Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

A HIGH-GRADE DOMINATOR
The Card: Paul Skenes 2025 Topps Heritage
The Reason Bought: I'll fully admit I'm a sucker for high-grade Heritage Rookie Cards and, while this isn't an RC, this one captured my attention just like one as I've ripped my fair share of Heritage this year and, well, not much of the cards that matter that I pulled could have checked in at a perfect grade. All that perfection, the clean photo and the color scheme here got me to bite.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop report before grabbing it, so it was an extra bonus to see that it's the lone card in the top slot with a decent number of cards below it -- and that goes as low as a CGC 7. That reinforces that Heritage isn't the easiest grade. That makes this one even more of a win in my book.

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

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What's Buzzing: NFL Week 1, Shohei Ohtani keeps on homering, college football, Big Dumper, Taylor Swift and more.

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1 -- NFL Week 1 reactions

2 -- Shohei Ohtani keeps on homering

3 -- Talking college football

4 -- Looking back at the NFL-Taylor Swift thread

5 -- Checking back in on Big Dumper chatter

6 -- All your MLB chatter

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

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: 2024 Leaf Metal Women of Sport 1/1 Pre-Production Proofs
Where to buy: Click here for regular boxes (when available)

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

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What: 2025 Super Break Supercharged
Arrives: April 30
Box basics: At least three items per box (three boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Super Break offers up a new memorabilia blind-box product to start the spring with a mix of some of the biggest names in the game -- all sports -- and more in pop culture possible among the finds, which include this baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

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What: 2024 TruMystery Top Performers Buyback Edition
Arrives: Sept. 25
Box basics: One slabbed buyback card per box and one autographed memorabilia redemption per case (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TruCreator's blind-box line returns with the biggest names in sports and pop culture all in one spot with a mix of cards and autographed memorabilia to keep collectors exploring.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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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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FROM 61* TO CARDBOARD ... 
The Card: Roger Maris & Barry Pepper 2021 Leaf Ultimate Sports The Ultimate Duo (/12)
The Price: $25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one flew under my radar for sure until I recently spotted it and had to grab it instantly. For those who don't know, actor Berry Pepper played Roger Maris in 61* -- trailer here -- a 2001 Billy Crystal movie made for HBO. It's easily among the best baseball movies out there for accuracy as Crystal is an obsessive Yankees fan who notes it all in behind-the-scenes segments you can see on the DVD. This one pairs a piece of what is likely a Maris bat with a piece of what looks like a leather jacket for Pepper -- not the most-ideal combo of items, but it is what it is. This is the only card pairing the two and it's the easiest version to find -- the rest of the parallels and printing plates have lower numbering here -- all /6 and below ... no wonder this one was off my radar for three years. I simply hadn't seen any of them.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but Leaf baseball boxes are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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: The Kansas City Chiefs win it all once again, Patrick Mahomes, Taylor Swift, 2024 Topps and more.

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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: Counting down the hours to Super Bowl LVIII, Brock Purdy, Taylor Swift, 2024 Topps arrives soon, new pulls and more in this Sunday 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: Basketball movies, Super Bowl chatter, new pulls, 2024 Topps, retail Stadium Club heat and ... is Taylor Swift buying?

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What: 2023 Keepsake Premium Edition trading cards
Arrives: Nov. 21
Box basics: Five Keepsake Relics per box and one cut autograph per case (five boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The newest Keepsake release is nothing but Relics and cut autos with some of the biggest names in entertainment and the icons of business just some of the possibilities.

Keep reading for more info and a selection of images.

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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: NFL Week 3 reactions, Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence, Bryce Young, the Panini vs. WWE court battle set is for today, Allen & Ginter and more.

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What: 2023 TruMystery Edition boxes
Arrives: Oct. 18
Box basics: One card (buyback or Tru), one Tru box & one signed memorabilia piece -- and sometimes more -- per box (three boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TruCreator turns its focus to memorabilia for a first mystery box that's packed with pop culture names and more all in one spot along with some of the basics from the company's previous releases.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2023 TRISTAR Signature Series Entertainment
Arrives: Sept. 8
Box basics: Five autographed memorabilia pieces per case
Pre-order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Signature Series line turns its focus to the entertainment world after a few years away with a release that includes a pretty good volume of items per case -- just 50 cases will be made -- and has plenty of star power to potentially be found.

