90 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 49

Notables on base cards – A.J. Lee, Batista, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan, Eden Stiles, Edge, Jerry "The King" Lawler, John Cena, Kelly Kelly, Randy Orton, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Triple H, Trish Stratus, Undertaker, Dusty Rhodes, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, The Road Warriors, Roddy Piper

Continue reading →

What: 2016-17 Panini Select basketball cards
Arrives: March 17
Box basics: Three autographs or memorabilia cards per 12-pack box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: This release offers collectors a few challenges via a tiered base set, a rainbow of parallels and plenty of hits.

Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images released so far.

Continue reading →

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 Today: Huge Houston Astros & New York Yankees pulls, 2017 Allen & Ginter, tracking Optic rarities & more.

Continue reading →

What: 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball cards
Arrives: July 19
Box basics: Three hits in every 24-pack hobby box
Checklist: Click here to view
Where to order: Click here   Read more: All 2017 Allen & Ginter stories

What's buzz-worthy: Allen & Ginter returns with a new retro look but the same feel as with recent years of celebrating the 1880s style of baseball cards with today's expectations.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

Continue reading →

The Grammys had their fair share of memorable moments -- and now we get the Garbage Pail Kids cards to reflect those malfunctioning mics, Beyonce's motherdom and all of Adele's blues.

Blue language that is.

A total of 19 stickers are available now as part of the 2017 GPK Shammys set, which can be had now only initially via Topps.com.

Continue reading →

The annual trip back in time on baseball cards is nearly here as 2017 Topps Heritage arrives on March 1 with a new look at the famed (or is it infamous?) burlap design of 1968 Topps.

Part of that package are variations that are based on errors and variations from the original set that it seeks to replicate (at least in part) with players of today.

Continue reading →

The Trading Cards are back -- and this time they are in packs.

Long-time readers of The Buzz probably remember California-based illustrator Cuyler Smith whose Trading Cards bring the stars of the reel world (memorable sports movies) to real life using nods to memorable sports card designs from the past.

He's back with a new show -- and a new wave of cardboard -- arriving on Friday.

Continue reading →

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 Today: Huge pulls, Baseball America's Top 100 and is Mike Trout underrated?

Continue reading →

What: 2017 Leaf Ultimate Draft football cards
Arrives: April
Box basics: Five autographs per box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf's latest reveal will be full of nothing but on-card autographs on memorable past designs with the newest NFL hopefuls in what will be a very limited release.

Keep reading for more info and a gallery of images.

Continue reading →

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 Today: Fab Melo, Japanese wrestling cards, retro rips, BGS grades, greats, notable Bryce Harper Rookie Cards & more.

Continue reading →

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 Today: Nothing but big NFL and MLB collecting questions.

Continue reading →

Slabbed cards have been a part of the hobby for decades now but a few autograph companies have started getting into the trend in recent years by encasing cards to give them a bit better display presence at a fraction of the price for a signed photo or memorabilia piece.

And it helps that while storage and protection concern go away, too.

Two big autograph dealers -- Steiner Sports and Fanatics Authentic -- have pretty beefy runs of signed trading cards available that in some cases take the interesting creations of card companies and makes them better.

Continue reading →

We've not seen any formal information related about the upcoming 2016 Panini Flawless football card set from Panini America, but we know it's coming thanks to the recently returned autographs teased by the company this week

The signer? Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell.

Continue reading →

We've not seen any formal information related about the forthcoming 2016-17 Panini Select basketball card set, but that's not stopping everyone from getting a preview of the inclusions that matter the most.

The autographs.

We don't yet know details about the rainbows or the ink per box, but here's the start of what's to come as recently released by Panini America ... check 'em out.

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy NBA cards on BlowoutCards.com

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 Today: Impressive breaks from around the collecting world.

Continue reading →