Depending on your age, you might not know the name Jack Smalling -- but he wrote the book on through-the-mail autograph collecting back in the day when most autographs weren't just a click away.

While The Baseball Autograph Collector's Handbook is up to its 19th edition today with addresses for more than 90 percent of known living major leaguers, coaches and umpires inside, it's the fruits of his publishing passion -- his autographs -- that are on the auction block in one single lot coming to the auction from Heritage Auctions next month.

"Many, if not most, of Smalling's greatest successes came from trails long since gone cold, but when Smalling first took up his hobby in 1962, quite a few Dead Ball Era legends still walked the Earth," said the auction listing. "And if not the players themselves, then their children or grandchildren, pleased in that pre-Internet age that somewhere, someone still remembered the man. They were all too happy to drop a cancelled check or a clipping from an old lease into the supplied self-addressed, stamped envelope in fulfillment of Smalling's request. More than a half century later, Smalling's collection of autographs numbers in the six figures."

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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: Monster pulls, a big baseball debate about Shohei Ohtani, inside Leaf Pearl and plenty more.

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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 Panini Diamond Kings baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 35
Base set completion: 
19 of 100 (19 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Chipper Jones, Bryce Harper

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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 Panini Diamond Kings baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 35
Base set completion: 
17 of 100 (17 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Babe Ruth, Kris Bryant, Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris, Grover Alexander, Craig Biggio, Clayton Kershaw, Bryce Harper, Kirby Puckett, Paul Goldschmidt

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Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends: Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.

And then they end up in 2018 Topps Archives.

The 25th Anniversary Collector Edition Blu-Ray of The Sandlot is in stores now and it has a set of Topps baseball cards inside with the nine starters from the iconic squad, but it also includes a bit of a scoop for the not-even-announced-yet product.

The scoop? There's even more to come ...

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What: 2018 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures New York Dynasty autographed baseballs
Arrives: May 16
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here 

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase brand takes a New York twist for another season as this one's all about the Yankees with stars of the past and present being part of a chase that includes more than just standard signed baseballs.

Keep reading for more and a gallery of what's in this one.

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A uniform worn by Babe Ruth is on the auction block and it's not yet surpassed the $100,000 mark with a couple days to go before the final gavel.

There's little doubt that Ruth's 1945 Esquire All-America Game coaching uniform will get there, though, as it's estimated by Heritage Auctions to top $200,000.

And that's nothing compared to what his New York Yankees jerseys have sold for, making this one a bargain.

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You're killing me with the wait here, Smalls.

The 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray of The Sandlot is in stores now, but a Collector Edition Blu-Ray set that's still to come next month will include a set of 10 Topps baseball cards branded with a new take on the 1962 Topps All-Star subset.

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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 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 3.

The box: 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (hobby)
The cost: Click here

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

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What: 2018 Leaf Cut Signature Edition History of Baseball
Arrives: April/May Aug. 31
Box basics: One slabbed cut signature card per box (14 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf's next cut autograph product will offer a mix of Hall of Famers, famous First Pitch participants, current stars and future Hall of Famers.

Keep reading for more info and a gallery of what's to come.

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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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On this day in 1934 in Mobile, Ala., Henry Louis Aaron was born -- and 20 years later he made his big-league debut for the Milwaukee Braves.

Twenty-two years after that? Hammerin' Hank's career ended -- in the uniform of the Milwaukee Brewers -- with him atop the all-time home run list. All of this is a simple but impressive stat-sheet reality that you can revisit here but should know.

What some younger collectors may not realize, though, is that one of his baseball cards arrived noting his new record before it actually happened and before it was on the back of his card, instead of the year after as it really should have been. (It's actually among my favorite Aaron cards, too, making the birthday the reason you're reading this.)

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Just 10 of the most-notable items in the sports world that were sold in 2017 totaled more than $6.7 million in sales, ranging from the $1.68 million Norman Rockwell piece you see here to high-grade copies of Mickey Mantle's iconic 1952 Topps card.

And they all had one thing in common -- PSA or PSA/DNA authentication.

"We certified a myriad of incredible items last year, and the list is full of sports history from top to bottom," said Professional Sports Authenticator VP Steve Sloan. "We'll continue pushing ourselves toward another great year in 2018, and look forward to what’s in store."

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based company recently took the time to examine the markets last year and touted its Top 10 for 2017. Keep reading to see everything on the list.

