Blowout Buzz
Will more authenticity (& more cost) translate into more interest (& more sales) of 2015 Topps Strata?
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When 2015 Topps Strata arrived last week with just two cards per box, some collectors may not have noticed one of the features that the high-end brand includes on its Clearly Authentic Autographed Relic and Clearly Authentic Relic cards.
But it's something that many collectors say they have been seeking for a long time.
What is it? Added authenticity -- as in specific game-dating -- thanks to the little silver MLB Authentication sticker found on every single card in those two sets.
You can snack like a big-leaguer thanks to MLB Auctions
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Buzz thought he had seen it all when it came to game-used memorabilia until he visited MLB Auctions on Sunday night to find this.
It's a snack container straight from the dugout of the Detroit Tigers this past season and it can be all yours.
How much? We'll get to that ... but first the details.
Julio Jones & Kirk Cousins among NFL's most Buzz-worthy players in Week 16
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The Atlanta Falcons took a 7-7 record into their game against the undefeated Carolina Panthers on Sunday and thanks to one guy's one big play they recorded their biggest win of the season.
The player was WR Julio Jones and the play was a 70-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter -- the biggest part of a nine-catch, 178-yard day. Jones has been one of the better receivers in the league, but this is one play for the highlight reels that could live on for some time.
His Rookie Cards can be found back in 2011 products and, in general, his autographs aren't all that plentiful. Combine that with interest from his past Alabama Crimson Tide fans and some of those early cards can be tougher to find.
>> Click here to shop for football boxes on BlowoutCards.com.
Keep reading for four more guys who generated some buzz on the field this week. (Note: This was published before the late games this week.)
Buzz Collector Profile: Robert Morris aka @dalsubfan
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Robert Morris
Also known as: @dalsubfan on Twitter and most other places
Website: http://sportscardalbum.com/u/dalsubfan
Email: dalsubfan@gmail.com
Location: Texas
Work away from cards: Manufacturing
Collecting since: 1970-80, 1992-95, 2005-currentMain focuses: My collecting focus is Mark Teixeira cards and whatever else interests me. Hall of Famers, 1/1s, memorabilia ...
Favorite players/teams: Mark Teixeira and Texas Rangers
Current collecting projects: In addition to chasing at least one of every Mark Teixeira card made (at 5,700 or 81 percent), I am completing th 2013 Historic Autographs Originals 1933 set. Also working on a bat with Hall of Famer autographs -- at 65 so far.
Making the Grade: Grading diary debut includes Derek Jeter, legendary ink, vintage, WWE Diva Paige & 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.
For the first grading diary here on The Buzz, it will be a mix of cards graded for a few reasons.
The Card: 1993 Upper Deck #449 Derek Jeter
The Reason Graded: This was pulled straight from an underpriced factory set and looked very clean except for a tiny spot on the back -- Buzz figured it might push into the high grades even with the gloss issue. These cards are also not easy to pull from wax or sets cleanly because the high-gloss cards often stick together, peeling away specks of paper. Another reason? This is an iconic card that's worth grading if you own a clean one.
The Grade: BGS 9Grade: 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 Total Population: 24 20 65 124 334 761 1,314 1,579 806 307 3 5,360 Reality Check: The SP Jeter rookie is the one people chase, not this one. This one's $20 on eBay -- and perhaps undervalued considering how they grade on the pop report. BGS 9s and higher are really much rarer than people think.
Need a fun & affordable football card focus? Try collecting NFL sons
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Admit it, you may have overdone things when it comes to buying football cards this year -- maybe past years, too -- and have a big ol' stash of cards you don't know what to do with. What do you keep? What do you jettison? That's where having a collecting focus comes in. If you haven't overdone it on wax, then maybe having a focus for your single-card buys is a need. (That's one even Buzz has struggled with over decades of collecting.)
One potential niche that seems prevalent this year in NFL and college sets? Cards showing the kids of former NFL players who have now made their way onto cardboard.
They seem to be everywhere this year. Second-generation players aren't anything new, of course, but they can be a fun way to revisit the past while also collecting the present. Buzz started his collecting days in the 1980s and, back then, a Joe Montana autograph wasn't an easy find -- plus, his handwriting didn't justify the high cost on a small budget. Fast-forward to 2015 and Nick Montana has cardboard. He won't be an NFL star -- he wasn't really even that good in college -- and the handwriting also isn't great, but he's got a certified autograph card.
