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

SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMANTE
The Card: Roki Sasaki 2025 Topps Series 2 Diamante -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: In my mind, this parallel that arrived for the Topps flagship sets last year is one of the most-dynamic options in an over-foiled lineup and this one made the cut for a grading sub after I found it in a hanger box. (These parallels are only in hanger boxes -- two at a time, every time.) The textures here can make cards look funky or even mangled to the naked eye on some corners or edges thanks to the texture and pattern, so your best bet for grading these (and other stuff, of course) is to make sure you have a loupe.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: Lone copy graded and only one slot on the scale ahead of it that could top it ... works for me. I need to scout these singles more -- that’s how much I like them -- and they are back this year.

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

Continue reading →

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

TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH ...
The Mag: Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce -- Mad No 36 (April 2024)
The Reason Graded: With the Grammys set for tonight (Feb. 1), I figured now would be the time to drop one here for the Swifties -- a magazine that I picked off long, long ago with absolute intent to grade but never got around to it until late last year. This duo sold a lot of magazines in the last couple of years but this one was one of few to present itself in a way that would fit in my collection of slabs -- it's one part sports (he's in uniform) and one part comics/satire, a category where I have a few slabs. These were popular -- so much so there was at least a second printing with a green logo -- but actually finding the long-running but off-and-on-title would be a challenge at arrival. Book stores/newsstands? Probably not. Comics shops? Maybe ... but probably not a big priority for many of them. The original Mad ran from 1952 to 2018 before DC Comics took over after a couple months off that year and it's largely been new covers wrapping mostly favorite reprinted stories from the past with occasional new content.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: These mags are super thin and the cover paper is, too. How skinny? The spines of new copies have texture all the way down from the folding -- I suspect they will be the huge problem spots if you find these un-graded with an eye for slabbing. Mine has that -- as do some 9.8s I looked at before slabbing -- so mine probably had one other small issue to kick it down a notch. That was a bummer -- and my latest mags submission didn't have a single 9.8 in it, which was odd -- but I was grading this no matter what as a time capsule kind of slab from the last few years.

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

Continue reading →

Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

--

BROADWAY JOE
The Item: Joe Namath autographed 16-by-20 Sports Illustrated "Broadway Joe" cover photo (BAS witnessed)
The Price: $249
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I don't normally include the actual price when I make a bigger buy, but in this case a sale price was too strong for a piece so nice ... so I am. Why? A typical price for an item like this is substantially higher than what I paid (around $400-600) and peak asking prices are sometimes even nuttier than the normal range. This was my big Black Friday buy and I landed it via Mill Creek Sports (this is their scan as I struggled to photograph mine thanks to size/glare on my top-loader) and one reason why I grabbed it (beyond the price) was that I liked this horizontal version of the photo and its autograph placement infinitely more than the vertical version. Atop that, it's also a piece where I had a chance to land one for just $150 long ago at The National but I didn't as I didn't have a way to safely get it home. This is the iconic photo that led to the nickname for the eventual Super Bowl winner and icon who helped change the game forever. He turns 83 this year, too, and I don't think demand will lessen over time.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but NFL cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

What: 2025 Leaf Red Carpet Collection
Arrives: January 2026
Box basics: 15 signed cards and three cut autos or autographed memorabilia redemptions per box
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf takes its Hollywood releases ultra high-end "invitation-only release" with a limited-run, big-box approach that meshes autographed cards in some volume along with memorabilia all in one spot.

Keep reading for more details and a teaser gallery for this one.

Continue reading →

Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

--

GOING FOR THE GOLD
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2022 Panini Select WWE Gold Wave Prizm (/10)
The Price: Around the price of a blaster box at arrival
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This brand is my favorite of the Panini years for WWE, and in the case of this star who I collect I have seemed to found her rarities on the affordable side at times with this release. This is a perfect example of that with it being one of the rarest parallels in there but it cost me not much more than the price of a retail box. It was arguably underpriced, so I grabbed it quickly when I spotted it. Will I grade it? It's a possibility, though this release's centering issues can create some surprises (that aren't totally surprises) as I found out with a different parallel of this card. Poke around in Making The Grade last month for an example.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

What: 2025 Super Break Supercharged Series 2
Arrives: Oct. 15
Box basics: At least three items per box (three boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Super Break offers up a second helping of its new memorabilia blind-box product this year with a mix of some of the biggest names in the game from the sports realm and even more from pop culture possible among the finds.

Continue reading →

Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

--

PARALLEL POWER?
The Card: National League Wins Leaders (Spencer Strider, Zac Gallen, Justin Steele) 2024 Topps True Photo variant & Gold Foil parallel
The Price: About $11 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The concept of this one is simple and it's striking -- knock off the border of a base card completely, using just its photo -- and I think it works. But there's also one thing here that's striking -- and not in the best way. These are arguably too rare to make that big of an impact with me and I think perhaps other collectors who might not bother to grab their players or even think about a team set or full set. How rare? They are one in 677 hobby packs and I'm confident they'd be more popular if people could reasonably collect a team run or set. Why? Because they're something dramatically different and you can compare the regular card and this version side by side. I also grabbed a Gold Foil parallel for this one this time after I bit on the variant ... just to say I had one. Even paying $10 for this was a stretch for me ... and those odds and that price might say that these aren't as popular as they could/should be. These are one in basically every third hobby case.
Grab a box right here: MLB cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

What's Buzzing: Collectors react to the Hulk Hogan news, The National nears, sketch cards, Tom Brady Rookie Cards, Ozzy Osbourne and more in today's edition.

