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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... sometimes stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new fun cards and oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

WELL BEFORE PHILLY
The Card: Kyle Schwarber 2015 Topps Heritage Minor League
The Buzz On This: This MiLB card isn't one that came from a team set since Heritage is an in-pack brand of the past (it was killed off in recent years) and it was one that revisited old MLB designs with today's printing and today's stars. This is a re-do of the 1966 Topps set showing Schwarber after his first season as a minor-leaguer. Schwarber has got plenty of prospect cards showing him in a Cubs uniform and his college colors as well -- those arrived the year before this one and his USA Baseball stuff actually arrived two years before this. In short, he's got a lot of cardboard -- and that's a good thing for collectors who like his slugging ways (I do). He doesn't have as much cardboard in actual MiLB uniforms, so that's why I picked this off on the night of his All-Star Game heroics. This was my first target but you'll see more of him on his few minor-league cards here in the future.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards (and other stuff) you can find in MiLB.

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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 pretty deep mix with some pricey pieces (at least for Buzz) this time.

BIG BOOK LEADS OFF
The Book: The Amazing Spider-Man #361 -- first full appearance of Carnage
The Reason Graded: One of my goals this year -- something already under way -- is to grade a number of the notable comic books I have had stashed from back in the day (the early/mid 1990s) when I dabbled somewhat regularly with comics. Back then they were re-emerging in pop culture with a revolution of big-name artists taking on iconic characters and then branching out to make their own brands -- and they were also a lot cheaper to collect with cover prices like you see here. Also born in those years of polybags, gimmicked covers and many publishers? Big-name characters like the one making his full debut here, Carnage, who is one of Spider-Man's big villains like Venom and others before them. I picked up a couple copies of this one back then since I liked the cover art and it was a start of a run for the new character. Over time, he has become a favorite and that has made this a pricey book.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: My main reason for grading a lot of my books from this time is that many of them are rarer newsstand copies (UPC bar code) which are harder to find in top condition and can carry a premium vs. direct copies. I wasn't (and still am not) a big comic reader so my copies are as razor fresh as they were then. I liked the art and I was very picky about what I would and wouldn't buy when it came to condition. I didn't check the pop report here when subbing -- and I have sent a second one into be slabbed since getting this one back -- and it's (shocker!) a heavily graded book. A 9.8 isn't easy here and a newsstand copy recently sold on eBay for almost $1,700. This grade? Well, it's a $600 sale among completeds but asking prices for UPC copies are as high as $1,450 with several above $900. Over the long-term, I think newsstand copies are going to remain rare in top grade, though for some reason CGC doesn't break them out on its pop report. (I wish they did ... it would have to be a shocking divide.)

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

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Your next big-name New York Yankees rookie to arrive in The Big Apple will face big expectations -- but he doesn't have nearly as much cardboard as those who arrived before him.

Unlike the arrivals of Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge -- guys who had plenty of baseball cards and plenty of certified autographs when they hit The Show -- shortstop Gleyber Torres doesn't.

And that could bode very well for collectors who own them.

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What happens when a New York Yankees rookie hits his league-leading 12th home run of the season?

Baseball cards just keep selling.

Aaron Judge is that Yankee and thanks to several years' of prospecting sets and his 2017 Rookie Card arrival he's arguably the hottest cardboard in the hobby today. As we documented here on Monday, he's got more than 400 different autographed cards already -- and there's undoubtedly more on the way -- and that's a good problem to have.

But what if you don't have a Judge auto? Where should you start? Consider these 12 sets or specific cards ...

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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 five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Showing off barrels, big pulls, best & worst designs and NSCC tips.

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The Durham Bulls' history books include Chipper Jones, Evan Longoria, David Price and even the likes of Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh and Crash Davis, but there's another player you might know who could make their mark with the team this coming season.

You.

Thanks to Topps and the Make Your Pro Debut contest found in packs of the recently released 2016 Topps Heritage Minor League baseball cards, it could be you. No, really.

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They're new players and you may already have their new baseball cards but not even know it.

Topps announced on Thursday that top draft picks Dansby Swanson and Brendan Rodgers are the mystery redemptions found in packs of 2015 Topps Heritage Minor League, the set that takes today's players down on the farm back to 1966.

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