The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big pulls from the sports and non-sports worlds are the showcase today.

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Before "The Great One," there was "Mr. Hockey."

Gordie Howe, who led the Detroit Red Wings to four Stanley Cups and won six MVP awards before retiring as the NHL's most-prolific scorer, died on Friday. He was 88.

"A lot of times when you meet your idols and people you respect and look up to, sometimes it's not as great as you had anticipated or you built it up too much," Wayne Gretzky told ESPN. "I was so lucky when I met Gordie. I was 10. It was so much nicer and bigger and better than I had ever imagined it. To this day when people come up to me that talk about having done a book report or speech about me, I always talk about the time that my fondest memory in public school was writing a book report on Gordie Howe."

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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 five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big baseball breaks, estate planning and Upper Deck Ice.

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If you're a long-time reader of The Buzz, then you already know what makes Nikita Kucherov a bit of a hobby anomaly these days, but now that his Tampa Bay Lightning are a win away from a Stanley Cup Final appearance his trivia is even more important.

He's one of those players who didn't have a signed Rookie Card -- or at least something -- signed and available shortly after he hit the ice. Collectors had to wait for packs of 2015-16 Upper Deck Buybacks to find his rookie ink, though he's appeared in a handful of releases since that one. In all, he appears on just 16 different autographed cards right now.

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This year's National Sports Collectors Convention is set for Aug. 3-7 in Atlantic City, N.J., but that hasn't stopped Upper Deck from revealing the first promotional cards that will only initially be found at the event.

The company will produce a five-card VIP set along with a wrapper redemption program.

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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 five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big blasters, big pulls & big names on this Sunday afternoon.

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Upper Deck's next NHL brand, 2015-16 Upper Deck Ice, is slated for release just 13 days from now and the company has teased a selection of card images for one young Chicago Blackhawk in advance of its release.

His name? Artemi Panarin.

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What: 2016-17 Upper Deck Artifacts hockey cards
Arrives: Sept. 28
Box basics: Three autograph, memorabilia or Aurum cards per eight-pack box (20 boxes per case via two inners)

What's buzz-worthy: Artifacts returns for another season with new Aurum gold cards alongside the memorabilia cards and other inclusions collectors have come to expect. Also in the mix? Lord Stanley’s Legacy Relic and autographs of players who have reached the pinnacle of the game.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2016 Super Break Frozen Heirlooms Hockey
Arrives: June 22
Box basics: Three autographed buybacks per box (25 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Super Break takes to the ice with a product that includes all teams and a healthy mix of unique items and key cardboard spanning 80 years of hockey history worked into the mix, too.

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It's retro, but it's not -- and it's arriving in hobby shops tomorrow.

It's 2015-16 O-Pee-Chee Platinum and the hockey cards will have several colors and textures in a rainbow of autographs found one per hobby as well as a checklist that includes some of the biggest names in the game today.

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What: 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards
Arrives: Sept. 7
Box basics: No guaranteed hits per 32-pack box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: A meaty base set with retro style enhanced with plenty of modern-day features and collectable options continuing what we've seen in recent years from Upper Deck will help fuel the interest here without an overabundance of "hits" in a case.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2015-16 Upper Deck Portfolio hockey cards
Arrives: Aug. 10
Box basics: Two autographs or memorabilia cards per 20-pack box (eight boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: The short-printed subsets are a star here, which build upon a 200-card base set with a variety of looks and approaches while presenting the stars you'd expect and plenty of Rookie Cards from this year's talented class to build a 364-card collection.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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When Upper Deck first teased its High Profile Fans cards of celebrities in its forthcoming 2015-16 Upper Deck Contours set, there was one notable hockey fan who got the attention, Chicago Blackhawks fan CM Punk.

Now, with the release of a final checklist, there are a few more.

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The recent arrival of 2015-16 Fleer Showcase hockey cards from Upper Deck included a mix of styles from the rich history of 1990s Fleer cards applied to the ice.

