For years now, autographed books coming direct from the publishers -- or direct from the authors themselves -- have been an affordable way to collect ink from notable names in all realms of pop culture.

It's not a perfect system with stamped autos, fakes and autopens sometimes in the mix -- a problem for publishers to catch as they are not authenticators -- but thanks to dedicated collectors on the Blowout Cards Forum and elsewhere, those problems often get caught and fixed ... or at least become well-known enough to avoid if it's an issue that goes uncorrected.

Getting ink in-person is always best -- book tours still happen, of course -- but landing autographed editions from publishers, online sellers or celebs themselves via their websites or other appearances are common.

Our latest subject and autograph in this ongoing series? A member of The Sandlot cast, Patrick Renna.

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You should know by now that Shohei Ohtani is having another historic year with dominating performances on both the mound and at the plate ... it's stuff that could only be called Ruthian -- and yet Babe Ruth didn't do it all at the same time.

Right now, on June 28, he leads the league in homers (28), RBI (64), slugging percentage (.654), total bases (200) and other offensive stats, while also having. 7-3 record on the mound with 127 Ks in 95 innings and a 3.02 ERA ... in short, he leads his team in pretty much everything. This kind of showing could mean serious headlines by year's end, too, with that home run pace alone.

The Japanese icon and pitcher-slash-DH's 2018 Rookie Cards are ones you should be thinking about right now as there's been a serious uptick in interest -- and it was already high. But, thanks to there being plenty of sets that year and with him in most of them, there's still a lot to choose from that's not priced out of many collectors' budgets. Things do get quite interesting with basic cards in slabs, too. (Prices should surprise you ... they did for me just prepping this.)

Ohtani, who had a ton of cards during his career in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan starting in 2013, appears on literally thousands of unique baseball cards -- he'll probably hit around 15,000 by year's end or this time next year. More than 3,000 of those are from 2018 alone. His time in MLB releases started almost immediately as he never needed MiLB time and arrived in almost everything in the 2018 lineups from Topps, Panini America and elsewhere -- Rookie Cards, parallels, autographs, memorabilia you name it he's had it all since then. And there will be plenty more to come, perhaps making those earlier cards feel more unique to some ... especially if they missed out.

For simplicity's sake here, we have carved out all of his Topps Now and several other small-set cards sold as online releases as well as Panini America's meaty lineup of Ohtani (about 30 basic RCs and tons more when it comes to hits and inserts). We've also punted all autographs and Relic cards to make this a starting point with the widest affordability and accessibility possible, though there are plenty of high-dollar cards in this roundup.

Keep reading for a rundown of Shohei Ohtani Rookie Cards ... and it won't even be all of his stuff you could dabble with from that key year as there are plenty of cards with RC logos that don't fall under the definition.

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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 ...

LEADING OFF WITH THE RECORD-BREAKER
The Card: Aaron Judge 2017 Topps Archives 1960 Rookie Stars
The Reason Graded: He has been an established slugger since his 52 homers as a rookie in 2017, but to a degree he'd fallen off card-wise (and power-wise) the last few years until smacking 39 in 2021 and his Yankees team record (and American League record) 62 homers this year.  I got rid of pretty much all of my RCs in 2017 -- no regrets -- to turn them into stuff I actively wanted (I'm still working rather glacially on some of those Clerks autograph runs) but some of my late-year Judge pulls and some inserts were saved along with my lone autograph. While I haven't yet slabbed my ink -- I probably will here at some point once I figure out what box I put it in -- this insert modeled after the memorable-but-overbearing 1960 Topps design was one that jumped out at me. Why? It was soooo clean.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I was right and that pop shows me I'm not alone -- but it is surprising given how skinny the stock is here.

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

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals is to rip a little less and talk more about cardboard that I -- and you -- might like. One way to do that? Simple show and tell -- present a few pick-ups and say why they captured my attention.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ...

WADDLE, WADDLE, WADDLE ... 
The Piece: Jaylen Waddle autographed 16-by-20 Waddle celebration photo (Fanatics Authentic)
The Price: $75 (on sale)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked up this oversized auto on the cheap last week and before his big game with QB Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday as I liked the signature moment seen here and he's a school ties guy in my collection. (Last time here, I had this Tua piece lead off but I didn't even buy them at the same time.) His autograph isn't big -- and it's not that big on this oversized photo, either -- but I figured demand could be on the rise this year and, like I said, it was on sale (normally about $100 before they sold out). An inscribed "Fins Up" option also was/is available but I didn't need that as an Alabama fan. On cards, he has plenty to choose from -- more than 2,300 different autographed cards since just last year as part of the 2021 RC crop -- and a lot of them will cost more than this while many will not. I have an early Score auto with a strong college pic and added this in case they make a run, driving up prices to the point where I can't responsibly look.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but NFL boxes are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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 ...

WOOOOOOO!
The Card: Charlotte Flair 2015 Topps WWE Undisputed NXT In Line Autographs #NA-CH
The Reason Graded: The trio of big first/first-year autos in this release for three of the four biggest homegrown women's names (aka not Ronda Rousey) in WWE in this one have been slabbed in my stash -- Flair this time, Becky Lynch last time and Sasha Banks a couple times before in the history of this series. Why? Well, I think first (or first-year) autos are way more important than what people argue about on the Rookie Card front. They're inherently rarer and this brand is one that always seems to grade well as long as there's not any back-edge damage here (the designs often have dark colors).
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: This one checked in where I had hoped -- and thanks to their new shift to a "Gem Mint 10" scale this one would be a 10 if in a new slab. (I'm good with that, too.) Flair isn't my favorite of The Four Horsewomen of NXT but I think this is one of her better cards ... though I do wish she would have signed in blue like everybody else.

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

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals is to rip a little less and talk more about cardboard that I -- and you -- might like. One way to do that? Simple show and tell -- present a few pick-ups and say why they captured my attention.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ...

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IT'S STILL WRESTLEMANIA SEASON ... 
The Card: Toni Storm 2019 Topps WWE NXT Silver Autographs (/25)
The Price: Under $100
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Here's a bit of a spoiler here ... there will be a number of WWE items in this piece and (another spoiler) you probably won't see Toni Storm at WrestleMania ... but I'm still a buyer. Why? This first WWE autograph is still her only signed card (also with parallels) to date. They have been scorchers since that time, too, but I'm sure we'll finally get a new wave in the next WWE Women's release that's set to arrive after Mania. (Right?) The price on this was arguably lower than it should have been and the condition is a lot cleaner than many other cards from this dark-bordered, skinny-stock release. I pulled one parallel version, have bought a couple base autos (they're in past editions of this series) and then I grabbed this one. Why? Because she's one of a trio of young and/or NXT stars I'm sold on. I also kind of like the challenge of trying to get an auto from this release with a good grade but that's something for a story down the line later. Once more autos arrive, perhaps prices will come down some here ... I'd probably still be a buyer.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all WWE boxes here.

Keep reading for more interesting items in this one ...

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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: 2018 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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This is merely a re-enactment of an April Fool's prank that done a kid very, very wronnnng. (No cards were harmed in the making of this image ... unlike yesterday.)

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: Cooked Trout causes childhood trauma, a big autograph pull, The Walking Dead, NBA breaks, The National, and Luka vs. Zion in today's edition.

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One of Major League Baseball's young stars is in the World Series -- and hitting .571 through two games -- and that means there should be even more people watching him and potentially thinking about buying some his baseball cards.

Where do you start when it comes to Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto? Well, that's what we're here for and it's not that simple -- though it is a tad simpler than when we revisited Ronald Acuña Jr.'s Rookie Cards earlier this year. The 21-year-old (as of tomorrow, the day of Game 3) appears on nearly 2,200 different baseball cards despite just arriving on cardboard in 2016 and on Rookie Cards last year -- in fact he appeared on basically 700 different cards in 2018 alone -- so that's where we'll start with the simple stuff, his RCs.

He's got around 20 Rookie Cards based on traditional definitions and set builds, but for simplicity we've punted anything that's got an autograph or memorabilia swatch as part of the package. We're looking at the simplest of those -- 15 cards of varying values and ease of finding. Some are challenges, some are not -- but now's the time to be paying more attention than ever to them.

Keep reading for a rundown of Juan Soto's Rookie Cards.

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You should know by now that Ronald Acuña Jr. is having a historic year with the 30-30 Club already set to appear on his 2020 baseball cards -- and there's a serious chance he could become the youngest member of the elite 40-40 Club before the season is over, too.

But it's The Atlanta Braves outfielder's 2018 Rookie Cards that you should be thinking about right now as there's been a serious uptick in interest -- and there's still a lot to choose from that's not priced out of many collectors' budgets.

Acuña appears on more than 3,500 unique baseball cards since he arrived in prospect and minor-league sets back in 2016 and that number has gotten there rather quickly. Amidst his arrival and National League Rookie of the Year award-winning season last year, for example, he appeared on more than 1,700 new cards and more than 1,000 of those were made by Topps just last year.

For simplicity's sake here, we have carved out all of his Topps Now and several other small-set cards sold as online releases as well as Panini America's meaty lineup of Acuña RCs (those could be their own future rundown ... and likely will be). We've also punted all autographs and Relic cards from last year to make this a starting point with the widest affordability net possible -- though ink and parallels in the sets where he has basic RCs will get mentions. That said, even with this starting point, there's still a good mix of high-end and low-end cardboard -- and even the low-end stuff can generate some good Acuña Cash when professionally graded.

Keep reading for a rundown of Ronald Acuña Jr. Rookie Cards.

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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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A UNIQUE TOUCH 
The Item: Juan Soto 2019 Topps Museum Collection bat barrel nameplate 1/1
The Price: $2,999.99 Buy-It-Now (or make offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: His full name is Juan Jose Soto Pacheco and it's "Soto Pacheco" that he has chosen to put on his bats. You can get a good look at one right here (click to zoom), though the MLB Authentication sticker (albeit unreadable) should be enough to make worries lessen. This is one simple personalized touch that shows how game-used bats (and premium bat cards) can be a lot more interesting. This card is an example of the big stuff that is possible in boxes of Museum Collection, though as a 1/1 card this one is no longer potentially in a box if you grab one.
Similar Pieces: 2019 Topps Museum Collection autos on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019 Topps Museum Collection boxes

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

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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 ...

The Card: 2017 Donruss Rookie Gridiron Kings #2 Patrick Mahomes II
The Reason Graded: His break-out campaign started off so strong I had to revisit my past pulls from Donruss last year -- I busted a ton -- and I submitted a trio of his cards. You saw one last month, you see this one here and you'll see another in March. (Call that a spoiler.) This insert isn't the most-striking of cards but it looked very clean in my pre-examining of cards so it made the cut.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: None have graded higher but this one is not alone on the pop report. That surprises me a bit as grading seems to be all about standard RCs, rare numbered parallels and the ol' big mojo hits, but it seems that a season like the one he had could be prompting anything from his first year on cardboard to get another look. (Ironically you can still grab boxes of this one and others relatively cheap, too. To me that all spells fun ... and wax will dry up over time.)

Keep reading for the rest of this month's new grades and additions.

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but a new year's resolution just might be to rip fewer blasters this year and talk more about cardboard that I -- and you -- might like. One way to do that? Simple show and tell -- present a few pick-ups and say why they captured my attention. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around they're not all on-the-cheap additions.

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HISTORIAN CARDBOARD HISTORY
The Card: John Thorn 2018 Topps Archives Purple Fan Favorites Autographs (/150)
The Price: $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Buzz first knew his name back in 1989 when the massive book Total Baseball was a key way to look up past MLB players' stats -- you know, before the Internet -- and you could find a bit of everything else from the rules of the game, baseball history and more inside. Thorn has a ton of credits since then, including a consultant on the landmark Ken Burns documentary Baseball, and he is a winner of the Henry Chadwick Award, which is the top honor from SABR. Since 2011, Thorn has been the official historian of Major League Baseball and he has credited baseball cards as one way his interest in the game was sparked when he was young. He's also a collector. Believe it or not, he has a past card appearance in the 1990 Little Sun Baseball Writers set (an obscure release that's tough to find), but his cards in Archives can be landed somewhat easily despite there not being a lot to go around. He only appears on autograph cards -- a standard card and then Purple (/150), Silver (/99), Blue (/25) and 1/1 Gold parallels. The stock on these cards is way too thin, so you will see flaws easily -- especially on bold-colored versions -- but I grabbed this one because it was about adding the ink. Archives has included a number of unusual autographs with ties to the game in recent years and this one was on my to-get list from the start.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Topps Archives

Keep reading for six more interesting items ...

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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 and break highlights in today's edition.

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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 from around the collecting world in today's edition.

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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 breaks and a thread pondering "vintage" in the future for today's edition.

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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: 2018 Topps Archives baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 192
Base set completion: 
170 of 300 (57 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Bryce Harper, Harmon Killebrew, Tom Glavine, Mike Trout, Willie Stargell, Ralph Kiner, Randy Johnson, Wade Boggs, Roberto Clemente, Buster Posey, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Fergie Jenkins, Catfish Hunter, John Smoltz, Nolan Ryan, Gary Sanchez, Eddie Mathews, Barry Larkin, Rickey Henderson, Brooks Robinson, Whitey Ford, Mookie Betts, David Ortiz, Dave Winfield, Jimmie Foxx, Warren Spahn, Andrew Benintendi, Goose Gossage, Don Mattingly, Mike Piazza, Jim Thome, Sandy Koufax, Eddie Murray, Albert Pujols, Carlton Fisk, Cal Ripken Jr., Giancarlo Stanton, Duke Snider

Rookie Cards (10) – Notables include Ronald Acuña Jr., Victor Robles, Walker Buehler, Rafael Devers

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Juan Soto will make an appearance in 2018 Topps Heritage High Number and that's the start for his Rookie Cards and autographs in Topps products this season.

The company revealed this nugget today in advance of that product's arrival next week.

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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: 2018 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 8 (seven standard packs, one coin pack)
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 58 (56 cards and two coins)
Base set completion: 
50 of 300 (17 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Bryce Harper, Anthony Rizzo, Eddie Mathews, Ralph Kiner, Roberto Clemente, Wade Boggs, Goose Gossage, Eddie Murray, Mike Piazza, Don Mattingly, Pedro Martinez, Jack Morris, George Brett, Tommy Lasorda, Robin Yount, Bob Feller

Rookie Cards (9) – Ronald Acuña Jr., Victor Robles, Luiz Gohara, Chance Sisco, Nicky Delmonico, Willy Adames, Max Fried, Anthony Banda, Ryan McMahon

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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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A HIGH-GRADE RARITY
The Item: 1959 Fleer Ted Williams #68 Ted Signs for 1959 SP (PSA 9)
The Price: $2,500 Buy-It-Now 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Today would have been Ted Williams' 100th birthday and this card is by far the rarest one from a unique and collectable set that examines his life away from the game as well as highlights up to that time. He signed a $5,000 per year deal to only appear on Fleer cards but this one was pulled for some type of contractural reason. Meanwhile, ironically, if you check the PSA pop report this card is the most-graded of any card in the set. (Likely since it's the most-valuable and others are all readily available.) Just 43 copies of this card have graded a PSA 9 -- and fakes exist, meaning you should buy one graded --  and none have graded higher.
Similar Pieces: Other Ted Williams cards on eBay 
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for MLB 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: A Sandlot mystery solved along with some big pulls from around the collecting world in today's edition.

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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: 2018 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 8 (seven standard packs, one coin pack)
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 58 (56 cards and two coins)
Base set completion: 
50 of 300 (17 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, Johnny Bench, Derek Jeter, Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Andrew Benintendi, Yasiel Puig, Manny Machado, Miguel Cabrera, Nolan Arenado, Jim Bunning, Richie Ashburn, David Ortiz, Randy Johnson, Tom Glavine, Harmon Killebrew, Willie Stargell, Rod Carew

Rookie Cards (3) – Alex Verdugo, Jesse Biddle, Tomas Nido

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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 and rip highlights from around the collecting world in this Friday 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 6.

The box: 2018 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster)
The cost: BlowoutCards.com

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: An "unreal" day of ripping, seeking The Sandlot's stars, Mandy Rose, Peyton Manning and more in today's edition.

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