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 ...

TICKET TO HISTORY ...
The Ticket: Woodstock (Aug.15-17, 1969) -- three-day ticket ($24)
The Reason Bought: There are more than a dozen different styles of tickets for this historic event in music and pop culture history and none of them are all that rare -- and that makes for an interesting grading market. High-grade tickets can be priced like they're non-existent yet about 60 percent of the full tickets that are slabbed check in at a PSA 9 or 10 and raw tickets (assuming they are real ... but there's a chance they might not be) can be found on the cheap under $100. I knew quite awhile back that I wanted one in a slab and I was patient with my window shopping until I spotted this one. I wanted a three-day style but there are single-day tickets that are very traditional-looking and I finally spotted this one at a good price (just under $100) vs. the same thing with asking prices for 9s and 10s that are as high as $1,000. Actual sales for higher grades are typically anywhere from $200 to $700 on eBay with a lot of irregularity -- and BINs just under the $200 mark quite often. In short, they're findable.
The Grade: PSA 8

Reality Check: More than 3,750 different full tickets have been slabbed for Woodstock and this version -- one of three types in the PSA pop report for a three-day ticket -- is the easiest and the only one with more than 1,000 copies slabbed. In fact, the number of 10s for this style is higher than all but two of the entire slab totals for other styles. I didn't sweat the grade as the flaws on this one seem minor -- I'm imagining some minor black ink "snow" on there perhaps dropped it a grade but generally everything here is clean to the eye with no obvious flaws. That's good enough for me as beginner or one-time dabbler. Modern tickets for big artists can be quite pricey when slabbed as availability is often an issue, but I'm assuming a bulk "find" of these happened at some point back in the day given the high-profile event and all that went into it.

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

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The future of Minor League Baseball is a cloudy one with this season in doubt or if not done before it ever starts, hundreds of players cut in recent weeks to pare everything down and the constant worry of the number of teams shrinking as MLB struggles with what to do amidst everything that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the creativity of MiLB and in particular its fun promotional nights can't be topped -- and both of those things got me looking for something different for my collection and for this regularly appearing department here on The Buzz. This piece presented itself with a nod to pop culture for a price that, well, can't easily be beat at the big-league level for game-used material ... so, it had to be had.

This specialty jersey you're about to learn about came directly from the Daytona Tortugas, the Class-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, and was used last season. It's a one-of-a-kind jersey as the team wore them just once last year as "the best-dressed team in baseball" donned different specialty jerseys for each of their Friday night home games last year.

You can keep reading to see the gamer and details.

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What: 2019 Historic Autographs 1969
Arrives: Nov. 20
Box basics: Three relic/chase cards per six-card box (24 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs looks back a half-century to a year that generated plenty of headlines in history whether it was in the news, pop culture, the sports world or beyond.

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: 2018 Topps Heritage baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

Packs per box: 8
Cards per pack: 9
Cards in this box: 72
Base set completion: 
66 of 400 (17 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Ichiro Suzuki, Andrew Benintendi, Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, Joe Mauer, Kris Bryant, Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo

>>> For a checklist and variation galleries, click here

Rookie Cards (7 cards, 16 rookies) – Victor Robles, Andrew Stevenson, Dustin Fowler, Paul Blackburn, Brian Anderson, Dillon Peters, Ryan McMahon, Mike Tauchman, Tyler Mahle, Jackson Stephens, Ryder Jones, Miguel Gomez, Reyes Moronta, Brandon Woodruff, Taylor Williams, Aaron Wilkerson

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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 Heritage baseball cards (hanger box tray)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (other formats)

Boxes per tray: 8
Cards per box: 35
Cards in this tray: 280
Base set completion: 
250 of 400 (63 percent)
Duplicates: 11

Notables on base cards – Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo, Bryce Harper, Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Jose Altuve, Kris Bryant, Noah Syndergaard, Josh Donaldson, Jose Abreu, Cody Bellinger, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Gary Sanchez, Yoan Moncada, Kyle Schwarber, Corey Seager, Ichiro Suzuki, Mookie Betts, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt

>>> For a checklist and variation galleries, click here

Rookie Cards (20 cards, 44 rookies) – Dominic Smith, Amed Rosario, Austin Hays, Chance Sisco, Anthony Banda, Jimmie Sherfy, Max Fried, Luiz Gohara, Willie Calhoun, Nick Gardewine, Zack Granite, Felix Jorge, Ryan McMahon, Mike Tauchman, Raudy Read, Erick Fedde, Harrison Bader, Jack Flaherty, Kyle Farmer, Tim Locastro, O'Koyea Dickson, Nicky Delmonico, Aaron Bummer, Parker Bridwell, Troy Scribner, Francisco Mejia, Greg Allen, Alex Verdugo, Walker Buehler, J.P. Crawford, Victor Arano, Yacksel Rios, Victor Robles, Andrew Stevenson, Jen-Ho Tseng, Dillon Maples, Taylor Davis, Tyler Wade, Garrett Cooper, Lucas Sims, Ozzie Albies, Tyler Mahle, Jackson Stephens, Richard Urena, Chris Rowley, Carlos Ramirez

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