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: Anticipation for The Last Dance (Sunday, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN) grows with an all-NBA edition showcasing Michael Jordan gems, pondering MJ bargains, news for Panini redemption cards and even some shockingly mockable MJs, too.

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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: The Last Dance arrives this weekend, fake Mike Trout autos, big pulls, NBA at 50 autos and more in today's edition.

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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: Kobe Bryant memories and chatter, MLB moves, Absolute delivers two big Zion Williamson cards and more in today's baseball-basketball edition.

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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: Joe Burrow, big pulls, the Houston Astros cheated, ESPN wants Tony Romo, and a solid six-pack all in today's edition.

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year 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. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around there's a mix of everything but mostly on the affordable side.

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WAIT, WHAT?
The Card: Brock Lesnar 2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars NFL RC (SGC 9)
The Price: $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't argue with one interesting and unique fact about Brock Lesnar when it comes to cardboard -- he's got Rookie Cards in wrestling, MMA and pro football and that's something that's just not that common. I can think of a lot of two-sport players on cards between various combinations for MLB, NFL, NBA and WWE but, three? Sure, Lesnar never actually played in a real NFL game -- the Vikings cut him before the season started -- but it got him a few cards that do remain popular and a tad pricey these days due to their novelty and relative scarcity. He had 15 cards in three brands -- Rookies & Stars, Playoff Honors and Sweet Spot -- and some can sell for more than this. I grabbed it since I'd never found one and it was slabbed for not much more than a raw copy -- and also purely for the novelty. Some raw copies of this have higher asking prices than this over on eBay, too, while his cards for the other two sports are easy finds.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for NFL, but WWE boxes are here

Keep reading for five more interesting items ...

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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 5.

The pack: 1989 ProCards Las Vegas Stars team set
The cost: $3 (click here for baseball boxes)

What's inside this one? Why is it here? Well, keep reading ...

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year 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. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around they're oldschool, newschool, high-end and low-end in price -- a little bit of everything.

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A PIECE OF SWEETNESS
The Card: Walter Payton 1976 Topps Rookie Card (PSA 5)
The Price: $155
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Football season is here and I decided to go big with an oldschool pick-up that presented itself with a close-to-typical price but a not-typical look for the grade on a Rookie Card of an iconic Hall of Famer. It's generally not a super-pricey card as you can still find stuff from this timeframe with some ease. This also is a card that can be found relatively clean and sharp, too. What's the deal with this one's condition? Well, that's part of the reason I grabbed it -- there are some minor spots on the top and bottom edges and perhaps a corner lift that's not obvious but it's still far stronger looking than its grade says. There are no creases but there could be a couple of minor surface spots -- still nothing that scared me off of this one. This is a card that was reasonably always on my want list -- there's not that many things out there I've wanted to grab but hadn't within realistic (easily doable) budget limits.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but NFL boxes are right here.

Keep reading for a dozen more interesting items ...

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Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's release: 2019 Topps Archives baseball cards
First Buzz preview & checklist/gallery: Click here

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CAREER-SAVER FOR MANY
The Card: Dr. James Andrews 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs
The Price: Moderate demand -- these might surprise you at first (first eBay listing here)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: It's been five years since this famed orthopedic surgeon appeared on his first baseball cards in Allen & Ginter but this brand is a natural spot for the oddities directly tied to baseball, too. The list of athletes he's worked on is meaty -- it's a big part of his Wikipedia bio and that's far from all of them -- and he's a team doctor for a number of organizations, too. Among the notables? Bo Jackson, Troy Aikman, Drew Brees, Terrell Owens, Roger Clemens, John Smoltz, Jim Thome, Bryce Harper, Yu Darvish, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, Jack Nicklaus, Triple H, John Cena and Shawn Michaels among others. (They all might want his autograph, you know.)

Keep reading for five more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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What happens when the story of how one of the weirdest baseball cards ever made gets mainstream media attention?

This -- a $250 sale for a raw card -- and it's not even close to alone.

The story of how Keith Comstock's memorable 1989 ProCards Las Vegas Stars card happened was told in a Wednesday ESPN.com piece titled "'You're the guy with the ball to the crotch': The inside story behind the funniest baseball card ever made."

And it's been chaos ever since.

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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: Big MLB pulls, Archives arrives, football breaks and more in today's edition.

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year 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. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around it's nothing but football pick-ups.

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THE MOUTH OF THE SOUTH?
The Card: Paul Finebaum 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Mini Autographs
The Price: $9.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: When it comes to college football, Buzz is pretty much SEC or nothing. The SEC Network wasn't around with this guy at the center of a lot of things when Buzz was around there, but he was still all over the place back then. Who's Paul Finebaum a small few of you might say? He's one of ESPN's top names covering the college game on the Network, though he's been a big part of radio and newspaper scenes for years covering the SEC. Finebaum's only card appearances are limited to a literal handful of autographs in this baseball set that often includes media personalities and he has no standard cards. Podcaster James Andrew Miller said this of him: "Paul Finebaum knows the American Southeast like Jay-Z knows Brooklyn. And that's a big blast of wind at your back if your job is covering college football. His instincts as an interviewer rank him in the top tier of the sports world. And he is beyond mere savvy when it comes to speaking very virally." While I'm not the biggest fan, it's a unique autograph and one that a lot of non-collectors would want if they knew it existed. I finally grabbed one since it was cheap.
Grab a box right here: 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter

Keep reading for even more interesting items ... again, all football from here on out.

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When it comes to baseball card brands, Topps' Allen & Ginter is one of the most-unique ones in the hobby today -- even though it's modeled after cards from the 1880s.