Like past years and other sports, the Precious Metal Gems cards have captured the attention of buyers on eBay with the card of Connor McDavid above fetching a pretty penny, despite not having one dollop of autograph ink or a jersey swatch anywhere on the card.

How much did it sell for?

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What: 2015-16 Upper Deck Premier hockey cards
Arrives: July 27
Box basics: Five hits guaranteed per seven-card box (five boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: The biggest young names on some of the biggest Rookie Cards with some of the biggest swatches sums up what Premier delivers most -- but that's not all.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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The newest Upper Deck hockey product arrived last week with plenty of hits and plenty of Rookie Cards that will command attention.

And a few bucks, too.

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What: 2016-17 Upper Deck MVP hockey cards
Arrives: Aug. 3 (and Aug. 17 or later for e-Pack)
Box basics: No hits guaranteed per 20-pack box but two autos and three memorabilia cards per case (20 boxes per case)

Final Checklist: Click here to view.

What's buzz-worthy: A 360-card base set opens the new season with plenty of inserts and parallels along with a mix of new rookies and stars.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2015-16 Upper Deck Champ's hockey cards
Arrives: June 29
Box basics: One autograph or and two memorabilia cards per box (10 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: After a few years off, Upper Deck revives its retro brand that brings big names and big surprises from the world of hockey and beyond and an overall package that, of course, includes the latest Connor McDavid Rookie Cards and autographs.

Keep reading for more and 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 five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Steph Curry's Topps Rookie Card keeps on selling, hot 2016 Topps Heritage blaster boxes, Superfractors, big pulls & more.

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What: 2015-16 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection hockey cards
Arrives: July 6 for standard, July 20 for e-Pack
Box basics: five autographs or memorabilia cards per box (five boxes per inner case; two per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Ultimate will be the next product to hit Upper Deck's e-Pack format with all hits in this one there and also in its physical form.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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The feel-good story of the sports world this year now has some memorabilia to reflect it.

How? NHL All-Star Game MVP John Scott has signed an autograph deal with Fanatics Authentic.

Scott was an NHL journeyman voted into the game by fans before the NHL reportedly asked him to decline the dubious honor. Then, he was traded and demoted to the minor leagues, making him ineligible for the game, before public backlash had him back in the event where he went on to score a pair of goals and take home MVP honors. His story will potentially become a movie with sportswriter Mitch Albom signing on to write the tale.

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Upper Deck released the following statement this week to address some dealers or collectors' concerns about its e-Pack program that launched earlier this year. 

"Our goal with the program has always been to grow the hobby, and based on responses from fans participating in regions devoid of hobby shops, it appears to be working. The plan for 2015-16 NHL Upper Deck Series 2, and likely most releases going forward that have the e-Pack platform tied to them, is to provide our brick-and-mortar retailers with a window before e-Pack starts. Therefore, the earliest 2015-16 NHL Upper Deck Series 2 will be available on the e-Pack platform will be March 17. We will continue to monitor the market however to determine the best time for launch, but it will not happen before that date.

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When 2016 In The Game The Final Vault hockey boxes arrive in late March, there will be quite a bit of history found inside -- some big hits from the history of In The Game as well as big hits from the history of the NHL.

Every box will include 10 cards -- five game-used memorabilia cards, four autographs and one mask card -- with special Vault stamping noting that it came from this release.

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When 2015 Leaf Ultimate hockey cards arrive on Wednesday, they'll show up with nothing but the hits in play as the high-end brand packs some of the biggest and baddest pieces of memorabilia in any sport.

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Eight new products are scheduled to arrive this week with a mix of hockey and basketball leading the way with two brands apiece for the sports.

The second series of Upper Deck hockey cards arrives with Jack Eichel the Young Guns Rookie Card to chase, while Leaf goes high-end with 2015 Leaf Ultimate, a brand loaded with nothing but hits. There are 50 Young Guns in Series 2 and they are found one in every four packs, while memorabilia cards are found one per box in both hobby and retail boxes.

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