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: MLB disappointments, new pulls, Action Packed, Prizm WWE reactions, a loaded Victor Wembanyama box and The National.

Continue reading →

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 lot: 1994 Action Packed football cards (three packs)
Where to buy: Check junk bins ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football cards

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

Continue reading →

Buzz buys a lot of stuff these days and for a few reasons, really. Sometimes it's just bargain-hunting, sometimes it's just something that strikes me. And other times it's a lot -- a group of things -- and that has happened enough lately I figured I'd try something different as a regularly appearing item. Sometimes my lots will be wins, sometimes they won't be ... but I'll let you decide. 

--

GOOD AS GOLDEN
The Lot: An album of 1991 Action Packed NFL Series 1 football cards
The Price: $9.99

The Tease: What you see above is really the key here for this first Buzz Buys lot item. Why? Well, while the special cards seen above aren't all that pricey they're not all that commonly found. That wasn't the case this time, though ...

Keep reading for more on this one ...

Continue reading →

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: 1993 Action Packed Rookie Update football cards
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... BlowoutCards.com for Retro Rips boxes

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

Continue reading →

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 ... 

--

I'M A BELIEVER ... IN BARGAINS
The Item: Tua Tagovailoa autographed and framed 10-by-18 photo (Fanatics Authentic)
The Price: Under $150 (on sale and with a rewards discount)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I started to scour autographed cards for this QB who I think might have a strong year and, well, I was a little surprised at how his stuff can still be pretty pricey despite plenty of available options and despite the negative chatter that oddly still comes with him having a record-breaking receiver last year and then an elite speed guy added into the mix for this year. Sure, it's still the Dolphins, but since I'm an Alabama guy I'm good here either way ... though I would have preferred a quality photo like this in Crimson. But ... the price was right for an oversized and already-framed piece and the photo and crop here was unusual and a little dramatic, too, vs. a lot of other options. I wanted something different that wouldn't break the bank to start a new season and this one hit the spot. (Regular price is around $180 plus shipping, tax, etc. on top of that.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but 2020 NFL boxes are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

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 ... and this time around it's a little heavier on football as that season is here.

--

AEW ORIGINALS ... AS IN ORIGINAL ARTWORK 
The Cards: Gummy Arts original T206-style drawings (1/1s) for Thunder Rosa, Orange Cassidy, MJF, Powerhouse Hobbs & Sting
The Price: Less than an AEW hobby box
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you don't know the work of artist Mike Noren -- aka Gummy Arts -- he's been drawing athletes or memorable pop culture characters in penciled cartoon-style reproductions of past cards or on new creations for years now. You can find constantly updating feeds of his work in timely posts over on Instagram or Twitter and then sometimes those get reproduced and sold as cards in packs. In other instances, he's let the original artwork go, too. Those vanish fast and can be pricey -- actually, his packs can vanish fast, too -- and for years now I've eyed the section of his site for original art (typically $50-80 depending on subject) that made it into cards. I had never found one that was must-have for me -- or at least found a must-have one in stock -- but one day after seeing a tweet of his I did my regular ritual and checked the site to find this set of five T206/Honus Wagner homages in one slightly pricier lot but had to grab them. I had remembered seeing the Rosa online but didn't remember any of these being made into actual cards. It turns out they weren't, so the only thing that exists f0r now (at least when I recently grabbed them) are these originals. Four are top AEW stars while one is an all-time great who has worked for every company ... really a no-brainer for me and I might have paid the typical full price for one or two of these. The Rosa card in a Tijuana jersey and others in their own Wagner-style threads made me laugh, while that Cassidy is not far from spot-on even in Noren's style. Poke around here on The Buzz and you'll see more of these ... just not in 1/1 original art form.
Grab a box right here: AEW cards are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

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 ...

