Update: This card set a new Topps Now record with 51,512 copies sold -- more than doubling the previous high.

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It wasn't a strike, but you wouldn't know it from his baseball card.

Dr. Anthony Fauci's ceremonial first pitch before the Washington Nationals-New York Yankees game on Thursday night now appears on a baseball card that will only initially be available for 24 hours on Topps.com.

It's part of the Topps Now series of baseball cards, which are real-time cards made to order once their one-day sales window closes. It's a set will cover the entire season and postseason in real time for the fifth year in a row.

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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 ... and this time around it's all baseball with some new oddball pick-ups as well as some oldschool stuff.

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A BIGGER DEAL (AGAIN)
The Card: Jasson Dominguez 2020 Bowman Bowman Scouts Top 100 wall art (/99)
The Price: $17.50 (after promotional discount)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is not déjà vu all over again as Yogi Berra once said, but this oddly Yankees heavy edition (since I don't really collect them) has perhaps the most-hyped young prospect in the game today batting lead-off just like last time when I presented his standard card here. As I said then, this guy's iconic card this year has eluded me beyond a couple of standard Bowman cards I pulled in blasters -- all I really wanted was a clean grading-worthy Chrome, but no -- so I opted for a limited version of a card that's a big deal this year but in bigger form as Topps wall art. This is an 11-by-13 version of the card that Topps sells on its site for $24.99 (only the base card is sold out, not the three inserts) with a 30 percent discount if you buy three posters of any kind. Will Dominguez pay off for the many chasing him? We'll find out eventually but this one fits into my stash pretty well no matter what as I try to pick off Rookie Cards as wall art.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of these ... but 2020 Bowman can be yours in a few forms here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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Update: The above card sold for $1.84 million when the auction ended -- the buyer being a direct-mail company's CEO.

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The action is picking up as the clock is winding down for the finale tonight at Goldin Auctions with this 2003-04 Exquisite Collection LeBron James card already topping the $1-million mark with its premium.

There's about nine hours to go before the auction might end with more bids beyond the current 24, but even the current mark would make it the most-expensive basketball card ever sold as well as the priciest modern card in any sport, topping past $900,000-plus sales of key Mike Trout autos via Goldin.

The Runnemede, N.J.-based auction house has a number of other big-ticket memorabilia pieces and interesting items in its current auction. (Don't believe me? Hit that link and look at the first six items -- they're huge and don't make my list this time.)

Keep reading for a deeper look at a few more items ending tonight.

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This zoomed-in crop of a publicly available Getty Images preview photo taken by Lisa Blumenfeld shows four spots of wear that can all be seen on this Nick Swisher game-used SSK bat from 2012 that Buzz owns today.

Most of the time, your safest way to pick up a piece of game-used memorabilia from Major League Baseball action is to look for the sticker.

You know, the MLB Authentication sticker that has a code to tell you exactly when and where an item was used -- an ironclad way to know something is legit as it's stickered immediately after an item is pulled from play. But there are limitations to collecting game-used memorabilia.

Not every item that gets used gets a sticker -- and that's where you can find gems.

If you can take that risk and do the research, you can find an item that's better than stickered -- you can find pieces if you know how to photo-match. Not every item can be matched every time for sure, but that's part of the fun of collecting -- the hunt for the items and the hunt for images to show that they are, indeed, 110-percent legit.

You can keep reading to see the details this time.

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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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THE BASIC BIG ONE
The Item: Zion Williamson 2019-20 Panini National Treasures NBA Rookie Patch Autograph (/99)
The Price: $76,700 after 128 bids (two days remaining)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was the first NT Zion Williamson card to hit eBay from this premium brand and it's one that's, believe it or not, not even the priciest card to hit the auction site. Hit that link below to see the rarer six-figure version of a Williamson card already up for grabs ... the first of many to come from this release. Is there hype here? Yep. Is there the money being paid for cards like this? Yep. Is there risk? Yep. Is there big-reward potential if he dominates the NBA for years? Yep. The boxes aren't cheap but the potential for life-changing cards is real ... in case you missed this here it is again. There are a lot more than 99 people out there around the world who would want this card and the price is in part a reflection of that. How it ends will be interesting to watch -- and I also wonder if the bidding would be helped by a better-looking photo (I had to clean things up to present it here) but that's probably a topic for a different time.
Similar Pieces: Zion Williamson National Treasures cards on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019-20 Panini National Treasures NBA boxes and cases

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

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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: An insane box of 2020 Bowman 1st Edition, new pulls, 2020 Bowman delays and Project 2020 cases causing all kinds of apparent angst.

