What happens when Topps selects 20 artists to re-imagine 20 iconic baseball cards from the past?

A new set called Topps Project 2020. 

The first two cards arrived today with Ichiro Suzuki's 2001 Topps Rookie Card and Sandy Koufax's 1955 Topps Rookie Card getting the nod from artists Ben Baller and Jacob Rochester.

How does it work? Keep reading for the details.

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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 a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: The arrival of 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter, inside 50 Artist's Choice packs, The National and more.

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Have you seen the latest cool or interesting items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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CARDBOARD THAT KICKS
The Item: Mike Piazza 2019 Topps Diamond Icons Preeminent Pieces cleat Relic (/10)
The Price: $449.95 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a game-used cleat card that has nine other cards similar to it in Topps' new high-end MLB brand that's all about the hits. They're not all like these but these are cards that have a distinct feel and look that's a lot different than the jersey or bat Relics that we've seen for years. That makes them always worth a look -- and this one seems a little under-priced even at that BIN. The fact that offers are being considered also indicates that the seller will take less -- both situations that work for me if I was a Piazza fan. This is also nowhere near the biggest finds in this release -- check out the autos link below.
Similar Pieces: 2019 Topps Diamond Icons autos 
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019 Topps Diamond Icons boxes and cases

Keep reading for four more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's release: 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball cards
Checklist & First Buzz preview: Click here 

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A FIRST-PITCH PHENOM 
The Card: Hailey Dawson 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter #154
The Price: Affordable for base -- autographs and Relics should be in demand.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: She's a 9-year-old who has thrown out the first pitch at all 30 MLB ballparks, and, while that's impressive on its own, she's actually done that with a 3-D printed robotic hand -- she was born without three fingers and has two under-developed fingers since she has what's known as Poland syndrome. She completed the 30-park feat last September and it didn't take too long for her to get a baseball card. You can learn more about her adventures by following this Twitter account.

Keep reading for five more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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

He's back with a fourth series and a new show -- all-new cardboard -- arriving tomorrow in Los Angeles.

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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 a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big pulls, licensing discussions, sketch cards and more in todays edition.

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What: 2019 Viceroy Artist's Choice premium sketch cards
Arrives: July 31
Box basics: One encased sketch card per pack
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Viceroy will return with the variety of artists' ideas the only limitations here.

Keep reading for more info.

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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 a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Cards you could never sell, cards with potential, original artwork mailday, MLB breaks and "I'm not complaining."

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Knowing is half the battle -- and knowing about this one could be important to quite a few people out there.

Arriving next week from IDW Publishing is a new artwork collection focusing on the 1980s G.I. Joe toys -- but perhaps not something many of us saved.

It's a collection of the artwork from the packaging.

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Have you seen the latest cool or interesting items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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NEW "ROWDY" CARDBOARD 
The Item: Ronda Rousey 2019 Topps WWE Road to WrestleMania Blue auto (/50)
The Price: $499.99 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one might be a little over-priced since it's a rarer parallel but you never know who might be looking and clicking so that's one reason why you see this one here. Other reasons? It's a pricey potential find -- one of many -- from a box that guarantees ink every time and presently runs less than $55. It's also interestingly the first card I've seen using her nickname as part of her name. She appears to have ink from several parallels in this one so she should be in the mix from here on out as long as she keeps signing -- that's a good thing here and should be a good sign for releases to come.
Similar Pieces: Other Road to WrestleMania autos on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019 Topps Road to WrestleMania boxes

Keep reading for four more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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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: 2019 Gummy Arts trading cards (two packs)
Where to buy: Right here (if available)

Cards per pack: 10
Base set completion: 
19 of 75 (25 percent)
Duplicates: 1 (checklist is in every pack)

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This one is admittedly off the radar of many collectors, but they might be drawing a few more fans from beyond the typical card crowd soon.

"They" are Beau and Bryan Abbott -- aka the Baseball Card Vandals -- and they're got a new book coming on March 5. Baseball Card Vandals: Over 200 Decent Jokes on Worthless Cards! will showcase a good chunk of their original art all in one place -- and all of them started with an old trading card from the past.

Their "decent jokes on worthless cards" are "posted fresh daily" on Instagram and on their website (FYI: some doodles can be NSFW), and it's something that they've been doing since 2012. They've carefully crafted more than 4,500 pieces in that time and they almost always sell out at $35 a pop every day.

The news of the book (it's under $20) recently prompted Buzz to take a look at what might be up for grabs, and I dug cheap to find a cheaper specimen that evoked a chuckle from me back when I first saw it.

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Veteran artist Monty Sheldon's Artballs are coming to collectors in a new way soon.

Just 15 boxes of Piece of the Game Baseball Authenticated Masterpieces will now arrive in late March with each of them containing 10 blind-wrapped autographed game-used baseballs adorned with his colorful artwork inside.

They're all one-of-a-kind paintings on MLB Authenticated signed and game-used baseballs except for one which will be a ball signed by Babe Ruth on its sweet spot.

