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: New pulls, collecting retroactively, Victor Wembanyama, Russell Wilson, Caitlin Clark and, of course, 2024 Topps.

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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: 2021 Donruss baseball cards (hanger box)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for 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 pack: 2022 Donruss baseball cards (hanger)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a couple formats)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for this one.

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What: 2024 TruMystery Lucky Envelope Asia Edition
Arrives: April 23
Box basics: One autograph per box (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TruCreator  focuses its attention on Asian athletes and stars throughout pop culture in a release that's all about autographed items -- and premium items also will be in play here via redemptions.

Keep reading for more and a full 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 box: 2023 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview, odds & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

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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: 2023 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview, odds & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

Continue reading →

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: 2023 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

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

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What: 2023 Leaf Vivid baseball cards
Arrives: April 2024
Box basics: Five autos per seven-card hobby box (12 per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: The sophomore edition of this colorful Leaf line includes some new twists that can really add to the chase this time around ... as in Hot Boxes with nothing but 1/1 cards inside.

Keep reading for more.

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What: 2023 Panini Flawless baseball cards
Arrives: Jan. 24, 2024
Box basics: Seven autos, two memorabilia and one gem card per 10-card box (two boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Flawless returns with a new batch of high-end finds for superstars of the past as well as prospects and selected young stars of the present all in one spot.

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

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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: 2021 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

Keep reading for a full breakdown 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: NFL Week 14 and college football chatter, a huge MLB pull, premium baseball brands, The Bryce Young Question and more ...

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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.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

IMPORTED PERFECTION
The Card: Ichiro Suzuki 2000 Upper Deck Ovation Japanese (Nippon Professional Baseball)
The Reason Graded: This set is a favorite of mine among oddball/international releases and while it might look familiar it's not one you found at, say, a Toys R Us store back in the day. This is from a set made for the stars of Nippon Professional Baseball and was sold in Japan and it uses the familiar Ovation MLB design that really does stand out as a unique one from the past with its embossed baseball seams framing the photo. The core of this set isn't huge -- you'll get that part in a typical box -- but there are short-prints in th set that are serial-numbered as well as a number of inserts to chase as well as some MLB player cameos ... but this one is the biggie. It's not super-expensive and it's not a NPB Rookie Card or anything as that's 1993 for this lock of a future Hall of Famer, but this one is from the year before his MLB Rookie Cards arrived. I own two or three of these after opening a couple boxes long ago and one more recently and this one made its way into a bulk lot as my first one or two I graded came up a little short on what I wanted.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: This time? That's the kind of grade I was hoping for and that alone is a reason this one is batting lead-off this time ... it's not my biggest card in this lineup but it's a nice copy of an oddball card with a historic name attached. This grade has the highest pop but two thirds of slabs check in lower than this one ... it's not a super-easy 10 if you ask me with the soft stock and the embossing perhaps being problematic along with a foilboard (front) and glossed (back) surface.

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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What: 2024 Leaf Sports Heroes trading cards
Arrives: January
Box basics: Three "premium signatures" per box (20 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Sports Heroes returns to the Leaf lineup with a mix of elite names from all around the sports world all arriving as Metal autographs in a number of shades.

Keep reading for more.

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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: Inside a new WNBA case, a big Ichiro Suzuki sale, Black November, NFL Week 10, new pulls and 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: 2023 Topps Allen & Ginter X baseball cards
Checklist: N/A (base parallels regular A&G but not everything is in here)
Odds: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one as well as a gallery of highlights.

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What: 2023 Topps 206 High Series baseball cards
Arrives: Oct. 26 via Topps.com
Box basics: Autographs in every third box ... four 10-card packs per box
Checklist: Click here ... Click here for High Series signers list

What's buzz-worthy: Topps revisits T206 tobacco cards for a second time this year with the same new format that was used for the previous series of this one.

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

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What: 2023 Topps Finest Flashbacks baseball cards
Arrives: Today
Box basics: Autographs found in every sixth 20-pack box
Odds: Click here
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here (when available)

What's buzz-worthy: This one arrives once again with a throwback look -- this time, a revisiting of the 1996 Topps Finest release -- but with today's players with ink and more to be found for a number of veterans and newcomers, too.

Keep reading for more and a full 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 box: 2022 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

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What: 2023 Historic Autographs Ink'd Threads Fall Edition Signed Jerseys
Arrives: Mid-November
Box basics: One autographed custom jersey per box (16 per case) -- plus two Historic Autographs packs per box
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs turns its attention to memorabilia for a second time this year with this multi-sport release that will include autographs from around the sports world and beyond -- and Hall of Famers are once again found in every other box.

Keep reading for more information.

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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: 2023 Donruss baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for this one.

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What: 2023 Pieces of the Past Asia Edition
Arrives: Nov. 20
Box basics: Two relics per six-pack box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This brand returns by "celebrating over 2,000 years of Asia's rich history with subjects from China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia" and elsewhere in a release packed with history, hits, modern-day pop culture icons and more.

Keep reading for more info and a selection of images.

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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 ...

--

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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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.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

SHINE LIKE MINI-DIAMONDS ...
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Edition Rose Gold Mini-Diamond Refractors (/75)
The Reason Graded: Generally, I only do Chrome stuff in any kind of volume when it gets cheap -- and in this case they were as I found a run of mega boxes of this one priced less than blasters and that got me to bite. (They're all Buzz Breaks so go check the archives.) One of my better finds in those boxes was this card, which is a super-sparkly take on the 1952 Topps design that, in my mind, does work while a lot of the basic Chrome takes found in this set just don't. (There were a lot of quality control issues with this release.) In this case, since it's a top name, a rare card and a crisp and cleanly centered copy I put it into a bulk sub. Why? I like it and the player ... and I felt like it had some good potential.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: It's the lowest of two copies graded by CSG (now CGC) with the other one checking in where I had hoped to be. No biggie ... I like this card no matter what and all of his stuff -- Rookie Cards, hits and rarities -- should be getting looks as he could become baseball's newest 40-40 Club member -- and might even push higher if he gets really hot with the bat in the second half. With him you never know.

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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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 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

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What: 2023 Onyx Hidden Gemz sports cards
Arrives: July 26
Box basics: One autographed Onyx card and one Hidden Gemz buyback card per box (four boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Onyx offers up a simple approach that gives collectors what they want in two simple ways -- an autograph and a buyback in every box.

Keep reading for more info and a checklist.

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