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 ...

No. 1 GOES FIRST HERE, TOO ...
The Card: Bryce Young 2021 Onyx Vintage College Football Autographs
The Reason Graded: I collect Alabama guys but on the cheap so when a top talent arrives on NFL cardboard odds are I already found them ... if they had stuff. Generally, I try to have auto of all new big names and in the most-recent years thanks to NIL deals where active players can sign autograph deals that's been easier to do -- for both big names and guys who won't be top picks. In the case of this new Carolina Panthers QB, I pulled this one -- something I also did with Tua Tagovailoa -- so I don't have to chase new stuff after he was taken No. 1 in this year's NFL Draft. (But I will if I somehow find bargains.) This one is nice as it's on-card, has a clean retro design (I like that) and has a design/photo that doesn't showcase the fact that there are a couple small missing logos here that would come with full licensing. Atop that, his autograph on this card -- and the card itself -- is super clean and many of his autos are absolutely not clean in recent years. (In fact, I'd say that his auto is bad way more often than it's good ... and it's not that good visually to start with.) When I saw this one, I knew I needed to slab it for those reasons.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: I was a little worried about the surface here as the retro stock is definitely no-frills -- it doesn't even have a light gloss -- but it checked in with a grade I don't mind. I was happy with this and you'll probably see more of Young here in this series -- or at least Buzz Buys -- more once new NFL stuff starts popping up and the college colors fade away for some. Those colors won't fade away for me -- I like them a lot more than anything Carolina -- and he's always going to be the first Heisman-winning Alabama QB.

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: More 2023 Bowman, NFL Draft chatter, talkin' baseball, new breaks, soccer cards and newsstand comics.

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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: NFL Draft chatter, even more NFL & MLB talk, 2023 Bowman, Kobe Bryant autos and more.

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What: 2023 Wild Card Draft Alumination football cards
Arrives: May 26
Box basics: Six encased autos per six-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Wild Card revamps this line into an autograph-only release where the packs inside the box indicate scarcity and only an elite group of players appears on rarer insert autographs worked into the mix.

Keep reading for more info and a gallery of images.

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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: Ripping 2023 Bowman, awaiting the NFL Draft, sketch cards, NBA talk, grading chatter & 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: 2023 Bowman breaks, 2023 Bowman chatter, new pulls, the NFL Draft and more.

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What: 2023 Leaf Signature Series football cards
Arrives: June 30
Box basics:  One 1/1 autograph per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf Signature Series returns to the gridiron once again with just one 1/1 autographed card per pack and a mix that includes past, present and potential future stars all together in the same spot.

Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images released so far.

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What: 2023 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Mini Helmets Platinum Edition
Arrives: June 7
Box basics: One autographed mini helmet per box (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: A new batch of Hidden Treasures autographed minis arrives soon from TRISTAR with every box including either a Hall of Famer or an active player -- and this time there are also more guarantees in every case.

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The No. 1 pick in last night's WNBA Draft -- and Bowman U cards are on the way.

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: WNBA Draft and general basketball chatter, potential YouTube shenanigans, new MLB and NASCAR pulls, collecting Pistol Pete and "the thread for rational and educated analysis concerning quarterback Will Levis."

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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: New breaks, pondering the NBA's MVP, new Prizm WWE, NFL Draft chatter and more.

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What: 2023 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Game Day Greats Football Jerseys
Arrives: May 10
Box basics: One autographed football jersey per box (five boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures brand arrives for a new year of football with its familiar format with some all-time greats as well as some new stars included.

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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: World Baseball Classic chatter, MLB and NFL breaks, Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe, UFC ... and "whose career will the Panthers ruin?"

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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 box: 2022 Bowman Chrome University football cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here

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

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What: 2023 SAGE Football High Series football cards
Arrives: April 28
Box basics: 16 autographs per 16-pack hobby box (16 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: SAGE's second wave of NFL Draft hopefuls on cardboard for 2023 arrives with an autograph in every pack and a lineup that includes some established stars, current NIL guys and more while keeping with some of the formula of recent years.

Keep reading for more info.

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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 box: 2022 Pro Set Draft Football (blaster)
Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: It's a retail release ... BlowoutCards.com for more Pro Set football

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of images.

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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: 2021 Onyx Vintage College Football cards
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

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

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What: 2022 Leaf Exotic Football cards
Arrives: Feb. 24
Box basics: Three autographed cards per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf goes wild with an ink-only product limited to only 537 cases for its football debut and every card is limited to no more than 10 copies.

Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images.

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The luck of the draw still comes into play with the new Wild Card release -- but every box has a sure shot at rare stuff.

In fact, every pack of the newly released 2022 Wild Card Five Card Draw football cards has a rarer autograph inside and every box includes a pack with a 1/1 auto in it, giving you a surer shot at rarities for guys who are already competing on the biggest stage.

Thanks to an early batch of promo boxes sold to collectors in advance of this new arrival (live today at link above), there are also some strong sales of cards to see already. The leader in the eBay Completed Sales Clubhouse -- so far -- is the Breece Hall 1/1 auto above that sold for $415 after 37 bids. It's not alone, either, with a dozen early sales over $100 and another 16 over $50 ... from boxes that include five hits and are opening with modest prices.

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With these Ticket Stud or Ticket Dud stories I'm turning just a tiny bit of that energy just a few degrees away from cards (we'll still have plenty of them here) for a different kind of cardboard. What am I doing? Simple ... this is an occasional dip into some random ticket lots -- a show and tell showing something small with a story.

This time? A college football throwback with a big name in the headlines.

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and tell me if you think it's a Ticket Stud or a Ticket Dud.

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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 box: 2022 Bowman University football cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here

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

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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 box: 2022 Bowman University football cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here

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

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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: 2021 Onyx Vintage College Football cards
First Buzz preview/checklist: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

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

Continue reading →

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 box: 2022 Panini Prestige NFL cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one along with a gallery of images.

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What: 2021 Pro Set Metal football cards
Arrives: Nov. 30
Box basics: Five autos per hobby box (12 per case) or nine autos and one 1/1 proof auto per jumbo box (eight per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Pro Set's Metal run continues with a new array of possibilities that still include nods to past designs but also new ones that are, in some cases LIT ... as in that's part of their name.

Keep reading for more details.

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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 box: 2022 Panini Chronicles Draft Picks football cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

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

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