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

IT'S NOT A '52, BUT ...
The Item: Ryan Mantle 2008 Grandstand Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Update
The Buzz On This: The last line of this card's "Ballpark Banter" gives away the show here -- he's the third cousin of Mickey Mantle -- and there have been a few Mantles to appear on cards beyond The Mick over the years. This one played two seasons of minor-league ball for three teams in that stretch and then 10 final games during his third season -- that one in the Frontier League. The final MiLB stats? Three homers and 38 RBI in 81 games while batting .269. Per Baseball Reference, he's among six relatives of the Hall of Famer to play pro baseball.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can 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. 

ALIEN PUP MEETS PUP?
The Card: Orbit 2019 Choice Albuquerque Isotopes
The Buzz On This: "Never work with children or animals" might be a Hollywood saying, but in the case of this mascot's cardboard the pup might be stealing the show. This team's sets have included cameos from shelter pups at least a couple years in the past so this actually isn't that unusual, but this one jumped out at me since it's the alien (who looks like a dog to me) mascot. What must that dog be thinking? That's what I'd really want to know ...

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can 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's one of my biggest groupings ever.

RARER THAN RARE ...
The Book: Batman No. 457 -- second-print newsstand edition
The Reason Graded: This one is why you grade. Why? Well this book is more than obscure ... it's obscure on top of obscure with a pop report that shows that in a couple ways. I had this sitting in a junk box of books -- comics bagged in bulk with others taped shut in between a couple boards -- since the late 1990s with it having absolutely no thought in my mind for that time. When I opened up the bag, though, I remembered its cool cover -- that's why I saved it -- and in the here and now it's an example of how the grading world has changed a lot of stuff. It wasn't popular back in the day and that makes it more valuable (potentially) now. What is it? It's a second printing of a newsstand copy for an issue that had the debut of a key character, Tim Drake as Robin. The regular edition of this book has been graded almost 1,400 times -- actually still a modest number for the era -- but a newsstand copy is something else. And a second-printed newsstand copy? Nobody wanted that. How many could have even been made and how many went unsold or were trashed? There's some mystery there as with a lot of things but the pop report talks.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: Just four copies of the 78 graded have checked in at my mark -- not bad considering I got this in some Sears catalog mystery box with like 25 comics for $10 back in the early 1990s. It wasn't a really impressive buy at all at that time -- a lot of stuff that just wasn't appealing or was later printings and I'm betting some of them were pitched or given away. Nobody wanted that then. But now? The numbers game and speculation has people on eBay sellers challenging the market. A 9.6 -- with twice as many copies as this one in existence -- has an eBay asking price of ... well just see it for yourself. It's not alone, either, as a 8.5 checks in with an asking of $3,800, an 8.0 checks in at $3,500 and a 6.5 is $1,499. Other versions (first print direct and newsstand) are cheaper along with direct second prints as they've all got far higher pop reports. People like the easier versions a lot -- eBay highs as much as $255 but not for this one -- and who knows where the other three 9.8s might even be? What might mine command? I'm not sure ... but I know this is pretty solid potential for something that was pocket change from years ago. Again, this is why you grade.

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

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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 it's once again the biggest Buzz Buys ever. (A collection of pick-ups from recent times as well as in the past year or so.)

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A RECORD-SETTER, BUT ... 
The Cards: Wander Franco 2022 Topps Living Set (/68,228)
The Price: Direct from Topps (10-pack price)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one re-wrote the new Living Set record book with its sales volume and I did a 10-pack to hopefully land a copy without centering issues and to maybe grade one or two. It turns out 10 wasn't enough as the front card is closest to centered but it has a cardboard blotch that should nix some top marks and any immediate grading from me. I still might but not right now. With so many made, there likely will be plenty graded in the coming months ... so without an obvious gem I'll wait. This might have been my first Living Set lot direct from Topps since Vladimir Guerrero Jr., so it will probably send me back to hibernation on that brand. We'll see.
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one ... but MLB 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. 

