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: Checking in on Pete Alonso, Ronald Acuña Jr. and the Hall of Very Good's Cooperstown candidates as well as big NBA and NFL pulls.

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year 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 they're oldschool, newschool, high-end and low-end in price -- a little bit of everything.

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A PIECE OF SWEETNESS
The Card: Walter Payton 1976 Topps Rookie Card (PSA 5)
The Price: $155
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Football season is here and I decided to go big with an oldschool pick-up that presented itself with a close-to-typical price but a not-typical look for the grade on a Rookie Card of an iconic Hall of Famer. It's generally not a super-pricey card as you can still find stuff from this timeframe with some ease. This also is a card that can be found relatively clean and sharp, too. What's the deal with this one's condition? Well, that's part of the reason I grabbed it -- there are some minor spots on the top and bottom edges and perhaps a corner lift that's not obvious but it's still far stronger looking than its grade says. There are no creases but there could be a couple of minor surface spots -- still nothing that scared me off of this one. This is a card that was reasonably always on my want list -- there's not that many things out there I've wanted to grab but hadn't within realistic (easily doable) budget limits.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but NFL boxes are right here.

Keep reading for a dozen more interesting items ...

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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: 2019 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster box)
First Buzz preview, SPs & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 8 (seven standard packs, one coin pack)
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 58 (56 cards and two coins)
Base set completion: 
52 of 300 (17 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Bryce Harper, Frank Thomas, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Mariano Rivera, Vladimir Guerrero, Buster Posey, Carlos Correa, Bo Jackson, Justin Verlander, Duke Snider, Chipper Jones, Bob Gibson, Derek Jeter, Tris Speaker, Don Mattingly, Joe Morgan, Sammy Sosa, David Ortiz, Willie McCovey, George Brett, Tim Raines, Ralph Kiner, Rogers Hornsby, Gleyber Torres

Rookie Cards (8) – Danny Jansen, Touki Toussaint, Francisco Arcia, Chance Adams, Luis Urias, Bryse Wilson, Justus Sheffield, Ryan O'Hearn

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It started with a hunch -- a reminder to myself about a past visit to a certain store, a dash of the "hit 'em where they ain't" philosophy and a whole lot of the ol' instant gratification habit established years ago -- long, long before The Buzz or even BlowoutCards.com existed.

At 5 p.m. sharp yesterday, I started what ultimately became a three-hour tour that included a few stops and some surprises with the name Ronald Acuña Jr. all at its core.

If you don't have a card shop, there's always the click-here-to-buy approach that works every single time -- but on this day it was a fresh forum post that reminded me of a previous hunch about a chain you might not think of for cardboard that finally got me to go look.

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

What's Buzzing Today: Ronald Acuña Jr.'s 40-40 Club quest, juiced baseballs, Cody Bellinger's autograph arrivals, Supernatural Mystery Box breaks and more in today's edition.

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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: 2019 Topps Fire baseball cards (collector's box)
Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Initially only at Target (here when available)

Packs per box: 20
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 119
Base set completion: 
99 of 200 (50 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Cody Bellinger, Bryce Harper, Ronald Acuña Jr., Juan Soto, Kyle Schwarber, Aaron Judge, Jose Altuve, Christian Yelich, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, David Ortiz, Walker Buehler, Corey Seager, Rhys Hoskins, Jim Thome, Gleyber Torres, Giancarlo Stanton, Todd Helton, Max Scherzer, Cal Ripken Jr., Mariano Rivera, Albert Pujols, Buster Posey

Rookie Cards (29) – Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Pete Alonso, Eloy Jimenez, Ramon Laureano, Taylor Ward, Jonathan Loaisiga, Heath Fillmyer, Chris Shaw, Cal Quantrill, Griffin Canning, Michael Kopech, Corbin Burnes, Sean Reid-Foley, Cedric Mullins, Enel De Los Santos, Steven Duggar, Rowdy Tellez, Jeff McNeil, Ryan Borucki, Carter Kieboom, Christin Stewart, Danny Jansen, Jon Duplantier, Luis Urias, Jake Cave, Justus Sheffield, Touki Toussaint, David Fletcher

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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: 2019 Topps 582 Montgomery Club Set No. 4
Where to buy: Only part of membership

Base set completion: 
20 of 20 (100 percent)

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What: 2019 Onyx Baseball Clubhouse Lumber Collection
Arrives: Early October
Box basics: One autographed or game-used bat per box
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: This MLBPA-approved product arrives once again from Onyx Authenticated and includes bats from top young names as well as some established veterans.

Keep reading for more info, including a full checklist.

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

What's Buzzing Today: Collectors react to Justin Verlander's no-no, a 43-store retail road trip yields some heat, new breaks and more in this holiday edition.

