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 packs: 1994 Pacific Saved By The Bell: The College Years (two packs)
Where to buy: Will take some hunting ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer non-sports cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery for 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 packs: 2004 Pacific Garfield Collection
Where to buy: Will take some hunting ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer non-sports cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery for 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: 2022 Panini Zenith football cards (value)
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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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: Don West, a unique sticker auto, bowl game, new pulls and a Prizm NASCAR box to be seen.

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What: 2022 Panini Zenith football cards
Arrives: Feb. 1
Box basics: One rookie patch auto and one other auto per six-card box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Zenith is back for another season on the gridiron with some early Pacific football nods in the mix as part of a one-pack box.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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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 ... and it's one of my biggest groupings ever.

RARER THAN RARE ...
The Book: Batman No. 457 -- second-print newsstand edition
The Reason Graded: This one is why you grade. Why? Well this book is more than obscure ... it's obscure on top of obscure with a pop report that shows that in a couple ways. I had this sitting in a junk box of books -- comics bagged in bulk with others taped shut in between a couple boards -- since the late 1990s with it having absolutely no thought in my mind for that time. When I opened up the bag, though, I remembered its cool cover -- that's why I saved it -- and in the here and now it's an example of how the grading world has changed a lot of stuff. It wasn't popular back in the day and that makes it more valuable (potentially) now. What is it? It's a second printing of a newsstand copy for an issue that had the debut of a key character, Tim Drake as Robin. The regular edition of this book has been graded almost 1,400 times -- actually still a modest number for the era -- but a newsstand copy is something else. And a second-printed newsstand copy? Nobody wanted that. How many could have even been made and how many went unsold or were trashed? There's some mystery there as with a lot of things but the pop report talks.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: Just four copies of the 78 graded have checked in at my mark -- not bad considering I got this in some Sears catalog mystery box with like 25 comics for $10 back in the early 1990s. It wasn't a really impressive buy at all at that time -- a lot of stuff that just wasn't appealing or was later printings and I'm betting some of them were pitched or given away. Nobody wanted that then. But now? The numbers game and speculation has people on eBay sellers challenging the market. A 9.6 -- with twice as many copies as this one in existence -- has an eBay asking price of ... well just see it for yourself. It's not alone, either, as a 8.5 checks in with an asking of $3,800, an 8.0 checks in at $3,500 and a 6.5 is $1,499. Other versions (first print direct and newsstand) are cheaper along with direct second prints as they've all got far higher pop reports. People like the easier versions a lot -- eBay highs as much as $255 but not for this one -- and who knows where the other three 9.8s might even be? What might mine command? I'm not sure ... but I know this is pretty solid potential for something that was pocket change from years ago. Again, this is why you grade.

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

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Fast Five is a quick list that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection or new focus -- five things that could be fun for a beginner or a new way to add something to your stash if you're a grizzled veteran.

This time? Five strategies to find bargains in today's hobby.

COLLECT LAST YEAR & PAST YEARS ...
Dabbling in the new stuff is fun, of course, but it can get pricey these days with an influx of new buyers with possibly deeper pockets than the typical collectors going all Galactus, gobbling up everything in the world out there in the retail wild and plenty elsewhere. Some are flippers, some are rippers ... but both are affecting the prices and volumes of boxes available -- and they don't necessarily make the results inside better. (That's still where luck can be in play.) But one way to fight with them if you're not a Silver Surfer might be to shop with recent past years in mind -- not just the newest rookies. Finding past-year bargains isn't as easy as it once was price-wise, either, but dabbling with boxes where others aren't can still have good results if you know what you're looking for and scout checklists and odds. The Dash Deals section and Bargain Breaks are two places where I'd look while keeping in mind the basic adage that should apply with cardboard ... buy low, sell high. This also leads into my second tip ...

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

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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 ...

A CAREER YEAR
The Card: Dansby Swanson 2017 Topps Heritage #76B action variation SP -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: I'm a sucker for Heritage RCs and multi-player cards from the past, but I've never really chased the SPs that have been immensely popular since around this year where a few key names went solo from their card counterparts and have cards of their own -- both signed and unsigned. I had Swanson stashed on my fantasy league all season (mostly on the bench behind a favorite of mine you see here often) and saw the career year as it was happening. I had been eyeing this card for years now -- I own plenty of the regular ones as well as a couple of the Chrome types (I might slab those) -- and grabbed this awhile back. With the Braves' World Series showing, I figured I'd have him batting lead-off here ... and he won't be alone from the ATL here this month.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I wasn't really worried about the pop report but I also didn't realize there were so few cards above this one. I will stash this one away with my Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr. slabs I've picked up or slabbed on my own the last couple years like I suspect many have and will be doing. I probably need to slab some of their pitchers and you might see a Freddie Freeman Heritage card or two here in the future. (I lean toward the new guys more but have had some good Heritage pulls.)

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: New pulls, favorite multi-player cards, Derrick Henry, Project70, Pacific and more.

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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: 2001 Pacific Private Stock baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... Check out Retro Rips boxes here

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

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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: 2021 Bowman Chrome 1st Edition on the way, graded cards, pondering value and more in today's links roundup.

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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 blasters 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. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around they're all cheap finds or something with a story.

--

LIVING AFFORDABLY ... 
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Topps Living Set (PSA 9)
The Price: $9.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Have you seen this guy's stats this week? That's why he's batting lead-off today -- he just keeps Living, err, hitting. This is the most-available Topps Living Set card at a record 46,809 made and that's one of the reasons why I was able to pick this up for less than what it would cost me to find one raw and get it graded. Nearly all of the nearly 4,000 copies of this card graded by PSA check in at this grade or a 10. There are 1,522 PSA 9s and 2,309 10s. I'm fine with nines as long as they appear relatively clean and to me the key on this card is that bottom-right black corner. It's good on this one but isn't on many others in this grade. Yes, the centering is off a tad here, but that corner would be much more jarring to me if it were nicked. This card looked very good to me, especially at its price.
Grab a box right here: You won't find these in packs ... so hit MLB boxes here for something different. 

Keep reading for five 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 ...

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He might be best-remembered as the curmudgeon father of Frasier Crane on NBC's Frasier, but decades in acting only led actor John Mahoney to appear in a number of memorable roles.

But only one led him to appear on baseball cards.

The actor died on Sunday at 77 after a brief health battle, years after he played William "Kid" Gleason, the manager of the 1919 Chicago White Sox in Eight Men Out. 

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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 five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Tough pulls that shouldn't be, mysterious promos, cool finds, chasing non-sports characters and biggest collecting mistakes.

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