-

1 -- Hulk Hogan dies at 71

2 -- The National nears

3 -- They had been talking Tom Brady Rookie Cards, but ... 

4 -- Talking sketch cards

5 -- Collectors react to the death of heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne

6 -- Reactions to an alleged autograph forgery ring

--

Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

Ozzy Osbourne's first certified auto was a redemption in his TV show's Inkworks card set.

What's Buzzing: Collectors react to the Ozzy Osbourne news, The National nears, talking Ichiro Suzuki cards and more.

-

1 -- Collectors react to the death of heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne

2 -- The National nears

3 -- Talking Ichiro Suzuki cards

4 -- Pondering a David Wright purchase

5 -- The future of sticker autographs?

6 -- Reactions to an alleged autograph forgery ring

--

Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.

Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.

What: 2025 Leaf Metal Pop Century trading cards
Arrives: May 2025
Box basics: Four autographed cards and two 1/1 proofs or printing plates per box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf's annual celebrity release returns once again with some big names in store and a little more to be found in every box.

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

Continue reading →

What: 2025 Wild Card Decades "One" trading cards
Arrived: Jan. 17, 2025
Box basics: One encased 1/1 autographed card and four other  1/1 encased cards per box (20 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Wild Card offers up its first official Decades release after a preview set last year -- but this time it ups the ante with a 1/1 card in every pack and a 1/1 autograph card in every box.

Keep reading for more info and a gallery of images.

Continue reading →

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 ...

LEGENDARY INK
The Card: Undertaker 2022 Panini Revolution WWE Sunburst Autographs (/99)
The Reason Graded: This cost me less than what two boxes would have when I bought it raw -- and then I submitted it to grade after seeing that some typical problem spots for cards from this brand weren't really issues. (In my view, the back corners and edges can be funky for both years.) Why grab this? Undertaker was not a regular signer for a long time and even when has signed cards in recent years he's been more limited since his signing fees are always high -- seemingly far higher than others -- based on public signing prices. I have his ink on a few items sold direct from WWE in the past, but I hadn't rally bothered with anything for cards and figured this could make for a nice slab -- even with sticker ink -- as the photo is as iconic as it gets for a legendary character in WWE history. This would be a perfect kind of auto card if it had an on-card sig ... and it's still not far off as it is with that photo. It's also a perhaps-overlooked brand in the Panini WWE portfolio.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: A nine I'm fine with -- so no worries here -- but anything less than that I would have been kind of mad at myself for trying it. Why? Generally, I don't like pricey surprises with grading, so I don't slab as much ink as I should as I own plenty of them raw. I need to do more slabs like this, but a miss on cheaper, oddball cards that are interesting aren't as risky in my book.

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

Continue reading →

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 ...

--

MY LAST FROM THE PROJECT ... 
The Card: Mickey Mantle 2021 Topps Project70 by Alex Pardee (/12,112)
The Price: $19.99 via Topps
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This artist captured most of the big-print-run attention in the second Project and this card that mashed his monster vibes with Mantle's 1952 Topps card and then 1981 Topps was the last one to get my attention and a buy last year. (Or was it this year?) Anyway, this one recently arrived in my mailbox and since this year's Project100 has arrived with a totally different approach and a number of changes -- not all good ones in my view -- I figured I'd drop this here. The print run of this won't be touched this year -- they're capped at less than half of that for 2022 -- but I suspect I'll be keeping an eye on the offerings. You should keep an eye on the past cards now if you passed before ... and keep an eye open on the new ones, too. You never know where the collecting winds and tastes might spark interest. Some monsters could be waiting.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... click here for MLB boxes

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

What: 2017 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands trading cards
Arrives: Oct. 18
Box basics: One hit per Hobby Collector box (eight boxes per case)

What's buzz-worthy: This batch of Garbage Pail Kids will rock when it arrives packing parody takes on stars of the music world as well as remakes of iconic album covers.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

Continue reading →

The music world lost another of its memorable stars on Sunday as George Michael died at age 53.

He sold more than 100 million albums during his career as a solo artist and as half of the band Wham!, which arrived with the first of its three Platinum albums in 1983. His debut solo album, Faith, has sold more than 25 million copies since 1987.

But when it comes to cardboard? Well, collectors really only have two places to look.

Continue reading →

A collection of postcards, lyrics, notes and more from the early days of legendary and pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath will be hitting the auction block late next month via a Sheffield-based auction house in the United Kingdom.

Among the pieces going up for sale are hand-written postcards from Ozzy Osbourne to his parents, which are signed with his legal name, John, as well as lyrics, posters and flyers from when the band was briefly known as "Earth" and then after it adopted its name inspired by a Boris Karloff film.

Continue reading →