Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

A HIGH-GRADE DOMINATOR
The Card: Paul Skenes 2025 Topps Heritage
The Reason Bought: I'll fully admit I'm a sucker for high-grade Heritage Rookie Cards and, while this isn't an RC, this one captured my attention just like one as I've ripped my fair share of Heritage this year and, well, not much of the cards that matter that I pulled could have checked in at a perfect grade. All that perfection, the clean photo and the color scheme here got me to bite.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop report before grabbing it, so it was an extra bonus to see that it's the lone card in the top slot with a decent number of cards below it -- and that goes as low as a CGC 7. That reinforces that Heritage isn't the easiest grade. That makes this one even more of a win in my book.

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

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What's Buzzing: Shohei Ohtani powers Dodgers in postseason opener, signed books, Disney Chrome, 2025 Donruss NFL and more.

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1 -- The MLB postseason threads are here

2 -- NFL Week 5 is upon us

3 -- The 2025 Donruss NFL reactions 

4 -- An attempt at a WWE Hall of Fame Rookie Card checklist

5 -- Still talking Disney Chrome

6 -- Checking in on the signed books thread

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

This new department will be an occasional series that will take a quick look at a game our gaming release with card elements -- essentially a breakdown of what's in a box, but not the typical kind of a Buzz Break. (Buzz isn't a gamer so this will just be what's in a box vs. gameplay analysis.) Maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

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The Game: AEW - Vs. System Two-Player Card Game (starter set)
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... BlowoutCards.com for other gaming -- or for traditional wrestling cards

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery from this one.

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Buzz buys a lot of stuff these days and for a few reasons, really. Sometimes it's just bargain-hunting, sometimes it's just something that strikes me. And other times it's a lot -- a group of things -- and that has happened enough lately I figured I'd try something different as a regularly appearing item. Sometimes my lots will be wins, sometimes they won't be ... but I'll let you decide. 

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GET IN THE RING
The Lot: Nine Pink parallels from 2023 Panini Chronicles WWE
The Price: Less than $15

Keep reading for more on this one ...

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What's Buzzing: A big day of WWE and AEW, readying for a new NFL week, Big Dumper homers again, Topps Holiday and more.

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1 -- Readying for NFL Week 3

2 -- Wrestling chatter after a big Saturday for WWE & AEW

3 -- Big Dumper's homer passes Griffey for Seattle record

4 -- Nothing.

5 -- Reactions to Topps Holiday

6 -- Phillies Karen: The new offer stands

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

What's Buzzing: Juan Soto, Nick Kurtz, Phillies Karen, Clayton Kershaw, NFL Week 3 and a big day for AEW & WWE.

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1 -- Checking in on the Juan Soto chatter

2 -- Readying for NFL Week 3

3 -- Talking Nick Kurtz

4 -- Wrestling chatter for a big Saturday for WWE & AEW

5 -- Clayton Kershaw is retiring

6 -- Phillies Karen: The new offer stands

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and break down 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: 2024 AEW Allure wrestling cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available and for other AEW) 

Keep reading to see a full breakdown and gallery from this one.

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What: 2025 Panini Combat Anthology trading cards
Arrives: Oct. 29
Box basics: Two autographs per four-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Panini expands its scope in the fight game with a multi-disciplined look around the sports world all in one spot that includes wrestling, MMA, boxing and potentially more with current stars of select promotions as well as legends of the past who worked a little bit of everywhere in their careers.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

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GOING FOR THE GOLD
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2022 Panini Select WWE Gold Wave Prizm (/10)
The Price: Around the price of a blaster box at arrival
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This brand is my favorite of the Panini years for WWE, and in the case of this star who I collect I have seemed to found her rarities on the affordable side at times with this release. This is a perfect example of that with it being one of the rarest parallels in there but it cost me not much more than the price of a retail box. It was arguably underpriced, so I grabbed it quickly when I spotted it. Will I grade it? It's a possibility, though this release's centering issues can create some surprises (that aren't totally surprises) as I found out with a different parallel of this card. Poke around in Making The Grade last month for an example.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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What's Buzzing: Week 2 in the NFL is coming, our offer to Phillies Karen, Allen & Ginter signers, wrestling chatter and more in this Tuesday edition.

