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Update (July 14): After the first day of the 2024 MLB Draft, 22 of the 24 eligible players in the card set included in this issue  have been picked, including 13 of the first 14 selected on Sunday night. Overall, 18 were first-rounders, while one of the two 2024 players who went un-drafted actually withdrew to play for LSU next year. For those attending this year's National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland, hit the Blowout Cards booth (No. 5,010) on Friday, July 26. Beginning at 11 a.m., the first 500 visitors can get a free copy of the issue.

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Baseball America's annual Draft Preview issue is here and it's jam-packed with facts and other info that all card prospectors simply need heading into the MLB Draft this weekend. The issue also spotlights a few future stars.

The biggest issue of the year features player profiles and scouting reports for 100 players, a list of 100 more to check out beyond those names, a mock draft, comparisons of today's notables to past stars, BA's annual All-America teams for both the college and prep ranks and even, in some copies of this issue, exclusive prospect cards

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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: 2022 Pro Set Draft Football (blaster)
Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: It's a retail release ... BlowoutCards.com for more Pro Set football

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of images.

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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: Georgia wins big, some Aaron Rodgers questions, Zion Williamson, new pulls and will one set ever arrive?

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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 ... a mix of recent grabs and some older stuff, too.

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A SURPRISING SEASON
The Cards: Spencer Strider 2022 Topps Living Set (five-pack)
The Price: Bundle price via Topps.com
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The defending World Series champs didn't have the finish they'd hoped for this year, but one big highlight this season was the arrival of this rookie seemingly out of nowhere. Strider flashed record-setting potential for strikeouts when on the mound as he went 11-5 this season with a 2.69 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 172 innings He reached 200 Ks in 130 innings -- an MLB record held by Hall of Famer Randy Johnson -- and he had 16 Ks in a single game to break the team record. The year also got him a new contract that will keep him in Atlanta along with a number of other young stars for several years. Strider had RCs in this year's stuff since early on but should have more to come in the later releases that have been delayed. I grabbed this pack with an eye on grading with mixed results -- one had big, nasty surface issues, two having unusual and not-good surface problems and then two that are yes/maybe for slabbing. One is in CSG's hands as I type this.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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With these Ticket Stud or Ticket Dud stories I'm turning just a tiny bit of that energy just a few degrees away from cards (we'll still have plenty of them here) for a different kind of cardboard. What am I doing? Simple ... this is an occasional dip into some random ticket lots -- a show and tell showing something small with a story.

This time? A college rivalry ticket that feels more like a history lesson.

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and tell me if you think it's a Ticket Stud or a Ticket Dud.

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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: 2022 Panini Prestige NFL cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one along with a gallery of images.

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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 pack: 2021 Onyx Vintage College Football cards
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

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

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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 Leaf Perfect Game National Showcase baseball cards
Where to buy: Here when available ... see all Perfect Game boxes here

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

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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: Cool autographed custom cards (a thread), big pulls, a first Superfractor, a Georgia Bulldogs thread and more in this holiday edition.

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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 1.

The box: 2019 Leaf Metal All-American Bowl football cards (hobby box)
The cost: Click here

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

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Compare the schedules of the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns and it should be obvious that NFL collectors just don't have as many ways to land game-used memorabilia.

There's a big difference between 16 and 162 games -- just not as much stuff gets used in the NFL -- but there's also got to be a difference in how game-used memorabilia gets out and into fans' hands despite some similarities. Both leagues have auction sites and some teams sell their stuff to the public or memorabilia companies, of course, but it's clear that it's just not as easy to find game-used memorabilia from football teams.

That's what makes the pieces that you can find a big deal -- there's plenty of potential demand but not much supply at all. Fanatics is one company that has deals with a few NFL teams and it receives a small volume of items regularly during the season. Pieces arrive and sell rather quickly if you watch the company's site -- there are literally no Browns game-used footballs available as I type this (unless you count the plaques where the company cut one up). Meanwhile, not that long ago, there were a few options.

That's where this tale of a new gem in my collection comes from.

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Want a relatively cheap and out-of-nowhere pick-up tip? Those perhaps aren't as easily done with football but one presented itself on Sunday.

It's Miami Dolphins WR Albert Wilson.

He had six catches for 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Bears on Sunday and that yardage total was tops in the NFL this week. It was the best game of his career that began as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs in 2014. He has cards in just three sets that first year -- Crown Royale, National Treasures and Contenders -- and that last one is currently a 50-point autograph over on the Panini Rewards site. (Meaning you could land three of them for the typical commonly found 150-point card.) Meanwhile, asking prices on eBay are between $15 and $25 because he's had a pretty decent season with 359 yards and four TDs. (Check out his autos on eBay here.) Also helping out? His relative lack of overall cardboard -- he's got about 70 different cards in all and he's not had any autos since two appearances back in 2015. Only about a dozen of his cards come with ink and that puts more of a focus on any he might have if collectors take notice even more.

>> Click here to shop for football boxes on BlowoutCards.com.

Keep reading for more guys who generated some buzz on the field this week.

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If you want the "rookie card" of the next member of the WWE Hall of Fame, you'll have to look back to 1980s SEC football to get in on the action.

It's Bill Goldberg, a former Georgia Bulldogs star, who'll get WWE's highest nod on April 7 in New Orleans on the eve of WrestleMania XXXIV.

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With a victory tonight, University of Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban would equal a giant not only in the history of college football but a giant in his school's history.

His Crimson Tide plays in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Paul W. Bryant Drive down the road from the Paul W. Bryant Museum and the Bryant Conference Center -- all reminders of Bear Bryant and his NCAA-record six national championships and 323 career victories. (Saban is at 285.)

Tonight's College Football Playoff National Championship is Saban's sixth title-game appearance in the last nine years and with a win he'll have his sixth season title for his career. Saban had his chance at tying Bryant last season when his undefeated team lost in the final seconds on the final play of the game against Clemson, which Alabama knocked off in a rematch this year to advance to tonight's game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Both of Alabama's postseason foes this year are coached by former Tide assistants, Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Kirby Smart at Georgia, but neither has autographs and football card appearances as easily found as the legend of today, Saban.

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The college football world got a pair of classic showdowns on Monday night and will get a third next week when the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs face off for the College Football Playoff National Championship.

There were some dominating performances for these two squads in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl and the good news for collectors who might not know is that a number of those stars now set to chase gridiron history already appear on fully licensed football cards thanks to card companies' deals with prep spotlight games such as the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the Under Armour All-America Game.

In the case of the Bulldogs and their game-winning star Sony Michel -- as well as his fellow bruiser RB Nick Chubb and QB Jake Fromm -- they can all be found on Army cards from Leaf Trading Cards. Michel's first of more than 40 cards was made back in 2011 and nearly all of the are autographed. Chubb has around 30 cards from 2014 and beyond, while Fromm has more than both of them with nearly 50 signed. His are all from this year's set -- and this trio is likely not alone for Bulldog cameos as there have been plenty of cards made for the event in past years (some wax is still findable -- there's even a Vault release on the way).

The Crimson Tide guys? There's a lot more mystery there ...

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