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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Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's list: Bargain boxes I'd bust right now ... for a few reasons.

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TEN PACKS, TEN AUTOGRAPHS
The Box: 2008 Razor Signature Series baseball box
The Price: Click here
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: With the MLB Draft tonight, I figured I'd give this one a nod both for the power of prospect cards in everything when it comes to baseball these days and for the reality that not all draft classes age that well. This one has an autograph in every pack and a number of guys who made it to MLB and then many who didn't really make much of a mark. Your most-notable autos here at this point are Giancarlo Stanton (in his "Mike" days) as well as Buster Posey, Charlie Blackmon and Eric Hosmer. Others that have been of note at times? Tim Beckham, Pedro Alvarez, Yonder Alonso and Matt Wieters to name a few. An autograph in every pack makes this one fun but it can be a bit of a bummer if you don't land one of the bigger names ... but at the low-price volume still makes for a decent rip and you can find parallels and dual autos, too.

Keep reading for five more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's release: 2019 Topps Opening Day baseball cards (arrives Wednesday)

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THE ROOKIE ARRIVES 
The Card: Yusei Kikuchi 2019 Topps Opening Day #55 Rookie Card
The Price: Should be affordable ... but could surprise early on
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Take a quick glance at the basic checklist and it should be apparent that this one might be the front-runner upon arrival. It's the MLB Rookie Card for a headline-generating rookie from Japan -- who will make his MLB debut for the Mariners later this month in Japan. He's set to be the starter for the second game of the Mariners' series against the Oakland A's in Tokyo. The 27-year-old is 2-1 with a 4.00 ERA and six strikeouts in nine innings this spring. He's a former Seibu Lins standout who went 74-48 with a 2.81 ERA in eight seasons.

Keep reading for five more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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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: 2018 Topps Opening Day baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (a few formats)

Packs per box: 36
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 252
Base set completion: 
200 of 200 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 8

Notables on base cards – Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Ian Happ, Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman, Gary Sanchez, Ichiro Suzuki, Nolan Arenado, Josh Donaldson, Carlos Correa, Bryce Harper, David Price, Kris Bryant, Trea Turner, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Buster Posey, Jose Altuve, Aaron Judge, Corey Seager, Albert Pujols, Andrew Benintendi and everybody else

Rookie Cards (29) – Notables include Shohei Ohtani, Rhys Hoskins, Rafael Devers, Ozzie Albies, Amed Rosario, Clint Frazier, Victor Robles, Miguel Andujar

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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: 2018 Topps MLB Sticker Collection jumbo pack
Where to buy: Check retail stores for this format

Packs per box: 50
Stickers per pack: 8
Stickers per box: 400
Base set completion: 301 of 301 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 81 (sheets, not total stickers -- some have two)
Triplicates: 9

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If you're a long-time reader of The Buzz, you should remember sports artist S. Preston, who focuses on the small details and builds artwork around those little things that sports fans see and appreciate.

After a year of waiting for MLB licensing, Preston's work is back with a new series of Minimalist Mascots prints, which are now available with a focus on the fast and furry-ous stars often found running around the ballpark.

The pieces were part of his portfolio back when we first visited his work in December but could not be sold because they were not licensed. Now, though, they are available to fans.

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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.

For the first grading diary here on The Buzz, it will be a mix of cards graded for a few reasons.

The Card: 1993 Upper Deck #449 Derek Jeter
The Reason Graded: This was pulled straight from an underpriced factory set and looked very clean except for a tiny spot on the back -- Buzz figured it might push into the high grades even with the gloss issue. These cards are also not easy to pull from wax or sets cleanly because the high-gloss cards often stick together, peeling away specks of paper. Another reason? This is an iconic card that's worth grading if you own a clean one.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: The SP Jeter rookie is the one people chase, not this one. This one's $20 on eBay -- and perhaps undervalued considering how they grade on the pop report. BGS 9s and higher are really much rarer than people think.

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