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 flirts with a no-hitter, Tua Tagovailoa takes another big hit and is out, defining vintage cards, NBA chatter and more.

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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 ...

WADDLE, WADDLE, WADDLE ... 
The Piece: Jaylen Waddle autographed 16-by-20 Waddle celebration photo (Fanatics Authentic)
The Price: $75 (on sale)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked up this oversized auto on the cheap last week and before his big game with QB Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday as I liked the signature moment seen here and he's a school ties guy in my collection. (Last time here, I had this Tua piece lead off but I didn't even buy them at the same time.) His autograph isn't big -- and it's not that big on this oversized photo, either -- but I figured demand could be on the rise this year and, like I said, it was on sale (normally about $100 before they sold out). An inscribed "Fins Up" option also was/is available but I didn't need that as an Alabama fan. On cards, he has plenty to choose from -- more than 2,300 different autographed cards since just last year as part of the 2021 RC crop -- and a lot of them will cost more than this while many will not. I have an early Score auto with a strong college pic and added this in case they make a run, driving up prices to the point where I can't responsibly look.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but NFL boxes are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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: Aaron Judge hits his 60th, collectors remember Maury Wills, 2022 Topps Chrome, pondering the top MiLB player, new pulls and 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: College football, some thoughts on the eBay Vault, NFL Week 2, Spencer Strider, Aaron Judge, the NBA tank and what might  MiLB unionization mean for baseball 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: 2021 Topps Heritage Minor League baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery of highlights with 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: Reactions to the 2023 Topps design reveal and plenty more in this one.

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

A HALL OF FAMER'S OLD SOX
The Card: Mike Piazza 1999 Arizona Fall League #29
The Buzz On This One: No, the Hall of Famer wasn't crafting his game on the side while playing for the Mets. This one is a flashback piece included in a 30-card set for the AFL where prospects get to work on their game in the off-season. I think I found this one -- the full set -- in a bulk lot that, for the most part, wasn't all that eventful ... so this one stood out. Who else was in this one? A who's who of "Who?" Maybe, maybe not ... Ryan Anderson, Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, Michael Cuddyer, Jack Cust, Jason Grilli, Jim Morris (The Rookie!), Corey Patterson, Vernon Wells and others ... actually, quite a few big-leaguers but not a lot of card-value guys all these years later. I bet there are some Piazza fans who might not have even seen this card before -- at least I hadn't -- so that's why it bats lead-off this time.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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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 ... and it might be the biggest edition ever.

BIG SEASON AHEAD?
The Card: Josh Allen 2018 Donruss Optic #154 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I pulled a pair of these from a number of rips -- probably deep in the archives here if you poke around -- but I never slabbed any of them back then, instead grading guys like Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and maybe a Nick Chubb. Meanwhile, it turns out this guy might be The One over the long term from this rookie class. After this past season's successes and close finish at the end, I figured it was time to grade a pair of these and I'm still working through some of my past pulls to see if I need to grade more for this franchise QB.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I was happy with this one (and I'll drop my other one here at some point later this season) as Optic stock can be hit and miss, particularly on the backs. Sometimes it's dents and wrinkles or minor dents but this one was clean. It looks like these do grade pretty well with nearly half of them getting this mark. An interesting comparison to make here? PSA has graded more than 2,500 of these with more than half being 10s, while BGS has graded only 160 and SGC has slabbed 320.

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

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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: Chasing the Triple Crown, Aaron Judge, 50 top MLB prospects, NFL chatter, Chet Holmgren and "is Shohei Ohtani overrated?"

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

IT'S BUBBLE BOY! (PART ONE)
The Card: Dan "Bubble Boy" Jones 2018 Grandstand Erie SeaWolves
The Buzz On This One: What's the deal here? Well, what you see on the baseball card is what I know ... he's a first-round draft pick, a Knockerball champion who went undefeated and, well, has a baseball card. (Yeah, yeah, something about tickets, too. Must be a side job.) Is this the only Bubble Boy baseball card there is? Well, maybe for this kind ...

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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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 ... and this time around it's a little heavier on football as that season is here.