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What: 2018 Panini Diamond Kings baseball cards
Arrives: April 11
Box basics: Two autographs or memorabilia cards per 12-pack box (24 boxes per case via two inners)

What's buzz-worthy: Diamond Kings returns for another season with the legends of yesterday and the stars of today with an artistic approach and nods to the rich past of DK baseball cards.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2018 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Platinum autographed baseballs
Arrives: Feb. 21
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase brand is back for another season with a new batch of stars and legends along with some new specialty balls guaranteed per case that help add variety to the chase.

The biggest chase of them all this year? Keep reading for that and a gallery of what's in this one.

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What: 2018 Panini Diamond Kings baseball cards
Arrives: March 28
Box basics: Three retail-exclusive insert cards per seven-pack blaster box (20 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: We've got early word on what's coming to the retail aisle from Panini America in 2018, and it's the newest crop of Diamond Kings will be the second set to arrive next March.

Keep reading for more info.

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What: 2017 Historic Autographs Originals 1930s baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 29
Box basics: One encased autographed buyback card display per box (16 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: The final Historic Autographs release of the year takes us back to the 1930s with buyback cards and cut autographs paired together in a very limited product.

Keep reading for more information.

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What: 2018 Topps Series 2 baseball cards
Arrives: June 13
Box basics: One autograph or Relic per 36-pack box (12 boxes per case); One autograph and two Relics per 10-pack jumbo box (six boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The second series of the newest edition of the Topps baseball brand -- the flagship brand for the hobby -- will arrive with a wave of energy and full-bleed feel that further breaks from the traditional feel for the brand that's been around for 67 consecutive seasons.

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

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What: 2018 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures autographed baseballs
Arrives: Jan. 3
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase brand is back in January with nods to its hometown World Series champion Houston Astros as well as Diamond Tickets good for one of the biggest possible autographs in MLB history.

Keep reading for details on that one and a gallery of what's possible in this one.

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What: 2017 Topps Transcendent Collection baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 13
Box basics: 53 autographs -- and plenty more -- per hand-crafted wooden box
Checklist: Click here to view

What's buzz-worthy: Topps' high-end baseball brand -- what it calls "the pinnacle of high-end collecting" -- returns for another season with a tribute of sorts to 1987, a spotlighting of the newly crowned American League Rookie of the Year and a party invite that includes one of the biggest sluggers in baseball history.

So, what comes in a box? Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images released so far.

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What: 2017 Panini Flawless baseball cards
Arrives: June 1
Box basics: Six autos, two memorabilia and two jewel cards per box (two boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here to view

What's buzz-worthy: Flawless returns to the baseball diamond once again with elite names from the past and the biggest names of the present all in one place -- "more All-Stars, legends and superstars than ever before," according to the company.

Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images released so far.

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The newest SCP Auctions event launched this week with some items that defy the imagination -- items that you probably wouldn't imagine them to still exist, let alone be up for grabs.

Some of them, such as this 2013 Fresno State Aaron Judge game-used jersey, open with more modest prices of $4,000, while college classics such as a Lew Alcindor game-used UCLA jersey is already at $44,288 after less than a day of active bidding.

But the leader in the clubhouse among the more than 900 lots? It's a baseball card.

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What: 2017 TRISTAR Quest Top Shelf
Arrives: Oct. 11
Box basics: Four envelopes per case -- each with an autographed item or memorabilia redemption inside

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Quest once again takes things up a notch with a product that is purely high-end memorabilia -- and just 30 cases will be made.

Keep reading for more.

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Game-used memorabilia from one of baseball's greatest sluggers is hitting the auction block next month.

SCP Auctions will be handling the sale of several items from Mel Ott, a Hall of Famer who hit 511 home runs and led the National League in long balls six times during a 22-year career -- all with the New York Giants.

“It’s our pleasure to auction off these items from Mel Ott’s family,” says SCP Auctions President David Kohler. “He truly was a baseball treasure and we look forward to seeing how the bidding goes.”

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What: 2017 Panini National Treasures baseball cards
Arrives: Oct. 25
Box basics: Eight autographs or memorabilia cards -- including one booklet -- per box (four boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here to view

What's buzz-worthy: The fourth edition of National Treasures baseball arrives with some of the biggest names in the history of the game and among those cards is a Mickey Mantle tribute set.

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

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