With these Ticket Stud or Ticket Dud stories I'm turning just a tiny bit of that energy just a few degrees away from cards (we'll still have plenty of them here) for a different kind of cardboard. What am I doing? Simple ... this is an occasional dip into some random ticket lots -- a show and tell showing something small with a story.

This time? A dominating day in college football action.

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and tell me if you think it's a Ticket Stud or a Ticket Dud.

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Update (July 14): After the first day of the 2024 MLB Draft, 22 of the 24 eligible players in the card set included in this issue  have been picked, including 13 of the first 14 selected on Sunday night. Overall, 18 were first-rounders, while one of the two 2024 players who went un-drafted actually withdrew to play for LSU next year. For those attending this year's National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland, hit the Blowout Cards booth (No. 5,010) on Friday, July 26. Beginning at 11 a.m., the first 500 visitors can get a free copy of the issue.

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Baseball America's annual Draft Preview issue is here and it's jam-packed with facts and other info that all card prospectors simply need heading into the MLB Draft this weekend. The issue also spotlights a few future stars.

The biggest issue of the year features player profiles and scouting reports for 100 players, a list of 100 more to check out beyond those names, a mock draft, comparisons of today's notables to past stars, BA's annual All-America teams for both the college and prep ranks and even, in some copies of this issue, exclusive prospect cards

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What: 2022 Bowman University Best football cards
The Reason: The 2024 NFL Draft of course ... but not just this year's draft class.
Box basics: Two autos per box (eight boxes per case)
First Buzz Preview/Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This year's NFL Draft is upon us with Round 1 last night, two more tonight and then the final four on Saturday. Thanks to NIL deals the last few years, it's rare for a notable player to not have cards these days -- at least players from major schools -- and this officially licensed set that's the focus of The List includes a bunch of guys drafted just last night, including the No. 1 pick, as well as a bunch of guys in the NFL right now who were drafted last year. There will likely be more new pros to come tonight, too, but for simplicity's sake we'll look at last night's names and then the first three rounds of last year on this edition of The List. How many made The List from that alone? Almost 30 players in this one -- from just a 100-card set -- with autographs, parallels and more in play.

Keep reading for The List ...

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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 ...

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THIS SET IS A CLASSIC
The Card: Tua Tagovailoa 2023 Panini Luminance Gold (/250)
The Price: About $5.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This set was among many recent NFL releases on the high-end spectrum when it comes to box price, so, well, I'm not ripping it ... but when this one popped up in an online search I did some scrolling and I quickly realized that this set just might be one of the best photo-editing jobs done in all of modern football card history (view a lot of them here). I scouted listings and opted for this clean parallel of a top guy in the NFL this season and this one arrived so clean that there's a very good shot this will end up slabbed and in a future Making The Grade ... that's how much I like this card. The base set is full of strong images. Strong, strong images.
Grab a box right here: Grab a box by clicking here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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With these Ticket Stud or Ticket Dud stories I'm turning just a tiny bit of that energy just a few degrees away from cards (we'll still have plenty of them here) for a different kind of cardboard. What am I doing? Simple ... this is an occasional dip into some random ticket lots -- a show and tell showing something small with a story.

This time? A look back at a big game from a past phenom who later fizzled.

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and tell me if you think it's a Ticket Stud or a Ticket Dud.

Continue reading →

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: 2021 Onyx Vintage College Football cards
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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It looks like Topps is getting back into the basketball card market.

The former NBA card licensee last produced a basketball set early in the 2009-10 card season before the league opted for Panini America as an exclusive card-maker. But a new image floating around social media channels -- one from a likely first-round draft pick -- indicate there's more cardboard to come.

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If you're a South Carolina Gamecocks fan, then you might know his story -- but if you're a fan of his potential new NFL team tonight or later this week you might not.

And it also matters a lot if you want Hayden Hurst's first cards.

The former Gamecocks tight end already has more than 130 different football cards between all of the NFL draft products that have been arriving this spring but none of them can call "dibs" on being first.

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With a victory tonight, University of Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban would equal a giant not only in the history of college football but a giant in his school's history.

