This year's Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers' Association of America with several new names and players who appeared on last year's ballot but failed to get selected on 75 percent of the vote.

It's a crop that includes Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Johan Santana among the newcomers and Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens among those left over from past ballots.

Below is the ballot that all BBWAA members will receive. The writers can vote for as many as 10 players. Those who appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast will be inducted into the Hall.

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With apologies to your World Series champion Houston Astros, we all know the baseball players who owned the hobby in 2017 -- Aaron Judge, Aaron Judge and Aaron Judge.

Oh and that Cody Bellinger guy, too.

The finalists for the Baseball Writers' Association of America awards are in and you'll find Judge, Bellinger and several others who made things happen on the field this year among the potential award-winners. We'll have to wait until next week for the start of the reveals but you can cast your votes right here, right now.

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Keep reading to vote for the rest of the categories.

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We're inching closer to the final teams taking the field this year in MLB and, at this point, we have just a single question for collectors after a crazy year of rookie home runs and plenty of other drama.

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

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Jose Altuve was the Houston Astros player who stole the spotlight on Thursday night with three home runs in Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series.

The number was just one short of his Rookie Card total from 2011 -- and the three-time batting champ doesn't have much cardboard before that, either, just an appearance in 2010 Bowman Chrome.

And that fact has me pondering a simple question for all of you ...

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The Cleveland Indians' historic winning streak is up to 19 games and the defending American League champs have shown themselves to be overwhelming their competition.

Per ESPN, it's the fourth-longest win streak since 1900 and they've hit more home runs than runs allowed, outscoring their competition by more than 100 runs.

But who on the team is making waves from a collecting standpoint?

We'll let you pick three players from the list below to help simplify things in case you simply can't pick just one ... I can't.

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

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

Update (Aug. 4): Get the full preview & see more right here >> bit.ly/2u9vEPD

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Topps revealed the design for its 2018 Topps flagship baseball set on Thursday, giving us a new full-bleed look with some futuristic touches.

Tell us what you think about the design in the comments and in our poll below.

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

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Ezekiel Elliott was a force as a rookie last season for the Dallas Cowboys, coming up just short of the NFL rookie rushing record but he might as well have gotten it based on cardboard standards.

His 1,631 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, along with success for his team that firmly put it back in the national spotlight, were highlights that sold some cards and then some. But fast-forward to today and the Rookie of the Year allegedly was entangled in some type of bar fight Sunday while already being investigated for domestic violence.

We've been there, done that like this before -- many players have had many issues, this is nothing new -- but not many of them have lit up the hobby as a rookie like Elliott did last season.

That leads to questions about cardboard ...

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Have more to say? Tell us in a comment or on Twitter.

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

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

The MLB All-Star Game is tomorrow night in Miami but all eyes will be on the showdown that is the Home Run Derby tonight (8 p.m., ESPN) where two rookie heavyweights, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, could have a showdown -- and it won't even be for the crown.

They're on the same side of the bracket for the power showcase along with Charlie Blackmon and Justin Bour, while the other side of the bracket includes defending champ Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Mike Moustakas and Miguel Sano. 

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For the first time in his big-league career, the biggest-selling star in MLB is headed to the disabled list -- and it's with a torn thumb ligament that needs surgery.

With Mike Trout cards -- particularly his 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft autos -- trading at record highs, there are bound to be some worries. (Here's where it's being discussed over on the Blowout Forums.)

Could this be the type of injury that affects his performance now and in the future? Or is it something that gives collectors a chance to catch their breath and maybe land some big cards cheaper than they might have otherwise been?

Tell us what you think in our polls below or via a comment here or on Twitter.

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

>> Click here to shop for cards on BlowoutCards.com.

Tiger Woods is back in the news again -- and it's not for golf.

Naturally with this development, along with his lack of time on the PGA Tour, one has to ponder the future of his cardboard. As one of the most-decorated and sought-after golf stars of all time, there's been plenty of money put into his cardboard. He's definitely also been one of the most sought-after autographs of anyone in the sports world ... but now this.

More than a few questions come to mind ... tell us what you think with our poll below or via a comment here or on Twitter.

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

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

What do you collect when it comes to cardboard? It's a simple question ... tell us in our latest Buzz Poll below or in the comments here or on Twitter. (You can select multiple answers.)

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

Mickey Mantle dominated the auction block on Saturday night in Dallas as Heritage Auctions' Platinum Night sports sale was topped by a pair of Mantles with very different attributes.

Yet both had very high demand.

Both items you see here -- one a PSA 8 copy of his 1952 Topps card and the other being Mantle's New York Yankees road jersey worn when he hit his 535th career home run on Sept. 19, 1968 -- are six-figure items.

One went for $660,000 with a buyer's premium while the other went for $486,000 and with that pair of facts we have these two questions for you.

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Spoiler: Highlight the text after this on this line to learn more. The card sold for more.

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

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The Lombardi trophy confetti you see here is reportedly from Super Bowl LI and it recently fetched some surprising money -- $50! -- on eBay.

And it's not alone.

Maybe it's just those rabid New England Patriots fans out there, but that got Buzz wondering ...

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It's not been done before but it seems like everything else has made it into cards. Unless the NFL objects, it seems like it could be done quite easily.

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

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After the defensive showcase of the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans on Sunday night, the basketball world got some rim-rocking news with one of its more controversial stars.

DeMarcus Cousins was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans with Omri Casspi for Buddy Hield, ‎Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, the Pelicans' first-round pick and the Philadelphia 76ers' second-round pick this year.

