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 ...

SNIKT!
The Book: Wolverine No. 50 (newsstand edition)
The Reason Graded: Back in 1992, Little Buzz was probably nearing the end of his comic book days -- or maybe a little after this one arrived -- but with some connections to a local book store I was able to get comics before they hit those spinner racks that resulted in books getting broken spines like they were Batman up against Bane. (Or something.) And with that era being one of mass-produced stuff that was still very creative on both the art front as well as the printing/gimmick front, I and many others were buying ... in quantity. This issue is one exploring Wolverine's origins and it's got a cardboard cover with his claws the source of the big die-cut gashes here revealing the first page of what's in the file (issue). I bought maybe a half-dozen of them as it was cool -- a few at the local comics shop and a few more at the book store -- and that's the key here. These newsstand versions -- same except for the UPC in the corner and not a marvel direct logo (that started in 1981) filling the box -- figure to be much, much rarer in a high grade.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: This one was a win but I expected it as my copies here are razor sharp. How many of those graded might be newsstand copies? It's a mystery right now but asking prices on eBay as I prep this file are as high as $500 for a newsstand copy while a direct has a max asking of $299. Actual sales for 9.8s in recent weeks? About $320 for newsstand and $85 for direct. I'll take that ... I'm in for just $2.50 (though I may have gotten a discount) and my grading fees. Most "serious" collectors bought at comics shops in the boom years, seeing newsstand is inferior with those barcodes ... now those barcodes are gold as long as you're in an elite grade.

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

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What: 2023 Topps Garbage Pail Kids X MLB Series 3
Arrives: Now via Topps.com (March 26, 2024)
Box basics: One insert card per seven-card pack (three packs per box, 10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (when available)

What's buzz-worthy: For a third time, the Garbage Pail Kids have been taken over by the stars of Major League Baseball and it's a larger lineup with a mix of past and present stars.

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

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What: 2024 Topps Sterling baseball cards
Arrives: April 3
Box basics: Two autographed Relics or one auto Relic and one 1/1 Relic per box (four boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Topps Sterling hits to the field for a new season with some new high-end inclusions and plenty of star power from today's game with 1/1s typically found in every case.

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

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What: 2024 Topps Heritage baseball cards
Arrives: April 10
Box basics: One autograph or Relic per 24-pack hobby box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: It's time to turn back the clock a few years with Topps Heritage taking on 1975 ... and it's penciled in to arrive next month.

Keep reading for more as well as 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 Series 1 baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here

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

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What: 2024 Topps Big League baseball cards
Arrives: March 27
Box basics: Eighteen eight-card packs per hobby box (TBD -- likely 20 -- per case)
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Big League will return for a second season with the tiered approach that arrived for the first time last year. For now, all that's been revealed are the odds and a checklist (both above).

Keep reading for 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: 2024 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist/odds: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

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

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What: 2024 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Platinum autographed baseballs
Arrives: March 13
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase brand hits the field for another year with some big chase baseballs -- think legends of the game -- and then a varied mix of stuff in every case.

The biggest chase of them all this year? Keep reading for that and a gallery of what's in this one.

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What: 2023 Topps Five Star baseball cards
Arrives: Feb. 21, 2024
Box basics: Two autographs per box (eight boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Five Star returns to the diamond once again with a familiar lineup of inclusions and nothing but ink for MLB stars from the past and present.

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

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What: 2023 Topps Diamond Icons baseball cards
Arrives: February 2024
Box basics: Seven autographed cards, two auto-Relic cards and one Relic per 10-card box (two boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: "One of the most-treasured releases every year from Topps" is back once again with the same format as previous years but with new players and plenty of hits -- in fact, it's once again nothing but hits.

Keep reading for more as well as 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 Heritage baseball cards (hanger)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for what was found 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: 2022 Panini Capstone baseball cards
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

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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 Update baseball cards (retail Super Box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (other formats)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here

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

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What: 2024 Onyx Baseball Clubhouse Lumber Collection
Arrives: Feb. 16
Box basics: One autographed or game-used bat per box
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: This MLBPA-approved product arrives once again from Onyx Authenticated and includes bats from top young names as well as some established veterans among the possible finds.

Keep reading for more info, including a full checklist.

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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 Capstone baseball cards
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

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What: 2023 Topps World Baseball Classic baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 20
Box basics: One autograph or autographed Relic per 10-card box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here (when available)

What's buzz-worthy: The World Baseball Classic helped start the baseball year and now it's one of the releases that will help close out the cardboard year, too

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2023 Bowman's Best baseball cards
Arrives: Jan. 17, 2024
Box basics: Four autographs (two per mini-box) per 12-pack box (eight boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here (when available)

What's buzz-worthy: Bowman's Best arrives for another year with its familiar format and plenty of colorful cardboard for fans of rookies and prospects.

Keep reading for more details and a gallery.

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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 Bowman baseball cards (blaster box)
First Buzz preview & Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

Keep reading for what was inside 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: 2022 Topps Chrome Update baseball cards (hanger)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Click here (for hobby)

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: Shohei Ohtani is heading to the Dodgers, Julio Rodriguez, new pulls and NFL Week 14.

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What: 2022 Super Glow Update Jumbo Edition
Arrives: Dec. 27, 2023
Box basics: Two autographs per six-pack box (five boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Super Break's revisiting of its original release for a late update set gets a second run with a ton of big names among possible finds from all around the sports world in both the pro and college ranks.

Keep reading for more info and a selection of images.

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What: 2023 Onyx Premium baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 20
Box basics: Two on-card autographs per box (24 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: This brand arrives once again with nothing but autographed cards inside its boxes with top prospects in the mix as well as some iconic young MLB stars and even some other-sport surprises among the subjects.

Keep reading for more info and 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 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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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 Holiday baseball cards
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Where to buy: Click here (when available)

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

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If you hadn't noticed, there are a number of boxes with discounted prices right now right here as the new wave of Blowout Cards' Black November sales is here

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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STRIKE NOW ... BIGGEST INK IS REDEMPTION
2022 Topps Heritage High Number Hobby Box & Case
This release being in Black November sales will be one of those things we look back at years from now and wish we had loaded up on it a lot more ... and a part of that sentiment could come as soon as next year. In fact, Oct. 31, 2024, is when the redemptions for Julio Rodriguez's very-in-demand autos in this one expire. Now, you shouldn't expect his ink in every case -- that's a reason it's a $600 card for just the basic version -- but there are a few autos per case and a hit per box here for starters. Atop that, there are inserts and variations all flowing regularly that can have key names attached and easily pay for the box. Beyond that, the base set itself is small so you should land most of the set in every box (or come close) and that means you can stockpile key names here for slabbing or future deals ... or sell them off in lots as timing works for you. Among the rookies? Rodriguez, Spencer Strider, Bobby Witt Jr., Spencer Torkelson, Jeremy Peña and a ton of others. Among the auto Relics? Mike Trout, Matt Olson, Joey Votto. Among the standard autos? Bryce Harper, Witt, Carlton Fisk, Juan Marichal, Jim Palmer, Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Votto, Olson, Trout, Nolan Ryan, Ronald Acuña Jr., Steve Carlton and many others. The long-running power of the brand and the relative scarcity (difficulty to pull ink) can make some names big surprises here. There are a lot of formats to consider here but this one is, by far, the one with the biggest potential. Oh, and there are Hot Boxes, 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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