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AEW ORIGINALS ... AS IN ORIGINAL ARTWORK 
The Cards: Gummy Arts original T206-style drawings (1/1s) for Thunder Rosa, Orange Cassidy, MJF, Powerhouse Hobbs & Sting
The Price: Less than an AEW hobby box
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you don't know the work of artist Mike Noren -- aka Gummy Arts -- he's been drawing athletes or memorable pop culture characters in penciled cartoon-style reproductions of past cards or on new creations for years now. You can find constantly updating feeds of his work in timely posts over on Instagram or Twitter and then sometimes those get reproduced and sold as cards in packs. In other instances, he's let the original artwork go, too. Those vanish fast and can be pricey -- actually, his packs can vanish fast, too -- and for years now I've eyed the section of his site for original art (typically $50-80 depending on subject) that made it into cards. I had never found one that was must-have for me -- or at least found a must-have one in stock -- but one day after seeing a tweet of his I did my regular ritual and checked the site to find this set of five T206/Honus Wagner homages in one slightly pricier lot but had to grab them. I had remembered seeing the Rosa online but didn't remember any of these being made into actual cards. It turns out they weren't, so the only thing that exists f0r now (at least when I recently grabbed them) are these originals. Four are top AEW stars while one is an all-time great who has worked for every company ... really a no-brainer for me and I might have paid the typical full price for one or two of these. The Rosa card in a Tijuana jersey and others in their own Wagner-style threads made me laugh, while that Cassidy is not far from spot-on even in Noren's style. Poke around here on The Buzz and you'll see more of these ... just not in 1/1 original art form.
Grab a box right here: AEW cards are here

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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 Pro Set Baseball cards
Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of images.

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

PRE-ROOKIE CARDBOARD
The Card: Bo Bichette 2019 Choice International League Top Prospects #2
The Buzz On This One: With Bowman and other prospecting brands giving players cards as early as possible -- and stuff like USA Baseball and Perfect Game getting us cards before guys are even pros -- pre-rookie MiLB cards like this don't have as much oomph as they used to (though they may not have ever been super-popular) ... but I still like them. This one comes from an All-Star-style set that includes many more other notables like Bichette here and they're actually among the easier sets to find most often as most teams in the leagues sell the sets ... so there are likely more of these made than your typical sets. Nonetheless, I like grabbing anything for notables in MiLB team sets as they're easily tougher (or at least less plentiful) than anything Bowman. That's why I have this one batting lead-off ... the rest of the stuff you'll see this time is on the oddball side of things.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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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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HISTORIC INK 
The Card: Rachel Balkovec 2022 Topps Now MiLB Autographs (/99)
The Price: Around $10 (since I had discount rewards piled up) via Topps.com
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This autographed card was a first for Topps Now this year -- some minor-league cardboard -- since as you can see she was a bit of a history-maker in MiLB and baseball in general. Topps Now cards have had delays at times this year with stock shortages and this one was actually initially scheduled to arrive much later this year but it looks like the signing came together faster than expected. I believe this is my first Topps Now auto in my stash. Why? Cost is always a factor -- most are too much for me to bother looking -- but in this case it was about as low as it gets and then I snuck in toward the end of the line and added this on the cheap with rewards points from buys.
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one ... but MiLB boxes are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

FACES OF FOLEY
The Cards: Chris Mudd 2009 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #28 & Reading Phillies Update #34
The Buzz On This One: Between all of his personas -- Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love -- pro wrestler Mick Foley has a lot of cardboard appearances but there are others out there that, well, might surprise you. These surprised me as they're from nowhere near a wrestling ring and they're more than a decade old -- and yet I had never seen them before. This card of a minor-league team trainer has a cameo for Foley who was at the Reading game for a guest appearance with his TNA championship that year -- April 22, 2009, to be exact -- and it's actually not even the only Phillies card to show wrestlers or others of note. Why are there two versions? One is from early in the year and toward the end of the season the team opted to release an update set with more players (hence the card number changes) and to change the typography. So, really, there were two Mick Foley baseball cards I didn't know about. You'll see more of Mudd here next month.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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What: 2022 Topps Heritage Minor League baseball cards
Arrives: Nov. 23
Box basics: Two autos per box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Collectors can turn back the clock to 1973 for a third time this year following the minor-league season with this release that celebrates the prospects of the game.

