While The San Diego Chicken's memorabilia cards might be the biggest draw of them all when 2016 Donruss baseball cards arrive next week, there will still be plenty to chase with a hit-loaded and insert-loaded flagship set (see our First Buzz here) from Panini America.

And among them just might be variations.

Panini unleashed a preview gallery of 150 cards on Friday, and a handful stood out as having quirks similar to last year's variations.

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Either Bryce Harper or Mike Trout who will come to mind first if it's a debate of who's the best in the game, but sometimes it's fun just to look at the outrageous asking prices for these types of players' key cards on eBay.

The 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs Refractor you see above leads the league among current auctions for Harper, checking in with an asking price of $24,999.99 Buy it Now. (No, seriously, go look.)

As goofy as that one might be, consider that the top Trout price -- one reportedly paid -- is even higher. That one's for a BGS 10 first Bowman Chrome Refractor auto with a serial number matching Trout's No. 27 on the field.

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

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

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More eBay Buzz posts …

This perfect Mike Trout 2009 Bowman Draft auto is how much?

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How much will a Flawless BGS set sell for?

You can own the negative used to make Nolan Ryan’s Rookie Card

eBay Buzz: PSA 8 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle sells for $486,100

Have you seen Connor McDavid’s Young Guns sales so far?

Bryce Harper’s Topps Bunt virtual autograph went for what?

High-grade 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle draws attention

These Kobe Bryant autos are how much?

You won’t believe the price on this perfect Bobby Orr Rookie Card

The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Cracked Ice & Snow Camo seem perfect with the weather, 1997 Upper Deck Legends, some big box breaks pulls and much more.

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Game-used baseball bats are often some of the most-abused and most-personalized pieces of game-used memorabilia to hit the market.

And, because of the number of bats a player uses in a season, they can also be bargain-priced at times. But in the case of the Old Hickory J143M used by Mike Trout to hit four home runs during 2013? Well, that bat opened at $2,000 and sits at $7,000 after 17 bids with plenty of time remaining ... so not every bat can be a bargain.

Check out this gallery of 18 gamers presently up for grabs right now from Goldin Auctions. You can see a larger image, the model specs and the opening bid price once inside the gallery.

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

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

An early version of the 2016 Topps Series 1 baseball checklist arrived on Tuesday and that first glimpse offered a few surprises before its arrival on Feb. 3.

But there are also undoubtedly more still to come.

The First Pitch cards showing celebrities making ceremonial appearances? They're not on the checklist but are confirmed as still coming. There's no note of variations or short-printed cards for the release -- we all know those are coming. They always do.

What else? Keep reading for a rundown of what's known and notable from the checklist

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Austin McPherson
Also known as: @texmcpherson
Email: texmcpherson@live.com
Location: Iowa
Work away from cards: Server
Collecting since: 2012

Main focuses: Working on my Buster Posey personal collection and also autographs of stars, semi-stars and prospects.

Favorite players/teams: The Cubs 100 percent! My grandpa was destined to have me be a Cubs fan since birth. Aside from that, the Bryce Harper hype is what got me back into collecting, so I show some favoritism there also. But, as most of the Blowout members should know, my favorite player of all-time is the almighty Buster Posey.

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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.

For the first grading diary here on The Buzz, it will be a mix of cards graded for a few reasons.

The Card: 1993 Upper Deck #449 Derek Jeter
The Reason Graded: This was pulled straight from an underpriced factory set and looked very clean except for a tiny spot on the back -- Buzz figured it might push into the high grades even with the gloss issue. These cards are also not easy to pull from wax or sets cleanly because the high-gloss cards often stick together, peeling away specks of paper. Another reason? This is an iconic card that's worth grading if you own a clean one.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: The SP Jeter rookie is the one people chase, not this one. This one's $20 on eBay -- and perhaps undervalued considering how they grade on the pop report. BGS 9s and higher are really much rarer than people think.

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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 five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Vintage cardboard, 2015 Topps Strata, penmanship & more.

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If you've watched any NFL games this season, you've likely heard the word "concussion" many times as the league has implemented new tests on players to help prevent future problems by assessing the here and now immediately following a hard hit.

On Christmas Day, a film about the issue of concussions in football called Concussion opens in theaters. You've probably seen the commercials for the film during NFL games.

Will Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered the degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. It's a real-life issue that has affected more than 80 former players -- many you've seen on football cards and might have collected. The movie is an important one and Sports Illustrated has Smith on its cover this week to discuss the movie.

Is it the first time a celebrity has appeared on the cover of the highly collectable sports magazine?

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If you've done some cardboard hunting at the retail aisle, you may have passed right by the home of some of the hottest baseball cards available in stores like Target.

The card above? It's a 2015 Topps Chrome Update Black Refractor of reigning National League Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant and it was only found in a 2015 Topps Update Mega Box -- a retail box with five Update packs and two exclusive Chrome Update packs inside.

It's serial-numbered to 99 copies and sold for $100 on eBay. Because there are only two Chrome packs per box, these have been selling quite well because key guys aren't simple every-box pulls even for their base cards. (You can find boxes and cases at Blowout right here, though.)

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Not long ago, Bryce Harper was a hyped high-schooler on the cover of Sports Illustrated, then a dropout who got his GED early to hit junior college for a year before being taken No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft.

Now, four years into his MLB career, he's the unanimous National League MVP.

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What: 2015 Topps Mini baseball cards
Arrives: Nov. 16 via Topps.com
Box basics: 700 cards plus 11 parallels and 10 bonus cards (factory set)

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The 2015 Topps Heritage '51 baseball card set is a newcomer to the Heritage lineup and it's a brand with its non-traditional gaming-style backs that, admittedly, might not appeal to everyone.

But it's those card backs -- at least on the mini parallels -- that might make those sets a bit more appealing to those considering opening a set for breaking and resale.

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Onyx Authenticated is finishing the year with one of its biggest autographed baseball releases and it arrives today.

It's 2015 Onyx Authenticated Elite Limited Collection, and the debut of the high-end brand includes some of the best names in the game today inside its wooden boxes.

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Imagine seeing one million baseball cards all in one location. Now, imagine those can be yours in one fell swoop.

They can.

It can be reality in one active eBay auction and there's an added bonus. What is it? They'll throw in 100,000 free cards for your team if you choose to take this Cardboard Challenge.

Why's it a challenge? Well, consider that the haul -- and your bonus, don't forget your bonus -- amount to roughly 220 5,000-count boxes. Do you have the space? (It might also be a challenge if it's heavy on 1989 Score stripped of the stars ... but disregard this thought.)

Now, the real question is, do you have the cash? Don't worry about shipping -- it's free!
(You get to pick it all up and haul it off, so set your GPS for Manville, N.Y.)

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

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More eBay Buzz posts ...

Have you seen Connor McDavid's Young Guns sales so far?

Bryce Harper's Topps Bunt virtual autograph went for what?

High-grade 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle draws attention

These Kobe Bryant autos are how much?

You won't believe the price on this perfect Bobby Orr Rookie Card

Topps Bunt is a phone app where plenty of collectors buy virtual packs of cards and then wheel and deal to land the ones they want. Some are easy to find, others are not.

This Bryce Harper Signature Card was an award -- given out to those who completed a collecting challenge in the game -- and it's limited to only 16 copies.

Just like real cardboard with Harper's autograph on them, there's big interest in rare cards of the likely National League MVP. This card commanded a few bucks as the rights to the card were sold on eBay -- something that's been a pretty common occurrence in the last couple of years as more and more baseball fans try out the app.

How much did it go for? You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. (The actual amount paid was $299 less than that posted price, but ... still.)

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