Why? Those original tobacco cards featured all kinds of people and all kinds of things -- not just baseball players -- among many releases but it's the "World's Champions" that drive the idea of what we've gotten today since Topps re-introduced the brand back in 2006.

Kate Upton, Takeru Kobayashi, George W. Bush, Serena Williams, Axl Rose, Michelle Beadle, Anthony Bourdain, Nick Saban, Cat Osterman, Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone, Roger Federer, Michael Phelps, Tony Hawk, Maria Sharapova, John Wooden, Laila Ali, Snoop Dogg, Pele, Henry Rollins and so many other surprising subjects have been found in packs of baseball cards beside typical MLB inclusions such as Mike Trout, Hank Aaron, Bryce Harper, Derek Jeter, Justin Verlander, Sandy Koufax, Clayton Kershaw and Ichiro Suzuki through the years. Those surprises can be pricey later, too. Upton wasn't a super-rare autograph but you wouldn't know it based on these prices.

Planning stages for the 2019 release are clearly already beginning for the brand as Topps took to Twitter on Thursday to ask collectors who they'd want to see in Ginter for non-baseball inclusions.

That got Buzz thinking ... and here are a few signers I'd want to see in 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter -- and more than a few of them have small ties to the baseball world.

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Today in 1979, the sports world was changed forever.

That was the day that ESPN launched with an airing of SportsCenter, which has become a staple in its array of networks and multimedia platforms that give us everything we need (and more) about what's going in in the world of sports.

There are plenty of cardboard tie-ins as ESPN has had its own branded card sets in the past and its past and present personalities and reporters have appeared on certified autographs and memorabilia cards. But one simple card came to mind first with a mention of this arrival.

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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: Big pulls from around the collecting world, Dwight Clark, Keith Olbermann back to ESPN and the discussions for The National keep on coming.

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Have you seen the latest crazy items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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ONE SWEET BAMBINO
The Item: 2001 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Signatures Babe Ruth 1/1
The Price: $95,000 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: You can definitely find a signed Ruth baseball for less but this is the only card from this release where a ball signed back in the day was unstitched and placed into a card. You can mark down standard Sweet Spot autos as some of the simplest yet creative cards from the last 20 years and this card is still among the sweeter ones ever made, if not the sweetest of them all.
Similar Pieces: Other Babe Ruth autos
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for MLB boxes

Keep reading for more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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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 5.

The box: 2011 Topps American Pie trading cards blaster box
The cost: BlowoutCards.com

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

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One of the familiar voices in all of the sports world -- a long-time broadcaster for NBC, CBS and ESPN who covered Wimbledon 28 times, covered 10 Super Bowls and covered eight NCAA men's basketball championships along with much, much more -- has been silenced.

Dick Enberg was 82.

Despite a Hall of Fame career and plenty of time in homes on TV since the 1960s when he covered John Wooden's UCLA Bruins, he's only got a handful of sports card appearances from the past -- and, of those, really only one is easy to find.

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He styled. He profiled. He wrestled around the world and made millions "Woooooooooo!"

The limousine riding and jet flying is a bit less chaotic these days, but the boisterous story of "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair -- or, really, the real-life story of Richard Fliehr -- will get the spotlight tonight at 10 p.m. on ESPN.

It's a 30 For 30 documentary that's been in the works for months -- long before his recent health scare nearly ended his life at age 68. It's a piece that promises to explore the man, the myth, the legend -- and where that's led him to today. (And to be the man, you still have to beat the man ... he's not done yet.)

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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: Big pulls, big possibilities in MLB and "the world's greatest forger."

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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: A huge autograph steal that you can get in on, big breaks, quirky cards, unusual autograph items & plenty more.

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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 2.

The pack: 2001 Topps XFL football cards (hobby box) 
The cost now: $15
The cost then: $1.99/pack, $47.76/box

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

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A little-known Nintendo game then is a well-known Nintendo game now -- at least to serious collectors who are known to fork over plenty of cash for it.

It's Stadium Events, and it's a game that's so serious for collectors that in its original packaging it evokes comparisons to someone you might know if you're into baseball cards.

"I never had a Honus Wagner," said Tod Curtis, a Bedford, Ind.-based orthodontist, who seriously collects NES games and was interviewed as part of an ESPN The Magazine story on this game and its legacy. "That's what this game is to this hobby. I don't know how many Honus Wagner cards are out there compared to how many Stadium Events there are. If the game is really that rare, you can see in 20 years it coming up at Christie's, where people are going to pay $900,000."

The story is a fascinating one with plenty of parallels to the card-collecting world, and, not surprisingly, the tale has prompted the attempted sale of a high-grade copy of the game.

You probably won't believe the asking price right now on eBay. 

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

One of ESPN's longest-running on-air talents and a memorable voice for countless sports moments has been silenced as John Saunders has died. He was 61.

The Canadian was a junior hockey All-Star and played one game at Western Michigan before a career in broadcasting that began in 1978. He joined ESPN in December 1986 where he had worked ever since as a SportsCenter anchor, studio host and the lead for shows such as The Sports Reporters.

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A pair of Relics of ESPN personalities from 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter pulled on BlowoutTV on Tuesday seemed a bit different.

And that's so Ginter.

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He's been in the public eye as an NFL player and ESPN analyst every year since 1973, but Tom Jackson may finally have time to do something he's rarely done before.

Sign autographs for a card company and appear on some football cards.

The New York Daily News is reporting that Jackson may be leaving ESPN, where he's been part of NFL broadcasts since 1987. It's been a successful run, and, in 2015, he received the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award which honors “longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.”

Jackson's NFL career ended the season before his ESPN arrival and it's a career that's rarely seen on cardboard despite an explosion in card products in all those years since.

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