Buzz wanted it, Buzz got it. Can't say the same thing for a Joe autograph, though, even all these years later.
Old baseball cards become artwork for graphic design student
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What to do with old common cards is a question and a challenge for many collectors, especially as they continue to pile up.
But for 19-year-old New York-based Blowout member Steven Verdile, aka Metsfan1121, the temptation to simply throw them away was thwarted when the graphic design student received an assignment in a 3D class earlier this year.
"We had to take items that we already had and aren't typically used for art, and use them to create a 3D piece," he wrote on a post on the forum. "I quickly thought about using my cards, and came up with an idea. I decided to make a baseball field, along with bleachers and a dugout, out of cards."
Board Buzz: Five must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Dec. 24)
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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.What's Buzzing: Vintage cardboard, 2015 Topps Strata, penmanship & more.
First Buzz: 2015 Leaf SportKings trading cards
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What: 2015 Leaf SportKings trading cards
Arrives: January 2016
Box basics: One autograph, one memorabilia card, four base cards and one mini per box.What's buzz-worthy: SportKings returns with a new mix of cards that includes numbered autographed parallels and buyback autographs for stars throughout the sports world (and even a few from elsewhere) on the famed design from the 1930s.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
Panini increases autograph output in 2015 Elite Extra Edition boxes
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When Panini America first revealed 2015 Elite Extra Edition back in October, it promised that the annual prospecting staple would include plenty of autographs -- eight to 10 in the warmest of Hot Box scenarios and six autos for the standard boxes.
But there will be even more ink when it arrives next Thursday.
A lot more in every case.
First Buzz: 2016 Leaf Best of Basketball
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What: 2016 Leaf Best of Basketball
Arrives: February 2016
Box basics: One buyback or redemption card plus one new Leaf card per box.What's buzz-worthy: The elite basketball cards from the past will be found here in buyback form accented with new creations featuring Hall of Fame-enshrined players.
Keep reading for more.
First cards just keep getting earlier with newest USA Baseball set
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Panini America's annual USA Baseball boxed set arrived in hobby shops today with a new inclusion inside.
As in the newest players ever.
New in 2015 Panini USA Baseball are autographs and memorabilia cards like those of Adam Crampton seen above. He was a member of the USA Baseball 14U squad this year. That's the 14-and-under squad -- do the math and you'll figure out that the third-baseman was born sometime in the 2000s. (It's May 24, 2001, to be precise, meaning he's now a grizzled veteran and too old for that roster.)
Gallery: 2015 Topps Strata baseball cards
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It's a standalone and it's looking spectacular.
The arrival of 2015 Topps Strata as a standalone brand is today and the results ripped from wax boxes are starting to appear on eBay with some big names but also more affordable ones, too.
(They all just look like a million bucks.)
Iconic Sports Illustrated covers can be quite collectable & sometimes quite valuable, too (gallery)
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If you've watched any NFL games this season, you've likely heard the word "concussion" many times as the league has implemented new tests on players to help prevent future problems by assessing the here and now immediately following a hard hit.
On Christmas Day, a film about the issue of concussions in football called Concussion opens in theaters. You've probably seen the commercials for the film during NFL games.
Will Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered the degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. It's a real-life issue that has affected more than 80 former players -- many you've seen on football cards and might have collected. The movie is an important one and Sports Illustrated has Smith on its cover this week to discuss the movie.
Is it the first time a celebrity has appeared on the cover of the highly collectable sports magazine?
Buzz Collector Profile: Stacy Marlow aka @slmsolo
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Stacy Marlow
Also known as: @slmsolo on Twitter
Website: No personal site
Email: stacy@livecasebreak.com
Location: Georgia
Work away from cards: Estate Manager for private family
Collecting since: 2012Main focuses: Atlanta Braves -- prospects, veteran/Hall of Fame autographs, in-person
Heritage autos, in-person sweet spot autographs, graded Bowman first-year autos
Favorite players/teams: Atlanta Braves -- Chipper Jones, Craig Kimbrel, John Smoltz
Current collecting projects: Currently working on 2015 Topps High Tek John Smoltz auto rainbow/collection (needing two printing proofs to finish) and 2012 Bowman Sterling Lucas Sims rainbow
Card Gallery: 2015 Bowman's Best baseball cards
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Bowman's Best officially returns tomorrow for the first time in eight years and it's going to pack two autographs into each mini box, four per master, when collectors tear in.
