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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This one is a new department here on The Buzz ... Fast Five -- a quick list under a simple topic that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection. It's a basic list of five items that could be fun for a starting collector or a new way to add to a stash that might already seemingly include everything when it comes to cardboard. For some of you, it's probably common sense. For others of you out there, it's perhaps something to ponder.

This time? Five MLB rookies worth watching on cardboard

KYLE LEWIS -- OF, Seattle Mariners
If you look at the rookie leaders so far this year, it's this guy who's leading the way with 11 hits in six games two homers and five RBIs. He's also got 10 strikeouts -- a little scary there -- but he's still hitting .458. He's pushing 1,000 different baseball cards with more than 300 of those being certified autos starting with 2016 Bowman Draft. Some good news? About half of his autos are in 2020 releases so he's a big reason to rip into what was you do find and you'd be surprised how much some of his Rookie Card parallels -- no ink -- have been going for.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

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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: 2020 Topps Archives Signature Series Active Player Edition baseball cards
First Buzz preview, gallery & signer list: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 1
Cards per pack: 1
Base set completion: 
N/A

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First Buzz previews are by far our most-popular pieces here on The Buzz and they are a simple way of looking back at everything that was teased and arrived in 2019. Here's a recap of everything that was previewed -- nearly 300 products -- all in one spot.

Keep in mind that a number of 2019 releases were announced before the calendar changed -- but even those can be found by clicking here and doing some digging. And the latter portion of the listing to come are actually a preview of what's to come soon ... so even if you're not in the look-back mood you can certainly look forward to 2020 right here, too.

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JANUARY PREVIEWS (Don't mind dust on the old galleries ... still updating them after a Wordpress change.) 

First Buzz: 2019 Topps Chrome baseball cards

First Buzz: 2019 Topps WWE Transcendent Collection wrestling cards

First Buzz: 2019 Leaf Draft football cards

First Buzz: 2019 Onyx Preferred Players Baseball Collection

First Buzz: 2017-18 Leaf Pearl hockey cards

First Buzz: 2018 Panini Flawless football cards

First Buzz: 2018-19 Donruss soccer cards

First Buzz: Super Break The Bar Mementos Holiday Edition

First Buzz: 2019 The Bar Pieces of The Past Series 1

First Buzz: 2019 Panini Prizm Draft Picks football cards

First Buzz: 2019 Topps WWE Undisputed wrestling cards

First Buzz: 2019 Topps Tier One baseball cards

First Buzz: 2019 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards

First Buzz: 2019 Topps MLB Sticker Collection

First Buzz: 2019 SAGE HIT Low Series football cards

First Buzz: 2018-19 Panini Court Kings basketball cards

First Buzz: 2019 Panini Diamond Kings baseball cards

First Buzz: 2018 Panini Honors football cards

First Buzz: 2019 Topps UFC Knockout

First Buzz: 2019 Topps Museum Collection baseball cards

First Buzz: 2018-19 Topps Chrome UEFA Champions League

Alliance of American Football opts for Topps football cards

First Buzz: 2019 Topps Finest baseball cards

First Buzz: 2019 Historic Autographs Steele Engravings

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Keep reading for more ... there were plenty of releases this year.

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

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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 Bowman Chrome (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 12 (six per mini box)
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 60
Base set: 22 of 100 (22 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, Francisco Lindor, Aaron Judge, Christian Yelich

Rookie Cards (9) – Cal Quantrill, Danny Jansen, Bryse Wilson, Kolby Allard, Corbin Burnes, Jonathan Loaisiga, Dakota Hudson, Chance Adams, Engel De Los Santos

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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 pulls from around the collecting world as we wait for Buzz's caffeine to kick in.

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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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MAN OF THE MOMENT ... AND WRONG SET NAME
The Item: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2019 Bowman Chrome Superfractor (1/1)
The Price: $1,799.99 opening bid (with best offer option)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This probably isn't what you're looking for with the arrival of 2019 Bowman Chrome -- it's all about prospect autos, especially in the HTA boxes linked below -- but there are other cards to look for, too, and this is one. If you click that link above you'll see something else peculiar beyond the price, which I'm not sure will even be hit opening that high. The seller mistakenly called this card a Gold Shimmer ... an error on a card of a guy who is on the cusp of some MLB history in the coming days as he's just three stolen bases away from being the youngest member of the very-exclusive 40-40 Club. If the price was low, I'd call this a steal scenario ... but it's not. (It also was fixed while I was writing this.)
Similar Pieces: 2019 Bowman Chrome autos on eBay 
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019 Bowman Chrome

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

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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 Yaz, 2019 Bowman Chrome breaks, Zion Williamson, collecting nothing but RCs and, yes, displaying autographs can make them fade.

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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: Ginter's non-MLB autos, 2019 Bowman Chrome arrives and big pulls 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: Pondering flagship NFL brands, big pulls, big eBay Bucks offer, 2019 Bowman Chrome surprises and three key Derek Jeter cards for 10 cent apiece.

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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: Deivi Garcia is signing for 2019 Bowman Chrome, big pulls, the tale of one Trout and a surprise from Pop Century proof boxes.

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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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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 around the collecting world and chatter for The National are today's main pieces here.

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What: 2019 Bowman Chrome baseball cards
Arrives: Sept. 18
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
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Topps continues with the format that it introduced for Bowman Chrome a couple of years ago with HTA Choice boxes that are autograph-only with their own features and a traditional release that includes standard cards and more via a traditional mini-box format.

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

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