Keep reading for more as well as a full 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: Last-box heat, NBA Finals, new arrivals, new pulls and more in this Friday 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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MY LAST FROM THE PROJECT ... 
The Card: Mickey Mantle 2021 Topps Project70 by Alex Pardee (/12,112)
The Price: $19.99 via Topps
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This artist captured most of the big-print-run attention in the second Project and this card that mashed his monster vibes with Mantle's 1952 Topps card and then 1981 Topps was the last one to get my attention and a buy last year. (Or was it this year?) Anyway, this one recently arrived in my mailbox and since this year's Project100 has arrived with a totally different approach and a number of changes -- not all good ones in my view -- I figured I'd drop this here. The print run of this won't be touched this year -- they're capped at less than half of that for 2022 -- but I suspect I'll be keeping an eye on the offerings. You should keep an eye on the past cards now if you passed before ... and keep an eye open on the new ones, too. You never know where the collecting winds and tastes might spark interest. Some monsters could be waiting.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... click here for MLB boxes

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

REMEMBER THIS ONE?
The Card: Brian Span (with Whitney Houston ... sort of) 1989 Sport Pro Spokane Indians #15
The Buzz On This One: If you're a regular Buzz reader, then you may remember my deep dive into this epic MiLB team set that, well, showcases how the team went to the mall to make their annual card set. No, really, each player and some coaches plugged various stores at the mall with some having funnier cards than others. Span went to DJ’s Sound City, a chain described as "a fixture in Spokane's Music Market for almost 20 years" and made one of the weirdest cards ever made. (See the rest of them at that link.) I had the chance to pick up two more of these and I did ... and you can bet I'll probably grade one -- it's just too comical not to.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

LEADER OF THIS PACK ...
The Card: Rookie 2015 Choice Trenton Thunder #34
The Buzz On This One: Today is National Pet Day, everybody, so Buzz doesn't have to wait for the dog days of summer to unleash this one -- a pack of dogs on baseball cards you won't find in packs of baseball cards but instead some big dogs you'll find down on the farm in MiLB team sets. There are actually a ton of team dogs and baseball cards and, to a degree, a leader in that pack (at least in the non-mascot variety) is the Trenton Thunder. Their dog days started with Chase That Golden Thunder back in 2000. (Buzz doesn't have a degree in ballpark pup history so I don't know which team was first. Watch this for a full story from Derby, his dad.) Rookie is a current star for the team as part of a lineage of bat dogs putting bat boys out of business ... at least at this park. He's not alone ...

Keep reading for more examples of weird baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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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: Trevor Story has a new team, MiLB collectors, Ken Griffey Jr. fans, a Cleveland QB thought 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 boxes: 1990 Best minor-league baseball cards (three of 'em!)
Where to buy: Will take some looking ...BlowoutCards.com for different Retro Rips

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

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

A BASEBALL PIONEER
The Card: Ila Borders 1999 Sports Illustrated for Kids card #768
The Buzz On This One: OK, this is the rare inclusion in this series that wasn't found in a traditional MiLB team set, but with a lot of women making baseball headlines in recent months (and years) I figured I'd revisit a key name from the past. Borders was the first woman to get a win in a men's minor-league game back in 1998 when she was a pitcher for the Duluth–Superior Dukes. You can read more about her career -- which included more than this first -- right here. She doesn't have a ton of baseball cards and if you search her name here on The Buzz you can see where I previously picked up her lone traditional MiLB team set card. I figured I'd grab this to go with it. Meanwhile, (tip time) these cards from sheets in magazines seem to be capturing a lot of attention from some buyers in some instances. If you have interests in names who don't have traditional cards, you might try a search for SI for Kids singles or full magazines, which included nine cards per issue for a long, long time.

Keep reading for more examples of weird baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

A LIFE IN THE GAME & A LOT GOING ON HERE ...
The Card: Ron "Roady" Plein 2011 Perfect Game USA Cedar Rapids Kernels #31
The Buzz On This One: There are a lot of guys like Ron Plein out there in the baseball world -- on MLB payroll and not on MLB payroll -- who have a lifetime spent in the game but never, ever appear on baseball cards ... except maybe in MiLB releases. This card? It's not his first as he was 67 years old here and in his 37th year in baseball. (Learn more about him here.) Check out that card back -- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Random fact about this team? One of its players the previous season was Mike Trout ... this guy probably made him sandwiches and fixed his gear quite a bit after all those stolen bases that season.

Keep reading for more examples of weird baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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What: 2022 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards
Arrives: Sept. 30
Box basics: Four autographs per 24-pack hobby box (12 boxes per case); three autos per six-pack jumbo box (eight boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Minor League Baseball's flagship release once again will arrive in two formats and with Chrome cards in play and plenty of ink flowing.

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

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