Home
Blog
Making The Grade Year In Review

Making The Grade Year In Review

Looking back at the year that was ... Making The Grade
Making The Grade is a monthly department here on The Buzz that ran all year long in 2019 -- its first complete season so far. Its a place where newly slabbed cards and a few pick-ups get the spotlight -- a little show-and-tell to get people talking and thinking about cards beyond "What's it worth?"
Sometimes I picked cards for fun, sometimes I chased 10s, but other times I slabbed with some longer-term "investment" thought -- and I don't even do that often. (My go-to is to simply slab stuff that I like.) The card you see up top? You can firmly place it in the red-hot fun file. The card at right? You can put it in the long-term keeper stack along with the guy below him, who had plenty of appearances in the series this year.
As one of a couple of 2019 retrospective posts I have planned -- they're at least on my to-do list at least until other work pops up -- here's a look at the series where I talked about 158 new slabs this past year. You can see them all at the links below.
January -- Making the Grade: Patrick Mahomes, The Mick, Tommy Chong, Whitney Houston, botched cardboard & more
February -- Making the Grade: Patrick Mahomes, Bo Knows, Wendy Peffercorn, Tom Brady, Super Bowl stars & more
March -- Making the Grade: Young MVPs, iconic Hall of Famers, Silent Bob, March Madness, a Future Superstar & more
April -- Making the Grade: Vince McMahon, Steve Austin and WrestleMania icons plus Ronald Acuña Jr. & more MLB stars
May -- Making the Grade: Baker Mayfield, JLo's Rookie Card, Joe Cool, Nuke LaLoosh, Hailie Deegan & more past gems
June -- Making the Grade: The Dream Team, Ronald Acuña Jr., Bart Starr, Mike Trout, Deadpool, Kelly Hu's rookie & more
July -- Making the Grade: Aaron Judge, Jayson Tatum, Ric Flair, Michael Jordan, Ronald Acuña Jr., Billy Ripken's bad bat knob, Chrissy Teigen's Rookie Card, The Big Lebowski's ink & more
August -- Making the Grade: New Vladdy, Acuña, Rally Squirrel, Undertaker, Juggernaut, Michael Jordan, Paige, Kurt Cobain, The Bad News Bears' ace ... and Keith Comstock's beanballs?
September -- Making the Grade: Joe Namath's ink, Dak & Jerry Rookie Cards, Saquon Barkley, Lonzo Ball, 1990s NFL classics, high-grade vintage, The Four Horsewomen of NXT & more
October -- Making the Grade: Ronald Acuña Jr. heaters, Clerks, Ernie Davis, hot ink, Supergirl, Catwoman & real Nuke LaLoosh
November -- Making the Grade: Dak Prescott, Luka Doncic, Magic Johnson & John Cena rookies, Robert Mueller, the first perfect Keith Comstock, Meghan Markle's MLB card & more
December -- Making the Grade: Rare Shohei Ohtani, Star Wars, Pete Alonso, Tim Duncan, vintage, several WWE stars & more
--
Need even more? See previous months' Making The Grade posts by clicking here (scroll down)
--
Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

This entry was posted in Making the Grade and tagged Aaron Judge, BGS, Bo Jackson, Clerks, Joe Namath, John Cena, Kelly Hu, Michael Jordan, Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Nuke LaLoosh, Paige, PSA, Ric Flair, Star Wars, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Tom Brady, Undertaker, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bart Starr, Billy Ripken, Catwoman, Chrissy Teigen, Dak Prescott, Deadpool, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Montana, Kurt Cobain, Magic Johnson, Silent Bob, Supergirl, The Big Lebowski, Tim Duncan, Vince McMahon, Whitney Houston, X-men, Jayson Tatum, Jerry Jones, Lonzo Ball, Patrick Mahomes, Shohei Ohtani, The Bad News Bears, Tommy Chong, Meghan Markle, Baker Mayfield, Saquon Barkley, Wendy Peffercorn, Pete Alonso, Luka Doncic, Ronald Acuña Jr., Robert Mueller, Hailie Deegan, Ernie Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Keith Comstock, Making The Grade Year In Review on December 26, 2019 by BlowoutBuzz.

SEARCH BUZZ'S ARCHIVES

WHAT'S BUZZING ...

What's new? See all of our First Buzz previews by clicking above.

Making The Grade: What Buzz slabbed or grabbed each month is here.

Collecting Game-used: Buzz photo-matches and talks about memorabilia every month.

Buzz Buys: Buzz shows off new pick-ups and tells us why he likes them.

Book it, Buzz: Collect autographs on a budget? Check out this monthly series about autographed books.

