It's a brand that's been around for decades before being benched last season but it's rested and back for another memorabilia-based ride.

It's 2016 Panini Absolute football and it arrives next week.

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It's a simple idea -- one autographed buyback per box -- with a showcase of nostalgia and on-card ink with plenty of variety.

It's 2016 Topps Archives Signature Series, and it arrived today.

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He was Willie Wonka, he was Dr. Frankenstein. He was that and so much more.

Gene Wilder's roles were both eclectic and memorable and they helped entertain in comedies for all ages in TV and movie roles that spanned more than five decades. He died on Sunday in Connecticut after suffering complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 83.

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It's not been pretty on the quarterback front for the Denver Broncos in 2016 with the exit of a legend, Peyton Manning, the exit of his long-term understudy, Brock Osweiler, and the preseason messes of Mark Sanchez.

But there is a highlight with the arrival of Trevor Siemian in the starting spot in Denver.

No, really.

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Sometimes it's all about timing.

Panini America's upcoming 2016 Panini Certified racing set will use sticker autographs instead of on-card autos because of a simple reason, the company announced Thursday morning.

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We're a couple years removed from The Hobbit movie trilogy's completion on the big screen, but it's pretty clear that the story of Middle-Earth is living on.

The first way to know this is the revealing of the Middle-Earth Ultimate Collectors Edition, a 30-disc set coming soon for the small screen that collects The Hobbit trilogy along with The Lord of the Rings trilogy to create the supreme viewing experience at a premium price. It's $800 for a package loaded with extras -- click the image at right for a hint at what's included.

A second way -- and perhaps the most-important way for collectors -- to know that The Hobbit is living on is to examine the demand for autographs and sketch cards. We're just a few months removed from the third in a trilogy of The Hobbit sets from Cryptozoic and there's plenty of interest.

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If you hadn’t noticed, there are a number of boxes with discounted prices this weekend as part of a 64-hour flash sale over on the mothership and they were dramatic enough that Buzz had to sit down and ponder the possibilities in many of them.

So much so here are five boxes that caught this collector’s eye.

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A collection of postcards, lyrics, notes and more from the early days of legendary and pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath will be hitting the auction block late next month via a Sheffield-based auction house in the United Kingdom.

Among the pieces going up for sale are hand-written postcards from Ozzy Osbourne to his parents, which are signed with his legal name, John, as well as lyrics, posters and flyers from when the band was briefly known as "Earth" and then after it adopted its name inspired by a Boris Karloff film.

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They're one part trading card, one part photo and one part Fathead.

They're ChickPicSticks and they are the newest collectible -- and one of very few for traditional collectors -- for National Pro Fastpitch softball and they arrived last week for 13 of the league's top stars including past dominator Monica Abbott, who recently signed the first million-dollar contract in the six-team league. 

The images are available in three sizes with prices starting at $3.99.

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What: 2016 Leaf Autographed Football Helmets
Arrives: October
Box basics: One autographed full-sized helmet per box (three boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf offers "the return of one of the most popular and innovative packaged memorabilia items of all time" with every box yielding either a Hall of Famer, current NFL star or rookie, past stars and even "a few more surprises."

Keep reading for more.

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One of the iconic stars of the Star Wars galaxy -- one whose face you never saw on screen -- has died.

Kenny Baker, who played R2-D2, was 83.

"He had a very long and fulfilled life," said his niece, Abigail Shield, to The Guardian. "He brought lots of happiness to people and we’ll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world. We’re all very proud of what he achieved in his lifetime."

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This 2016 Topps Olympics Relic of Simone Biles is limited to only 50 copies and sold for $350 on eBay.

The Rio Olympics are well underway and, so far, many of the stars in the field of play have been either those we have seen before and have plenty of cards (Michael Phelps) or newcomers without anything (Lilly King).

But the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team has claimed gold and that has helped collectors and dealers claim green when it comes to their cardboard.

Now, of course, some of the demand has been there all along -- regardless of outcome -- but three of the "Final Five" appear in this year's Topps Olympics release.

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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 Bowman Inception baseball cards 
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 1
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 5
Base set (rookies) completion: 
1 of 15 (7 percent)
Duplicates: 0

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The newest Mr. 3,000 already has the cardboard to prove it.

Ichiro Suzuki's triple off the wall in the seventh inning Sunday at Coors Field in Colorado made him just the 30th player in MLB history to join the 3,000 Hit Club and today he's the first to have the feat nearly instantly commemorated on cardboard with a Topps Now card.

