What: 2020 Leaf Valiant baseball cards
Arrives: February/March 2021
Box basics: Five autographs -- four standard, one graded -- per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf Valiant's draft picks and prospects release arrives with "the best selection of elite 2020 Baseball Draft Picks plus an awesome selection of top prospects in the game."

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

Continue reading →

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 ...

KEY CARD, KEY PLAYER
The Card: Lucas Sims & Ozzie Albies 2018 Topps Heritage 100th Anniversary -- RC parallel (announced /25)
The Reason Bought: This parallel card isn't numbered, but they are very rare and if you consider the healthy print run and various pack formats for this popular brand, it's a bit of a needle-in-a-haystack type of card to pull in general let alone for a notable or specific player. I grabbed this since I've met both of them and Albies is a key Braves player ... and this brand is one that I generally buy a lot of (and did a ton in 2018). It's funky but I like 1969 Topps, too.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: Why did I bite? The combo of scarcity and high grade and a price that wasn't that bad (about $80) made this one appealing to me. Also, the fact that the only other one was on eBay for $199.99 and isn't as good on subs as this one. (That price? Too high.) There are three copies of this card in PSA slabs (two 10s, one 9), too. How many might still be sitting in packs? Probably a few ... and that's also another reason I grabbed this to stash it.

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

Continue reading →

What: 2021 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards
Arrives: Aug. 25
Box basics: Four autos or Relics 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 first release of the new year comes with some new inclusions under some unusual circumstances -- as in there was no MiLB action last year.

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

Continue reading →

Black Friday is almost here and a simple discount over on the site (hit that link) is in play right now, right here Buzz is kicking off the Blowout contests right here in simple form.

There's just one Buzz Box giveaway this year but I think it's a pretty solid one with every card limited to just 25 serial-numbered copies.

What's a Buzz Box? How can it be yours?

Keep reading to get all of the details.

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: 2020 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.

Continue reading →

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: Ripping Bowman Chrome Mega Boxes, soccer chatter, big pulls and a Hall of Famer's closest supporter hits the auction block.

Continue reading →

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 ...

EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY!
The Cards: 2008 Upper Deck Semi-Pro #1 Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell), #2 Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson), #3 Clarence “Coffee Black” Withers (Andre Benjamin)
The Reason Graded: I'm a sucker for sports cards with movie tie-ins (Or is it movie cards with sports tie-ins?) and this is a set I picked up long, long ago and then revisited again recently. The set is simple -- just these three cards that were released in a pack around a piece of wrapped gum in advance of this comedy's arrival. They weren't rare back then but they have dried up a bit now, and I always wanted to slab a set but knew that there would be challenges here if you want elite grades.
The Grades: BGS 9

Reality Check: This was my best trio out of a handful of sets I own and I'm fine with a matching set of BGS 9s as there can be centering issues galore here along with corner lifts on the soft stock, surface warping and even color blotches among those white borders on these highly glossed cards. These were my best options so I sent them in for the tougher grading company in my mind and got about what I had expected (while actually potentially fearing worse). As for the pop report, I'm not sure what's up here as all three of my cards actually show a pop of zero. That's perhaps because I'm the first or among the first to submit these, so they're not all linked up correctly in the BGS system. Or perhaps that whole is "It a sports card or non-sports card?" question in there, too.

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

Continue reading →

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.

--

GIVE 'EM A HAND ...
The Piece: Calvin Ridley 2018 Panini Instant Instant Impressions autographed hand print (/10)
The Price: $60 (shipped)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked this one up earlier this year when Panini had a half-price sale on Panini Instant stuff and I think it was a gem of a find considering he's had some strong showings for the Falcons. (Beyond that he fits one of my collecting niches.) What is this? It's a huge card -- not a card, really but it does have a full back so it's a card that's a couple feet tall -- with his handprint and autograph worked into the mix. The signature is slightly more full than many of his cards (believe it or not) but the uniqueness of the whole package drew me in ... especially at half price.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of these ... but you can find NFL boxes here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

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 ... a mix of new slabs and some recent pick-ups.

BIG RETAIL PULL NOW VS. THEN
The Card: Christian McCaffrey 2017 Crown Royale Platinum #88 (/49) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: With the NFL season (perhaps) finally coming, I'll let this guy kick things off since it's a rarer card and one that I figured would grade well but did have some fears about with one of the back corners showing some funk. I pulled this one from a mega box (or whatever it was called for this one) while sitting in a snowy Walmart parking lot back in the day only to be bummed that my autograph guaranteed in the box wasn't there ... it was Panini Rewards points. I was more hung up on that than appreciating this card back then, but he's been a playmaker in the league -- so much so I actually got rid of my Donruss and Optic RCs of him without getting them graded. Instead I decided to slab this one.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It graded better than I had expected -- I was thinking probably a 9 but optimistically a 9.5 -- and I consider this one a win. It's razor-sharp and clean except for that one corner and on the back it may not hurt as much. Either way, I'm good with this one. Only 12 total cards of McCaffrey from this release have been graded and this is the only for this parallel. There have been nine copies of his standard RC graded and only four cards overall equal this one with nothing higher.