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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: 2019 Topps Archives baseball cards (hobby box)
First Buzz preview, SPs & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 192
Base set completion: 
163 of 300 (54 percent)
Duplicates: 4

Notables on base cards – Ty Cobb, Shohei Ohtani, Richie Ashburn, Hideki Matsui, Andrew Benintendi, Al Kaline, Deion Sanders, Willie Stargell, Christy Mathewson, George Kell, Jeff Bagwell, Nolan Arenado, Tony Gwynn, Ichiro Suzuki, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Catfish Hunter, Ivan Rodriguez, Bob Feller, Josh Donaldson, Thurman Munson, Todd Helton, Ronald Acuña Jr., Hank Aaron, Alex Rodríguez, Bob Gibson, Anthony Rizzo, Orlando Cepeda, Reggie Jackson, Don Larsen, Gary Carter, Goose Gossage, Eddie Murray, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Jim Thome, Roberto Alomar, Bob Lemon, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Bench, Warren Spahn, Tris Speaker, Don Mattingly, Rickey Henderson, Manny Machado, Corey Seager, George Brett, Tim Raines, John Smoltz, Eddie Mathews, Roger Clemens, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente, David Ortiz, Joe Morgan, Rogers Hornsby, Gary Sanchez, Willie McCovey, Joey Votto, Babe Ruth, Ralph Kiner, Dizzy Dean, Miguel Cabrera, Sammy Sosa

Rookie Cards (27) – Cavan Biggio, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Michael Chavis, Ramon Laureano, Yusei Kikuchi, Kyle Wright, Ryan Borucki, Jake Cave, Cole Tucker, Jake Bauers, Kolby Allard, Ryan O'Hearn, Cedric Mullins, Cal Quantrill, Dakota Hudson, Bryse Wilson, Justus Sheffield, Nick Senzel, Carter Kieboom, Josh James, Brad Keller, Michael Kopech, DJ Stewart, Steven Duggar, Chris Shaw, Enel De Los Santos

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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 Series 2 (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (a few formats)
Packs per box: 11 (10 plus patch pack)
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 101
Base set completion: 
77 of 350 (22 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Kris Bryant, David Price, Felix Hernandez, Cody Bellinger, Justin Verlander, Paul Goldschmidt, Tyler Glasnow

Rookie Cards (9) – Tomas Nido, Anthony Santander, Aaron Bummer, Reyes Moronta, Breyvic Valera, Jen-Ho Tseng, Yacksel Rios, Mitch Garver, Keury Mella

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

What's Buzzing Today: Ronald Acuña Jr., MLB breaks, college National Treasures pulls and more in today's edition.

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You should know by now that Ronald Acuña Jr. is having a historic year with the 30-30 Club already set to appear on his 2020 baseball cards -- and there's a serious chance he could become the youngest member of the elite 40-40 Club before the season is over, too.

But it's The Atlanta Braves outfielder's 2018 Rookie Cards that you should be thinking about right now as there's been a serious uptick in interest -- and there's still a lot to choose from that's not priced out of many collectors' budgets.

Acuña appears on more than 3,500 unique baseball cards since he arrived in prospect and minor-league sets back in 2016 and that number has gotten there rather quickly. Amidst his arrival and National League Rookie of the Year award-winning season last year, for example, he appeared on more than 1,700 new cards and more than 1,000 of those were made by Topps just last year.

For simplicity's sake here, we have carved out all of his Topps Now and several other small-set cards sold as online releases as well as Panini America's meaty lineup of Acuña RCs (those could be their own future rundown ... and likely will be). We've also punted all autographs and Relic cards from last year to make this a starting point with the widest affordability net possible -- though ink and parallels in the sets where he has basic RCs will get mentions. That said, even with this starting point, there's still a good mix of high-end and low-end cardboard -- and even the low-end stuff can generate some good Acuña Cash when professionally graded.

Keep reading for a rundown of Ronald Acuña Jr. Rookie Cards.

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

What's Buzzing Today: Andrew Luck still has them talking, big pulls and more in a Monday edition.

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

What's Buzzing Today: Ronald Acuña Jr. makes history, big breaks, Hall of Famer autos you see too often, the XFL is coming and more in this weekend edition.

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If you've been shut out or just can't grab 2018 Topps Update boxes at this point, there is an alternative option for wax that has a pretty good shot at landing a key card of a key rookie who's looking to do some big things the rest of this season and likely for years in Atlanta.

He's Ronald Acuña Jr. and the box is the 2018 Topps Holiday Box where he's one of the RCs to grab that's -- for now -- pretty easy to land and can deliver big once you get it slabbed.

And there's also a parallel and hit versions for him to chase, too.

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Have you seen the latest cool or interesting items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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BIG DEAL, BIG CARD
The Item: Aristides Aquino 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Superfractor autograph (1/1)
The Price: $29,999.99 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy has been demolishing baseballs at a record pace since Yasiel Puig was shipped to Cleveland and part of the reason you haven't seen a lot of him here on The Buzz is that there's simply not a lot of cardboard ink to go around for this new MLB star. His only MLB autographs are in 2014 Bowman Chrome -- that's it -- with the only other options being in 2015 Elite Extra Edition and 2015 Panini Contenders. He hasn't signed a thing since. He's pushing 60 autographed cards between the three releases but has just over 70 different baseball cards right now with Topps Now releases piling up of late. He'll be a 2020 Topps Series 1 Rookie Card
Similar Pieces: Other Aristides Aquino autos on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2014 Bowman Chrome boxes

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

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

What's Buzzing Today: Big pulls, breaking down a Heritage High Number case and a Ronald Acuña Jr. Topps Update printing plate from a bargain bin pack? (Yep.)

