The Kansas City Royals are your World Series champions with a cast of younger veteran players who have all-around skills but perhaps not one overall superstar who is a hobby darling.

But thanks to Eric Hosmer's hustle on a ground ball in the ninth to tie it and a five-run rally in the 12th, the Royals wear the crown this year in MLB.

Hosmer has arguably the most potential in the hobby with a good amount of 2008 USA Baseball and other prospect cards predating his MLB card arrivals in 2011. Overall, he has more than 1,500 unique cards and more than 300 certified autographs for collectors to chase. They're not overly plentiful like some stars from that timeframe, but they are out there. If you can't land some of his USA ink, look for the affordable autos in 2008 Razor Signature Series. He's there because he was a Razor exclusive before his Topps autos arrived in 2011.

Keep reading for five more Royals to know.

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There are 10 new products on tap for this coming week with the newest Upper Deck Young Guns on the ice, the first college-focused baseball release from Panini America and a new gridiron rainbow from Panini Prizm going up against Topps' latest version of Finest.

Phenom Connor McDavid paces the pack of Young Guns and he'll be the first rookie on the checklist of 50 NHL newcomers found in the product. Joining him will be Artemi Panarin, Dylan Larkin and Max Domi to name a few, while No. 2 pick Jack Eichel will appear in Series 2 but be found in Series 1 boxes on a UD Canvas card.

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A PSA 8 copy of the most-iconic Topps baseball card has hit the auction block via PWCC on eBay and there have been more than 30 bids raising the price to more than a quarter-million dollars.

That's so far.

The auction for the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle has more than nine days to go before it closes. How much is it presently up to? Click here for the latest view.

A PSA 8 copy of the card sold via Goldin Auctions earlier this year for just over $400,000. Only 32 copies of more than 1,100 graded have gotten a PSA 8 mark. Only nine cards have graded higher -- three  of those being PSA 10s.

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More eBay Buzz posts ...

These Kobe Bryant autos are how much?

You won't believe the price on this perfect Bobby Orr Rookie Card

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.

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Update (Nov. 8): Alcides Escobar's home run ball sold for $19,200.

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If you're a collector of the Kansas City Royals or New York Mets, there are already a number of options for collecting the 2015 World Series just two games into the showdown.

That's thanks to Topps and MLB Auctions.

From Topps there are already commemorative prints showcasing plays from the first two games as part of its ongoing Postseason Moments wall art line. From MLB Auctions, there are game-used items already on the auction block.

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They're new players and you may already have their new baseball cards but not even know it.

Topps announced on Thursday that top draft picks Dansby Swanson and Brendan Rodgers are the mystery redemptions found in packs of 2015 Topps Heritage Minor League, the set that takes today's players down on the farm back to 1966.

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The season's not yet over, but Topps has already updated one release that captured the attention of some collectors this year.

A second wave of prints for the 2015 Topps Fire print line, which features art by Tyson Beck, is in the works and already for sale on Topps.com with standard prints starting at $29.99 and rarer Gold prints starting at $99.99.

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Arriving in hobby shops today is a new brand in the Topps Heritage line -- a release where the company commemorates the 65th anniversary of its first baseball card set.

It's 2015 Topps Heritage ’51 Collection, which is a boxed set of 104 cards created in the style of the company’s simple 1951 release with every set including 21 parallel cards and a certified autograph.

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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.

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The early buzz surrounding this year's Panini America Black Friday packs includes a first for the  hobby for a season that just began last night.

The packs will include the first memorabilia cards of players from this year's class of NBA rookies. They'll also include, as always, autographs and memorabilia cards from Panini's sports.

There also will be rookie cards for newcomers in all sports each numbered to 599. That group will include Marcus Mariota and other NFL rookies, Kris Bryant and other top baseball prospects as well as top picks from the NBA.

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With the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets squaring off in Game 1 of the World Series tonight, there's plenty of collecting potential for both squads

Why? While there are some young stars and veterans who were once much higher on the radar of collectors in the past, there isn't one unquestioned hobby power player in the group. You know, one guy whose cardboard will be on the minds of everyone with a championship in hand.

Instead, there are a few players with big potential here ... so it's time for a Buzz List.

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The Rally Squirrel returns as a Philadelphia Phillies squad member on this photo variation card found in packs of 2015 Topps Update, which arrived last week.

While this year's appearance comes as one of the 25 photo variations in the product, it's clearly not as hot as the original Rally Squirrel who led the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title in 2011 (after an appearance in Philly) and before a Topps card in 2012. This year's card properly identifies the rowdy rodent -- its name is on the front, not a player -- and it's sold for as much as $40 in eBay auctions.

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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.

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What: 2016 Topps MLB Wacky Packages
Arrives: March 9
Hobby box basics: Hobby Collector boxes include 14 six-card packs with one auto sketch or Relic, while Hobby boxes will include 24 10-card packs. 