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This one is a quick idea for a new department here on The Buzz ... Fast Five -- a quick list under a simple topic that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection. It's a basic list of five items that could be fun for a starting collector or a new way to add to a stash that might already seemingly include everything when it comes to cardboard. For some of you, it's probably common sense. For others of you out there, it's something to think about.

This time? Young MLB stars I'd be eyeing on cardboard right now (some obvious choices).

THE NEXT BIG THING ...
New York Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez makes his MLB cardboard debut in 2020 Bowman 1st Edition which will be followed up by the standard 2020 Bowman release soon. The 17-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic is getting a boatload of attention here -- and the prices on his base cards in this debut release are nutty (for a base card) but justified (given the type of release), so I present a strategy. If you're going to chase him, get one of his parallels instead -- preferably a numbered version. Yes, it will cost you more but it might be a safer long-term hold since they will be rarer than the standard card. If he delivers big, it won't matter -- all will be in demand -- but the numbered stuff will be safer either way. Also a thought? If you can't go there on this one, consider he's got stuff in 2019 Panini Prizm Draft Picks and 2019 Elite Extra Edition -- including autographs -- as well as 2019 Leaf Metal Draft.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

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With plenty of chatter about what an MLB season might (or might not) consist of this year -- and nothing yet firm -- it seems like many of the typical traditions and events that we're used to are potentially going out the window.

That's not necessarily a bad thing in some ways -- it will allow MLB to do some dramatic tinkering and some of those it might have wanted to try but couldn't pull it off for a myriad of reasons. But one thing that might not be possible or may have to wait until after the regular season ends is the All-Star Game.

The series of events that are all tied to that event include the prospector must-see Futures Game, an always forgettable (yet oddly watchable) All-Star Celebrity Softball Game and the gem of them all if you ask me ... the Home Run Derby.

And that leads to this month's item, which I was intending to hold until July, but, well, ... you know (cue the Cardi B wail) "Coronavirus!"

Keep reading to see this month's item ...

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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: "Is Jasson Dominguez baseball's Zion?" and plenty more to be found in today's edition.

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The 2020 Topps Now Derek Jeter Career Retrospective baseball cards are here.

Topps' new monthly program is a little different than the standard Topps Now cardboard we would be having with an MLB season right now. These cards, which will be printed to order after a month-long window are $22.22 apiece but printed on 24-point Chrome stock with parallels also potentially found in place of a standard card in your order direct from Topps.

Jeter's moments begin at the end with the Yankees retiring his number in 2017 for card No. 1. Each card will include Jeter's thoughts on the back as well.

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Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's list: Six sports experiences up for auction in the All-In Challenge that got Buzz's attention.

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THE NFL'S GOAT STEALS THE SHOW
The Experience: Tom Brady's first Tampa Bay Bucs game-used jersey, cleats & more
The Price: $140,000 (so far ... after six bids)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The winner of this one gets the choice of a private workout or a private dinner with Brady following his home debut with the Bucs (whenever that happens) -- and the winner gets Brady's first game-used jersey as well as his cleats as part of this auction in the All-In Challenge, which also has a number of other experiences up for grabs via raffle ticket formats. Brady's first Bucs jersey is a huge deal if you ask me ... but there are other actions also worth a look.

For simplicity, this list is limited to a few from the 66 auctions and it's focused on the sports world -- there are far more other things out there, including film roles, golf outings with athletes and celebs, the chance to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and even the chance to be an NBA Draft pick -- all of those via tickets starting as low as $10. More than $8.1 million has been raised so far.

