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: 2018 Donruss Optic baseball cards (Mega Box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 4
Cards per box: 40
Set completion: 
10 of 100 (10 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Cal Ripken Jr., Joey Votto, Eddie Mathews, Josh Donaldson, Justin Turner, Jose Ramirez, Marcus Stroman, Salvador Perez, Michael Conforto, Gerrit Cole

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Panini America's National Sports Collectors Convention experience includes plenty of ripped wax -- if you want to partake of course -- and that begins within the first hour of Day 1 at the show beginning Wednesday in Cleveland.

It's via Box Wars and there are 31 battles scheduled for the show.

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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: National wrapper redemption basics and other discussions, a funky Trout and other big pulls.

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NASCAR fans at this year's National Sports Collectors Convention have a reason to dig into new boxes of 2018 Panini Certified racing cards at the show.

Panini America revealed on Sunday that it has readied a special National racing promo pack that they'll get for each box of Certified they open at the company's booth during the show that's set for Aug. 1-5 in Cleveland.

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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: 2018 Donruss Optic baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 6
Cards per pack: 4
Cards per box: 24
Set completion: 
11 of 100 (11 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Corey Seager, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Zack Cozart, Ryan Braun, Kenley Jansen, Chris Archer, Matt Carpenter, Jonathan Gray, Adam Jones, Brian Dozier

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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: 2018 Championship Collection Shohei Ohtani baseball repack (MJ Holding)
Where to buy: Walmart ($19.99)

Packs per box: 15 (five packs are bonus items) plus one Leaf Shohei Ohtani card
Cards per pack: Varies by brand

Notables on base cards – See gallery for key pulls (three hits this time)

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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: Dominating pulls, showing off 1990s NFL cards, NSCC chatter and the "best box of my life."

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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: 2018 Donruss Optic baseball cards (Mega Box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 4
Cards per box: 40
Set completion: 
10 of 100 (10 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Nolan Ryan, Buster Posey, Frank Thomas, Reggie Jackson, Manuel Margot, Nolan Arenado, Freddie Freeman, Orlando Arcia, Adrian Beltre, Noah Syndergaard

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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: 2018 Panini Contenders Draft Picks football cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 42
Base set completion: 
35 of 100 (35 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables found on base cards – Shaun Alexander, Derrick Henry, John Hannah, Amari Cooper, Ozzie Newsome, Steve Spurrier, John Elway, Adrian Peterson, Randy Moss, Derek Carr, Mitchell Trubisky, Dak Prescott, Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders, Matt Ryan, Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow, Dick Butkus

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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: 2018 Donruss Elite NFL cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 4
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 20
Base set completion: 
12 of 100 (12 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Alvin Kamara, Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, DeAndre Hopkins, Jimmy Garoppolo, Amari Cooper, Clay Matthews, Kirk Cousins, Richard Sherman, Darius Slay, Keenan Allen, Jarvis Landry

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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 NHL show-off thread, Hulking Out Chrome cards, big pulls, NSCC 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 Today: NSCC chatter, pondering the best ink-less NFL Rookie Cards, an oddball MJ and big pulls.

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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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RARE AIR 
The Item: An uncut sheet of 1986-87 Fleer basketball cards
The Price: $709 after 24 bids (with just two days remaining)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've not heard of entire sheets being counterfeited but with the Michael Jordan Rookie Card (heavily faked) you never know ... but what we do know with this one is that it's not perfect but an uncut sheet with this card and this landmark set is impressive. The back of the sheet suffers from massive red ink staining so that's probably why the sheet wasn't cut and put into packs. What kind of other flaws might there be? It's not clear based on the auction images, but it generally looks pretty good on the front and it's the kind of cool impressive piece to frame and display for not only its Jordan presence but every other Hall of Famer Rookie Card that's on it. (It's not worth professional cutting with the back staining.) This one is dirt cheap right now but could go crazy before it ends.
Similar Pieces: More 1986-87 Fleer eBay auctions
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for NBA boxes

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

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If you have a long-standing redemption from Panini America, the company will let you trade it in at the National Sports Collectors Convention.

One of the company's priorities at the show running Aug. 1-5 in Cleveland is its "Live Redemption Trade-Up" that will allow those with redemptions more than four months old and still in the company's system to trade them in for something live at the show.

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Panini America's National Sports Collectors Convention wrapper redemption plans are starting to come into shape publicly with the first glimpses of the cardboard to come revealed today.

And the key color of everything so far is pink.

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Wrapper redemptions are a big focus for many show-goers and BlowoutCards.com will be there at the center of it all for collectors at this year's National Sports Collectors Convention. 

