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. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around it's the biggest roundup ever (in volume, not price).

--

A UNIQUE SURPRISE 
The Card: Tony Gwynn 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection Collegiate Memorabilia (/99)
The Price: $16.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: It took me a while to find one of these (only casually looking), but this card of the Baseball Hall of Famer is one of a few that show him in his other sport, basketball, which he played at San Diego State. His estate auctioned off a number of game-used pieces and other memorabilia in 2015, generating more than $217,000 partly going to the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation to help kids in need. His first Aztecs basketball uniform went for $11,858 in that SCP Auctions sale and the buyer was Panini America. These cards aren't all that plentiful in this release -- and they certainly aren't the only place the swatches went as there are just 99 standard cards and a second one limited to five copies with a much larger prime swatch. The follow-up release to this one had a few more, including prime cards, and he also had posthumous autographed cards (stickers) showing him in his basketball uniform in a National Treasures release. Spoiler alert: you'll see one more of these here at some point.
Grab a box right here: 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection Collegiate (when available)

Keep reading for more ...

Continue reading →

Now that we know what the 2018 Topps Heritage baseball card checklist looks like, we can now ponder the possibilities for errors and variations that are an homage to the 1969 Topps set that this one is modeled after.

And it's that set from the past -- one with a number of errors made back then -- that can offer the clues when those are compared to who appears on the set slated to arrive next week.

One favorite mistake that wasn't corrected back in 1969 probably won't get an homage in this one as Heritage is merely a 500-card set. The 1969 Topps Aurelio Rodriguez -- one that famously shows batboy Leonard Garcia -- is card No. 653. (Maybe we'll get that one in Heritage High Number?)

Keep reading for a few possibilities among the first 500 cards from 1969 ...

Continue reading →