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

Continue reading →

This one is a new department here on The Buzz ... Fast Five -- a quick list under a simple topic that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection. It's a basic list of five items that could be fun for a starting collector or a new way to add to a stash that might already seemingly include everything when it comes to cardboard. For some of you, it's probably common sense. For others of you out there, it's perhaps something to ponder.

This time? Brands that always get my collecting attention ... with a touch of collect 'em where they ain't.

TOPPS HERITAGE MLB/MiLB (AND OTHER SPORTS, TOO)
See all boxes in stock right here
This brand has been a go-to for me since its MLB arrival back in 2001 with today's players on a new take of 1952 Topps. Since then, we've marched through the 1950s, 1960s and are into the admittedly lacking early 1970s now, but there have been twists since those early years that still make this one a go-to, though I don't see myself buying this one anywhere near as heavily in the next few years compared to the last 10 generally speaking. (I'll probably pick off more key singles -- just don't dig a lot of the 1970s designs.) In earlier years, MLB legends' autographs were a big draw in the brand but in more recent years the solo-rookie action variations and their autographed cards have become very big deals financially. (And at the same time the older big-name autos also have appreciated heavily in a lot of instances. They are safe long-term holds, too, in my mind.) One more thing to take notice of here? The years of boxed high-number sets that include ink and the MiLB releases that have to have some of the lowest print runs of all baseball releases out there in the last decade. Go look up Mookie Betts' high-number, auto and MiLB cards from Heritage as just one example. Mike Trout's 2012 Heritage is another example and there's cash sometimes waiting to be found with all of those tough variations from the past.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

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: 2020 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz Preview & Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

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

Continue reading →

This one is a new department here on The Buzz ... Fast Five -- a quick list under a simple topic that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection. It's a basic list of five items that could be fun for a starting collector or a new way to add to a stash that might already seemingly include everything when it comes to cardboard. For some of you, it's probably common sense. For others of you out there, it's perhaps something to ponder.

This time? Five perhaps overlooked things baseball card collectors should consider.

USA BASEBALL
Nearly every year, nearly every draft pick already has appeared on a baseball card thanks to the USA Baseball deal with Panini today and a few other companies in the past. If you want an autograph, memorabilia card or just basic baseball card (or two, or three) for this year's No. 1 draft pick, Spencer Torkelson, all you have to do is rip into some USA Baseball packs. He's already got almost 200 different card appearances there -- nearly half of those autographs -- thanks to these releases and other prospect All-Star showcase products. The same can be said for a lot of notables from the last decade-plus and they won't cost you nearly as much as popular-brand MLB prospect debut cards or MLB Rookie Cards. Isn't the big appeal of first prospect cards or Rookie Cards their being early? USA Baseball can trump them all with players in their teen years having cards years before college or pro stardom. Torkelson, for example, has had cards since 2016 and had his first USA stuff in 2018 (Elite Extra Editon). He can be found in the last two Stars & Stripes releases, too. These cards are also easy enough to find to rip in bulk and stockpile/slab.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

Continue reading →

Silent Bob would be proud of this pack of Mallrats.

Sometimes when you think you've seen it all in card collecting, it just takes a glimpse into the bargain bin to discover something that's been there waiting for you for years. This time? Well, it's an oddity that Buzz found in a recent buy of some MiLB team sets.

It's a Sport Pro set for the 1989 Spokane Indians ... a simple 26-card release for the San Diego Padres' A-ball affiliate at the time -- a championship squad no less -- where the players, coaches and manager you will know all went to the University City Mall to take their baseball card photos.

No, really. They went to the mall.

The mall is no more -- it was demolished back in 2015 after a 50-year run (for those who don't know what a mall is, go ask your parents) -- but the cardboard lives forever because of some memorably stupid scenes that make for cardboard treasure if you ask me.

Outfielder Brian Span's card from his second and final season as a pro -- he hit just .213 for Spokane that summer -- is a textbook example of the oddities in this set. He's posed with a cardboard cutout of Whitney Houston holding a big bag of tapes (Too early for CDs, right?) from DJ’s Sound City, a chain described as "a fixture in Spokane's Music Market for almost 20 years." Its mall shops died in 1996 citing "stiff competition with discount stores and decreased traffic at music stores in malls."  (Just wait for iTunes and iPods, guys.)

There are other cameos and other cards that will make you want to go shopping right now and grab an Orange Julius before you hit the arcade. Keep reading among the cardboard oddities that can offer a trip back in time.

Continue reading →

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: Nothing but big pulls and breaks in this Sunday edition.

Continue reading →

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, huge Blowout's Most Wanted rewards, researching game-used memorabilia, Project 2020 and more in today's edition.

Continue reading →

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, bricked MLB boxes, Project 2020, MiLB mystery box and pondering the potential of Starting lineup toys.