In fact, products from all manufacturers that are part of this year's wrapper redemptions will be a heavy focus for the lineup at the Blowout booth for the show that's set for Aug. 1-5 at the IX Center in Cleveland.

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What: 2018 Panini XR football cards
Arrives: Sept. 19
Box basics: Two autos and one memorabilia card per two-pack box (15 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Panini XR's sophomore season will once again pack plenty of Rookie Cards, rookie autographs and rookie patch autos inside its boxes -- but that's not all in this colorful release.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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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. Eloy Jimenez, OF, White Sox — Triple-A Charlotte Knights
Season so far: Hitting .326 with 20 doubles, 15 homers, 52 RBI and 0 SBs in 73 games
Baseball America’s highlight line: "After an extended stint on the disabled list, the White Sox’s No. 1 prospect returned on July 15 and quickly kicked off the cobwebs. ... He’s already socked half as many home runs (five) in 20 games with Charlotte as he did in 52 with Double-A Birmingham."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 730
First Chrome auto: 2017 Bowman
One auto to consider: 2013 Leaf Metal Draft
Buzz’s card take: If you don't know his name, it's too late to get in on the cheap as he was ranked as the No. 4 prospect entering this season by Baseball America and MLB.com. He was a key in the Jose Quintana trade and that means his present cards will show him in White Sox colors instead of Cubbie Blue as his first Chrome auto does. As long as all goes well health-wise, you should see him in the majors soon. In five MiLB seasons he's hit .306 with 58 homers and 258 RBI in 373 games.

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

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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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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: Nothing but NSCC discussions and some huge pulls in today's edition.

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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.

--

THE ORIGINAL HOME RUN DERBY
The Item: 1959 Home Run Derby Mark Scott card PSA 4
The Price: $400 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This week's MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is a spectacle and one of the highlights of the season since it began back in 1985. But, 59 years ago this fall, there was a different Home Run Derby -- a television series that took us to an empty ballpark and showcased a number of Hall of Famers in one-on-one battles. The show's 26 episodes were filmed in the offseason of 1959 and they first aired in 1960 with Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Matthews, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Duke Snider among the 19 stars who battled it out. The show's producer and host was Mark Scott and all of them appeared on this oversized promotional card set that was produced in 1959 and released with the show. They measure 3 1/8 by 5 1/4 inches and they have all -- except for Scott -- been reprinted in the past. (Graded is a safer buy if you're paying big money here, while the reprints are fun and affordable.) Scott died in the summer of 1960 of a heart attack at age 45 and the production company canceled future episodes the show. Is this card particularly valuable? I'm not sure, but this copy -- not a high-grade one -- is the only Scott card on eBay. Oddly, I think I'd want the host card first -- you can watch episodes on YouTube as well as on DVD if you're curious about these.
Similar Pieces: Other 1959 Home Run Derby cards on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for MLB cards 

Keep reading for four 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: Busting 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter and 2018 Donruss Optic, NSCC chatter 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: 2018 Donruss baseball cards (hanger box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 1
Cards per pack: 60
Set completion: 
42 of 270 (16 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – The San Diego Chicken, Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew Benintendi, Bryce Harper, Nolan Ryan, Jose Altuve, Trea Turner, George Brett, Max Scherzer, Josh Donaldson, Aaron Judge, Dave Winfield, Joey Votto, George Brett, Wade Boggs, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Jim Palmer

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The Futures Game indicates things might be bright for the Cincinnati Reds in the future.

With the bat it was 20-year-old outfielder Taylor Trammell who took home MVP honors Sunday after a day that included a home run and a triple in his two at-bats, while last year's No. 2 overall draft pick Hunter Greene scorched from the mound with his first seven pitches of the All-Star event topping 101 mph and one hit 103.

Trammell, who ranked 48th on Baseball America's Top 100 entering this season, is hitting .295 with six homers and 29 RBI in 78 games this season for the Advanced-A Daytona Tortugas, while the 18-year-old Greene was 29th on that list but has a prominent spot with collectors appearing on boxes of Bowman products. He's 3-7 with a 4.69 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 63 innings this season for the Class-A Dayton Dragons.

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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: 2013 Panini America USA Baseball boxed set
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 1 (set and inserts/hits)
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 93
Base set completion: 
63 of 63 (100 percent)

Notables on base cards – Alex Bregman, Matt Chapman, Michael Conforto, Carlos Rodon, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bradley Zimmer, Mickey Moniak, Andrew Vaughn (and plenty of other MiLB prospects and young MLB stars)

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