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: Multi-player cards, player-worn patches, Court Kings, goals and resolutions for 2016, college football and more on the forum that recently joined the 10-Million Post Club.

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The checklist for 2015 Elite Extra Edition is here -- click to view a PDF version.

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

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It's a time of change, a time of high-end product exploration and a time of options for many collectors in what we call the sports card industry these days.

Tastes, products and prices continue to evolve as does the business environment that helps bring us our cardboard. For every super-pricey box being made, there are seemingly just as many buyers ready to rip or pick off singles for not-always-so-super prices (but super bargains).

The Buzz has only been around for part of 2015, but Buzz has been here all along as part of the world of collecting. Here are Buzz's picks for 15 cards that helped define 2015.

2015-16 Upper Deck #201 Connor McDavid RC
The impressive prices being paid for what's just a simple piece of cardboard with just gloss and some foil stamping shows that fundamentals never go out of style when there's a big name involved. This time, it's the No. 1 pick Connor McDavid, a Canadian phenom drafted by the Edmonton Oilers. This photo was selected by collectors and it even has a fun sign of 2015 -- the fan showing off a photo on her phone in the background.

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Another holiday week leads to another abbreviated release schedule for trading cards with just five brands on the tarmac and set to arrive beginning tomorrow.

We've got one from Leaf Trading Cards, one from Cryptozoic, one from Topps and two from Panini America and that's where we'll start off.

This week's NBA release is 2015-16 Panini Court Kings, a rookie-heavy art-style product that will include one autograph and one memorabilia card per 10-card box. It will also include box-toppers. This one will feature on-card autos as well as one Hot Box delivering extras in every 15-box case.

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Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary Harlem Globetrotters showman Meadowlark Lemon has died, the team announced on Monday. He was 83.

Known as "The Clown Prince of Basketball," Lemon was a fixture for the traveling exhibition team beginning in 1954. He's one of just five players to have his number retired by the team and he played more than 7,500 games in the red, white and blue before retiring in the late-1970s. He joined the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

"Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I’ve ever seen," former Globetrotter Wilt Chamberlain told The New York Times in 1999. "People would say it would be Dr. J or even Jordan. For me, it would be Meadowlark Lemon."

Off the court, he was one of the core players often seen on the Globetrotters' cartoon series, some memorable episodes of Scooby-Doo and, of course, seen on plenty of cardboard.

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Robert Morris
Also known as: @dalsubfan on Twitter and most other places
Website: http://sportscardalbum.com/u/dalsubfan
Email: dalsubfan@gmail.com
Location: Texas
Work away from cards: Manufacturing
Collecting since: 1970-80, 1992-95, 2005-current

Main focuses: My collecting focus is Mark Teixeira cards and whatever else interests me. Hall of Famers, 1/1s, memorabilia ...

Favorite players/teams: Mark Teixeira and Texas Rangers

Current collecting projects: In addition to chasing at least one of every Mark Teixeira card made (at 5,700 or 81 percent), I am completing th 2013 Historic Autographs Originals 1933 set. Also working on a bat with Hall of Famer autographs -- at 65 so far.

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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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Admit it, you may have overdone things when it comes to buying football cards this year -- maybe past years, too -- and have a big ol' stash of cards you don't know what to do with. What do you keep? What do you jettison? That's where having a collecting focus comes in. If you haven't overdone it on wax, then maybe having a focus for your single-card buys is a need. (That's one even Buzz has struggled with over decades of collecting.)

One potential niche that seems prevalent this year in NFL and college sets? Cards showing the kids of former NFL players who have now made their way onto cardboard.

They seem to be everywhere this year. Second-generation players aren't anything new, of course, but they can be a fun way to revisit the past while also collecting the present. Buzz started his collecting days in the 1980s and, back then, a Joe Montana autograph wasn't an easy find -- plus, his handwriting didn't justify the high cost on a small budget. Fast-forward to 2015 and Nick Montana has cardboard. He won't be an NFL star -- he wasn't really even that good in college -- and the handwriting also isn't great, but he's got a certified autograph card.

Buzz wanted it, Buzz got it. Can't say the same thing for a Joe autograph, though, even all these years later.

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When Panini America first revealed 2015 Elite Extra Edition back in October, it promised that the annual prospecting staple would include plenty of autographs -- eight to 10 in the warmest of Hot Box scenarios and six autos for the standard boxes.

But there will be even more ink when it arrives next Thursday.

A lot more in every case.

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Panini America's annual USA Baseball boxed set arrived in hobby shops today with a new inclusion inside.

As in the newest players ever.

New in 2015 Panini USA Baseball are autographs and memorabilia cards like those of Adam Crampton seen above. He was a member of the USA Baseball 14U squad this year. That's the 14-and-under squad -- do the math and you'll figure out that the third-baseman was born sometime in the 2000s. (It's May 24, 2001, to be precise, meaning he's now a grizzled veteran and too old for that roster.)

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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: High-end brands like Panini Immaculate and Panini Eminence, keeping vs. flipping, Chris Bosh's Hall of Fame chances and golf greats find a spot in this one.

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When collectors crack into boxes of 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection College beginning tomorrow, they could find one of the more unique memorabilia cards made in a long time.

