Baseball
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 12)
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.What's Buzzing Today: National Treasures NBA breaks, new Ichiro & Trout cards, $250 on vintage + more.
Max Scherzer's historic game prompts key hobby question
Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer did something last night that had only happened three other times in MLB history.He struck out 20 batters in a game.
It's a feat that only Roger Clemens, who did it twice, and Kerry Wood have done before, but in both of those pitchers' cases there's an iconic early baseball card to chase. For Clemens, his 1984 Fleer Update card is the one to own. For Wood, it's his 1997 Bowman Chrome.
For Scherzer?
First Buzz: 2016 Topps Update baseball cards
What: 2016 Topps Update baseball cards
Arrives: Oct. 19
Box basics: One autograph or Relic per 36-pack box (12 boxes per case); One autograph and two Relics per 10-pack jumbo box (six boxes per case)
What's buzz-worthy: The formula that is Topps' flagship and then Topps Update is back with a few twists and some new inclusions -- First Pitch, First Pitch Relics and Topps Fire cards, for example -- to get collectors chasing top performers and rookies from this season.
Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.
First Buzz: 2016 Historic Autographs Friends-N-Foes Dual Cut Edition
What: 2016 Historic Autographs Friends-N-Foes Baseball Dual Cut Card Edition
Arrives: June 10
Box basics: One dual-autograph cut booklet per box (12 boxes per case)
What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs tries its first regular-size release with these booklets pairing players with common ties or with opposing ones. The Friends cards will include family members, teammates and memorable pairings, while rivalries and literal fights will be found on the Foes cards.
See a gallery and more ... below.
Al Capone's fingerprints up for grabs this week via Heritage Auctions
The impressive stash of 1992 Olympic Dream Team memorabilia will probably get the post-sale attention, but there are a few other big-ticket items presently the auction block and ending in the next few days via Heritage Auctions.The weirdest? Al Capone's fingerprints.
In 1929, Capone provided these prints after he was sent to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. It's an 8-inch square document that's also signed by Capone -- and it's presently sitting at $44,000 ($52,580 with a buyer's premium) with two days remaining in the sale.
Sure, it's not a sports item -- but there are some big pieces in that world that more than a few collectors would want to get their hands on in this auction. Keep reading for more.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 11)
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.What's Buzzing Today: Bartolo Colon's home run card, The Golden Bear, vintage debates, vintage pulls and Superfractors ... plenty of Superfractors.
Bartolo Colon's Topps Now card fetches hefty prices on eBay after record-breaking production
On Saturday, Bartolo Colon hit the first home run of his big-league career. On Sunday, that memorable moment became a Topps Now baseball card. On Monday, it became the highest-selling Now card ever with 8,826 copies sold.Today? Well, it's now a $60 baseball card.
Topps details its plans for upcoming Trevor Story Rookie Cards
Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story appears on more than 200 different baseball cards and has signed more than 40 different certified autograph cards since his cardboard arrival back in 2011.But there's one thing that a collector of this new MLB standout can't do yet -- pull a Rookie Card of him from a pack.
After 67 years calling Dodgers games, Vin Scully finally gets a Sports Illustrated cover appearance
Hey, Sports Illustrated ... what took you so long?As legendary broadcaster Vin Scully winds down his 67-year run as the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, the 88-year-old Hall of Famer finds himself on the cover of a 62-year-old weekly (and highly collectable) magazine for the first time.
Gallery: New MiLB caps from New Era show creativity down on farm
The Minor League Baseball season is young, too, and New Era Caps has teased some new additions to its lineup that fans can see down on the farm if they're watching the game's future stars compete.Without long-running histories and with the need for promotion and an injection of interest from time to time, the teams take risks in their designs with caps like those of the Vermont Lake Monsters (above).
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 10)
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.What's Buzzing Today: Predicting Steph Curry, 1986-87 Fleer stickers, collecting J.R. Towles, non-sports breaks and "damaged cases always include shiny cards."
Kenta Maeda autographed RC will be found in 2016 Bowman Chrome
It shouldn't be a surprise that he'll be included, but it should be a surprise when you pull him.Topps announced on Monday that Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda will have autographed Rookie Cards in 2016 Bowman Chrome when it arrives on Sept. 7.
First Buzz: 2016 Topps Gold Label baseball cards
What: 2016 Topps Gold Label baseball cards
Arrives: Aug. 31
Box basics: One framed autograph per seven-pack box (16 boxes per case)
What's buzz-worthy: The short-lived Topps Gold Label brand from the late 1990s and early 2000s returns with an autograph in every box and multiple classes to collect -- each with parallels.
Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.
Board Buzz Gallery: Just don't drool over these baseball cards
Sometimes you just have to let the images speak for themselves.Check out this gallery of images -- new additions to a Blowout forum collection thread that Buzz included in yesterday's Board Buzz.
Four cards top $100,000 mark in Memory Lane Inc. auction
Memory Lane Inc.'s Spring Classics Rarities Auction ended with more than $2.9 million in sales during the weekend and four cards were of note helping the company reach that mark.Three of them topped $100,000, while a fourth key card from the past topped $90,000 before a 20 percent premium was added.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 9)
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.What's Buzzing Today: Collection images, Tennessee Vols surprises, Panini Prizm & more.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 8)

The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.
What's Buzzing Today: Showing off your Top 10 cards, 1990s NBA box breaks, Bartolo Colon's historic homer, 2015 Topps Diamond & Tim Duncan's cardboard.
Buzz Break: 2016 Bowman baseball cards (hobby box)
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 baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 240
Base set completion: 101 of 150 (67 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Prospect set completion: 72 of 150 (48 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Chrome prospect set completion: 48 of 150 (32 percent)
Duplicates: 0Notable players on base cards – Josh Donaldson, Manny Machado, Carlos Correa, David Ortiz, Ichiro Suzuki, Albert Pujols, Zack Greinke, David Price, Kris Bryant
Rookie Cards (22) – Corey Seager, Michael Conforto, Luis Severino, Jose Peraza, Zach Lee, Hector Olivera, Matt Reynolds, Carl Ewdards Jr., Frankie Montas, Trea Turner, Henry Owens, Miguel Sano, Trayce Thompson, Max Kepler, Kyle Waldrop, Jorge Lopez, Tom Murphy, Jon Gray, Gary Sanchez, Richie Shaffer, Aaron Nola, Miguel Almonte
Notable Prospects (both sets) – Yoan Moncada, Kenta Maeda, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Daz Cameron, Brendan Rodgers, Carson Fulmer
On Friday night, Metallica played "Happy Birthday" for Willie Mays -- tonight their guitars can be yours
A pair of guitars are heating things up on the auction block -- but not where you might expect.They can be found on MLB Auctions.
One of the headlines from Friday read, "Metallica serenades Willie Mays during San Francisco Giants' 4th-annual Metallica Night" -- an event where members of the Bay Area band played "Happy Birthday" for Mays (he turned 85 yesterday) and played the national anthem before the game. Their equipment from that night is being auctioned for charity.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 7)
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.What's Buzzing Today: Ginter Woods, political autographs, Game of Thrones, WWE and Devers vs. Moncada.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 6)
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.What's Buzzing Today: Moncada (and more) for Trout?, Tom Brady's cookbook, WWE breaks, impressive Q and some Supreme pulls.
Cory Hahn revisits play that changed his life in piece for Players Tribune
Not long ago, Cory Hahn was a USA Baseball player and a promising prep star who joined the Arizona State Sun Devils -- the program that's produced Dustin Pedroia, Barry Bonds and Reggie Jackson -- with some big-league dreams of his own.Now, though, he works for an MLB team -- in the front office because he can't walk, let alone take the outfield like he used to.
You might know Hahn's story if you're a prospector, but he recapped his story in a piece published today on The Players Tribune -- one that looks back at a fluke play in just his third college game that changed his life forever. It's worth a read.
"These days, I’m not much of a ballplayer," he wrote, "although in my heart I always will be."
May the Fourth can be with you -- even if you're a baseball fan
It's the fourth day of May and, of course, that's got a Star Wars tie. (If you don't get it, you probably haven't seen the movies.)As part of this holiday of sorts Topps has created the 2016 Topps Star Wars Tribute baseball set -- a series of prints and jumbo cards in the style of the memorable early Star Wars stickers made by the company way back in 1977.
Hideki Matsui to sign at National Sports Collectors Convention

Former New York Yankees star and 2009 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui has been added to the autograph roster for this year's National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, N.J.
He's scheduled to sign on the final day of the five-day show, Aug. 7.
First Buzz: 2016 Donruss Optic baseball cards
What: 2016 Donruss Optic baseball cards
Arrives: July 20
Box basics: Two autographs per 20-pack box (12 boxes per case)
What's buzz-worthy: Panini's promise of bringing Optichrome into its baseball lineup begins here with a Prizmatic take on the Donruss baseball brand that will include 10 parallels to the basic Donruss set you've seen before with some added touches.
Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images released so far.






