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

What's Buzzing Today: NFL breaks, NFL nuggets, Kyler Murray "madness" and more in today's edition.

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

What's Buzzing Today: Ronald Acuña Jr., Aristides Aquino, big pulls, new breaks and "how good are sketch cards?"

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It's been a few years since we last saw Bowman Sterling as a standalone product -- it had lived on as inserts in recent years -- but that trend ends on Wednesday with a new full-scale arrival.

And with a glance at the 2019 Bowman Sterling checklist it's apparent that the fans of rookies and prospects will have plenty to chew on in this autograph-per-pack release from Topps.

You get five packs per box in this one and it's also got a 100-card basic card assortment that is half prospects and half rookies with the bigs you would expect on the RC front -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Austin Riley, Pete Alonso, Keston Hiura, Eloy Jimenez and Nick Senzel are in there among others.

Prospects? Hold on ... Seth Beer, Yordan Alvarez, Bo Bichette, MacKenzie Gore, Alex Kirilloff, Joey Bart, Wander Franco, Nolan Gorman and Brendan McKay among others.

And that's just the standard stuff ... we're ripping this one for ink.

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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 Heritage High Number
Checklist: Click here
First Buzz Preview: Click here

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LOADED WITH ROOKIES 
The Cards: Eloy Jimenez, Keston Hiura, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso & Fernando Tatis Jr. Rookie Cards (and more)
The Prices: Will vary by player
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This year's revisiting of 1970 Topps was admittedly dry on the RC front but this series more than makes up for it and it takes that A+ grade I gave last year's edition with its rookies and gives it a nudge. This one is just as loaded and just as strong. There are more than 40 RCs on the standard checklist of just 200 cards for this one and then there are a few more (not the big names) among the 25 short-prints. The key names will be found often here and that's a recipe for strong breaks and plenty of heat if you're ripping at the case level. Heritage RCs and their autos have been some of the biggest movers (especially when slabbed) the last few years and this one will be just as strong. Now consider you'll also get parallels and variations (noted on checklist) ... oh, boy.

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: 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter X baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 18
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 144
Base set completion: 
125 of 300 (42 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Boston Red Sox, Clayton Kershaw, Jose Canseco, Giancarlo Stanton, Buster Posey, Ozzie Albies, Christian Yelich, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Roger Clemens, Mookie Betts, Nolan Ryan, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Ichiro Suzuki, Jeff Bagwell, Carl Yastrzemski, David Ortiz, Eddie Murray, Carlton Fisk, Tony Gwynn, Juan Marichal, Rickey Henderson, Ozzie Smith, Ernie Banks, Steve Carlton, Whitey Ford, Ivan Rodriguez, Al Kaline, Tiger Mask, Post Malone, Brian Fallon, Mayumi Seto, Dan Rather, Gary Vaynerchuk, Vincent Stio, Tyler Kepner, Sister Mary Jo Sobieck

Rookie Cards (6) – Pete Alonso, Dakota Hudson, Corbin Burnes, Sean Reid-Foley, Kevin Newman, Cedric Mullins

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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 ...

The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Living Set #179 RC
The Reason Graded: While I own a few Topps Living Set cards the arrival of this second-generation MLB star in this weekly release sparked my first purchase from this popular brand that's clearly popular with flippers. I ponied up for 10 copies of the card --solely with potential grading in mind -- but didn't receive a single perfectly centered card in my batch, which was a bummer. After some grumbling, I picked out this one from the batch and sent it in.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It graded as well as I thought it could -- maybe better -- so I wasn't unhappy with the grade and it appears that I'm perhaps on the luckier side with just two 10s out there better than it via BGS ... for now. This is a card that will likely be graded more and more often so those won't last but but it appears that this one is arriving between 8.5 and 9.5 more often than not. I have a second one I'll submit to PSA at some point with my sights set on a 10 there. We'll see sometime later this year.

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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: 2019 Bowman Platinum baseball cards (collector's box)
Where to buy: Click here

Packs per box: 20
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 100
Base set completion: 
44 of 100 (44 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Ronald Acuña Jr., Cody Bellinger, Juan Soto, Albert Pujols, Giancarlo Stanton, Max Scherzer, Jose Altuve, Francisco Lindor, Ozzie Albies, David Price, Alex Bregman, Miguel Cabrera, Yasiel Puig

Rookie Cards (14) – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (SP), Eloy Jimenez (SP), Michael Kopech, Christin Stewart, Dakota Hudson, Corbin Burnes, Touki Toussaint, Justus Sheffield, Chance Adams, Cedric Mullins, Ryan O'Hearn, Danny Jansen, Josh James, Ramon Laureano (no RC logo)

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