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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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 oddball finds from forum members in this 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 and box/case breakdowns 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: Big wax stashes, big pulls, debating subgrades, a thought about complete game-used memorabilia pieces.

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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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PICK UP YOUR JAW ... IT'S OVER THERE ??
The Item: Zion Williamson 2019-20 Panini Prizm NBA lot of 23 cards ... all BGS 10s
The Price: $54,900 after 89 bids (one day remaining)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one is an interesting lot ... first in the sheer volume and the quality. Then you wonder ... why might they be cashing out? (Or, is this just their "junky" copies, meaning they held all of their parallels and autos?) The timing here is interesting -- I'd think just as Williamson or the NBA returns might be a better time for this one, though there are a lot of different options for his Rookie Cards out there. This one will inevitably still be one of the most-iconic ones from this crazy year ... so this price should move before it ends and I'd suspect that the lot will get broken up over time. (Right?) Or, perhaps the buyer will just sit on it and flip it again later? Oh, and if you're wondering, just 517 copies of this card have checked in at a 10 and only 25 have topped them out of 9,199 graded by BGS so far this year.
Similar Pieces: See other Zion Williamson BGS cards on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019-20 Panini Prizm NBA (all formats) 

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

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Today's the last day of auction action over at Crazy Uncle Auctions and since that might not be on your natural list of places to check for modern cardboard, well ... that's why Buzz is here.

The Harrison, N.Y.-based auction house has an impressive array of stuff -- from elite oldschool pieces that you wouldn't imagine existing to stuff fresh from the card factories of today.

POLAR BEAR POWER
The Item: Pete Alonso 2019 Topps NOW #705A Autographed Relic (/99)
The Price: $80 after five bids (about 10 hours remaining)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is one of 15 Alonso cards up for grabs in this one and it's at a fraction of the previous eBay prices (for now) with some solid flip potential even if bidding picks up from here. (It should but could still be a good buy.) eBay asking prices are at least $100 higher and actual sales of comparable Relics (not this one but others from Topps Now) are $250 and up. The key here might be timing -- with MLB set to return there could be more attention here very soon for this big-market slugger. Either way, it's an iconic card noting a key part of his career so far and not a generic aut0-Relic card.

Keep reading for a deeper look at four more items ending tonight that caught Buzz's attention for this weekend edition of Auction Buzz -- the action closes at 11 p.m Eastern here.

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Knowing where to look for new items in your collection can be a challenge at times -- if you shop where many others do, you might not find rare gems and you might find plenty of things from one genre of collecting that you might not want or need.

But sometimes you might be surprised by what you can find via auction houses, which used to be the home of mostly vintage treasures. Not any more.

The 15 items you see above (click for a closer look) are from a wide array of the collecting world and they're all up for grabs right now via Crazy Uncle Auctions, a Harrison, N.Y.-based auction house.

Keep reading for a deeper look at five of them.

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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: Project 2020 chatter (and artists are in on it), NBA breaks, a Stranger Things case that's turned one collector's world upside down (or something) and more 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: Four 1/1s in four NT boxes, some fresh Zion Williamson slabs, Game of Thrones, Dollar Tree Donruss, The National and more 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: Tom Brady is done playing for the Patriots, other NFL moves, breaks highlights, Prizm NBA blasters and more 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: A supplies praise thread, inside 35 -- yes, 35! -- Walking Dead cases, NBA season on hold, new USA Baseball and WWE pulls and seeing red over a Black slab?

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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: Plenty of hobby investment and related discussions, 2020 Topps Heritage, MiLB cards and more 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: Zion Williamson thrills, Brett Gardner has a fan, a loaded MLB box and the Houston Astros still cheated.

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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: When an Optic run turns into the mother lode of hot wax, computerized grading, 2020 Topps, new NBA breaks and plenty more.

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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: Prizm NBA is still popping up in the wild, a Super Bowl wax haul, big pulls, Astros cheating, and "what bothers you about the hobby?"

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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: Zion Williamson arrives with a bang -- from three-point land -- and plenty more in this midnight 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: It's time for Zion Williamson, meanwhile Derek Jeter and Larry Walker head to the Hall of Fame, big pulls and plenty more chatter 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: Big pulls, last-pack magic, Super Bowl chatter, Zion Williamson, Felix Hernandez and "have baseball cards fallen behind basketball and football 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 a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Waiting for Super Bowl LIV, Patrick Mahomes cardboard prices and show-offs, Zion Williamson madness in advance of his arrival, will Tom Brady leave the Patriots and more in today's discussions.

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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: Mostly box break highlights and big pulls making up today's edition ... check 'em out.

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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: Mike Trout, duplicated card photos, Keston Hiura, Odell Beckham Jr., big Prizm pulls with Zion Williamson, the Houston Astros have them buzzing and a thread that takes a serious twist.

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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: Big pulls, Star Trek ink, baseball movies, Kazuo Uzuki gold and more 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: Tua Tagovailoa, Panini Blockchain, big pulls and ... Zion Williamson Silver from a $20.20 box? (Yep.)

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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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BIG DEAL ON CARDBOARD 
The Item: Zion Williamson 2019-20 Panini Prizm Blue Prizms RC parallel (BGS Black 10)
The Price: $99,999.99 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Ok, so this price isn't likely to be hit (right?) but with the NBA's biggest newcomer set to take the court for the first time soon (right?) there could be some additional movement atop of his already pricey cardboard. It's something to watch for as this is a not-super-rare card from what is easily the most-popular NBA release of the last year and perhaps beyond. The boxes can cough up plenty of color and you can find him a few ways between the various formats ... so if he delivers when he hits the court the crazy numbers on his cards could actually get crazier. (Right?) I'm not buying this one but this is the kind of card that even with a number with a new nines knocked off should remind you why you need to be ripping into Prizm. The crazy part? This isn't even his most-expensive card on eBay right now -- hit that link below.
Similar Pieces: Zion Williamson Prizm cards on eBay 
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019-20 Panini Prizm boxes (all formats)

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

Continue reading →

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 other big pulls in today's edition.

Continue reading →