Keep reading for five more auctions that caught my eye ...

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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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ZION! ZION! ZION!
The Item: Kobe Bryant & Zion Williamson 2019-20 NBA Hoops Art Signatures dual-auto (BGS 9.5/10)
The Price: $99,999.99 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is an interesting one in that, unless there was some other seriously advanced-planning signing sessions last year, it will absolutely never happen again making it an even more amazing (and somber) creation. This is one of the rarest inclusions in hobby boxes of 2019-20 NBA Hoops with on-card autographs of the future Hall of Famer gone too soon and the rookie who has dominated the league so far this year. Williamson just recently posted a career-high scoring night -- and more are likely on the way as he is putting up a more-than-respectable scoring streak. Any and all Zion ink will be in demand more than ever -- and this one might hold up as one of the the biggest autos of them all no matter what one-of-a-kind high-end stuff might be coming. This came out of a super-affordable flagship-style Hoops pack and it's a classic. I don't see it getting that BIN price, but I could see some big, big offers. Right now it's the highest of just two copies graded ... and we have no idea how many more might even have been signed.
Similar Pieces: Zion Williamson autographs on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for 2019-20 NBA Hoops hobby boxes

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

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What: 2020 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures New York Dynasty autographed baseballs
Arrives: March 18
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase brand once again takes a New York turn with a release that's about the Yankees wth a chase that includes more than just standard signed baseballs.

Keep reading for more and a gallery of what's in this one.

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The borders are back with 2020 Bowman -- and some of the biggest possible prospects are signing on, too, to make this upcoming release arguably one of the hottest pre-orders of the year already.

Yesterday's big, big behind-the-scenes reveal? New York Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez, an international signee who will turn 17 next week and play his first season as a pro this summer, signed for 2020 Bowman with this image released by Topps. (Update: It has since confirmed it's absolutely 2020 Bowman.) He enters the minor-league ranks at No. 38 overall on Baseball America's annual Top 100 prospects list -- that's No. 1 among players in the Yankees' system. (The others are pitchers Clarke Schmidt and Deivi Garcia.)

The switch-hitting outfielder was called “a teenage Mike Trout” in this piece by MLB.com and he topped its Top 30 Prospects list there, too, after he signed a $5.1 million deal with the Yankees. (Read more on him here.)

He's also not along as for who's signed on for 2020 Bowman ...

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The Captain's call to the Hall is already captured on cardboard thanks to Topps Now. 

Derek Jeter's first Hall of Fame baseball cards were revealed by Topps via its real-time, printed-to-demand platform on Friday with a lineup of six autographed cards paralleling the standard version.

Autographs will last until they sell out -- and might be gone by the time you read this.

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Let's all act surprised when The Captain gets his Cooperstown call later today -- it will make things a lot more exciting than some who-got-snubbed or who-shockingly-got-in commentary. Those are too predictable.

Since I'm feeling a tad contrarian today, here's where I'll rattle off my take on Derek Jeter and his Rookie Cards and how the one I'd want right here, right now today is the one you see above, not some big-money, elite-graded slab.

The New York Yankees shortstop appears on more than 18,000 different cards but only eight of those -- just eight! -- are classified as Rookie Cards based on the traditional definitions. (Insert cards are not RCs. Autographs are not RCs. Even RC parallels are not RCs and so on.) And technically, the card you see above didn't arrive in the most-traditional of forms, either, as it came from the 1993 Topps Stadium Club Murphy set -- a boxed set limited to just an announced 128,000 copies which is inevitably lower than anything else -- that also does get dubbed a RC from back then.

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Derek Jeter's Hall of Fame status will not be a surprise when it's formally announced next week and it seems that this was almost a given if you read his original scouting report.

"MLB Shortstop. Blue Chip. A Yankee. A Five tool player will be a ML Star +5!!" it reads from back on April 8, 1992.

And it can be yours in the latest Goldin Auctions event with an opening bid of $50,000 -- and it's not even the biggest item up for grabs in the auction.

