Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

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MY BEAR NECESSITY
The Item: Paul "Bear" Bryant autographed & dated/inscribed (Oct. 18, 1976) 8-by-10 photo (BAS authenticated)
The Price: $219 ... high for me but it's the perfect item for me
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was a jaw-dropper of a find for me during a random search of Mill Creek Sports' superstore for autographed stuff earlier this year and I've saved it for football season, specifically this month, to present it and tell its story. It's personalized and that makes it perfect for me this time ... and to top that, the signed date -- the legendary Alabama Crimson Tide football coach and football icon who won 323 games dated everything signed like this -- might as well be on Buzz's actual birthday. (It's close ... close enough.) The odds of this existing or one being signed on my actual birthday? Well, I'm sure there were a number of things to sign on this Monday and I'm also very sure he wasn't sitting down to sign requests on a gameday when I kicked things off in the world. So, this is perhaps as close as it can get. The quality and condition of the photo are perfect and the ink is perfectly legible, too. Now, is his autograph really rare? Not particularly, but he died in January 1983 well before sit-down and paid signing sessions were en vogue for sports legends and he's still in high, historic demand despite Nick Saban equaling him and/or re-writing the Alabama record book in more recent years. It's the perfect item at a perfect price and it will always be mine.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but football cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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 packs: 2024 Leaf Metal Women of Sport 1/1 Pre-Production Proofs (two)
Where to buy: Click here for regular boxes (when available)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for what was in this one.

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

TOUGH ONE?
The Card: Bo Bichette 2022 Topps Heritage image variation (found in Heritage High Number packs)
The Reason Graded: Some of you might wonder why this card is in the lead slot this month since it's a simple image variation -- but a great one -- from a brand that's not quite as pricey as it used to be. (At least for singles ... you can find this for about $2 or less.) But, finding one of these that will get a high (real) grade? Not so much. The centering can always be a bear here but that's not the constant problem spot. It's the backs of these that use full-bleed black ink where cards that may look flawless on the fronts are often demolished when it comes to those those back edges.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: This one? It still has a some minor spotting -- that's why it's not a perfect 10 -- but it's way better than every other one I've seen and that's why I subbed this after I found it raw. Why? That front is pretty much a perfectly crafted design and I definitely don't mind retro-styled sets like this one -- I call it the old-guy flagship set as it is for me vs. basic Topps. The stuff feels more sturdy with its stock and printing -- I'm not sure I trust foilboard to age that well, either -- but the trade-off is that Heritage is harder to grade and land those higher marks. In all ways, this one is a win for me, a Bichette collector, and that's why he's batting lead-off. (It also doesn't hurt he's starting to warm up on the field this season.)

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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GOING HIGH-END ... 
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Bowman Transcendent (/100) -- Rookie Card
The Price: Less than some retail mega boxes ...
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: While this comes from one of the most-expensive brands ever made and he's a past All-Star, a bad season apparently prompts easy sell-offs these days and in this case I was a buyer. While I'd like his RCs from these releases in slabs (the frames and Chome-like surfaces here can show smaller flaws easily) this one was too cheap to pass up in comparison to slabbed cards that weren't even in elite grades. This cost me half or even a third of common asking prices for the graded cards with no obvious, blatant flaw to make it feel like it would check in lower ... though it's not perfect. It's a perfect start for me here -- I'll likely add more if The Big Bo Slide of 2024 keeps going. Why? I collect Bichette.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one, but MLB boxes are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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: 2002 TVT Records TV Guide 50 All-Time Favorite Themes Soundtrack
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... BlowoutCards.com for traditional non-sports cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 8 in 8 -- a series of a eight breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in as many hours today. We'll post one every hour ... this is Hour 4.

The box: 1991 Impel Laffs trading cards 
The cost: Varies (Original price -- $9.) Click here for newer non-sports cards

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... and this is Hour 6.

The packs: 1978 Topps Three's Company (three packs)
The cost: Varies when found -- get new non-sports cards here

What's inside this pack? Keep reading ...

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What: 2018 Twin Peaks trading cards
Arrives: Aug. 22
Box basics: Two autographs per 24-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This iconic TV show once again gets a card set as part of the quest to decipher who killed Laura Palmer -- and it's a rather comprehensive one, too, as she's among the signers.

Keep reading for more.

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One of the most-memorable voices in college football -- if not all of broadcasting -- has gone silent as Keith Jackson has died. He was 89.

His career started in the 1950s and he continued working until the mid-2000s with his "Whoa, Nellie!" catch-phrase heard countless times calling 15 Rose Bowls and plenty more during a stretch for ABC that began broadcasting college games in 1966. Jackson also called World Series games, Olympic events and worked on the Monday Night Football broadcast team.