A CAREER YEAR
The Card: Dansby Swanson 2017 Topps Heritage #76B action variation SP -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: I'm a sucker for Heritage RCs and multi-player cards from the past, but I've never really chased the SPs that have been immensely popular since around this year where a few key names went solo from their card counterparts and have cards of their own -- both signed and unsigned. I had Swanson stashed on my fantasy league all season (mostly on the bench behind a favorite of mine you see here often) and saw the career year as it was happening. I had been eyeing this card for years now -- I own plenty of the regular ones as well as a couple of the Chrome types (I might slab those) -- and grabbed this awhile back. With the Braves' World Series showing, I figured I'd have him batting lead-off here ... and he won't be alone from the ATL here this month.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I wasn't really worried about the pop report but I also didn't realize there were so few cards above this one. I will stash this one away with my Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr. slabs I've picked up or slabbed on my own the last couple years like I suspect many have and will be doing. I probably need to slab some of their pitchers and you might see a Freddie Freeman Heritage card or two here in the future. (I lean toward the new guys more but have had some good Heritage pulls.)

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

Continue reading →

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: NFL chatter and NFL pulls, a well-timed MLB find, Pawn Stars, vintage stars making moves and more.

Continue reading →

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 ...

A COLLEGE CLASSIC
The Card: The Four Horsemen 1955 Topps All-American #68 SP -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: College football is back for another season, so I'll lead things off with a vintage classic. This card featuring Notre Dame quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfbacks Jim Crowley and Don Miller as well as fullback Elmer Layden is one that's been on my want list -- albeit very casually -- for a long time. I recently found one at a price that wasn't uncomfortable so here we are. I don't need a high-grade copy of this one -- just one that looks pretty good so I can say I have it. Besides their place in college football history, The Four Horsemen have a place in sportswriting history, too, as Grantland Rice gave them this name early on in what was a perfect 1924 season that ended with a national title. His New York Herald Tribune story started like this: "Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below." It's one of those pieces that's often cited when talking college football or sportswriting history and it's often emulated and it later sparked a marketing scenario -- the players would go on to pose on horses in uniform. In a lot of ways, that marketing is still replicated every Heisman season and beyond. This set is a landmark release, especially for college collectors, and this is one of a few big cards.
The Grade: BVG 2.5

Reality Check: Mine checks in low, but it's not the lowest -- there are 18 copies worse than mine and 14 others with this grade. It's very interesting to compare that total and then consider how few cards there are above a seven here.

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

Continue reading →

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: Pondering Han Solo's Rookie Card, a cool Action Packed error card, big pulls, a vintage decision (don't do it!) and ... a Target run coughs up a 1/1.

Continue reading →

With the COVID-19 pandemic erasing pretty much everything in the sports world right now, ESPN's decision to launch The Last Dance early is a jolt of nostalgia that's fueling plenty of extra demand for some already legendary basketball cards from the past.

The eagerly awaited 10-part documentary arrives Sunday night at 9 p.m. Eastern and it tells the story of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls and their final championship run -- their third title in three years and sixth of that decade. It obviously keys upon the NBA's greatest player of all time and its biggest name on cardboard, Michael Jordan. But he's far from alone as the series will present original and new footage from that season as well as interviews from the players -- both on the court and beyond -- back then. We'll also hear from others from around the league who were on the court or covering the team as it commanded attention, won it all and then was forced to go their separate ways.

For Jordan, that meant a second retirement and return with the Washington Wizards three years later -- we probably won't hear a word about that (call it a hunch) -- but we'll be hearing plenty from many involved every Sunday night (two installments per evening) from here until May 17. If you're a new collector wanting to jump on the Jordan bandwagon it's not going to be easy -- you're about 35 years and 13,000 cards too late -- and the asking prices for many a Jordan gem are though the roof more now than ever. However, if you're a fan who missed some of the historic action back then there are still plenty of ways to dabble in cardboard from The Last Dance as it's ultimately a tale that's not just about Jordan.

Keep reading for 12 ways to explore the cardboard for The Last Dance ... both for Jordan and others who we'll see often every Sunday night.

Continue reading →

Fast Five is new department here on The Buzz -- a quick list under a single topic. Five items that could have a common tie, fit a theme, be fun for a starting collector, or be 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 something to think about.