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1 -- Readying for NFL Week 2

2 -- Wrestling chatter is here

3 -- Some good hockey threads to see

4 -- Known 2025 Topps Allen & Ginter signers so far

5 -- Talking production calendars vs. season calendars (or something)

6 -- The offer still stands

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

What's Buzzing: A.J. Lee returns to WWE, NFL Week 1 chatter, Junior Caminero, Star Wars Chrome, Sapphire UFC and more.

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1 -- NFL Week 1 is here

2 -- A.J. Lee returns to WWE after a decade away

3 -- Checking in on the Junior Caminero thread 

4 -- Results from almost a half-case of Star Wars Chrome blasters 

5 -- Inside a Sapphire UFC box

6 -- All your MLB chatter

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

What: 2025 Topps Finest WWE wrestling cards
Arrives: Sept. 26
Box basics Two autographed cards per hobby box (eight boxes per case) ... hobby-only
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Topps returns to the WWE ring for just the fourth time this year with its fourth Chrome-stock release. We've got teaser images but nothing else yet now -- this one will update at a later time.

Keep reading for more.

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What's Buzzing: The NFL season is here, non-sports chatter, new pulls and more in this Thursday edition.

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1 -- NFL Week 1 is here

2 -- Plenty of non-sports discussions

3 -- All your new pulls ...

4 -- Check out NFL finds here

5 -- Talking wrestling cards

6 -- More MLB chatter

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

TOP-GRADE VARIATION
The Card: C.J. Stroud 2021-22 Bowman University Chrome Prospects -- image variation
The Reason Graded: If you poke around in the archives for the Buzz Breaks of this release, you'll likely find a break where I missed this one and just simply called it a Refractor despite it being an image variation (all are Refractors on these). It should have been obvious based on the practice photo vs. game action, but I only spotted it well after the fact -- months, if not years, later -- when going through my old boxes. When I stopped to look, this card looked absolutely flawless and since it's somewhat rarer than the others it's also still a bit pricier for a standard card. (It's no monster but it's definitely better than a few types of Refractors.) Since it was so clean and the NFL season is upon us, I put this one into a bulk submission.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: This card checked in at exactly where I thought it would. Fun find and a win -- and it wasn't even tucked away in a box penny sleeved. The divide between mine and the other copies graded is also an interesting one -- perhaps there's a common flaw on copies due to position on the sheet or from machinery? No idea ...

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

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What's Buzzing: Talking NFL favorites, Shohei Ohtani, NFL and WWE chatter, Big Dumper and more.

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1 -- Talking favorite NFL releases

2 -- Shohei Ohtani

3 -- Even more NFL chatter is here

4 -- Still talking Cactus Jack WWE

5 -- Talking The Living Set

6 -- Still talking Big Dumper

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

What's Buzzing: Green Day's Garbage Pail Kids, Big Dumper, non-sports grails, grading chatter and more.

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1 -- Still talking Big Dumper

2 -- All your MLB chatter is here

3 -- Talking Green Day's GPK debut

4 -- Non-sports grail cards?

5 -- Reactions to an ugly wrestling incident this past weekend

6 -- All your grading talk resides here

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

What's Buzzing: Cactus Jack WWE, grails, Kyle Schwarber, Shohei Ohtani, Cal Raleigh and more.

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1 -- Cactus Jack WWE on their minds

2 -- Talking grails ... 

3 -- Still pondering Kyle Schwarber and Cooperstown

4 -- Talking Ohtani

5 -- Big Dumper is nearing a record and 50 homers

6 -- A licensing development?

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

What's Buzzing: Big Dumper closes in on record, Rafael Devers, NFL chatter, one card from every sketch card set ever, wrestling cards and ... a licensing development?