His Crimson Tide plays in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Paul W. Bryant Drive down the road from the Paul W. Bryant Museum and the Bryant Conference Center -- all reminders of Bear Bryant and his NCAA-record six national championships and 323 career victories. (Saban is at 285.)

Tonight's College Football Playoff National Championship is Saban's sixth title-game appearance in the last nine years and with a win he'll have his sixth season title for his career. Saban had his chance at tying Bryant last season when his undefeated team lost in the final seconds on the final play of the game against Clemson, which Alabama knocked off in a rematch this year to advance to tonight's game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Both of Alabama's postseason foes this year are coached by former Tide assistants, Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Kirby Smart at Georgia, but neither has autographs and football card appearances as easily found as the legend of today, Saban.

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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: Favorite memorabilia pieces, DeMar DeRozan's 52 points, an all-SEC title game, fixing the Cleveland Browns, Panini Contenders SPs, a Michael Jordan trade you don't want to make and plenty more ...

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The college football world got a pair of classic showdowns on Monday night and will get a third next week when the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs face off for the College Football Playoff National Championship.

There were some dominating performances for these two squads in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl and the good news for collectors who might not know is that a number of those stars now set to chase gridiron history already appear on fully licensed football cards thanks to card companies' deals with prep spotlight games such as the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the Under Armour All-America Game.

In the case of the Bulldogs and their game-winning star Sony Michel -- as well as his fellow bruiser RB Nick Chubb and QB Jake Fromm -- they can all be found on Army cards from Leaf Trading Cards. Michel's first of more than 40 cards was made back in 2011 and nearly all of the are autographed. Chubb has around 30 cards from 2014 and beyond, while Fromm has more than both of them with nearly 50 signed. His are all from this year's set -- and this trio is likely not alone for Bulldog cameos as there have been plenty of cards made for the event in past years (some wax is still findable -- there's even a Vault release on the way).

The Crimson Tide guys? There's a lot more mystery there ...

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What: 2017 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Football Mini Helmets
Arrives: Aug. 30
Box basics: One autographed mini helmet per box

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures football brand returns to the field for another season with some new NFL names and some of the biggest names from the past.

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A number of championship rings, awards and game balls from the career of a Hall of Fame quarterback are headed to the auction block in January.

George Blanda's 26-year career as a quarterback and kicker included three AFL championships and a league MVP award -- and the spoils of those successes will be sold via Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based SCP Auctions. 

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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: 2016 Panini Black Gold college football cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 2
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 10
Base set completion: 
0 of 89 (0 percent)
Duplicates: 0

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With the MLB Draft set for Thursday night, we'll soon have a new crop of prospects attached to their professional teams and new players that collectors can now focus upon.

Thanks to various high school all-star sets and USA Baseball releases from Panini America, many of the players who'll be tabbed for future greatness already have cardboard.

That includes potential No. 1 overall pick A.J. Puk, a 6-foot-7 left-handed pitcher for the Florida Gators who was previously drafted in the 35th round by the Detroit Tigers out of high school back in 2013.

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What: 2016 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Football Mini Helmets
Arrives: March 15
Box basics: One autographed mini helmet per box.

What's buzz-worthy: After more than a year on the sidelines, TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures football brand returns to the field with some extra potential twists for collectors.

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Buzz is a collector with varying tastes -- one where there's definitely not one focus but many.

It's a blessing and a curse.

When one favorite player isn't playing well or is off the mental radar, the collection doesn't suffer -- the focus turns elsewhere. And then, sometimes, there are just cards that pop up because they are interesting.

Panini America's recently released Immaculate Collection College set and the upcoming National Treasures College edition are packed with singles on Buzz's radar because they show something we haven't seen before -- or at least not a lot of -- in the hobby. One example? A Rafael Palmeiro Mississippi State autograph like the one above that's coming in National Treasures. It's not that Buzz cares one bit about the Bulldogs or even Palmeiro, but the 1985 season where MSU had Will Clark and Palmeiro, aka "Thunder and Lightning," is one that's pretty significant in college baseball lore. And since college baseball is something we haven't historically seen a lot of on cardboard (other than new prospects awaiting their pro colors) that makes a card like this interesting.

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