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: Showing off Shohei Ohtani cards, TTM autos, Formula 1, Fernando Tatis Jr. and "bought a box of old baseball cards for $300."

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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: Showing off vintage and break highlights lead the way on a quiet Friday morning.

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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: New breaks, heavy grading chatter, Trevor Lawrence, Project70, under-appreciated Hall of Famers and more.

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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 ...

REMEMBER ME?
The Card: Aaron Judge & Tyler Austin 2017 Topps Heritage #214A -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I liked the price on this slab (under $13) so I bit on it about this time last year. Why? Well, he was a pretty big deal back when this one arrived and I've always had a thing for multi-player RCs from the vintage years of Topps baseball (vintage flagship or Heritage). I own more than a few copies of this one raw, but I figured grabbing it for less than it would cost to slab one was a bargain ... plus they were going for more than that at the time I grabbed it. The richer (or more dedicated) slab grabbers out there will find his solo variation or the autographed card of his from this release, but for the price I'm good with this version.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop report to see the huge divide between the 9-9.5 difference but the price divide was just as dramatic ... and I'm still fine having a BGS 9. Centering here is off on mine but the rest looks fine with no obvious issues. Why is this one batting lead-off? Well, with prices increasing out there to slab -- if you can slab at all -- I think simpler RCs like this won't be as easy/cheap to find (well, at least newly graded ones) and this is the time of year to grab some guys. I think Judge is a easy stash if you find him on the cheaper side and he's healthy.

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

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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: PSA halts submissions, collecting with price surges, MLB breaks and remembering the great white buffalo.

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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: Big pulls, Heritage is here, Prizm's appeal and plenty 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: Pondering Han Solo's Rookie Card, a cool Action Packed error card, big pulls, a vintage decision (don't do it!) and ... a Target run coughs up a 1/1.

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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: Big pulls, big breaks, showing off new vintage, Wonderful want-list and "attack of the killer PSA 9s."

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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: Breaking 2021 Topps, a game-used item with a different story, Optic NFL rips, a grading sub gone bad, Derek Jeter RCs and "nobody hoards Mickey Mantle 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: Waiting on 2021 Topps, MLB breaks, dealing with today's market, WWE & NBA breaks 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: Big pulls, a massive Star Wars find, grading chatter, the good ol' pinhole special 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: Steph Curry and Derrick Henry light 'em up, big pulls and take a trip back to the Topps factory in 1967.

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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: Brodie Lee's childhood friend talks about collecting him (and more) ... and look for new Heritage, NXT and Star Wars case breaks 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: Vintage memorabilia cards, a 1952 Topps hypothetical, 2020 Bowman Draft 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: Bowman Draft arrives, Jalen Hurts gets the call, pondering top non-Topps MLB Rookie Cards, "What is vintage?" 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: Heavy MLB and NFL chatter, vintage talk and big pulls power 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: Several non-sports breaks, new MLB breaks, finding Optic NBA mega boxes in the retail wild, pondering best MLB Rookie Card brands 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: Big MLB pulls, Project 2020, an NT Logoman surfaces, big reveals, retail worries and a scary question for slab owners.

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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 ... and this time around there's some variety as well as some Father's Day nods.

--

VOLATILE FISH
The Card: Mike Trout 2020 Topps Project 2020 -- Artist: Andrew Thiele (/13,199)
The Price: Factory cost from Topps
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was just the second Trout card made in the set that's generating more attention than most releases this year, and Thiele's allegiance to the original 2011 Topps Update Rookie Card got me to bite here a lot faster than the first one, which is far more abstract. This isn't my favorite Trout of those released so far -- that nod still goes to Ben Baller's version -- but I do like it. I'm not buying Project 2020 cards to sell -- many of you out there are -- but now that the big wave of mainstream attention that has come and gone there should be more cards with print runs closer to this number (not for Trout as each of his cards to come has a shot at autographs). This one leads off here as a reminder that this is a set that needs to be watched closely. Only about 285 more cards to go!
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but MLB boxes are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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The first night of Dallas-based Heritage Auctions' three-day Spring Sports Catalog Auction opened with some serious firepower that wasn't just about all of those vintage rarities that just shouldn't exist anymore.

It also included some impressive sales of rare singles from modern cardboard -- and some modern cases that probably don't exist anymore in high volume as the treasures inside them can command huge wads of cash, too.

Among five cards that commanded six-figure sales last night was the 2010 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Superfractor 1/1 autograph of former NL MVP Christian Yelich, which sold for $111,000 in a PSA 9 slab. Joining it was a 2011 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Superfractor 1/1 autograph (also a PSA 9) of Francisco Lindor, which went for $102,000. The other five six-figure cards were of Joe Jackson, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams -- cards either immensely rare or in high grades. A top-grade Michael Jordan 1986-87 Fleer Rookie Card just missed that club but set a new record for the card's sale.

A number of other key modern cards were scorchers, too -- check out a gallery and sales stats after the jump -- and some modern cases less than a decade old also commanded top dollar, too.

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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: Repack pulls, photo-matched mem cards, NFL QBs, NBA slabs with some heat and more in today's edition.

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Fast Five is new department here on The Buzz -- a quick list under a single topic. Five items that could have a common tie, fit a theme, be fun for a starting collector, or be a new way to add to a stash that might already seemingly include everything when it comes to cardboard. For some of you, it's probably common sense. For others of you out there, it's something to think about.

This time? Five safe types of card purchases you can make as we deal with anxiety of no sports in some surreal times.

THE ONE YOU KEEP ...
The Card: One you have always wanted but hadn't grabbed yet ... a comfortable card for your collection.
A lot of newcomers might be sweating their big-money cardboard (or bulk box buys) that they bought into this year with intent on some meaty short-term big flips -- you know, because of names like Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, Mike Trout and so on. But there are other components in the hobby that are just as hot out there but perhaps over the longer term. And then there are those that aren't ... but they are still heavily collected. The first and perhaps most-important pick-up I'd recommend right now? The card you've always wanted but never chased -- for whatever your reason you are into cards. That definition and card can vary for many but it's probably not one you might regret later. One example for me landed just this week fits this bill -- it's a Nick Swisher 2016 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition Superfractor ... a 1/1 card I landed as it was finally pulled from a break by a former Swisher teammate, Phil Hughes, over on BlowoutTV. (They both got their World Series rings as New York Yankees in 2009.) Was it cheap? Maybe, maybe not ... but, to me, it's a buy that I won't worry about over time. These might be the times to grab a card like this -- a comfortable card long as it's responsible for your budget ... no regrets.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

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Two of the error-based variations in 2020 Topps Heritage (see all of them here) are based on mistakes in the original releases that it emulates from 1971.

Juan Soto's card, No. 403, can be found with a version where the background of the image is bluer -- and if you look closely at the stadium, you'll notice that the pole for one of the venue's light towers has been removed.

This is a direct nod to the card No. 42 in the 1971 Topps set for Boots Day, a Montreal Expos outfielder who had a piece of the light tower poking out from behind his right ear on his card. It was lightened to help remove the distraction, making it one of just a handful of cards in that set with players involved (most errors were on checklists) to have a variation that year.

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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: An unbelievable 1880s vintage find -- in bulk -- and plenty of new stuff, too, 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: Collecting low-end NFL brands, inside two Walking Dead cases, eBay Bucks, The National, big pulls and more allegedly trimmed cards ... this time in the vintage realm.

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