Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

MJ's MOMENT
The Card: Michael Jordan 2008 Goudey Hit Parade of Champions
The Reason Graded: This moment turns 35 this year and this insert card is one that ... came out of a box of baseball cards. It's a throwback to a 1951 set with stars from a little bit of everywhere in this Goudey version. These cards are smaller -- allowing for them to bounce around inside the wrappers -- but the only even close to deterring issue for grading with this copy was an irregular spot in the card stock itself ... but you can't even see it in this image. This finally made it into a grading submission of mine last year because it's an iconic moment for one of biggest names in sports history. The moment? This was Jordan's first championship.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: Behold! The worst of the four graded. Doesn't matter to me ... I just like the card and nines are fine.

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

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

PRE-ROOKIE CARDBOARD
The Card: Bo Bichette 2019 Choice International League Top Prospects #2
The Buzz On This One: With Bowman and other prospecting brands giving players cards as early as possible -- and stuff like USA Baseball and Perfect Game getting us cards before guys are even pros -- pre-rookie MiLB cards like this don't have as much oomph as they used to (though they may not have ever been super-popular) ... but I still like them. This one comes from an All-Star-style set that includes many more other notables like Bichette here and they're actually among the easier sets to find most often as most teams in the leagues sell the sets ... so there are likely more of these made than your typical sets. Nonetheless, I like grabbing anything for notables in MiLB team sets as they're easily tougher (or at least less plentiful) than anything Bowman. That's why I have this one batting lead-off ... the rest of the stuff you'll see this time is on the oddball side of things.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards you can (almost) only find in MiLB.

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One of the hobby's best bargain buys and one of its most-underrated brands in terms of collectability arrives in shops today.

It's 2016 Topps Opening Day.

What can one expect to find in these wax boxes? Well, besides ink like the Kris Bryant above, you can see more in our gallery.

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