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 ... it's a bit heavier on MLB and some vintage edition as I'm still awaiting deliveries.

CLASSIC BATTING LEAD-OFF ...
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Topps Traded #41T -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I'm fine with nines and when I saw this one for $17.50 with no obvious substantial flaws despite its grade I grabbed it. Why? Slabbed early cards of all-time greats like him from the 1980s and 1990s are destined to be moving as slab-hungry buyers want more and more as the obvious other bigger cards just keep rising. I, myself, am not all that interested in chasing Griffey's Upper Deck RC at a meaty price in a high-grade slab (I have a couple around/below this mark and a few raw not worth slabbing) but this one always has a little more appeal to me since it's cheap ... and I actually had a few way back then.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: This card isn't the easiest grade with weird surface roller lines, centering and back edge chipping issues always possible based on what I've seen. While a BGS 9 or 9.5 isn't all that rare, I'm fine with it for the price -- a 9.5 will definitely cost more and the most-common grade is actually lower than this. That population of 10s is surprising but I'm not that surprised there are no truly perfect copies. I don't think its possible here.

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

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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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BIGGEST THING IN BASEBALL RIGHT NOW
The Item: Ronald Acuña 2017 Bowman's Best Green Refractor auto /99 (BGS 10-10)
The Price: $290 after 44 bids (active auction)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The early autograph cards for this young slugger typically get graded and put on eBay with new-car pricing but this card -- one that came just a .5 away from a perfect BGS Black slab -- is up as an active auction that will close in five days. His home run binge is something that we've already talked about here this week and it will be interesting to see where this one lands. Bowman's Best cards are typically overlooked vs. Chromes but they can command some good cash at times -- and it should do pretty well in a scenario like this where he's red-hot on the field.
Similar Pieces: More Ronald Acuña cards on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for MLB boxes

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

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Cincinnati Reds fans may have a new reason to go to the ballpark as soon as this weekend as a top draft pick could be called up at any time.

He's Nick Senzel and he was the second pick in the 2016 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee. After today, the cellar-dwelling Reds can call him up without losing a year of contract control -- a move that's commonly been used for top names in recent years, no matter what their spring numbers said.

In Senzel's case, the spring stats weren't earth-shattering -- he hit .286 (8-for-28) with three RBI -- but last season he hit .321 with 14 homers and 65 RBI between two levels. He's been working a few positions in the infield and, most importantly, the 2-10 Reds just lost their starting third baseman to injury.

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The reigning Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year and future Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña gets the nod as the first of an occasional series of graphic looks at players in the game today here on The Buzz.

Check it out ... and chase his autographs here.

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

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 impressive pulls as we head into the weekend.

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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 big pulls in this weekend 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: Nothing but big pulls in this Sunday 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: 2017 Bowman's Best MLB (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 12
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 72
Base set completion: 
17 of 65 (26 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Prospects set completion: 
14 of 35 (40 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Jose Altuve, Francisco Lindor, Joey Votto, Corey Seager, Ichiro Suzuki, Buster Posey, George Springer, Jose Berrios, Miguel Sano, Max Scherzer

Rookie Cards (7) – Dansby Swanson, Tyler Glasnow, Alex Bregman, Yulieski Gurriel, Raimel Tapia, Luke Weaver, Jose DeLeon

Prospect cards – Jo Adell, Kevin Maitan, Brendan McKay (1B), Alex Faedo, Clarke Schmidt, Pavin Smith, Blake Rutherford, Austin Beck, Willy Adames, Michael Kopech, Amed Rosario, Jake Burger, Keston Hiura, Austin Meadows

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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 today as we power through the holiday weekend.

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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 big pulls and breaks in today's edition.

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What: 2017 Bowman's Best baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 20
Box basics: Four autographs per box (eight boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here to view

What's buzz-worthy: Bowman's Best is back once again with a mini-box format that delivers two autographs in six packs with this year's top veterans, rookies, prospects and draft picks potentially found inside -- oh, and there are Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger cards, too.

Keep reading for more details and a gallery.

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