This time? Five brands from the past that I'd bring back now.

SAME APPROACH, NEW FORMAT
The Brand: Panini Americana non-sports cards
There might be some groans out there -- perhaps even from Dallas -- with my having this one leading off here. Why? These kinds of releases are a lot of work to create -- there's no union deal to help line up rights for those to appear in the set and help facilitate who might appear and sign autographs. It's been five years since the last Americana non-sports release and that was one that has really dried up now wax-wise. It's a brand that, with a format tweak, I could perhaps see do better now than back then. That last release was a traditional box format with a ton of packs, a few hits at a price that I'd argue was too high for what those non-hit packs delivered. (And, at times, even beyond some of the hits, too.) But the formula of celeb autos and mem cards is one that still works. What would I change? I'd avoid a drab design -- there's a reason I show a Blue foilboard parallel here and not one of the gray base cards -- and I'd put a hit in every pack in a smaller box ... something closer to Prestige NFL or Elite Extra Edition baseball in recent years or in Americana's earlier years. Or, perhaps a brand like this might even take a hits-only approach? Either way, there are a ton of big names who have had cards in the various editions of this line that arrived way back in 2007. To me, it's time for more.

Continue reading →

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 6.

The box: 1994 Action Packed 25th Anniversary of Monday Night Football football cards
The cost: About $8 now ... far more back then. (Click here for new NFL cards)

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

Continue reading →

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 ...

The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Living Set #179 RC
The Reason Graded: While I own a few Topps Living Set cards the arrival of this second-generation MLB star in this weekly release sparked my first purchase from this popular brand that's clearly popular with flippers. I ponied up for 10 copies of the card --solely with potential grading in mind -- but didn't receive a single perfectly centered card in my batch, which was a bummer. After some grumbling, I picked out this one from the batch and sent it in.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It graded as well as I thought it could -- maybe better -- so I wasn't unhappy with the grade and it appears that I'm perhaps on the luckier side with just two 10s out there better than it via BGS ... for now. This is a card that will likely be graded more and more often so those won't last but but it appears that this one is arriving between 8.5 and 9.5 more often than not. I have a second one I'll submit to PSA at some point with my sights set on a 10 there. We'll see sometime later this year.

Continue reading →

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 some of all of those.

Continue reading →

The biggest weekend in professional wrestling is here with WrestleMania 34 set for Sunday in New Orleans and events beginning tonight with the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a NXT Takeover on Saturday and then Raw/Smackdown tapings after that. We'll make today a big day for wrestling collectors right here on The Buzz with #BuzzMania, a series of WWE wax box and wax pack breaks all day long.

How long will we go? Stay tuned ...

The packs: 1994 Action Packed WWF
The cost: Varies ($2 per pack in this case)

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

Continue reading →

Mark your calendar: #BuzzMania -- a wrestling-only pack- and box-breaking marathon -- is coming right here on Friday.

We'll have breaks of notable past WWE packs and boxes from the last 30-plus years every hour all day long -- and we'll have a John Cena autograph direct from WWE up for grabs for one active commenter/tweeter/sharer here or on Twitter and Facebook.

---

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

>> Click here to buy WWE cards on BlowoutCards.com.

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

The box: 1995 Action Packed ABC Monday Night Football cards
The cost: $15

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

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

The Deadman has hit eBay.

The first Topps autographs signed by future WWE Hall of Famer Undertaker -- just the third certified autographs of his career -- have arrived in boxes of 2017 Topps WWE and the asking price for the first card to hit the auction site has a jaw-dropping Buy-It-Now price.

Continue reading →

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 1.

The box: 1997 Pinnacle Action Packed NFL retail (magazine vendor) box 
The cost now: $9,99
The cost then: $89.64 in United States, $125.64 in Canada ($2.49/$3.49 per pack ... it says so on the packs!)

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

Continue reading →

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 6.

The pack: 1992 Action Packed Rookie Update football cards 
The cost now: $12
The cost then: $2.49/pack, $59.76/box

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

Continue reading →