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: 1989 Fleer baseball cello pack
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... BlowoutCards.com for other Retro Rips

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

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What: 2025 Leaf Vivid baseball cards
Arrives: Oct. 31
Box basics: Seven autos per nine-card hobby box (12 boxes per case) or 10 autos per 12-card jumbo box (eight per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: A new year of Vivid baseball includes base cards in the mix -- every one of them a 1/1 creation -- alongside the autographs that are a majority of what's found in both formats for this release.

Keep reading for more info, images and a full checklist of inclusions.

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Via @tristar1 ... Bo Jackson

This year's National Sports Collectors Convention is nearly here -- it's set for July 30-Aug. 3 in Chicago with a strong roster of autograph guests ready to sign for collectors who get a ticket and get in line for their moment beyond the ballpark.

Some signers are free if you attend the VIP reception on opening day of the show or buy a VIP ticket package -- a bonus for taking the time to hit every day of the show -- but landing other signers will take some planning and a few bucks.

It's tough to see everything at The National -- it's that big -- and the time it takes to work through autograph lines is valuable in that it impedes your shot at seeing it all. But, if you have wanted to meet a player and get that ink, a number of past and present stars are on the list this year. With that said, here are my picks -- skewing toward the best names for the lowest prices possible -- to grab off the autograph list during the full days of the show this year. (Keep reading for the full signers list at the end ... and, remember, times are always subject to change.)

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Simply put, this one is all about the best of the best.

Baseball's global icon and living legend Ichiro Suzuki takes his spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame later this month in Cooperstown, N.Y., and just one piece of all that's to come with his history-making day is Baseball America's special issue that's precision-crafted with a little bit of everything inside when it comes to Japan's greatest player and an icon among the elite in MLB history.

The Ichiro Baseball America Hall of Fame Commemorative is 50 pages of full-bleed retrospective splendor that showcases all of the memorable moments, rarely seen photographs, historic analysis, other memories and stories from yesteryear, thoughts from opposing pitchers and, of course, it's even got some baseball cards inside.

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What: 2025 Leaf Bronx Legacy baseball cards
Arrives: Sept. 2025
Box basics: Four "premium hits" per box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf's brand documenting New York's premier baseball franchise arrives for a third time with the biggest legends in the history of the game and so much more to be found.

Keep reading for more info and a full montage of cards released so far.

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What: 2024 Wild Card Alumination Just The Hits Special Edition baseball cards
Arrives: April 4, 2025
Basics: Five encased and serial-numbered cards per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Wild Card continues with its encased-card approach with a release that's limited to only 43 players and is packed with variety and colorful parallels.

Keep reading for more info and a gallery of images.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures New York Pinstripes Autographed Baseballs
Arrives: April 30
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures brand hits the diamond for another year with its focus on one of MLB's most-historic franchises, the New York Yankees.

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and break down 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: 2012 Panini Cooperstown baseball cards (hobby)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available) -- see other baseball boxes here

Keep reading to see what can be found here and a gallery of highlights.

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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 ...

THEY'RE BACK ... SOMETIME SOON
The Item: Stranger Things Season 1 Target-exclusive Blu-ray set (2016)
The Reason Bought: How many Netflix series these days get a physical DVD release of any kind? How many get chain store-exclusive variant versions? Not that much of anything TV gets a physical release, really, not at least anywhere near the volumes of the past and that thought, along with the fact that the final season of this franchise is finally dropping sometime this year, got me looking here. I really liked the feel of this DVD set that's made to look like an old 1980s VHS sleeve that's had plenty of wear and tear and I also liked the idea of a graded item with that feel -- one where its actual flaws can blend in well and not stand out as glaring reasons why an item didn't grade higher.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (A+ seal)

Reality Check: There are definitely other* copies of this one graded, but a pop report doesn't yet appear to be live for CGC Home Video (or it was down when I prepped this) and my number didn't come up on the verification search, either. That's OK for me as slabbed movies and games aren't as high on my radar in slabs as cards and magazines in terms of a "commodity" ... these are more the kind of shelf item with maybe some longer-term potential substance to them. To me they're more of a name-your-price novelty -- and, as an aside, I do like CGC's cases a lot more than others in this realm. This was a relatively cheap addition as well -- less than a lot of retail card boxes -- and over time affordable items can build a collection. One scary part? This is not far away from being 10 years old ... time flies.

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

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What: Cheers Premiere Edition Trading Cards
Arrives: Feb. 26, 2025
Box basics: Two autographs and one memorabilia card per 24-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Pre-order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Making your way in the hobby world today may take everything you've got, but Rittenhouse Archives will start off a new year where everybody knows your name as the cast of this past classic -- and a number of notable guest stars known elsewhere -- come to cardboard for the first time.

Keep reading for more info on this one.

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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: 2024 SportKings Volume 5 sports cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: Click here

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

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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: 2024 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview, odds & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

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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: 2024 SportKings Volume 5 sports cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: Click here

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

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What: 2024 Topps Finest baseball cards
Arrives: Aug.7
Box basics: Two autos per six-pack box (eight boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The checklist and odds are in for a new year of finest as well as the six teaser image you can see above as the flashy and colorful brand arrives once again with a new batch of players and plenty of artistic flair

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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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: 2024 SportKings Volume 5 sports cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: Click here

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

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What: 2024 Leaf Lumber baseball cards
Arrives: July 31
Box basics: Four premium hits per box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf's bats-focused brand arrives for another summer with legends from the game in play as well as fan favorites from more recent years with multi-auto and multi-mem cards to be found in this hits-only release.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What: 2024 Leaf Signature Series sports cards
Arrives: June 28
Box basics:  Two 1/1 autographed cards per box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf Signature Series is back "newly revamped and reinvigorated" with new themes and "tons more multi-signed cards, inscriptions and some exciting new designs."

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

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What: 2023 Topps Garbage Pail Kids X MLB Series 3
Arrives: Now via Topps.com (March 26, 2024)
Box basics: One insert card per seven-card pack (three packs per box, 10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (when available)

What's buzz-worthy: For a third time, the Garbage Pail Kids have been taken over by the stars of Major League Baseball and it's a larger lineup with a mix of past and present stars.

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

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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: 2023 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview, odds & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

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What: SportKings Volume 5 sports cards
Arrives: April 26
Box basics: Two autographs, one memorabilia card and possibly one other hit per seven-card hobby box (12 boxes per case)
Pre-order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: SportKings takes the field for a fifth time from SAGE with the familiar look and format for past editions and with some legendary autos among the possibilities this time.

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

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What: 2024 Historic Autographs RetroGraph 3 baseball cards
Arrives: March 27
Box basics: Six autographs per pack (24 packs per case ... or 96 packs per master case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs takes to the diamond via its autographed buyback release for a third time that includes legendary ink on memorable baseball cards from the past as well as ink from some of the biggest stars of right now.

Keep reading for more information.

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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: 2020 Topps 206 Series 5 baseball cards
First Buzz Preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for many series)

Keep reading to see a full breakdown of what was in this one as well as a gallery.

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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: 2023 Donruss baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for this one.

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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: 2022 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of highlights from this box.

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Group breaks have been a game-changer for the card industry for several years now and from time to time Buzz will jump into a BlowoutTV break of some type and break down the results of what he landed by picking up a team. There are near-daily breaks right here with Matt on Blowout TV during weekday working hours and even more from Houdini and others over on the forum in the evening.

Now, it's time for this post's break breakdown -- a spot in a small mixer with some decent potential.

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