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 ...

WILD THING!
The Card: Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) 2014 Topps Archives Major League 
The Reason Graded: As you can tell by the green label, this one is an older submission of mine ... but since spring training will be upon us soon I figured I'd lead off with an oddball classic and a card that has been pretty pricey in recent years despite being from a set where they showed up one per blaster box (if I remember correctly). The challenge here? Now even finding blasters is not easy ... they got ripped. Why? There weren't just basic inserts for some of the stars of Major League who got carded ... they signed, too. (Roughly one auto per hobby case.)
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: This one was clean so I knew I wanted to slab it -- the backs here have black borders that can be an issue -- and as it turns out this is the only 10 of a small bunch graded. That's a win for me.

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

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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 boxes 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.

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

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MONSTER YEAR, SIMPLE ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Derrick Henry 2016 Donruss Rookie Card (BGS 9.5)
The Price: $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I made this pick-up just before he started his recent run of big games mostly because it seemed underpriced for the grade, which is a solid quad 9.5. Interestingly, just 25 copies of this card have been slabbed and nothing has checked in below this mark. It makes me think you could pick off a factory set at a pretty cheap price if you want to dabble with grading key cards here -- and there are a few where you could do pretty well with some 9.5s or 10s. About that price ... one of the other 9.5s had an asking price of $40 on eBay when I looked. Sure, the action here is heavier on Optic, ink and rarer parallels, but simple RCs of affordable sets seem to be go-to cards for more and more people these days.
Grab a box right here: 2016 Donruss (several formats)

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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There could be a new slugger on his way to MLB from Japan -- and you might already have some of his baseball cards.

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo will posted by his team, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, soon and that means MLB teams will have a shot at signing him. He's a guy who has hit 139 homers in the last four years -- his best season being 2016 when he hit .322 with 44 homers and 110 RBI.

Thanks to the World Baseball Classic, he's already got a few baseball cards that have been found in past Topps packs -- and, of course, he has BBM cards if you want to go further back into the past.

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Mario Feliciano, C, Brewers — High-A Carolina Mudcats
Baseball America’s highlight line: “Feliciano entered the year with a ton of upside, and it’s beginning to show up loudly and often. He’s loose and athletic both at the plate and behind it, and he has built on a strong May with a blistering June. In nine games this month, Feliciano has swatted five home runs (as many as he did all of last month) and is 14-for-32 overall."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 100
First Chrome auto: None yet
Autos to consider: Leaf's 2015 Perfect Game All-American releases
Buzz’s card take: His ink is basically limited to Perfect Game All-American releases from 2015 and a limited number of autos in 2016 Elite Extra Edition and that's it -- nothing since. Despite this, more than half of his cards are autographs, though he does have unsigned MLB cardboard. He can be found in 2016 Bowman Draft -- his only cards from Topps. In four MiLB seasons, the 20-year-old has hit .253 with 21 homers and 113 RBI in 237 games. Nothing super-flashy on the card front but he's a catcher so the number aren't necessarily a given necessity there for him to arrive. The lack of cardboard  may help drive up auction prices for those who opt to chase here.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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Have you seen the latest cool or interesting items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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SENIOR BOWL GAMER ... OF A HALL OF FAMER
The Item: Brett Favre 1991 Senior Bowl game-used and signed jersey
The Price: $22,000 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The Senior Bowl has a rich history and a number of college stars who went on to NFL greatness after the big game -- and there are many who didn't. While you can find players' Senior Bowl jerseys placed into cardboard in recent years, a past gamer might be much rarer than you think. And one from a player of Favre's caliber? Well, that's an elite piece. This one came directly from Favre himself after being put on the market via Hunt Auctions in 2017. These aren't team colors that we most commonly associate with this Hall of Famer, but it's a one-of-a-kind piece compared to many potential gamers for his pro teams. It's impressive.
Similar Pieces: Brett Favre items on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for NFL boxes

Keep reading for four more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. DJ Peters, OF, Dodgers — Double-A Tulsa Drillers
Season so far: Hitting .236 with 23 doubles, 29 homers, 60 RBI and 1 SB in 131 games
Baseball America’s highlight line: "Peters remains the same balance of pluses and minuses that he was going into last year, but he’s a lot higher profile now thanks to 55 home runs in two seasons. Peters hit 27 home runs in the California League in 2017. Thanks to his furious finish, he finished with 28 home runs in the Texas League in 2018. ... The power is still some of the best in the minors, and there aren’t many center fielders anywhere in pro ball who can crank 25-plus home runs in a season."

CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 175
First Chrome auto: 2018 Bowman
One auto to consider: 2013 Leaf Perfect Game
Buzz’s card take: He's got fewer than 50 certified autos so that, along with his homers, could spark some competition from bidders. He's only got autos from this season and then his earliest ones from Leaf Perfect Game five years ago. He's also in 2018 Panini Chronicles where you can find some variety in ink.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Luis Urias, 2B, Padres — Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas
Season so far: Hitting .290 with 28 doubles, 8 homers, 44 RBI and 2 SBs in 114 games
Baseball America’s highlight line: “Urias reeled off five consecutive multi-hit games, including four three-hit games, and raised his season batting average from .270 to .290 in a span of six games. He finished the week off in grand style, belting the game-tying RBI triple in the ninth and then scoring the winning run on Sunday."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 200
First Chrome auto: Still to come
One auto to consider: 2016 Elite Extra Edition
Buzz’s card take: He's barely cracked 20 certified autos so there's just two places to find him right now -- 2016 Elite Extra Edition and 2018 Onyx Platinum Elite where his easiest auto is limited to only 200 copies. After his un-numbered Elite auto, none of the parallels there is more than 100 copies. All of this should help values right now.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Jo Adell, OF, Angels — High-A Inland Empire 66ers
Season so far: Hitting .318 with 14 doubles, 14 homers, 47 RBI and 11 SBs in 50 games
Baseball America’s highlight line: “At just 19 years old, Adell is quickly emerging as one of the top five-tool prospects in the minor leagues. He earned a promotion to the California League roughly a month ago and has taken the circuit by storm.”
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 400
First Chrome auto: 2017 Bowman Draft
One auto to consider: 2016 Leaf Metal
Buzz’s card take: He’s heavily hyped and was very pricey when his first Chrome ink arrived. A season like this won’t change that. Bargain-hunting could be tough here — but he’ll also likely keep appearing on prospect checklists.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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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 Bowman Chrome Mini baseball (factory set & bonus packs)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 3
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 303 (273 cards in set, 30 bonus parallels)
Base set completion: 
273 of 273 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notable players on base cards – Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger (2), Kevin Maitan, Yoan Moncada, Nick Senzel, Alex Bregman, Rhys Hoskins, Ronald Acuna, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Mickey Moniak, Rafael Devers, Gleyber Torres, Andrew Benintendi,, Eloy Jimenez, Dansby Swanson ... and nearly all other rookies and prospects from 2017 Bowman and 2017 Bowman Chrome

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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: NFL Breaks, Aaron Rodgers' replacement, big pulls and "are we in an autograph bubble?"

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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 Bowman Chrome MLB (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 12 (six per mini box)
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 60
Base set completion: 
23 of 100 (23 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Prospect set completion: 
24 of 100 (24 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notable players on base cards – Ichiro Suzuki, Kris Bryant, Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts, Jose Abreu

Rookie Cards (9) – Andrew Benintendi, Yoan Moncada, Orlando Arcia, Hunter Renfroe, Yulieski Gurriel, Jordan Montgomery, Robert Gsellman, Jharel Cotton, Tyler Glasnow

First Bowman Cards (8) – Chris Paddack, Austin Hays, Miguelangel Sierra, Tomas Nido, Jorge Ona, Jameson Fisher, Jazz Chisholm, Luis Alexander Basabe

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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: Pondering future Hall of Famers, big NFL breaks, a Super Jeter & 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 Today: Fake Trout (gotta love that merchandise sticker), big pulls and plenty of collecting chatter.

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It was a busy one on The Buzz this past week. Here are 12 stories worth a look if you missed out. Check 'em out & hit the subscribe button at right if you want email updates.

Bowman Chrome gets a revamp
HTA Choice boxes with nothing but autographed cards inside are now one option for Chrome fans. Get all the details in our 2017 Bowman Chrome First Buzz preview here.

Keep reading for more ...

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What: 2017 Bowman Chrome baseball cards
Arrives: Sept. 6
Box basics: Three autographs per one-pack HTA Choice box (12 boxes per case);
Two autographs per 12-pack master box (two mini boxes per master box; 12 masters per case)
Checklist: Click here to view
Order: Click here for HTA Choice and click here for Hobby

What's buzz-worthy: Topps offers a new format for Bowman Chrome with HTA Choice boxes that are autograph-only with their own features or a traditional release that includes standard cards and more via the traditional mini-box format.

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

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