1962 Topps
MiLB Madness: Kerry Wood's Rays jersey, The Voice & more
Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness.
WAIT, WHAT? ... PART 2
The Item: Kerry Wood & Pat Cline (aka "Future Stars") 1997 Best Orlando Rays
The Buzz On This: Last month, I showed off a card that surprised me as I'd never seen it before and this one is a sequel -- this time, it's former Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood in a Rays jersey from a team set and not a card found in packs from the former card-maker known as Best. It's once again Wood with the Orlando Rays with a uni look that absolutely moved south to Tampa Bay the following summer, not a Chicago Cubs jersey. (These Rays were a Cubs farm team.) It's one of two Wood cards in that set -- spoiler: look for Wood one last time here next month -- and this is a quick, quirky start to this month's piece. A familiar face in an unfamiliar look is a fun part of MiLB cardboard ... so stuff like this can make for a cool collection. This one just looks extra different with a MiLB logo that became an MLB logo.Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can find in MiLB.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (June 24)
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: NBA Draft and basketball chatter, new pulls, The National, Prizm WWE and more in today's edition.
Buzz Break: 2021 Topps Mickey Mantle Collection
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 boxes: 2021 Topps Mickey Mantle Collection (five boxes)
First Buzz Preview & Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)
Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for what was in this one.
Making the Grade (March): A Ken Griffey Jr. RC, Bo Bichette, Sandy Koufax, bargain vintage & a new 1982 Topps Blackless?
Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.
Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ... it's a bit heavier on MLB and some vintage edition as I'm still awaiting deliveries.
CLASSIC BATTING LEAD-OFF ...
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Topps Traded #41T -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I'm fine with nines and when I saw this one for $17.50 with no obvious substantial flaws despite its grade I grabbed it. Why? Slabbed early cards of all-time greats like him from the 1980s and 1990s are destined to be moving as slab-hungry buyers want more and more as the obvious other bigger cards just keep rising. I, myself, am not all that interested in chasing Griffey's Upper Deck RC at a meaty price in a high-grade slab (I have a couple around/below this mark and a few raw not worth slabbing) but this one always has a little more appeal to me since it's cheap ... and I actually had a few way back then.
The Grade: BGS 9Grade 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 B10 Total Population 9 32 53 137 421 1,792 3,013 2,111 2,170 47 0 9,875 Reality Check: This card isn't the easiest grade with weird surface roller lines, centering and back edge chipping issues always possible based on what I've seen. While a BGS 9 or 9.5 isn't all that rare, I'm fine with it for the price -- a 9.5 will definitely cost more and the most-common grade is actually lower than this. That population of 10s is surprising but I'm not that surprised there are no truly perfect copies. I don't think its possible here.
Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.
eBay Buzz Weekly Update: Ronald Acuña's auto, Superman II's villains, vintage gems, Aretha's Topps card & one big Trout
Have you seen the latest cool or interesting 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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BIGGEST THING IN BASEBALL RIGHT NOW
The Item: Ronald Acuña 2017 Bowman's Best Green Refractor auto /99 (BGS 10-10)
The Price: $290 after 44 bids (active auction)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The early autograph cards for this young slugger typically get graded and put on eBay with new-car pricing but this card -- one that came just a .5 away from a perfect BGS Black slab -- is up as an active auction that will close in five days. His home run binge is something that we've already talked about here this week and it will be interesting to see where this one lands. Bowman's Best cards are typically overlooked vs. Chromes but they can command some good cash at times -- and it should do pretty well in a scenario like this where he's red-hot on the field.
Similar Pieces: More Ronald Acuña cards on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for MLB boxesKeep reading for four more interesting items in this week's roundup ...
'The Sandlot' stars get Topps baseball cards for 25th anniversary
You're killing me with the wait here, Smalls.
The 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray of The Sandlot is in stores now, but a Collector Edition Blu-Ray set that's still to come next month will include a set of 10 Topps baseball cards branded with a new take on the 1962 Topps All-Star subset.
Newest Lelands auction includes some serious baseball history
A number of high-end and truly historic baseball items are leading the way in the latest Lelands Masters Auction.
What you see above? A 1962 Topps first series cello box.
It includes 36 packs that originally cost buyers $3.60 if they cleared out the box. It's been inspected, authenticated and documented by Baseball Card Exchange and includes a number of packs with stars showing, including four showing Stan Musial and then appearances by Sandy Koufax, Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, Brooks Robinson and a number of leaders cards.
Bidding currently sits at $48,717 after just eight bids -- and it's not even close to the biggest item in the sale.
High-grade Hank Aaron 1954 Topps Rookie powers big Mile High sale
A near-perfect PSA 9 Hank Aaron 1954 Topps Rookie Card led the way in the Mile High Card Company auction that ended during the weekend -- and it was just one of 10 lots that topped the $20,000 mark.
All were graded vintage cards in high grades or key specimens slabbed by PSA or SGC -- meanwhile 13 other auctions topped the $10,000 plateau in the sale.
Click the first image below to enter our gallery and get a closer look at the top 10 lots as well their final sale prices. We added an extra one so you can see a surprising sale price on the only PSA 10 Joe Torre 1962 Topps Rookie Card in existence.
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>> Click here to buy baseball cards on BlowoutCards.com.
- 1954 Topps #128 Henry Aaron PSA 9 MINT # Bids: 25 Min Bid: $25,000 Final Price: $192,527
- 1933 Goudey #92 Lou Gehrig SGC 96 MINT 9 # Bids: 27 Min Bid: $12,000 Final Price: $57,183
- 1970 Topps #140 Reggie Jackson PSA 10 GEM MINT- (Only PSA 10) # Bids: 32 Min Bid: $3,500 Final Price: $43,101
- 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson PSA 10 GEM MINT # Bids: 12 Min Bid: $5,000 Final Price: $29,872
- 1954 Topps #128 Henry Aaron PSA 8 NM/MT # Bids: 18 Min Bid: $5,000 Final Price: $28,449
- 1954 Bowman Football Set (#3 On PSA registry, 9.59 rating) # Bids: 12 Min Bid: $7,500 Final Price: $27,751
- 1952 Bowman #101 Mickey Mantle SGC 96 MINT 9 # Bids: 16 Min Bid: $5,000 Final Price: $27,095
- 1915 Cracker Jack #57 Walter Johnson SGC 96 MINT 9 # Bids: 21 Min Bid: $6,000 Final Price: $26,867
- 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle PSA 2.5 GOOD+ # Bids: 18 Min Bid: $3,000 Final Price: $21,549
- 1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle SGC 96 MINT 9 # Bids: 14 Min Bid: $6,000 Final Price: $21,049
- 1962 Topps #218 Joe Torre PSA 10 GEM MINT (Only PSA 10) # Bids: 17 Min Bid: $1,800 Final Price: $15,536
Mickey Mantle cards sell for more than $750,000 via Memory Lane Inc.
Demand for The Mick continues to be an all-time high.
A run of high-grade Mickey Mantle Topps and Bowman baseball cards from 1951 to 1969 sold for more than $750,000 this weekend in a Memory Lane Inc. auction.
"The Empire State Collection" consisted of 21 PSA-graded cards and, according to the company, 14 of them set new record-highs for their condition.
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