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. 

AT THE BEGINNING ...
The Card: Kyle Schwarber 2015 Choice Iowa Cubs
The Buzz On This: With USA Baseball, other prep showcase sets and NIL deals these days, it’s not uncommon for players to have cards sometimes several years before their pro debuts -- if they even have a debut at all, In some cases, minor-league looks can emulate the big club and that’s what got me to bite on this early (but not first) card of The Schwarbino. He’s seen in a Cubs uniform -- an Iowa Cubs uniform -- but you wouldn’t probably know the difference here if those logos didn’t have a little extra attached. The helmet logo is partially obscured, too, but I liked the simplicity here so I grabbed it. Schwarber is going to go down as one of the better power guys of this generation and he’s already got a firm place in baseball history with his Cubs World Series run and All-Star Game heroics. This was an easy grab for $6 in my book.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can find in and around MiLB.

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Auction Buzz is a monthly look at some of the variety found out there on the auction block ... check 'em out.

It's going to be a busy end of the year for Dallas-based Heritage Auctions with a number of regularly scheduled events as well as some showcase auctions with high-profile stuff all on the calendar. This time, we look at a few things from a few active sales this month.

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AS SUPER AS IT GETS
The Item: Superman No. 1 (DC, 1939) -- CGC 9.0
The Price: $2,850,000 after 97 bids (ends Nov. 20)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is one of those finds that makes headlines early on and then will make an even bigger one once it's sold -- and that's happening later this month. Only 209 copies of this iconic and massive first issue have been graded by CCG and only 93 of those are un-restored or without other grading caveats. Of the 93 graded, nothing tops this copy. It's the lone CGC 9 and there's only one 8.5, one 8.0, two 7.0s and everything else is single-digits until you get down to CGC 1.5 ... so this one is as elite as it gets. "This copy represents the pinnacle of comic collecting," reads the Heritage listing. "Not only is this the highest-graded unrestored copy Heritage has ever offered, but it also holds the top position on the CGC census, outranking the likes of several esteemed pedigreed copies including the Mile High and Davis Crippen copies." The 8.0 sold for $5.3 million in 2022 and Heritage sold a 7.0 copy for $2.34 million last year. It survived all these years in an attic of a California home and will easily set a new sales record before it finds a new home.

Keep reading for more interesting pieces up for grabs right now.

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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 pack: 2025 Leaf Metal Pop Century 1/1 Pre-Production Proofs 
Where to buy: Click here (these are box-toppers in Pop Century boxes)

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

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RUNNEMEDE, N.J. – Goldin, an internationally renowned auction house known for rare and record-breaking collectible sales, today announces the acquisition of Studio Auctions, a boutique auction house specializing in one-of-a-kind Hollywood and pop culture memorabilia.

The deal marks Goldin’s first major acquisition since joining the eBay portfolio in May 2024, and expands its selection of authenticated entertainment assets -- reinforcing its leadership across the collectibles category.

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Some Hollywood chatter could mean big things for fans of Harry Potter -- and those who might be sitting on some cardboard from the past.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a new Potter series could be coming to HBO Max at some point, giving fans a new way to explore the universe and merchandising machine fueled by past films that was created by the books by J.K. Rowling. Part of that merch in the past included a bunch of trading card releases with both gaming and non-sports elements (autos, memorabilia, you name it) in play and it's clear that one version remains a scorcher in box form.

The Wizards of The Coast box you see above is for the trading card game that was the first to arrive coinciding in advance of the arrival of the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, back in August 2001. It's a box that has sold for as much as $950 in recent months on eBay but with good sales volume -- and asking prices for boxes and cases (the few that still might exist) are commanding even higher marks. There are other WOTC expansions for the game that also sell relatively well but not quite as strong -- those include Quidditch Cup (November 2001), Diagon Alley (March 2002) and Adventures at Hogwarts (June 2002).

These gaming sets all arrived around the time of Pokémon -- and we all know how that story has gone.

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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 in today's snowed-in edition.

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Simplicity, portability, affordability and the chase.

This collector found himself in the toy aisle of a chain store this week and noticed something relatively new that hadn't caught my attention before. At a glance I was interested and instantly found myself scouring the pegs for something that ended up not being there.

It was a section of Jada Toys' new Nano Metalfigs that are available for a few different realms -- DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Disney/Pixar, Street Fighter, Harry Potter -- and they're tiny metal sculptures that come in packages just like the big kids' toys but they don't come with a big price.

They've probably been around for some collectible genres I don't watch all that closely, but the first wave of the new WWE figures caught my eye simply because they were so small ... and so cheap.

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This year's San Diego Comic-Con is about a month away and Funko has already started to tease its exclusive toys that will be for sale at the show of all shows for pop culture and entertainment.

The Everett, Wash.-based company is releasing its previews in waves with iconic characters from Star Wars, Scott Pilgrim, Marvel, cartoons, DC Comics and TV shows already among those teased.

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When it comes to autographs in the sports world, there are plenty of ways that collectors and the autograph industry itself has helped commodify ink.

In other words, there are a number of common items that are commonly signed that help us all figure a common value that we'd expect to pay or expect to get if we have to sell something we own. Jerseys, balls, helmets, cards, photos -- there are a lot of ways to collect sports autographs.

But for celebrity autographs, it's a lot less complicated as the 8-by-10 photo is arguably the most-commonly solid piece across the whole spectrum of television, movies and others of note who we might find, say, at a comic book convention or other similarly organized signing session. Not all films have massive toy lines, not all celebs have book deals and TV shows often don't have posters you can find all that easily.

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Sometimes you just get sidetracked by an email.

That was the case Friday morning when the latest images from Sideshow Toys spotlighting its newest (and some past) Premium Format figures arrived in Buzz's inbox.

They're premium in size -- in the case of Deadpool here 24 inches tall and 14 pounds -- and premium in price. But, most importantly, they're premium in appeal as they are ridiculously detailed in their varying forms.

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Harry Potter gets another wave of Funko Pop! toys this month and the Lynnwood, Wash.-based company teased them all on Wednesday for fans of the movies and books to examine before their arrival.

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Is there one non-sports autograph you'd want to own? If you're a fan of anything beyond the sports world, there's probably one name that comes to mind first.

In some cases -- Star Wars and Star Trek, for example -- a personality may have plenty of autographs, but in others there may be just one.

Or none at all.

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Beginning this month, Funko has several waves of new Pop! vinyl figures coming for some big franchises in film and TV from the past and the present.

The new Ghostbusters, Aliens, Flash Gordon, Mean Girls, Willy Wonka, DragonBallZ, Through the Looking Glass and Harry Potter are just some of the properties with figures coming between now and August.

Oh, and it's also got the likes of UFC stars Ronda Rousey and Connor McGregor on the way along with the fighters in the political world -- Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- scheduled to become toys, too.

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Collectors of Funko Pop! figures will have several new figures on the way in February and beyond as the Lynnwood, Wash.-based company continues to expand its lineups.

Among the figures to come are characters from the Battlestar Galactica TV series, Independence Day, Clueless, a new wave of WWE characters and a deep Harry Potter roster.

Keep reading to check out our gallery.

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