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.

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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 ...

VG THE MVP (SO FAR)
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Stadium Club #301 -- Rookie Card 
The Reason Graded: In my first bulk sub to CSG, which I recently got back -- 80 working days, by the way -- I worked in a few recent-year Rookie Cards just to see how some different kinds of stock are handled by the veteran grading company that has just turned its attention to sports cards starting this year. I sent this in before the season started, of course, but it looks like a smart slab now as Vladdy is demolishing things in MLB and is on pace for a monster season if he keeps at it.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: There's no pop report yet -- they say it's coming* -- but this one comes in at my anticipated mark, though I would have been happy to get a higher one. (You'll see those in the coming months.) This one has some high gloss and somewhat softer stock -- not the easiest grading combo -- but I think it's the backs here that are the key. This one not getting a higher grade made me wonder what might be holding it down -- a deal where I'd want to see subgrades, but not for $10 more. I do think, based on my results, that CSG is grading to a stricter standard (like BGS) vs. others (at least historically until recently) so I'm also OK with cards not checking in at 9.5s or 10s in bulk. My second bulk sub -- hopefully back soon, too -- included more stuff like this.

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

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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 ...

A BIG WIN
The Card: Patrick Mahomes 2017 Donruss Optic #177 Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I came real close to letting this one go raw, but late in the season I pulled it out of my "to-go box" and put it in the "slab-it stack" figuring I might get a little more out of it if I did let it go ... then they won it all. Needless to say now, that would definitely be the case for this key RC of the Super Bowl champ and new hobby go-to for many.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I didn't expect a 9.5 and that's a mark that's getting this card up close to $500 on eBay right now -- a surprise to me as I just don't watch NFL card values as much as I probably should. I only have this one but I ripped plenty back then since 2017 NFL stuff was so plentiful (back then) I'd buy and rip some boxes heavily almost by default. Those boxes are scorchers now thanks to all of the possibilities for this guy and other key rookies that year. Most copies of this card check in at this mark ... but that's clearly not scaring people off here.

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

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It's a film based on a true story, and while you might not remember his name there are football cards with this tale, too.

He's Brian Banks and a film of the same name arrives in theaters tonight. It's a story of a high school football star who went to prison for a crime he didn't commit and then what happened to get his life back.

Banks' only pro football credits on his resume -- on the backs of his only cards -- are a single tackle with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the defunct United Football League, which folded before Banks could complete a season. He got a shot in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons in 2013 and his only football cards arrived that same year under some unusual circumstances.

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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: 2013 Topps football cards (retail box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for factory sets) 

Packs per box: 16
Cards per pack: 12
Cards in this box: 192
Base set completion: 
162 of 440 (37 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notable players found on base cards: Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Tim Tebow, Julio Jones, J.J. Watt, Philip Rivers, Antonio Brown, Clay Matthews, Nick Foles, Tony Gonzalez, Brian Urlacher, Rob Gronkowski, Sam Bradford, Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Richard Sherman

Rookie Cards (38) – Notables include Keenan Allen, Kenny Stills, Jordan Reed

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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: Heritage High Number drops early for some, Inside an insane Andrew Luck collection, NFL chatter, MLB breaks & 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: 2013 Topps football cards (retail box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby) 

Packs per box: 16
Cards per pack: 12
Cards in this box: 192
Base set completion: 
162 of 440 (37 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notable players found on base cards: Andrew Luck, Adrian Peterson, Russell Wilson, Dez Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, Larry Fitzgerald, Cam Newton

Rookie Cards (45) – Notables include Le'Veon Bell, Desmond Trufant, Tyrann Mathieu

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Many of us can't afford to land a copy of Jackie Robinson's iconic 1952 Topps card -- his first Topps card that sells for hundreds in low grade and thousands in high grade -- but a Jackie Robinson Day special today from Blowout Cards gives us all a shot at the next-best thing.

Oh, and a shot at a cut autograph, too.

In 2013, Topps released a version of its flagship factory set with Chrome bonus cards of that Robinson card as well as rarer parallels and cut autographs in the mix. The set was one of a few options for those wanting to buy the set all at once rather than build it from packs.

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