Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

REMEMBERING HERITAGE ...
The Cards: Max Fried 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League cards
The Buzz On This: Before he was among the stacked rotation of the Atlanta Braves and got himself a World Series ring, Fried was a member of the Fort Wayne TinCaps and the Mississippi Braves and he appeared on cards in the in-pack MiLB sets released under the Topps Heritage line. That meant retro designs here -- 1964, 1965, 1967 and the burlap-inspired 1968 look -- but with clean, modern printing and other touches that put it in the here and now while looking a lot like back then. Fried missed a year (I presume due to his injury/trade) and has some other inserts and parallels in these sets before his Heritage RC in 2018 and all that's come since. I keep talking about doing a run of some players' Heritage cards in slabs and I grabbed all of these since they're all affordable (despite being likely far rarer than anything Heritage MLB) and just might do it for both MiLB and MLB releases. Also: The Heritage MiLB brand apparently died in 2023 ... so pour one out for that one while we're at it.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can find in MiLB.

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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: 2024 Topps arrives, MLB breaks, Rob Manfred, Zay Flowers and more in this edition.

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What: 2023 Bowman Inception baseball cards
Arrives: March 15, 2024
Box basics: Two autographs per seven-card box (16 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Bowman Inception returns for another season with more colorful looks at prospects as part of a 100-card base set and plenty more.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

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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: 2024 Topps arrives and MLB breaks are still popping in this Thursday edition.

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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: 2024 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist/odds: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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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: 2024 Topps arrives and MLB breaks are popping, cards that perform, soccer cards, NBA and more.

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What: 2024 Topps Archives Signature Series Active Player Edition baseball cards
Arrives: TBD
Box basics: One encased and numbered buyback autograph per box (20 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Topps' long-running brand arrives once again with an approach that "highlights a variety of buybacks from superstars, rookies, veterans and more."

Keep reading for more.

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What: 2024 Historic Autographs RetroGraph 3 baseball cards
Arrives: March 27
Box basics: Six autographs per pack (24 packs per case ... or 96 packs per master case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs takes to the diamond via its autographed buyback release for a third time that includes legendary ink on memorable baseball cards from the past as well as ink from some of the biggest stars of right now.

Keep reading for more information.

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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: Awaiting 2024 Topps, MLB breaks, Victor Wembanyama, Prizm NBA and NFL breaks plus more in today's edition.

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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: Counting down the hours to Super Bowl LVIII, Brock Purdy, Taylor Swift, 2024 Topps arrives soon, new pulls and more in this Sunday edition.

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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: Awaiting Super Bowl LVIII, Patrick Mahomes, 2024 Topps is on the way, new pulls and more in this Saturday edition.

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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: Super Bowl chatter, C.J. Stroud, new and future Hall of Famers, collecting buybacks, Patrick Mahomes and 2024 Topps is coming soon.

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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: Basketball movies, Super Bowl chatter, new pulls, 2024 Topps, retail Stadium Club heat and ... is Taylor Swift buying?

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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: Lionel Messi signs for Topps, Super Bowl, 2024 Topps, ranking grading companies, Bobby Witt Jr. and ... are Stadium Club blasters running mistakenly hot?

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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: Showing off Brock Purdy cards, Super Bowl chatter, waiting for 2024 Topps, UFL and more.

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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: 2023 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview, odds & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

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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: Fake cards, Super Bowl chatter, 2024 Topps, "comps" and more in today's edition.

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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: Super Bowl chatter, investing in Mike Trout (now?), new pulls and more in this evening-drop edition.

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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: WrestleMania twists and turns have 'em talking, Corbin Burnes, big maildays, 2024 Topps, the Super Bowl and more.

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

THERE WERE NO GUARANTEES ... BUT I'LL TAKE IT
The Card: Joe Namath 1973 Topps
The Reason Graded: It's almost Super Bowl time and while I don't really collect any of the names who are going to be in this year's big game, I do collect names who helped make the big game in the past ... and this freshly graded card is a big one in my eyes. It's Namath's final card made by Topps during his career and I found it raw on COMC with is razor-sharp everything -- especially compared to other copies out there -- and decided it was not only grab-worthy, it was also slab-worthy with centering and only one corner with lightness and color immensely minor spotting on the front being the only issues. This one looked very strong for a vintage card so I submitted it for immediate grading directly via COMC, too.
The Grade: CGC 7

Reality Check: I had visions of a higher grade, but the card backs here have dark ink and corners on the backs can be spotty ... and I think that's a reason this one graded lower than I had hoped. But, at the same time, it's a pop-six card with only five CGC 8s grading higher -- and nothing above that. That actually puts this card among the elite for graded copies of this one ... and that's not a bad thing with my total cost here under $30. (The slight spot on the bottom left corner of the card bugged me ... until I realized it's some funk on the surface of the plastic slab, not the card or inside the slab. That's something I hadn't run into with CGC's generally crystal clear and clean slabs.)

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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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: UFC heads back to Topps, 2024 Topps Heritage chatter, Series 1 chatter and more in today's edition.

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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: 2021 Topps Heritage High Number baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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What: 2023 Topps Luminaries baseball cards
Arrives: Feb. 7, 2024
Box basics: One autograph or autographed Relic card per box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This high-end line returns for a seventh campaign for MLB with every card a hit limited to no more than 15 copies and with a number of outrageous booklet cards in the mix.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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Big name, small price ... I couldn't pass on that.

My latest item in this Collecting Game-used series is a little different than a lot of my buys when it comes to MLB Authenticated baseballs. Most times, I go the mystery-box route on the cheap with key dates or certain teams with players I like or collect among the likely possibilities, but this one was a straight-up buy -- still on the cheap -- recently. Why? That's because it was used for a pair of pitches from a newcomer on a World Series winner to one of the biggest names in the game today.

The price? Less than a retail mega box of whatever new card brand you like -- a certainty with this item this time vs. playing the possibilities of what might from packs. The possibility will get me often, but this time a game-used future Hall of Famer in my stash here works just fine with That Mike Trout Guy attached. (He good.)

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and the ball in action.

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Buzz buys a lot of stuff these days and for a few reasons, really. Sometimes it's just bargain-hunting, sometimes it's just something that strikes me. And other times it's a lot -- a group of things -- and that has happened enough lately I figured I'd try something different as a regularly appearing item. Sometimes my lots will be wins, sometimes they won't be ... but I'll let you decide. 

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A LEGENDARY FIND?
The Lot: Seventeen 1979 Topps All-time Record Holders (subset) cards
The Price: $9.99

Keep reading for more on this one ...

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