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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: The biggest eBay buys of 2019 (not just cards), Ronald Acuña Jr., David Stern, Don Larsen, Phil Hughes, Zion Williamson and a few big pulls to start the year.

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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: Gerrit Cole chooses the Yankees and big pulls from MLB and NBA breaks rule the day.

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer boxes this year 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 that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around there's a bit of everything but more on the affordable side.

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MONSTER YEAR, SIMPLE ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Derrick Henry 2016 Donruss Rookie Card (BGS 9.5)
The Price: $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I made this pick-up just before he started his recent run of big games mostly because it seemed underpriced for the grade, which is a solid quad 9.5. Interestingly, just 25 copies of this card have been slabbed and nothing has checked in below this mark. It makes me think you could pick off a factory set at a pretty cheap price if you want to dabble with grading key cards here -- and there are a few where you could do pretty well with some 9.5s or 10s. About that price ... one of the other 9.5s had an asking price of $40 on eBay when I looked. Sure, the action here is heavier on Optic, ink and rarer parallels, but simple RCs of affordable sets seem to be go-to cards for more and more people these days.
Grab a box right here: 2016 Donruss (several formats)

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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 ...

The Card: Dak Prescott 2016 Donruss #362 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: It takes a pretty good deal for one of my buys to lead off here instead of one of my newly submitted grades, but this one was just that. This is one of those cards that is relatively available if you want to chase one down and slab it for some fun or profit. My cost? About $22, which might seem high generally speaking but isn't for its grade -- this was about half the price of the other cards in the same grade where I was looking at the time. They are even higher now.
The Grade: BGS 10

Reality Check: This one is just a half-grade away from a perfect BGS Black slab and the percentage of cards to get this mark is pretty low vs. the overall total. That's what surprised me here more and prompted the pick-up. It's a relatively heavily graded card, too, which you'd think would have resulted in more 10s. (Paper stock can be more pesky than Optic stuff when it comes to grading, though.)

Keep reading for more of this month's big selection of 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: New case breaks, Astros vs. Yankees, Gerrit Cole, Rookie Cards needing logos and Patrick Mahomes in today's edition.

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Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Joey Bart, C, Giants — Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels
Baseball America’s highlight line: “The Giants’ top prospect put an exclamation point on his season with an extremely strong finish to his brief tenure at Double-A Richmond. He produced an .868 OPS in August, which included four of his 16 homers in his first full season as a pro. He might not have any 80-grade tools on his card, but Bart has a plethora of pluses that should lead him to become the Giants’ long-term answer at catcher."

CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 450
First Chrome auto: 2019 Bowman
One auto to consider: 2018 Elite Extra Edition
Buzz’s card take: He's a top name, so you should know him and he's got more than 200 autographs to choose from, too. There's some promise to those words from BA -- sounds like they are sold -- but the second pick in last year's draft has decent numbers to justify it. He's hit .284 with 29 homers and 88 RBI in 130 MiLB games the last two years. Good for a catcher but perhaps not for a big-money guy on cardboard. Replacing Buster Posey would come with expectations if he makes it, so I'd be prudent with my looking in terms of prices paid.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

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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 from around the sports world and ... is Gleyber Torres next?

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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 ...

The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Living Set #179 RC
The Reason Graded: While I own a few Topps Living Set cards the arrival of this second-generation MLB star in this weekly release sparked my first purchase from this popular brand that's clearly popular with flippers. I ponied up for 10 copies of the card --solely with potential grading in mind -- but didn't receive a single perfectly centered card in my batch, which was a bummer. After some grumbling, I picked out this one from the batch and sent it in.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It graded as well as I thought it could -- maybe better -- so I wasn't unhappy with the grade and it appears that I'm perhaps on the luckier side with just two 10s out there better than it via BGS ... for now. This is a card that will likely be graded more and more often so those won't last but but it appears that this one is arriving between 8.5 and 9.5 more often than not. I have a second one I'll submit to PSA at some point with my sights set on a 10 there. We'll see sometime later this year.

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