There is one standard card and five game-used base Relics -- a standard card limited to 99 and then four parallels made to as rare as a single copy for $999. (Update: Each of the base Relics was sold out within 30 minutes, with the print run generating $46,318.16 in sales based on the posted prices. Update 2: A record 11,550 copies of the standard card were sold.)

Topps Now, of course, is Topps' real-time cardboard platform where notable moments are only available for 24 hours via Topps.com and are made to order. After that window closes, the cards will no longer be made and can only be found on the secondary market.

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Bryan Clauson raced on many circuits during his career -- a resume that included multiple appearances in the Indy 500, a couple seasons in NASCAR's Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series, two season titles in the USAC sprint car series and three season championships in USAC midget series, where was the defending champ this year.

He was a regular on dirt tracks and that's where he suffered injuries in a race and died on Sunday night at age 27.

"This is truly one of the darkest days in the 60-year history of the United States Auto Club," USAC CEO Kevin Miller told USA Today. "Not only have we lost one of our greatest USAC champions, we've lost a true ambassador for all of motor sports."

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While many collectors were focused on Atlantic City, N.J., and the National Sports Collectors Convention the last few days, this year's Panini NBA Rookie Photo Shoot tipped off on Sunday, giving us all a glimpse at the ink to come and the league's newest names in their new uniforms.

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There has been an awakening -- and you will feel it.

Topps has landed Daisy Ridley autographs and she'll make her debut in Star Wars: The Force Awakens Chrome, which arrives on Aug. 19.

That product will arrive with one hit in every 24-pack hobby box. For more details, see our First Buzz preview. According to Topps, she will be a hobby-only inclusion.

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Via @TRISTAR1: HOFer, 2x AL MVP, 3x All-Star, 3,000 Hit Club Robin Yount at #TRISTAR Autograph Pavilion

Today is the final day of this year's National Sports Collectors Convention inside the Atlantic City Convention center -- the finale after some busy days you can see in a gallery here, can see in a gallery here and also can see in a gallery here.  (Oh and there was plenty of prep and a preview night that you can see here, too.)

Keep reading for more and to see a gallery that will grow throughout the day as the doors have just now opened for everyone.

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Now that the National Sports Collectors Convention is completed for today, the spotlight selectively turns to this year's Panini VIP Party, which will include some big-name guests, big-name signers and some big-name cardboard.

Black boxes, Gold packs, autographs and more are the mementos of the event, but the memories are made with the interactions between the collectors and the stars.

We'll help take you behind the rope virtually right here with a gallery of images from tonight's event.

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Who's the newest Panini VIP Party guest? Looks like we have an answer.

Panini America revealed that new Basketball Hall of Famer and former Philadelphia 76ers great Allen Iverson will be in attendance at tonight's event in Atlantic City, N.J. He's the sixth star announced for the event.

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LT is a VIP.

Former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor is the latest guest for the Panini America VIP Party that's set for Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J. He's the fifth guest revealed by the company and only one announced (so far) on Friday.

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A Basketball Hall of Famer is coming to Atlantic City, N.J. on Saturday night.

Panini America revealed its second VIP Party guest of the day on Thursday and it is former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen. He'll be on hand Saturday night to meet collectors at the company's party.

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There is reign in the forecast for Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J.

Panini America will guarantee that with the addition of former Seattle Sonics star Shawn Kemp as the latest guest at the company's much-watched VIP Party.

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The National Sports Collectors Convention is just getting going and for those not at the show there will be plenty to see here and elsewhere online to get a glimpse at all of the action.

Buzz wants you to get in on the action from afar by offering up this 2016 Topps Tribute autograph of Hall of Famer (and NSCC signer) Frank Thomas that was recently pulled in a Buzz Break.

Want your shot at the card? Simply leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite Hall of Famer. Include your email (in the spot where it asks for it) and also include your Twitter handle (so Buzz can follow you and also potentially contact you there if you win).

We'll pick a winner from all entries received by Monday. (Yes, you can enter if you're at the show ... and don't worry if you don't see your comment immediately. They are held before approval.)

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

Today's the day that Panini America's first NASCAR product arrives in the form of 2016 Panini Prizm, and one of the biggest newcomers in that set is Chase Elliott, who's the leading candidate for the Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year award.

Today's also the day for the opening of the National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, N.J., too.

And how do those two things cross paths? Elliott will be one of the guests at Panini's VIP Party on Saturday night -- he's the first guest confirmed by the company.

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