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The early 1990s were a ground-shaking and world-changing time in comic books with a number of young artists challenging the traditional ways in their field -- in the business itself, on their pages and elsewhere.

You can see that in the spread above.

It's a dynamic piece from noted baseball collector, toy creator and media maven Todd McFarlane -- a pair of pages from Spider-Man No. 8 in 1991 and it's on the auction block ending tonight over on ComicLink.

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It's also a way to get an autograph of the Chicago Cubs' World Series-winning manager who has never sat down with a card company for a certified signature on a card despite a 15-year career as boss atop plenty more time as a coach and minor-leaguer. It's that time that helped bring some of these concepts to life.

"I’ve been wanting to do this for years" reads on essay on the Maddon Art website. "I’ve always enjoyed art, we all do. I’m not saying I’m an artist by any means, but I’ve always enjoyed the concepts. I believe baseball is a very artistic game and that major league players are artists, just like athletes from all of the other professional sports. For some time, I have tried to coerce Major League Baseball to utilize 'Put the Art Back in Thee Game' as a marketing campaign. I was unable to get anyone to bite, so I did it myself."

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 4.

The box: 2017 Leaf Originals Artwork
The cost: $79 (price will vary ... if you can find)

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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The Trading Cards are back -- and they are in packs once again, too.

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

He's back with a third series and a third show -- all with a new wave of cardboard -- arriving tonight in Los Angeles.

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An iconic painting used to make a Hall of Famer's only Topps baseball card during his playing career is on the auction block.

It's the 3- by 5-inch painting by Gerry Dvorak used for the 1953 Topps card of Satchel Paige and it was saved by former Topps executive Sy Berger after the set was made. This one was one of a small selection of paintings that previously hit the auction block in 2010 via Robert Edward Auctions. 

That's also the auction company handling this sale, which wraps up in the next couple of days.

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Have you seen the latest crazy items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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LIVING IN AMERICA -- HUGE TOPPS LIVING SET INTEREST
The Item: 2018 Topps Living No. 6 Nick Markakis
The Price: $224.51 so far (after 22 bids) -- see what it's up to now
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The market for 2018 Topps Living Set cards is going a little wonky for some players on eBay with the lesser-knowns and lower-volume cards from earlier weeks like this one commanding way more than you might think. Markakis sold only 2,678 copies. It shows that the interest is there from set collectors who must have it all. On the flip side, guys like Shohei Ohtani sold more than 20,000 copies and Ronald Acuna more than doubled that. Ohtani has been a steady seller for some who have opted to get theirs graded but demand for Topps Living isn't just living it's thriving right now.
Similar Pieces: Click here for more 2018 Topps Living
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2018 MLB cards

Keep reading for four more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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If you're a fan of Legos, movies and music of the 1980s and want to pick up something that somehow combines them all into one, here's an option for you that's new to Buzz.

They're called Lego Memories and they're a series of 12-inch prints by UK-based graphic designer Dan Shearn.

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There's no word on whether there's a McDonald's Szechuan sauce tie-in, but fans of Rick and Morty will have plenty to salivate over with the upcoming release from Cryptozoic.

Set to arrive later this year (June as of now) will be Rick and Morty Season 1 trading cards and they'll include autographs from some of the zany animated series' notable voices as well as sketch cards and plenty more to represent the Adult Swim series.

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It's no secret that original comic book art has exploded in demand and value in the last decade or so and that dominance continues near-daily with one-of-a-kind pieces trading hands both privately and on the auction block.

But sometimes the examples that command big money aren't classic first appearances from the past or the work of artists on the Mount Rushmore of past greats.

Sometimes they're the from the masters of today -- and one such example is on the ComicLink auction block right now.

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The original home of Superman is hitting a milestone -- and DC Comics will have the variant issues ready for those ready to collect them all.

Seven of the eight covers for Action Comics No. 1,000 have been teased by the company in advance of its release and they'll all reflect different times in the 80 years since "The Man of Steel" starred in the first issue.

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Just 10 of the most-notable items in the sports world that were sold in 2017 totaled more than $6.7 million in sales, ranging from the $1.68 million Norman Rockwell piece you see here to high-grade copies of Mickey Mantle's iconic 1952 Topps card.

And they all had one thing in common -- PSA or PSA/DNA authentication.

"We certified a myriad of incredible items last year, and the list is full of sports history from top to bottom," said Professional Sports Authenticator VP Steve Sloan. "We'll continue pushing ourselves toward another great year in 2018, and look forward to what’s in store."

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based company recently took the time to examine the markets last year and touted its Top 10 for 2017. Keep reading to see everything on the list.

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A fun and so far inexpensive piece of pop culture history has hit the auction block via Heritage Auctions and it's a bit bananas.

B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

It's some artwork form Dan Fraga, an artist who also has worked in comic books and television, and they're the storyboards for the "Hollaback Girl" video from Gwen Stefani -- one of the hits from her debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. back in 2005.

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