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: Derrick Henry is a freak, Drake's Rookie Card reaction, big pulls from around the collecting world and "What happens with Patrick Mahomes prices when Houston wins?"

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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: A big Contenders NBA box, other big pulls, pondering Tom Brady's next team, buying a case for a 10-year-old and which Ronald Acuña Jr. card would you want?

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What: 2020 TRISTAR Signature Series Entertainment Live Edition
Arrives: Feb. 19
Box basics: Seven autographed memorabilia pieces per case
Pre-order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Signature Series line turns its focus to the entertainment world with a release that includes a pretty good volume of items per case as part of a product that's rare -- just 50 cases will be made.

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What: 2020 Rittenhouse Game of Thrones Season 8 trading cards
Arrives: March 11
Box basics: Two autographed cards (one with inscription) per 24-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Pre-order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: The series may be done, but the cardboard is not as Game of Thrones returns with the final season getting a first look.

Keep reading for more info and 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 Today: Nothing but breaks and other big pulls in today's edition.

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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 ... a super-sized edition with 20 cards to open 2020.

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SO CLOSE TO PERFECTION ...
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Topps Chrome #193 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: This one looked very clean to my eye and I figured getting some of my past Acuña pulls slabbed was a good move considering his almost-40/40 showing last year. Some of his cards are heavily graded to the point where they can be had for not much more than a typical cost to slab if not in top grades. Meanwhile, others aren't as plentiful and some can typically grade very well. I went with this one since it's not as heavily graded and it does tend to grade well. Plus, I just liked the photo here compared to others -- and those I already own slabbed.
The Grade: BGS 10

Reality Check: This one surprised me a bit -- just one half-subgrade away from a BGS Black. Only 14 cards have gotten the perfect mark and this one is among an also-small population. Most cards here check in at 9.5s -- a solid mark and a perfect card to bat lead-off for this first MTG of the year. I expect big things from Acuña this year and I'll be slabbing him often.

Keep reading for more.

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It's fitting that he's green ... he's generating plenty of it.

In the Twitter and meme galaxies, he's "Baby Yoda," but on Topps Now cards for The Mandalorian, he's "The Child" -- the 50-year-old silent (so far) alien boy that is the center of attention as the sci-fi western series plays itself out over on Disney+.

He's been a focal point of the series for all seven episodes so far, but he didn't make his cardboard debut in the weekly episodic Topps Now sets until the third pack -- and that's where we start to see his Forceful ways.

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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: Chasing new Zion Williamson cards, pondering value of grading, Panini Prizm developments, new Star Trek breaks and more in today's edition.

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If you have ever dared to chase a master set of a product, you know it can be work -- but this one can be done on the serious cheap.

It's 2019 Topps Star Wars Resistance Surprise Packs and 16-box cases of these are up for grabs right now for just $29.95 (limit six cases).

No, really, cases. And that's not a typo  ... that's $1.87 a box. Keep reading to see what can be found here for this Disney animated series ...

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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 from recent NFL, MLB and non-sports breaks (Star Wars, Stranger Things and a high-ender) and more.

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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: New breaks -- big and small -- as well as Panini Prizm, collectors react to a new type of NFL scandal and ... players who you thought were good but were not.

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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, Prizm breaks, new Hall of Famers, Bowman Draft and choosing between Ronald Acuña Jr., Juan Soto or Fernando Tatis Jr.

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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 ...

A BIG BLASTER PULL
The Card: Shohei Ohtani 2018 Topps #700B hand on helmet SSP photo variation
The Reason Graded: Not that long ago, I pulled this card from a Series 2 blaster box and decided that it needed a slab since these SSPs appear to be relatively rare -- and I was even more surprised to see how they didn't grade all that well on the pop report. Meanwhile, mine looked very clean ... so I had to do it.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: Only one card graded better than mine and four others have equaled it while eight cards have checked in at a BGS 9 or lower -- that seems pretty low for a modern card, though the skinny stock here clearly could have issues after these cards hit packaging. I'll admit that this was a pull while Ronald Acuña Jr. hunting in Series 2, but this feels like a win on top of a win with it grading so well after being pulled from a discounted box. Here's hoping his third season is as strong or better than his first two, which are remarkably similar from the batting side.

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

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The Force is strong with this one ... and we're just getting our first look at his merchandise.

Topps' Chapter 3 Topps Now Packs for The Mandalorian arrived on Monday via Topps.com with three of the five cards for this episode showing the viral sensation of the Disney+ series so far.

It's Baby Yoda.

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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 lot: 2008 Donruss Americana II trading cards (25-pack retail lot)
Where to buy: Click here

Packs per lot: 25
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this lot: 127
Base set completion: 
62 of 100 (62 percent)
Duplicates: 34
Triplicates: 17
Quadruplicates: 3

Notables on base cards – Jackie Chan, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lewis, Goldie Hawn, Quentin Tarantino, Peggy Fleming, Helen Slater, Regis Philbin, Natalie Raitano, Joyce DeWitt, Corey Feldman, Peter Mayhew, Kane Hodder, Martin Kove, Gary Coleman, Jane Russell, Brutus Beefcake, David Prowse, Stephen Toblowsky, Erik Estrada, Ed Asner, Julie Newmar, Martina Navratilova, Lee Meriweather, Mark Hamill, Willie Mays, Vicki Lawrence, George H.W. Bush, Jake LaMotta, Kathie Lee Gifford, Dan Fogler, Elijah Wood

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year and talk more about cardboard that I -- and you -- might like. One way to do that? Simple show and tell -- present a few pick-ups and say why they captured my attention. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around there's a mix of pricey and cheaper buys.