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1 -- Big Dumper is nearing a record and 50 homers

2 -- A licensing development?

3 -- Rafael Devers ... "so last month"

4 -- "Looking for one of EVERY licensed sketch card ever"

5 -- Talking wrestling cards

6 -- All your NFL chatter as the season nears

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

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PARALLEL POWER?
The Card: National League Wins Leaders (Spencer Strider, Zac Gallen, Justin Steele) 2024 Topps True Photo variant & Gold Foil parallel
The Price: About $11 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The concept of this one is simple and it's striking -- knock off the border of a base card completely, using just its photo -- and I think it works. But there's also one thing here that's striking -- and not in the best way. These are arguably too rare to make that big of an impact with me and I think perhaps other collectors who might not bother to grab their players or even think about a team set or full set. How rare? They are one in 677 hobby packs and I'm confident they'd be more popular if people could reasonably collect a team run or set. Why? Because they're something dramatically different and you can compare the regular card and this version side by side. I also grabbed a Gold Foil parallel for this one this time after I bit on the variant ... just to say I had one. Even paying $10 for this was a stretch for me ... and those odds and that price might say that these aren't as popular as they could/should be. These are one in basically every third hobby case.
Grab a box right here: MLB cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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What: 2025 Topps Chrome WWE Cactus Jack wrestling cards
Arrives: Aug. 29
Box basics 20 packs per hobby box (12 boxes per case) -- four autos per case
Checklist: Click here
Odds: TBD
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Topps returns to the WWE ring for just the third time this year with this follow-up to its Wrestlemania-branded Cactus Jack teaser release from Wrestlemania now coming to collectors in a full-box form -- it's the third Chrome set of its new run with the license.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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What's Buzzing: Reacting to The National, MLB chatter, WWE's reality show, new pulls and more.

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1 -- The National reactions are here

2 -- More card economy thoughts 

3 -- All your MLB chatter is here

4 -- Reactions to WWE: Unreal

5 -- Inside a Topps Chrome box

6 -- New MLB pulls are here

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

NINES ARE FINE
The Card: Aaron Judge 2017 Topps Archives -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: The unique 1960 Topps design always stands out to me. Why? Because one of my first clean vintage cards as a kid was a Gus Bell form the set, which I got since I knew he was a big-leaguer's dad. (Yay, trivia!) So that's perhaps one reason I held this Judge RC instead of letting it go. (Plus, I didn't rip as much of this brand ... so it was the only copy I pulled.) Judge's dominating 2025 season should make you stop and wonder about slabbing any RCs or early/rare stuff you have now ... just because. He and Shohei Ohtani are all-timers playing right in front of our faces now and are as safe as it gets when it comes to grab and slab or buy and hold -- even with plenty of their cards being graded.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: I knew this wouldn't be a 10 contender with the finicky stock here and the centering being a smidge off by my typical standards for a slab, but, like I said, it was my only copy. Most check in at this grade, so the nine makes sense, too, and the volume below it also shows this card isn't the easiest to grade.

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

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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: 2004 BenchWarmer Series 1 (Canadian box) trading cards
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... See newer BenchWarmer boxes here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of everything in this box.

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Mystery Box Buzz Break is a new series here on The Buzz -- it's essentially a Buzz Break but only for "mystery boxes" that seem to be everywhere these days -- and not just in the sports realm. Like this and want to see more? Is there a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The mystery box: Big Event NY wrestling JSA mystery box
Where to buy: Via eBay (find new WWE cards at BlowoutCards.com)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and a gallery of what was in this box. (Yes, it was a box and not a bag ... but that's their image.)

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What's Buzzing: A QB question, The National, new pulls, Ichiro Suzuki and the Hall of Fame and more in this Monday edition.

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1 -- A QB question 

2 -- The National is days away

3 -- Wrestling chatter

4 -- New MLB pulls are here

5 -- Ichiro Suzuki and new Hall of Famers get their moments

6 -- Nick Kurtz

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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.