First introduced in 1994, Bowman's Best ran for more than a decade before a year off and a return in 2007. It's been sidelined ever since. This time around, the brand replaces Bowman Sterling and offers a selection of young stars that have captivated collectors already this past season or so along with a crop of new draft picks as well. Nearly all autographs are signed on-card for this release.
Get out your time machine to land a Christian McCaffrey football card
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Stanford's Christian McCaffrey picked up The Associated Press College Football Player of the Year nod on Tuesday, becoming the first non-Heisman Trophy winner since 2009 to win the award.
But if you want his first football cards? Well, you'll have to do some digging -- because six years ago was the same year he made his debut on cardboard.
First Buzz: 2016 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards
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What: 2016 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards
Arrives: May 25, 2016
Box basics: Two autographs and two Relics in every 24-pack hobby boxWhat's buzz-worthy: Future stars, eccentric promo night uniforms and Fragments of the Farm Relics are back in the newest chapter of the ongoing Minor League Baseball card saga called Pro Debut.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
Buzz Poll: Are Pro Football Hall of Fame mini busts cool or creepy?
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Among the items in the Pro Football Hall of Fame's online gift shop are a series of five mini busts that Buzz couldn't help but be drawn to.
Why? Buzz can't figure out whether they are cool or creepy.
Board Buzz: Five must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Dec. 22)
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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.What's Buzzing: High-end brands like Panini Immaculate and Panini Eminence, keeping vs. flipping, Chris Bosh's Hall of Fame chances and golf greats find a spot in this one.
Panini's new Immaculate Collection includes unique Tony Gwynn card
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When collectors crack into boxes of 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection College beginning tomorrow, they could find one of the more unique memorabilia cards made in a long time.
It's a card of baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn from his days as a player at San Diego State.
What makes it different, though? The card appears to include a swatch from the Aztecs jersey seen above.
Buzz List: Five top Santa Claus cards *serious* collectors need right now
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With the holiday season here, cardboard is probably on the minds of many Buzz readers as they wonder what might await them soon.
Others, like Buzz, might be thinking of Cardboard of Christmas Past -- you know, some of the Santa Claus trading cards we've seen throughout the years. Most of it's trivial and not all that collectable -- but they all stand out in a way compared to our traditional sports cards.
1989 Pro Set Promos #1989
When Dallas-based Pro Set created this card during its first season of making football cards in 1989, it sparked a trend that we saw in not just football cards but other areas in the years that followed. (Boy are there some bad Photoshop jobs there in the 1990s.) For all intents and purposes, though, Buzz would call this one a "Rookie Card." Yes, there were previous non-sports cards -- but this was the one that put cards like this on the minds of the sports-collecting masses after it was mailed out to dealers and selected NFL-related people.Panini Select will bring high-end take on international soccer
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When the next Panini America soccer product arrives in January, it will bring all the international flair and fervor of The Beautiful Game, but it will take things up a notch in spots compared to its predecessor without a dramatic high-end hike in price.
The brand is 2015 Panini Select and it's set to arrive on Jan. 6 packing three autographs or memorabilia cards per box along with a selection of inserts and parallels. The previously released 2015 Donruss soccer boxes had just one autograph per box, while Select will include the first memorabilia cards made by the company for its international soccer releases.
First Buzz: 2016 Topps Doctor Who Timeless trading cards
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What: 2016 Topps Doctor Who Timeless trading cards
Arrives: May 5, 2016
Box basics: Two autographs or Relics per every 24-pack hobby boxWhat's buzz-worthy: The multi-generational, multi-series sci-fi staple Doctor Who is back on a new set of trading cards from Topps in the spring with this one spanning all of the action with a new selection of photos, autographs, inserts and more.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
New Buzz: Products out this week (Dec. 20-26) include Bowman's Best, Immaculate College & 14U USA kids
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After a heavy week of releases and some delays this month, this week is a bit lighter -- but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its highlights among the four brands set to arrive.
We have three baseball sets on the schedule and the return of Bowman's Best along with the launch of Topps Strata as a standalone brand. Throw in a USA Baseball set on the schedule and one high-end college brand from Panini America (keep reading) and that's it for the week.
The format for 2015 Bowman's Best will be similar to Finest with two mini-boxes each yielding two autographs (four autos per in every master box). The format for 2015 Topps Strata is all hits -- every box includes one autograph and one Relic and that's it for the acetate-layered cards.