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I WAS SEEING GHOSTS FOR A WHILE ... 
The Card: Sam Darnold 2018 Panini Spectra Neon Blue (/75)
The Price: $15.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I'm generally a fan of Spectra despite its funky looks at times and I spotted this one just after his return at a price that seemed lower than the norm so I grabbed it. I was a tad worried in games after that, thinking this was a bad pick-up, but it seems he's rebounded a bit so we'll see whether this was a decent pick-up in the longer term. I like the look of these sequin-looking cards with this particular parallel, so that's probably another reason I went this route.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Panini Spectra football cards

Keep reading for many more interesting items ...

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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: Moving creates collecting challenges ... and big break highlights from around the collecting world, including this new Zion Williamson ink.

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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: Topps Holiday boxes are hot -- and Winter Olympics cases are, too -- and that's just the start of today's links worth a look.

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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 ...

The Card: Dak Prescott 2016 Donruss #362 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: It takes a pretty good deal for one of my buys to lead off here instead of one of my newly submitted grades, but this one was just that. This is one of those cards that is relatively available if you want to chase one down and slab it for some fun or profit. My cost? About $22, which might seem high generally speaking but isn't for its grade -- this was about half the price of the other cards in the same grade where I was looking at the time. They are even higher now.
The Grade: BGS 10

Reality Check: This one is just a half-grade away from a perfect BGS Black slab and the percentage of cards to get this mark is pretty low vs. the overall total. That's what surprised me here more and prompted the pick-up. It's a relatively heavily graded card, too, which you'd think would have resulted in more 10s. (Paper stock can be more pesky than Optic stuff when it comes to grading, though.)

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

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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 Topps The Art of TMNT trading cards
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Cards per box: 106
Base set completion: 
100 of 100 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 0

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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: 2017 Topps The Walking Dead Season 7 trading cards (Walmart-version blasters)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few releases)

Packs per box: 11 (10 standard, one hit pack)
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 61
Base set completion: 
35 of 100 (35 percent)
Duplicates: 0

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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: World Series chatter, big Mike Trout pulls, "investment projections" and big breaks in a few sports as well as a run of Star Trek boxes.

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year and talk more about cardboard that I -- and you -- might like. One way to do that? Simple show and tell -- present a few pick-ups and say why they captured my attention. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around there's a mix of everything but mostly on the affordable side.

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WAIT, WHAT?
The Card: Brock Lesnar 2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars NFL RC (SGC 9)
The Price: $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't argue with one interesting and unique fact about Brock Lesnar when it comes to cardboard -- he's got Rookie Cards in wrestling, MMA and pro football and that's something that's just not that common. I can think of a lot of two-sport players on cards between various combinations for MLB, NFL, NBA and WWE but, three? Sure, Lesnar never actually played in a real NFL game -- the Vikings cut him before the season started -- but it got him a few cards that do remain popular and a tad pricey these days due to their novelty and relative scarcity. He had 15 cards in three brands -- Rookies & Stars, Playoff Honors and Sweet Spot -- and some can sell for more than this. I grabbed it since I'd never found one and it was slabbed for not much more than a raw copy -- and also purely for the novelty. Some raw copies of this have higher asking prices than this over on eBay, too, while his cards for the other two sports are easy finds.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for NFL, but WWE boxes are here

Keep reading for five more interesting items ...

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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: 2018 Topps Stranger Things Season 1 trading cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

Packs per box: 11 (10 standard, one commemorative patch pack)
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 71
Base set completion: 
57 of 100 (57 percent)
Duplicates: 0

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year and talk more about cardboard that I -- and you -- might like. One way to do that? Simple show and tell -- present a few pick-ups and say why they captured my attention. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around there's a little bit of everything.

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BUZZ IS FINE WITH NINES
The Card: Nick Chubb 2018 Donruss Optic Blue Prizm (/149) Rookie Card parallel (BGS 9)
The Price: $14
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy was the top RB in the NFL in Week 4 with a monster game (and this one was purchased before that) but I'm thinking that he's among the better buys for last year's rookies right now because of where he's playing and the potential. If the Browns win big or at least improve impressively and have some moments, the 2018 RCs of Baker Mayfield and Chubb will arguably be the cards looked at first -- and Mayfield is already expensive so this guy might have more potential of the two. The basic versions of his cards are pretty easy finds, even when graded, so parallels are the way to go first in my mind. I grabbed this one since it was a tad cheaper than other versions but perhaps lower than it might be if it had been graded subgrades. (I'm fine with this type of BGS card as long as there's no obvious flaw showing to make you wonder.)
Grab a box right here: 2018 Donruss Optic NFL (a few formats)

Keep reading for five more interesting items ...

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