It's a card of baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn from his days as a player at San Diego State.

What makes it different, though? The card appears to include a swatch from the Aztecs jersey seen above.

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When the next Panini America soccer product arrives in January, it will bring all the international flair and fervor of The Beautiful Game, but it will take things up a notch in spots compared to its predecessor without a dramatic high-end hike in price.

The brand is 2015 Panini Select and it's set to arrive on Jan. 6 packing three autographs or memorabilia cards per box along with a selection of inserts and parallels. The previously released 2015 Donruss soccer boxes had just one autograph per box, while Select will include the first memorabilia cards made by the company for its international soccer releases.

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Panini America posted this photo online this weekend with a simple statement.

"Why did this chicken cross the road? That's easy: To become a clucking cool memorabilia card in @paniniamerica's upcoming 2016 Donruss baseball."

If you've read The Buzz this past week, then it's not a surprise -- but here are more details.

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As the season winds down (and fantasy season's like Buzz's are flat-out over), some players are in situations where it's just about tallying their stats to see how it ends. Others have postseason potential, but for the stars on those teams -- like the undefeated Panthers and QB Cam Newton -- the expectations are set and they are set high.

With an undefeated team, it goes without saying that Newton is a player to watch this week and you should've been eyeing his Rookie Cards from 2011 for some time now.

Keep reading for four more players to watch ...

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What: 2015-16 Panini Select basketball cards
Arrives: March 3, 2016
Box basics: Three autographs or memorabilia cards per 12-pack box

What's buzz-worthy: Select returns for another season with on-card autographs and prime memorabilia pieces along with a rainbow of Prizmatic color and insert sets featuring the NBA's top stars and top rookies all in three types of base sets.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2015 Panini National Treasures football cards
Arrives: March 2, 2016
Box basics: Eight cards -- three autographs, three memorabilia, two base/parallels -- per box. (Four boxes per case.)

What's buzz-worthy: Panini America improves upon the impressiveness of Treasure Chest cards seen in its past NT hockey release with 24-piece memorabilia and 12-autograph booklet cards in this year's edition. These also will have patch and 1/1 NFL Shield versions. Also in this one will be autograph and memorabilia sets for America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys, and The Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2015-16 Donruss basketball cards
Arrives: February 2016
Box basics: Three autograph or memorabilia cards per 24-pack box

What's buzz-worthy: The wave of retro-styled modern Donruss cards returns to the NBA and, just like its baseball counterpart, it includes plenty of inserts, plenty of base cards and more hits than the typical lower-end brand. This year's release also will be more limited than last season.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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One of the hobby's most chattered-about deals is now official.

Panini America and the NFL have signed a multi-year exclusive deal for trading cards and stickers that will begin before next year's NFL Draft. Combined with a previous exclusive with the NFLPA that was announced in August 2014, Panini will be the only company that will make fully licensed football cards beginning next year.

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What: 2016 Donruss baseball cards
Arrives: March 2016
Box basics: Three autographs or memorabilia cards per box

What's buzz-worthy: A new wave of retro-styled but modern Donruss baseball cards arrives during spring training next year as Panini America revealed the basics on this new one, which will include autographed buybacks, plenty of inserts, plenty of base cards and more hits than the typical lower-end brand. Among the surprises? A memorabilia card for the famed The Famous (San Diego) Chicken mascot.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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From time to time, we'll highlight some crazy pulls from breaks done via BlowoutTV -- you know, the stuff that's truly buzz-worthy. 

Just pulled: A 2014-15 Panini Eminence Stephen Curry championship tag auto 2/2
The box? It can be found right here.

Want to watch the entire video?

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The most-expensive box in Panini America history arrives on Wednesday in the form of 2014-15 Panini Eminence basketball cards.

It's a $5,900 box with as many as 10 cards inside -- all very limited and autographed.

Panini revealed the checklist for this one on Tuesday so we can all try to answer the million-dollar question ... just what's inside this one?

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If you haven't felt the awakening yet, you will by Friday.

That's the day that Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives and that's also the day that the galaxy right here right now gets a new set of Star Wars cards -- one that includes full scenes from the film and the most-important thing of them all.

Autographs from the new faces of the franchise. (If you thought Star Wars was a force on cardboard before, you haven't seen anything yet. Guaranteed.)

In fact, Friday's release of 2015 Topps Star Wars: The Force Awakens is merely a first series of cards. In fact, it won't even be the only Star Wars set of the week ...

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Seattle Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls' first Rookie Cards will be coming soon from Panini America.

The company teased his 2015 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket on Sunday. That set is scheduled to arrive on Dec. 30, while it appears he's among the players in 2015 Panini Crown Royale arriving this week.

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Gary Barnidge is in the midst of a career year with the Cleveland Browns -- and he might be the team's only weapon on offense considering the craziness that is the quarterback spot for that 2-10 disaster.

The tight end is eight years into his NFL career -- he was a fifth-round pick out of Louisville in 2008 -- and has 60 catches for 817 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Before this year? Just 44 receptions for 603.

He signed a new contract with the team today, but there are two things he can't buy with that new cash.

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