Continue reading →

The future of Minor League Baseball is a cloudy one with this season in doubt or if not done before it ever starts, hundreds of players cut in recent weeks to pare everything down and the constant worry of the number of teams shrinking as MLB struggles with what to do amidst everything that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the creativity of MiLB and in particular its fun promotional nights can't be topped -- and both of those things got me looking for something different for my collection and for this regularly appearing department here on The Buzz. This piece presented itself with a nod to pop culture for a price that, well, can't easily be beat at the big-league level for game-used material ... so, it had to be had.

This specialty jersey you're about to learn about came directly from the Daytona Tortugas, the Class-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, and was used last season. It's a one-of-a-kind jersey as the team wore them just once last year as "the best-dressed team in baseball" donned different specialty jerseys for each of their Friday night home games last year.

You can keep reading to see the gamer and details.

Continue reading →

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: MiLB treasures, cardboard cook groups, Project 2020, WWE blasters, 1990s wax and, yes, The Rock had a football card (and needs more).

Continue reading →

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: Michael Jordan and The Last Dance, more Jordan cardboard and big pulls from around the sports world in today's edition.

Continue reading →

With the COVID-19 pandemic erasing pretty much everything in the sports world right now, ESPN's decision to launch The Last Dance early is a jolt of nostalgia that's fueling plenty of extra demand for some already legendary basketball cards from the past.

The eagerly awaited 10-part documentary arrives Sunday night at 9 p.m. Eastern and it tells the story of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls and their final championship run -- their third title in three years and sixth of that decade. It obviously keys upon the NBA's greatest player of all time and its biggest name on cardboard, Michael Jordan. But he's far from alone as the series will present original and new footage from that season as well as interviews from the players -- both on the court and beyond -- back then. We'll also hear from others from around the league who were on the court or covering the team as it commanded attention, won it all and then was forced to go their separate ways.

For Jordan, that meant a second retirement and return with the Washington Wizards three years later -- we probably won't hear a word about that (call it a hunch) -- but we'll be hearing plenty from many involved every Sunday night (two installments per evening) from here until May 17. If you're a new collector wanting to jump on the Jordan bandwagon it's not going to be easy -- you're about 35 years and 13,000 cards too late -- and the asking prices for many a Jordan gem are though the roof more now than ever. However, if you're a fan who missed some of the historic action back then there are still plenty of ways to dabble in cardboard from The Last Dance as it's ultimately a tale that's not just about Jordan.

Keep reading for 12 ways to explore the cardboard for The Last Dance ... both for Jordan and others who we'll see often every Sunday night.

Continue reading →

What: 2020 Topps Heritage Minor League baseball cards
Arrives: Oct. 7
Box basics: One autograph and one Relic per 19-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Collectors can turn back the clock to 1971 once again this fall with this trip down to the minor leagues where baseball's hopefuls get a big-league look on this popular line and one lucky collector once again will get a chance to suit up as a minor-leaguer on a one-day contract and later appear on a baseball card.

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

Continue reading →

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: Plenty of hobby investment and related discussions, 2020 Topps Heritage, MiLB cards and more in today's edition.

Continue reading →

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.

--

OFF-SEASON SLABBING
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Chrome RC (PSA 9)
The Price: About $15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The pop report on this one is flip-flopped like a lot of new modern cards -- it's got more than 1,500 PSA 10s but just over 150 PSA 9s out of nearly 1,700 graded ... not the norm, really. Nonetheless, I still didn't mind it in this grade for this price. The short-printed Series 2 card that carries the same photo as this one is a tougher grade -- those corners can be chippy -- but rather than sub my own there and hope for a PSA 9 I just decided to go this route on Chrome. I'll probably do more when they present themselves or perhaps submit others at some point. (I'll have a big submission I already made batting lead-off in a future Making The Grade, too.) My gut feeling is that this super-rookie didn't live up to the massive hype we had envisioned last year -- so 2020 could be one that is dramatic for his cardboard ... one way or another.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Topps Chrome 

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

What: 2020 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards
Arrives: June 19
Box basics: Two autos and two Relics 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 (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Minor League Baseball's first release of the new year gets a new format change and some new inclusions -- including Chrome parallel cards only found in new jumbo boxes.

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

Continue reading →

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 there's a little bit of everything -- 20 items for a new year.

--

WILL HE STAY OR WILL HE GO?
The Card: Kyle Schwarber 2016 Bowman's Best Rookie Card (PSA 10)
The Price: $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked this one up because the price was right for a high-grade Rookie Card but also because I took a look at the stat sheet. I'd argue that while he's been off the collecting radar of many lately, Schwarber put up a career year last season. His average was still low -- but a career-best .250 -- and he also had career marks in homers (38) and RBI (92) as well as games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles ... pretty much everything except stolen bases and on-base percentage. He'll always be remembered as a member of the 2016 Cubs World Series championship team, but I said "had been" off collecting radars because there were recent trade rumors where he could be headed to the Yankees. A move like that would make these kinds of cheaper buys vanish far faster than they might already and rejuvenate his cardboard. I'd be buying on him right now among the cheap early options.
Grab a box right here: 2016 Bowman's Best baseball cards (when available)

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →