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.

Continue reading →

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.

--

OFF-SEASON GRAB
The Card: Calvin Ridley 2018 Donruss Optic Aqua (/299) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is a perfect example of an off-season pick-up that can show you some volatility and gains when in-season. The price above is a "then" price. The asking price now where I grabbed it? Basically add a zero and then a few bucks. Now, I'm not sure it'll sell for that much right now, but that's the kind of stuff that can easily happen when a player has a hot start to a season and is among the league leaders. Ridley had at least 109 yards in all but one game (that one a big fat zero) and he's a go-to for his struggling team right now. His auto isn't much to look at so I don't grab them as often, but I don't mind his RCs and memorabilia cards when I can land them cheaply.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Donruss Optic football cards

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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 Big League baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 6 (five standard, one Blue bonus parallel pack)
Cards per pack: 10 in standard four in bonus
Cards in this box: 54 (plus one more on the box)
Base set completion: 
43 of 400 (11 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Ichiro Suzuki, Kyle Schwarber, Francisco Lindor, Yasiel Puig, Brandon Nimmo, Honus Wagner, Byron Buxton, NL Stolen Base Leaders, NL Innings Leaders, NL Hits Leaders, Al Stolen Base Leaders, Kauffman Stadium fountains

Rookie Cards (4) – Scott Kingery, Victor Robles, Nick Williams, Tyler O'Neill

Continue reading →

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 Big League baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 240
Base set completion: 
199 of 400 (50 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Alex Rodriguez, Paul Goldschmidt, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, Cody Bellinger, Ted Williams, Carlos Correa, Johnny Bench, Ernie Banks, Anthony Rizzo, Frank Thomas, Giancarlo Stanton, John Smoltz, Rickey Henderson, Sandy Koufax, Kris Bryant, Alex Bregman, Corey Seager, Nolan Ryan, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Albert Pujols, Dansby Swanson, Andrew Benintendi

Rookie Cards (20) – Shohei Ohtani, Brian Anderson, Francisco Mejia, Luiz Gohara, Richard Urena, Franchy Cordero, Nicky Delmonico, Gleyber Torres, Felix Jorge, Rhys Hoskins, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Dominic Smith, Clint Frazier, Austin Hays, Sandy Alcantara, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Andrew Stevenson, J.P. Crawford, Brandon Woodruff

Continue reading →

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 Big League baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 6 (five standard, one Blue bonus parallel pack)
Cards per pack: 10 in standard four in bonus
Cards in this box: 54 (plus one more on the box)
Base set completion: 
43 of 400 (11 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Ted Williams, Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, John Smoltz, Jose Altuve, Buster Posey, McCovey Cove, Stan Musial Statue, AL Hits Leaders, NL Slugging Percentage Leaders, NL Home Runs Leaders, 2017 AL Batting Average Leaders,

Rookie Cards (4) – Shohei Ohtani, Parker Bridwell, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres

Continue reading →

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 Big League baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 6 (five standard, one Blue bonus parallel pack)
Cards per pack: 10 in standard four in bonus
Cards in this box: 54 (plus one more on the box)
Base set completion: 
41 of 400 (10 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Honus Wagner, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras, Addison Russell, Anthony Rendon, Matt Olson, Didi Gregorius, Frank Thomas statue, B&O Warehouse, Chase Field swimming pool, NL wins leaders, AL walks leaders, NL WHIP leaders, NL doubles leaders, NL runs leaders, NL strikeout leaders

Rookie Cards (5) – Clint Frazier, Felix Jorge, Brandon Woodruff, Jordan Hicks, Harrison Bader

Continue reading →

What: 2018 Topps Big League baseball cards
Arrives: May 9 July 11
Box basics: 24 10-card packs per box (20 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: A new card line "providing a perfect entry into the world of collecting" arrives in May packed with 400 cards, a parallel in every pack, some surprises and some potential hits, too.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

Continue reading →