Cousins has averaged 21.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game for his career, which started back in 2010 when the Kings took him with the fifth pick in the NBA Draft. But he's perhaps better known for his clashes with reporters, teammates, coaches on an underachieving team.

But now he has a fresh start -- and some expectations for a team that has some talent you might have heard of. Tell us what you think with our two Buzz Poll questions below or via a comment or on Twitter.

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

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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.

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Bo was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s as a college football star, a professional baseball and football star and a marketing star. Everybody knew his name and they still know why.

And then suddenly one day it was gone.

Sure, Vincent Edward Jackson played some baseball after his final NFL game -- that hip injury was 26 years ago tomorrow -- but he was never the same. And in an interview today he had a different take on his career.

"If I knew back then what I know now," he told USA TODAY Sports, "I would have never played football. Never. I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn’t tell anybody."

His career as a pro -- in both sports -- lasted less than a decade but he's easily one of the biggest icons of his time. It's a story worth checking out if you missed it and it's worth revisiting if you didn't.

Here, though, we simply have one bit of curiosity presented below.

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

We're down to the last 12 NFL teams and that means we have just one question for the remainder of the football calendar.

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

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

The regular season is now over in the NFL and that means one thing -- we now have final stats.

Ok, ok ... it also means the playoffs.

But for many rookies and players who are important in the hobby and may not be playing this weekend, those final stats are one way to assess whether we should continue to sink our dollars into their cards. Two rookies of note in 2016, Dallas' Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, will still be playing and they lead off our first of 13 Buzz Poll questions all about the NFL this year.

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Keep reading to answer the rest of our questions ...

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A new year is almost here and Buzz has a few questions for you about your collecting habits.

Simply put, we want to know more about what you collect and here are 10 questions we hope you'll take a few minutes to answer.

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See the rest of the questions after the jump.

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When Ronda Rousey enters the Octagon for UFC 207 on Friday night in Las Vegas it will have been one year, one month and 16 days since her career trajectory changed from unprecedented dominating badass with mainstream cameos everywhere to a rattled ex-champ with a 12-1-0 record.

Her cardboard is still arguably the hottest in the hobby -- at least based on asking prices -- but we all know it's not the same as it had been when the steamroller got shocked. A win against Amanda Nunes might get the gravy train rolling back to its super-marketed hype levels -- you know, something to justify all that super marketing that's been done in her return.

But ... what's next for her cardboard if she loses again?

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

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Chris Sale is headed to Boston for four prospects and the biggest one of them all is Yoan Moncada.

Moncada was a top-five prospect for the Red Sox and easily among the hottest prospects in the game in the last year or so. Now, he heads to the White Sox where big bats like Jose Abreu have arrived with an impact but fizzled over time in terms of cardboard.

The 21-year-old hit just .211 with one RBI in eight games with the Red Sox last season after a minor-league campaign that included a .294 average, 15 homers and 62 RBI in 106 games between Salem and Portland.

What do you think?

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

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

The Dallas Cowboys have the best record in the NFL at 11-1 and it's due to a pair of rookies who have played very, very well this season, Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott.

Both are readily available in nearly all 2016 football wax, which is a big plus, but which one wins among collectors?

Tell us in our poll, a comment here or on Twitter.

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

The Cup is here and the biggest rookie of them all is here, too, with big asking prices on eBay.

The rookie is, of course, Edmonton's Connor McDavid and his rookie patch autos from Upper Deck's 2015-16 The Cup are something in high demand. We all knew that would be the case months ago.

But, now that they are here, the asking prices on early finds are jaw-droppers.

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The Chicago Cubs' World Series win is big business -- on cardboard and beyond -- but Buzz has a question.

Did you buy any Cubs cards after their championship?

Plenty of collectors did as, for example, the 2016 Topps Now Chicago Cubs World Series Championship set came in two forms -- an autograph set for $149.99 that included one signed card and a standard one that was $49.99. The pricey one sold 2,581 copies and the unsigned set sold 6,636 -- not shabby but probably still just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a history-making win and sales.

Take our poll below or leave a comment if you need to say more.

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

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We're just a few hours away from Game 7 of the World Series where the Chicago Cubs will end more than a century of futility -- or the Cleveland Indians will make them once again wait for next year.

On cardboard and in the hobby, there's no comparison between the two teams as the Cubs are largely stocked with young players (several homegrown) who are well-established and readily available on cardboard -- for now -- compared to the Indians, who have a few young notables but nobody who'll truly break the bank. Among the Cubbies' notables are Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Jake Arrieta, Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo ... and that's not all on a list that's meaty and the cardboard is boldly available for nearly all of them.

That got Buzz wondering ... if the Cubs win it all, is their victory bigger than the Boston Red Sox' 2004 World Series win when it comes to the hobby and collecting? Is it bigger than Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens -- you know, all those historic super-human performances that ultimately turned out to be, well, a bit questionable? They all sold plenty of cardboard in the past -- plenty -- but that team and those players were mostly established veterans. The Cubs are largely kids with plenty of potential for future successes -- dare we say dynasty -- for years to come being a real possibility.

And that would all start with a ring tonight and pay off for collectors for years to come.

I'd argue that demand for the Cubs' key players autographs and key players could be the biggest thing seen in years once it's all said and done. Once The Curse of the Billy Goat is dead and buried alongside that of The Bambino there's all kinds of potential for now in the short-term, later in the weeks and months to come and, ultimately, for future seasons.

It could be like nothing we've ever seen before.

Agree? Disagree? Tell Buzz what you think in the poll below ...

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

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