What's buzz-worthy: What happens when you take the twisted takes of Wacky Packages and add Major League Baseball? Well, we'll soon find out with this one with parody cards of products (the traditional for the long-running card brand) along with twists on baseball's teams (major and minor), food and events. What makes this one a draw for baseball fans? Autographed cards of players and team mascots -- though no checklists for those were revealed by the company.

See a small gallery and more ... below.

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What: 2015 Panini National Treasures baseball cards
Arrives: January 2016
Hobby box basics: Eight autograph or memorabilia cards with one being a booklet.

What's buzz-worthy: National Treasures' third edition for baseball will up the ante on game-used memorabilia cards with oversized jumbo swatches for pieces not normally found in cards. Among them? Stirrup socks. Sock cards will be limited to five copies or less and showcase players such as Lou Gehrig, Bob Feller, Elson Howard, Gabby Hartnett, Herb Pennock, Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose. Also to be found? Fielding gloves, batting gloves and sweatband cards. This will include current and past stars such as Kris Bryant, Byron Buxton, Kyle Schwarber, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell, according to the company.

See a gallery and more ... below.

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Update: Topps canceled this set following the Royals' victory.

The 2015 World Series lineup isn't set yet, but the details of the world champions' commemorative baseball card set from Topps are here.

Whether it's the New York Mets against the Kansas City Royals or the Toronto Blue Jays, the champs set will include 40 World Series-branded baseball cards with 15 highlights from the team's postseason run. Atop that, there will be cards for 25 key players on the team as well as cards for the Championship Series and World Series MVPs from the team.

Each case of these will include 16 sets.

>>> Click here to pre-order sets on BlowoutCards.com once a link is available

What: 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen baseball cards
Arrives: April 6
Hobby box basics: 24 packs, 10 cards -- two autographs, two Relics and one 10-card mini box box-topper

What's buzz-worthy: The sixth edition of Gypsy Queen follows much of the same formula from the past releases with the same number of hits and the same mini box box-topper we have seen from past years. What's new here this time are a few insert sets (MVP Minis, Power Alley), some parallels (MVP Minis autos, Mini Black autos) and a few other fun inclusions. Those will be Laces Around the League Relics -- cards with baseball stitch swatches limited to five copies -- as well as jumbo patch Relic and Ancient Era Remnants -- aka buybacks from the 1920s to 1950s.

See a gallery and more ... below.

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There are seven new products on tap for this week with a new addition to the Topps Heritage baseball line and the debut of Panini Contenders Draft on the hardcourt notables along with the latest football releases for Panini Playbook and Topps Finest.

Topps celebrates the 65th anniversary of its first baseball card set with 2015 Topps Heritage '51 Collection, which is a boxed set of 104 cards created in the style of the company's simple 1951 release with every set including 21 parallel cards and a certified autograph.

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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.

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Quick, can you name the baseball card sets that New York Mets slugger and NLCS MVP Daniel Murphy first appears in?

If you can't, you're not alone, but that number is dwindling as it seems more and more collectors are picking off cards featuring the latest player to have The Big Apple buzzing.

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Pete Gray is one of Major League Baseball's more unusual finds in the record books and now he can be found in packs of 2015 Topps Update as a player in its Pride & Perseverance insert set.

It's a 12-card set showcasing past and present players who have had obstacles in life that didn't stop them from appearing in a big-league game.

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When Topps' First Pitch insert cards arrived in 2015 Topps Series 1 earlier this year, they got collectors buzzing with the first MLB-approved cardboard of a few big-name celebrities.

The same happened for Series 2, but when the company released it's 5x7 version of the entire set late this summer -- a set only initially sold on Topps.com -- it snuck in five more celebs, making the total jumbo release 30 cards.

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Rewind to a year ago and New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom was one of the hottest autographs in the hobby simply because of one thing.

He didn't have that much cardboard -- signed or not.

This year, the big-haired right-hander in The Big Apple is working his way toward a potential World Series appearance with his Mets, building upon his 14-8 campaign as the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. And, just like last year, he's got some pretty warm cardboard as he's on the mound in Wrigley Field taking on the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series tonight.

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Autographed chin strap cards -- they've never been done before, but they're coming in 2015 Immaculate Collection College, which was revealed this week and is coming in December from Panini America.

Packing just seven cards per box -- five of those being autographs or memorabilia -- this brand will include stars from several sports on cards that might not have been seen before and all are done using NCAA team logos and colors. One cool example? A memorabilia card of Tony Gwynn the basketball star at San Diego State.

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New this week are seven products for three of the four major sports along with the latest MMA release and one non-sport set.

Leading the way is Topps' third and final installment of its flagship baseball card set as 2015 Topps Update arrives on Wednesday. This 400-card release includes all of the parallels and inserts collectors have come to expect from the first two releases as well as a few surprises. Standard hobby boxes will include one autograph or Relic, while HTA Jumbo boxes will include an auto and two Relics.

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