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TRISTAR will have plenty going on at The National this year with all of the autograph signers, but that's not all -- the company also will have bonus bags for collectors who buy boxes from dealers at the show and bring them to its booth to open them.

Selected retailers will have your shot at getting a TRISTAR bonus bag at the show.

Three TRISTAR Hidden Treasures products are eligible for this one and bonus bags will include shots at autographed memorabilia pieces from Ken Griffey Jr., Ben Affleck, Mike Trout, Ted Williams and Shohei Ohtani for starters.

And that's not all.

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What: 2021 Leaf Metal Pop Century trading cards
Arrives: October
Box basics: Four autograph or memorabilia cards per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf's annual celebrity release is back for another Metal go with notable names from Hollywood and standouts from other areas of pop culture, too, all in one spot -- and there are some Metaled Pro Set SuperStars MusicCards to be found, too.

Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images.

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Have you looked at your 2019 Bowman Draft card backs yet?

It's fine if you haven't -- we know you're busy looking for the new big names, their colorful Chrome parallels and, of course, their autographs -- but there's always one part of this Bowman release that can surprise with either basic stuff one might not know (since the players are new to cardboard) or some downright trivial things that mean nothing when it comes to the field of play.

It's those "Up Close" blurbs that are worth a look.

The card of top pick Adley Rutschman actually has one of the simpler and more straight-forward items on his card. He's not one of those cards who drops references to Fortnite, Taylor Swift, Coke vs. Pepsi, Chick-Fil-A, Game of Thrones or even an interest in nuclear engineering. One card even notes a top prospect who had a specific walk-up song at age 10 ... what were you doing at that age?

Let's take a look at the backs of some 2019 Bowman Draft baseball cards ...

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Today in 1979, the sports world was changed forever.

That was the day that ESPN launched with an airing of SportsCenter, which has become a staple in its array of networks and multimedia platforms that give us everything we need (and more) about what's going in in the world of sports.

There are plenty of cardboard tie-ins as ESPN has had its own branded card sets in the past and its past and present personalities and reporters have appeared on certified autographs and memorabilia cards. But one simple card came to mind first with a mention of this arrival.

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Have you looked at your 2018 Bowman card backs yet?

We're a week into the release of the first prospecting baseball card brand of the year and there are a number of oddities to be discovered on the cards in this set ... if you choose to flip them over and read the "Up Close" blurbs.

One of the weirdest revelations -- one that will also appear on the back of his Superfractor auto if it's found (the $75,000 offer still stands, too) -- is the fact that Shohei Ohtani doesn't have a driver's license. (The fact that the modeled his hitting after Hideki Matsui isn't surprising given his first month in the majors.)

That's not the only weird fact on the backs of some 2018 Bowman baseball cards ...

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One of the most-remembered moments for the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans this past week -- beyond their Super Bowl LII win that is -- has to be Jason Kelce's eccentric look and his expletive-laden speech that was oh-so-Philly delivered to the masses at the end of the team's championship parade.

His only in-pack football cards are the same way -- colorful and eccentric, but without the expletives.

You won't have to dig that far back to find the Rookie Cards of this 2011 draft pick, though, as his first in-pack cards come from 2017 Panini Unparalleled.

That's the only place you'll find him on a regular-issue standard card in a pack, though you do have a couple of other card options that come via less-traditional methods and an insert appearance to chase.

Keep reading for a breakdown ... and make sure you've eaten breakfast. (It's some of Kelce's life philosophy or something.)

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... this is Hour 5.

The box: 2011 Topps American Pie trading cards blaster box
The cost: BlowoutCards.com

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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What: 2017 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands trading cards
Arrives: Oct. 18
Box basics: One hit per Hobby Collector box (eight boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: This batch of Garbage Pail Kids will rock when it arrives packing parody takes on stars of the music world as well as remakes of iconic album covers.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

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Hollywood's awards season is here with the nominees for the SAG and Golden Globes arriving this week and the inevitable chatter about who might get an Oscar nomination on Jan. 15 heating up online.

Good luck finding yourself Oscar cardboard, though, as cards showing Hollywood's biggest honor aren't all that common at all. In fact, they're downright scarce even though countless Oscar winners themselves have appeared on cards. (At right is a 2005 Topps Chronicles card Buzz bets most of you have never seen.)

Because of that, we're going with a different piece of awards cardboard above -- you all remember that one and its 2011 Topps American Pie card, right? -- as Buzz presents his picks for the top Oscars collectors need to know.

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