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 ...

STRONG SEASON ... WHAT'S NEXT?
The Card: Juan Soto 2018 Topps 582 Montgomery Club Set 1 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: A big season that came up short of the goal ... but now it's time for a historic payday while still in his mid-20s. Soto's Rookie Cards (2018) aren't all that rare, really, but there's a lot of demand -- but they still might be good buys depending on where he goes next. (Mets? Watch out.) All those thoughts were in mind when I popped this one into a submission earlier this year along with other key names from this small set for Club members. It's not a traditional RC since it's from a small set, but it's still a good Soto to me ... so I slabbed it.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: Top grade of a small volume works for me. I'm sure there will be more and I'm sure the pops are higher elsewhere, but the range of the grades here shows it might not be the easiest kind of card to grade thanks to that retro stock.

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

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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 ...

MY FIRST WEM-BAM!-YAMA ...
The Card: Victor Wembanyama 2023-24 Panini Prizm Green Prizms -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: My first -- and actually only -- batch of Prizm NBA blasters included this gem and I knew instantly that it would be in a slab once I saw its centering and then no issues among the sometimes-pesky edges for Prizm and similar stock of the last few years. (Sometimes clean ... sometimes not.) In this case, I had this one in a box headed for grading even before I had its Buzz Break box broken down and posted here ... and it's a solid keeper for me vs. my Hoops finds that all had things that me scared off of slabbing them.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: That's pretty much the perfect scenario isn't it? Top grade for a retail blaster -- at suggested retail price even -- pull ... even if there's a curtain that seemed to lather up some people out there. This won't be the last you see of this generational talent in this series ... but this is it for this month's slabs.

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 is to rip a little less 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 all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL ICONS
The Card: Paul "Bear" Bryant & Knute Rockne 2010 Panini Century Collection Souvenir Stamps Sports Combos (two stamps dual material) (/100)
The Price: More than I'll admit ... but it's a keeper.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is just the second time I've grabbed one of these key memorabilia cards with a piece of a fedora worn by Bryant and a jacket from Rockne -- two of the greatest coaches in the history of college football. Rockne has a number of memorabilia cards out there (more than 50) but Bryant only has a literal handful of cards -- and almost all of them were in this release. Why? Hats aren't all that big. As far as I know, all but a 1/1 card or two is in this release ... meanwhile, the prices for the few Bryant fedoras that may exist -- if they ever hit the market again -- won't be card-conducive in the future since they are pricey. The last two Bryant houndstooth fedoras auctioned? Together, they topped $100,000 on the auction block. These are limited to only 100 copies and I hadn't picked up one of these in a long time. Why this time? You never know when more might pop up.
Grab a box right here: 2010 Panini Century Collection (when available)

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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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Buzz Breaks are always among our most-read features here on The Buzz as many of you are curious about seeing what comes out of a new box of cards -- whether it's some affordable retail box or some pricier box from the many that are out there.

Excluding our monthly #Buzz8in8 marathon days -- those will return in 2020, by the way -- Buzz ripped nearly 300 boxes for Buzz Breaks this year. While we'd love to present all of them here, that's not just going to happen today. (There's just not enough on caffeine for that.)

Instead, here is a sampling of the most interesting breaks of the last year -- some new boxes, some not -- presented in no particular order.

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Buzz Break: 2019-20 Panini Prizm NBA cards (mega box)

Buzz Break: 2018-19 Panini Prizm NBA cards (mega box)

Buzz Break: 2019 Topps Big League baseball cards (hobby)

Buzz Break: 2019 Panini Diamond Kings (FOTL)

Buzz Break: 2019 Topps Tier One baseball cards (hobby)

Buzz Break: 2017 Donruss Optic football cards (SE blaster)

Buzz Break: 2019 Topps Tribute baseball cards (hobby)

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Keep reading for more ... there are nearly 50 breaks in this one.

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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: MLB postseason chatter and box breaks are all that we need as today gets going.

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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 Heritage Minor League baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 19 (18 standard, one box-topper)
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 140
Base set completion: 
123 of 200 (62 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Wander Franco, Austin Riley, A.J. Puk, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Faedo, Kyle Lewis, Daz Cameron, Nolan Gorman, Victor Victor Mesa, Dustin May, Jarred Kelenic, Luis Robert, Ian Anderson, Seth Beer, Brendan Rodgers, Casey Mize, Brendan McKay, Jazz Chisholm, Corey Ray, Jordyn Adams, Alex Kirilloff, MacKenzie Gore, Joey Bart, Keston Hiura

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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 break highlights in today's edition.

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What: 2019 Topps Heritage Minor League baseball cards
Arrives: Sept. 25
Box basics: One autograph and one Relic per 19-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Collectors can turn back the clock to 1970 for a final time this season with this trip down to the minor leagues where baseball's hopefuls get a big-league look on this popular line and one lucky collector will get a chance to suit up on a one-day contract.

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

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