Auction Buzz is a monthly look at some of the variety found out there on the auction block ... check 'em out.

It's going to be a busy second half of the year for Dallas-based Heritage Auctions with a number of regularly scheduled events as well as some showcase auctions with high-profile stuff all on the calendar. This time, we look at a few things from a few active sales this month.

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DARK KNIGHT IN DEMAND
The Item: Batman tin robot with original English box (Nomura Toys, 1966)
The Price: $5,250 after 29 bids (ends July 11)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This vintage Japanese toy is a foot-tall prime piece of pop culture with an obvious 1960s feel yet with some aspirations of something more for the future -- it's a battery operated tin toy and it's complete with its Adam West-styled box and fabric cape. This one is "an iconic fusion of superhero flair and vintage tin toy charm" per Heritage and it's one of two known styles -- this one has the serious face and one with the switch button in red. Heritage calls this "a standout from the golden age of Batman collectibles, blending Japanese craftsmanship with Gotham nostalgia."

Keep reading for more interesting pieces up for grabs right now.

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What: 2025 Historic Autographs Uniques Cut Signature Edition trading cards
Arrives: April 24
Box basics: Two encased 1/1 cut autographs per box (16 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs brings nothing but ink of the cut variety in this one every time ... and there will sometimes be more to find inside its cards, too.

Keep reading for more information.

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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: Bowman Chrome Sapphire Edition chatter, the NBA Finals, pondering a price on Sir Paul and more in this midweek edition.

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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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IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON ... 
The Item: Paul "Bear" Bryant cut autograph (BAS authenticated)
The Price: Less than a lot of new hobby boxes.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pricier (for me) pick-up actually came in the last week of last year but I decided to hold onto posting it here until it's the right time -- and since football season is upon us, well, that means now's the time. In the fall of 2019, I bought a starter auto of this legendary Alabama Crimson Tide coach who before Nick Saban was easily the greatest in school history (right now, it's perhaps a toss-up) -- that one was an inscribed nickname-only auto -- for a lot less as it was a cut from a paperback book. This one? It's signed on thick, red paper (almost a light cardboard stock) and I know exactly where it came from -- a 1975 copy of his autobiography, Bear: The Hard Life and Good Times of Alabama's Coach Bryant. I have a clean-but-ratty copy of that book somewhere in my stash from an antiques store find 20-some years ago, but when this popped up from a West Coast mega-dealer of vintage (and selected modern-player) autographed stuff and plenty more I bit. I actually prefer the cut auto feel here in its case vs. the full book as it can be viewed when you find it vs. tucked behind a cover. A lot of Bryant autographs are found these days -- 40 years after his death -- are on signed copies of this book or on a style of autographed photo or two that is nearly always found inscribed and dated to fans or boosters from back in the day. While a photo (preferably slabbed) would be nice, this is a better, simpler item. Authenticated photos can cost less but look iffier depending on condition. I like this one -- and it's card-like feel -- and, heck, I might even do more. They are out there and findable.
Grab a box right here: College football boxes

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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If you hadn't noticed, there are a number of boxes with discounted prices right now right here as Blowout Cards' Black November sales have arrived this year.

The third wave is here and many of the discounts were dramatic enough that Buzz once again had to ponder the possibilities in many of the boxes and cases -- and here are five that caught this collector’s eye ... and there's far more that just might suit your tastes in the big sale.

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PLAYING IT SAFE ... WHILE ROLLING THE DICE
2017 Bowman Chrome Mini baseball card set (It's not just a set.)
You yet plenty of notables here in a set of 273 cards loaded with rookies and prospects from a few full-size series that year and then you get three 10-card Refractor packs that have all kinds of potential inside -- including Superfractors and mini printing plates -- for all players here. Among them? Rookie Cards or prospect cards for Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Dansby Swanson, Alex Bregman, Ronald Acuña Jr., Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Gleyber Torres, Rafael Devers and plenty more. The prices here aren't as big as the regular stuff, but I think these are a better buy, though there's not ink in play. The parallels can be powerful but if you somehow strike out there the base cards are nice. I'd also suspect that they aren't as heavily graded as the regular stuff for some guys, too.

Keep reading for a few more boxes you should consider (and are likely to end up in Buzz's cart).

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What: 2020 Historic Autographs Written Word
Arrives: March 18
Box basics: One written word relic from a baseball Hall of Famer and one other auto/written word card per box (20 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs focuses on "the lost art of letter writing" with a release that includes ink from nearly 40 baseball Hall of Famers as well as some legends from other sports as well as pop culture.

Keep reading for more information.

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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: NSCC chatter, the Allen & Ginter checklist, pondering a Joe Montana pick-up, big pulls and ... two Shohei Ohtani case hits in the same box? (Yep, it happened.)

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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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He's one of the biggest names in the history of the game and he's one not commonly found on cardboard when it comes to autographs.

But Christy Mathewson's ink has been found in a $25,000 box of 2016 Topps Transcendent Collection baseball cards and the Hall of Famer's ink is definitely worthy of the record-setting pricey brand.

The asking price?

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What: 2016 Historic Autographs Friends-N-Foes Holiday Edition
Arrives: Dec. 20
Box basics: One dual-autograph cut booklet per box (13 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs' second release with booklets is here pairing players with common ties or opposing ones. The Friends cards will include family members, teammates and memorable pairings, while rivalries will be found on the Foes cards.

See a gallery and more ... below.

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What: 2016 Leaf Cut Signature Edition
Arrives: November
Box basics: One cut signature card per box (10 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf's newest cut autograph product will be one of its rarest with just 100 cases produced with a mix of big names from the sports, political and entertainment worlds ... and more.

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What: 2016 Historic Autographs Friends-N-Foes Baseball Dual Cut Card Edition
Arrives: June 10
Box basics: One dual-autograph cut booklet per box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs tries its first regular-size release with these booklets pairing players with common ties or with opposing ones. The Friends cards will include family members, teammates and memorable pairings, while rivalries and literal fights will be found on the Foes cards.

See a gallery and more ... below.

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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 Today: Cut autos, new Topps Supreme football breaks & more

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Martin Luther King Jr.'s place in history is quite substantial and he appears on a decent amount of cardboard for a historical figure, but a cut autograph of the civil rights icon is not so easy to find.

He appears on fewer than 10 cut autos with the first coming from Upper Deck back in 2004.  That 1/1 card was in the 2004 SP Game Used Patch Cut Signatures set.

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The most-expesnsive box of NBA cards ever is about a week away and Panini America took some time to tease a massive non-basketball inclusion in the brand that includes names well beyond the world of basketball.

One example? George Armstrong Custer who died at The Battle of the Little Bighorn back in 1876. Just think how much the world has changed since that time -- and then wonder aloud how many of his autographs could even still exist. And then what it might have cost to land the document.

Although many of the cut autograph sets made in the last decade or so aren't fully checklisted, it appears this is his first cut autograph -- and it will be found in a box of 2014-15 Panini Eminence basketball cards next week. (For trivia's sake we'll also mention here that basketball didn't exist until about 1891 -- just one of those many world changes since Custer.)

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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.

Continue reading →