The NHL and the Chicago Blackhawks have lost one of their greats.

Hall of Famer Stan Mikita lost a long-term health battle and died on Tuesday at age 78. He had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a disease similar to Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s in its symptoms, in 2015.

“There are no words to describe our sadness over Stan’s passing,” the team said via a statement. “He meant so much to the Chicago Blackhawks, to the game of hockey, and to all of Chicago.”

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: An NHL show-off thread, Hulking Out Chrome cards, big pulls, NSCC chatter & more.

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Wrapper redemptions are a big focus for many show-goers and BlowoutCards.com will be there at the center of it all for collectors at this year's National Sports Collectors Convention. 

In fact, products from all manufacturers that are part of this year's wrapper redemptions will be a heavy focus for the lineup at the Blowout booth for the show that's set for Aug. 1-5 at the IX Center in Cleveland.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big WWE (retail) and hockey (The Fantastic Store) pulls, NSCC chatter, a look at tonight's Ted Williams documentary & more.

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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: 1995 Signature Rookies Signature Blitz sports cards
Where to buy: Where you can find ($28 shipped this time)

Packs per box: 4 (plus one expired autographed memorabilia voucher)
Cards per pack: 15 (13 base, one insert, one autograph, according to box -- incorrect)
Cards in this box: 60
Base set completion: 
N/A (47 base cards from nine 1994 and 1995 sets across all four major sports)
Duplicates: 2

Notables on Base cards – Marshall Faulk, Nolan Baumgartner, Cliff Floyd, Wesley Person, Errict Rhett, Alex Ochoa, Gary Trent, Travis Best, Zack Crockett, Frank Sanders, C.J. Nitkowski, Todd Hollandsworth, Paul Spoljaric

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What: 2017-18 Leaf Invictus hockey cards
Arrives: September
Box basics: Four autographs or memorabilia cards per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf brings a new array of hockey cards to collectors with this all-hits release that brings some of the biggest legends in the history of the sport to cardboard once again.

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

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The biggest star on the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals has shed his playoff beard -- and you can own the pieces that helped make that happen.

No, seriously.

Alexander Ovechkin's Gilette razors -- two blades with unique images added to their handles -- are up for grabs on the NHL Auctions block as part of one-of-a-kind autographed photo displays.

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You may have seen a few of these Fanatics mystery boxes pop up from time to time here on The Buzz. It's a new kick of mine to add a little variety to the Buzz Break lineup on the cheap but with a little more flash -- or at least some curiosity -- than the typical blaster box. (Don't worry, we'll still have plenty of those.)

As you can probably tell, this box looks a little different than the game-used MLB baseball mystery boxes that I've been busting here. This was a one-time deal to add a little something different to my personal stash -- also something even cheaper than the baseballs -- and something different to present here. And it highlighted not only differences between sports but also differences in how leagues can even handle authentication because of those simple differences.

If you didn't figure it out from the headline, it's a game-used hockey puck.

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There's just one wax box you need to find to land both the Rookie Card and the first certified autograph of one of the newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He's Willie O'Ree and the set is 1997-98 Pinnacle BeeHive -- a release that came decades after his brief playing career ended. He played just two seasons for the Boston Bruins -- two games in 1957-58 and 43 in 1960-61 -- making him the first black player in NHL history. He had four goals and 10 assists in his second season.

His call to the Hall of Fame came Tuesday when he was announced as being a member of this year's class alongside Martin Brodeur, Martin St. Louis, Jayna Hefford, Alexander Yakushev and Commissioner Gary Bettman. O'Ree's honor comes in the category of being a "builder" of the game as he's worked as the NHL's Diversity Ambassador for the last 20 years.

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What: 2018 TRISTAR Signature Series National Edition
Arrives: Aug. 1
Box basics: One autographed item per envelope (eight envelopes per case).

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Signature Series returns with just 80 eight-pack cases of authenticated autographed memorabilia just in time for this year's National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland.

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This year's National Sports Collectors Convention is set for Aug. 1-5 in Cleveland with a meaty roster of autograph guests signing for those who opt to get a ticket and get in line for an "inkredible" moment.

Some of those signers are actually free if you're at the VIP reception on Wednesday or buy a VIP ticket package -- a bonus for taking the time to hit the entire show or buy the full package for all of the other bonuses -- but other signers will take some planning to land the ones you want.

It's tough to see everything at the show -- 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. With that said, here are my picks -- one per day -- to grab off the autograph list. (Keep reading for the full signers list in a gallery at the end.)

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Stanley Cup chatter, the Shohei Ohtani Superfractor pull, NSCC chatter, grading delays and more in today's edition.

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 11.

The box: 1997-98 Pinnacle BeeHive hockey
The cost: $19.95 (will vary by location)

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

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big pulls, NSCC chatter & more on this Monday.

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Have you seen the latest crazy items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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THE NEW 2018 BOWMAN MEGA BOX MYSTERY
The Item: A redemption for a Shohei Ohtani 2018 Bowman Chrome auto from a 2018 Bowman Mega Box (What?)
The Price: $2,075 after 23 bids with six-plus days remaining
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: What is this? The only Shohei Ohtani card on the checklist for these Target-exclusive boxes is a ROY Favorites insert -- and he's not even listed as having an auto there. Could this just be that? It's not noted that way, meaning ... could it be one of his standard autos? Could it be a Kanji auto? Could it be (somehow?) the Superfractor hiding in the mix of cards set aside for these boxes? Maybe, maybe not ... (Update: Topps has announced that these are only for his standard Chrome autos and "a limited number are available.")
Similar Pieces: Check out these Shohei Ohtani Bowman autos
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2018 Bowman boxes

Keep reading for four more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Nothing but big breaks in today's edition.

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What: 2018 In The Game Used hockey cards
Arrives: May
Box basics: Five memorabilia cards per box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf is back with the legends of the ice and their memorabilia inside new cardboard with another hits-only edition of this one -- and it's got a 30-percent lower print run than last year and new Chosen Few redemption cards, too.

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

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Nothing but highlights from the breaks on the board as we head into the weekend.

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 1.

The box: 1996 Score Board Autographed Collection
The cost: $43 (Expect to pay more ... if you can even find one.)

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

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What: 2018 Leaf Masked Men hockey cards
Arrives: April 13
Box basics: Three autographs or memorabilia cards per six-card box (12 boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf once again celebrates goaltenders with a mix of hits and Metal cards in a release that will be limited to no more than 150 cases.

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

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big pulls, first 1/1s, pondering performances & more in today's edition.

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Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

The answer is "yes," when it comes to stamps for children's television icon Mister Rogers as the U.S. Postal Service will issue a new stamp featuring him late next month.

It will be formally unveiled at a dedication ceremony on March 23 at WQED’s Fred Rogers Studio in Pittsburgh -- an event open to the public -- and should go on sale at that time, too. These Forever stamps will cost 50 cents each and will also be commonly collected as sheets. He'll share the stamp with one of his puppets, King Friday XIII.

Believe it or not, it's also not his first collectibles appearance.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big trades (Blake Griffin), big careers (Jaromir Jagr) and big pulls.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Nothing but big pulls on this Sunday that's all about football.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Big pulls, big fixes and pondering the NBA's biggest wastes of talent.

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