MiLB Madness: A monthly look at oddities found in minor-league baseball card sets.

Buzz's Fantastic Four A new series looking at four interesting or must-own cards each time.

Ticket Stud or Ticket Dud? Collecting tickets on the cheap in this regular series.

NEW RELEASES

Baseball (all dates subject to change)
Oct. 1 - 2025 Panini Three & Two
Oct. 1 - 2025 TRISTAR H.T. Gr. Slam
Oct. 8 - 2025 Bowman Chrome Mega
Oct. 22 - 2025 Topps Diamond Icons
Oct. 22 - 2025 Topps Holiday
Oct. 23 - 2025 Pulse Series 2 Retail
Oct. 24 - 2025 Leaf Lumber
Oct. 30 - 2025 Onyx Vintage Extended
Oct. 31 - 2025 Leaf A Bronx Legacy
Oct. TBD - 2025 Leaf Vivid
Oct. TBD - 2025 Pulse All Star
Oct. TBD - 2025 Pulse DSE
Oct. TBD - 2025 Pulse Foundry
Oct. TBD - 2024 Pulse Lumin HSE
Oct. TBD - 2025 Pulse Stratos HHS
Oct. TBD - 2024 Wild Card 5 Card SD
Oct. TBD - 2024 Wild Card Splat

Basketball
Oct. 16 - 2025 Donruss WNBA
Oct. TBD - 2024-25 Prizm Black

Football
Oct. 1 - 2025 Leaf Vivid
Oct. 8 - 2025 Panini Black
Oct. 9 - 2024 Panini Flawless
Oct. 10 - 2025 Panini Certified
Oct. 10 - 2025 Donruss Hobby Tin
Oct. 10 - 2025 TRISTAR H.T. Minis PSE
Oct. 15 - 2025 Panini Impeccable
Oct. 16 - 2024 Panini Eminence
Oct. 17 - 2025 TRISTAR H.T. Jerseys 2
Oct. 22 - 2025 Panini Absolute
Oct. 23 - 2025 Pulse Retail 2
Oct. 24 - 2025 Panini Mosaic
Oct. 29 - 2025 Panini Phoenix
Oct. 31 - 2025 Panini Prizm Draft
Oct. TBD - 2025 Pulse Foundry HSE
Oct. TBD - 2025 Pulse Meridian HSE
Oct. TBD - 2025 Pulse Stratos HSE
Oct. TBD - 2024 TruMystery Chips
Oct. TBD - 2025 Wild Card Comix R&L
Oct. TBD - 2025 Wild Card Metallix PD

Hockey
Oct. 8 - 2024-25 Ultimate Collection
Oct. 15 - 2025-26 UD Series 1
Oct. 29 - 2024-25 UD Premier
Oct. TBD - 2024-25 Engrained Icons

Other/Multi-sports
Oct. 1 - 2025 Topps Triumphant Tennis
Oct. 3 - 2025 Leaf Metal Halloween
Oct. 3 - 2025 Panini Absolute K League
Oct. 3 - 2025 Panini Turn Four Racing
Oct. 3 - 2025 Wild Card Haunted Hits
Oct. 6 - 2025 Futera World Unique 21
Oct. 10 - 2025 Leaf History Book SE 2
Oct. 15 - 2025 S.B. Supercharged 2
Oct. 17 - 2024-25 Panini Noir Soccer
Oct. 17 - 2025 Topps UFC Knockout
Oct. 22 - 2025 Panini Impeccable LIV
Oct. 24 - 2025 Panini Prizm NASCAR
Oct. 29 - 2025 Panini Combat Anth.
Oct. TBD - 2025 AEW SP Game Used

Non-sports
Oct. 1 - Topps Chrome Spongebob
Oct. 9 - Keepsake Invincible S1P
Oct. 10 - Topps Chrome Dune
Oct. 15 - Historic Autos 15th
Oct. 15 - Historic Autos WWII
Oct. 15 - Topps Disney Wonder
Oct. 17 - Pieces of Past Royalty
Oct. 30 - Decision Color Cut SE
Oct. TBD - Keepsake Bob Marley
Oct. TBD - Pieces of Past Asia

Gaming
Oct. 10 - Pokemon ME Build & Battle
Oct. 10 - Pokemon Mega Latias EX
Oct. 10 - Pokemon S&R EX PC
Oct. 10 - Yugioh CD: Fallen & Virtuous
Oct. 24 - Pokemon Trainer's Tool Kit
Oct. 24 - Pokemon Gengar/Diancie
Oct. TBD - Pokemon S&V Pri. Ev. PFC

Click here for future dates.

MORE BUZZ-WORTHY ...