This in from the Philadelphia Daily News after the NBA debut of Jahlil Okafor Wednesday night in Boston ...

It is impossible to overstate the significance of Jahlil Okafor . . . though the Philadelphia region seemed mystifyingly indifferent. Think about it: The Sixers finally added a complete player.  This is Eric Lindros, Jim Thome, Donovan McNabb and Allen Iverson.

With apologies to Sir Charles, Okafor is the best real big man to hit town since Moses [Malone], rest his soul, except Moses wasn't a savior. Jahlil Okafor brings salvation in short pants.

Okafor scored 26 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots in his debut. Said his coach later in the story about his ability to work on the court: "That's a hint of Tim Duncan."

We'll have to wait a while to see if he's the next Timmahhh, but we can start by looking at Okafor's early cardboard.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

The early buzz surrounding this year's Panini America Black Friday packs includes a first for the  hobby for a season that just began last night.

The packs will include the first memorabilia cards of players from this year's class of NBA rookies. They'll also include, as always, autographs and memorabilia cards from Panini's sports.

There also will be rookie cards for newcomers in all sports each numbered to 599. That group will include Marcus Mariota and other NFL rookies, Kris Bryant and other top baseball prospects as well as top picks from the NBA.

Continue reading →

The NBA returns tonight with a new crop of rookies battling for cardboard superiority -- more on that to come after they play some real games -- but there's one other season debut that might create a little buzz tonight.

When the New Orleans Pelicans take on the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the late game tonight on TNT, veteran reporter Craig Sager will be there. It marks his return -- make that a second return -- from an extensive cancer battle that's  documented here.

While the new rookies have plenty of cardboard to come, Sager appears on just a single autographed card limited to 499 serial-numbered copies. He can be found in the 2014-15 Panini Threads Voices of the Game set -- a 20-card release focusing on the broadcasters who help bring the game to those of us watching at home.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

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.

Continue reading →

There are seven new products on tap for this week with a new addition to the Topps Heritage baseball line and the debut of Panini Contenders Draft on the hardcourt notables along with the latest football releases for Panini Playbook and Topps Finest.

Topps celebrates the 65th anniversary of its first baseball card set with 2015 Topps Heritage '51 Collection, which is a boxed set of 104 cards created in the style of the company's simple 1951 release with every set including 21 parallel cards and a certified autograph.

Continue reading →

Autographed chin strap cards -- they've never been done before, but they're coming in 2015 Immaculate Collection College, which was revealed this week and is coming in December from Panini America.

Packing just seven cards per box -- five of those being autographs or memorabilia -- this brand will include stars from several sports on cards that might not have been seen before and all are done using NCAA team logos and colors. One cool example? A memorabilia card of Tony Gwynn the basketball star at San Diego State.

Continue reading →

New this week are seven products for three of the four major sports along with the latest MMA release and one non-sport set.

Leading the way is Topps' third and final installment of its flagship baseball card set as 2015 Topps Update arrives on Wednesday. This 400-card release includes all of the parallels and inserts collectors have come to expect from the first two releases as well as a few surprises. Standard hobby boxes will include one autograph or Relic, while HTA Jumbo boxes will include an auto and two Relics.

Continue reading →