And that's where his perhaps only standard football card comes into play.

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... and this is Hour 9.

The pack: 1978 Topps Three's Company
The cost: $2

What's inside this pack? Keep reading ...

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The Garbage Pail Kids have called in some Hollywood friends for their next release.

Topps revealed on Thursday that its We Hate the 1980s set coming in January will include autographs from the cast of ABC's The Goldbergs. 

Who'll make the cut and become one of the Kids?

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... this is Hour 8.

The pack: 1981 Donruss Dallas trading cards
The cost now: $2
The cost then: 25 cents

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... and this is Hour 11.

The pack: 1978 Topps Three's Company wax pack
The cost now: $2
The cost then: 20 cents

What's inside this pack? Keep reading ...

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One of TV's cult classics is making a comeback -- and Funko toys will revisit the mysteries that surrounded the series.

It's Twin Peaks and even Laura Palmer has a couple of toys on the way in both its Pop! and Action Figures lines.

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There's no doubt that even after years out of the spotlight that O.J. Simpson remains one of the more-controversial and polarizing people on the planet, and we'll get a new wave of discussion about the retired and incarcerated football star with the premiere of O.J.: Made in America, which is a five-part ESPN Films documentary, tonight on ABC.

Simpson, of course, is behind bars for armed robbery and kidnapping after an altercation with a memorabilia dealer back in 2007. His acquittal in the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman -- and the 1997 civil suit found Simpson liable for their deaths -- will be one of the main focuses of the nearly eight-hour series.

Will the new story spark any added interest in his key cards? It's very possible and people are seemingly already interested to some degree. His 1970 Topps Rookie Card (above) actually surged in value back during the first trial and there were non-NFL-licensed card companies that actually had him sign autographs while in jail. According to one advance account of the new documentary, those autographs signed in jail are discussed in the series.

"O.J. had only been in jail for two or three days when, per his agent Mike Gilbert, he gave instructions to start 'marketing and merchandising and generating a lot of money,'" reads one advance review. "Gilbert and memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong brought in fabric numbers for O.J. to sign, which would later be sewn into jerseys, and leather panels that would eventually become footballs. Demand, says Fromong, was through the roof, and as photographs reveal, an O.J. autograph signed from behind bars could go for hundreds of dollars.

"'He sat in jail,' says Fromong, 'and we did $3-million dollars in autographs.' One photograph of O.J. and Johnnie Cochran got both their signatures. 'I look back,' says Gilbert, 'and think, this sucked. I can’t believe we did this.'”

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Politicians have appeared on cardboard since the earliest years of trading cards -- you know, in packs of cigarettes back in the 1800s -- and they've appeared in countless non-sports, war and even sports sets of the last 30-plus years as collecting emerged upon the national psyche and flourished as part of the pop culture landscape.

But the new Decision 2016 trading cards arriving this week include something that we haven't yet seen in a political release -- the chance at autographs and more advanced "hit" cards along with a healthy amount of traditional cardboard.

In the midst of one of the most-tumultous political seasons in years, this is a product that offers a promising start for a perhaps-expanding trading card genre of its own -- and the potential for something more.

It already appears to be a landmark release, but don't just take Buzz's word for it.

"The idea of a set that captures that drama of an election – that is compelling," said Rick Klein, who is ABC News' Political Director and also a long-time baseball card collector. "I feel like it’s something that could start as a novelty project but catch on. You’d be surprised by how many political junkies are also collectors. People love pins, hats, signs. I’ve seen autograph-seekers at obscure conferences for senators most people could never name."

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Super Bowl MVP Von Miller. UFC fighter Paige VanZant. Pittsburgh Steelers receiving machine Antonio Brown. Former CFL/NFL star and Heisman-winner Doug Flutie.

What do they have in common? They'll all be Dancing With The Stars when the show premieres for yet another season on March 21. 

A fourth of the dozen teams competing on the ballroom dancing competition come from the sports world, and, because of trading cards, they just might be the targets of the show's fans who want a collectable of their own.

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Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce will be the star of a reality TV show that revolves around his dating life -- and, believe it or not, there's a shot that it could spark added interest in his football cards.

E! Entertainment announced this week that it has eight episodes of Catching Kelce coming soon and in a story to deadline.com an E! executive described why the player was chosen.

“On top of being a well-respected athlete, Travis has a fun-loving, over the top personality that draws people to him," E! executive vice president Jeff Olde said. "We are excited to give our viewers an up-close look at his search for love."

So, why might this mean something for his football cards?

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