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: 2024 Leaf Metal Collective Football 1/1 Pre-Production Proofs (three)
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading for a full 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: 2024 Leaf Metal Collective Football 1/1 Pre-Production Proofs (two)
Where to buy: Click here

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

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

MY LONE AUTO ...
The Card: Aaron Judge 2015 Bowman Inception Prospect Autographs Gold (/50)
The Reason Graded: Back when I could open a lot of boxes, I'd actually also do some group breaks as well -- as long as they were sure things where an affordable spot would guarantee a hit or had a volume of actual hits inside (auto or mem cards) the case that was high enough to make the odds close to that. This is my lone Aaron Judge auto left from back in those days. I landed it in a spot somewhere around just $60 -- and I actually got two other Yankees autos in the break to make my cost for this particular card even lower. I only ever pulled one other Judge auto and I think I let it go in a trade long, long ago so this last one standing for me was always a candidate for grading -- and it finally made the cut with his monster year.
The Grade: CGC 8.5 (10 auto)

Reality Check: The thick stock here made this one feel like a safe pick and it is -- the front is perfect -- but the back corners also count and some light fuzzing there is likely what dropped this one down. Otherwise, it definitely presents as a crisp card and a perfect card on the front. I was aiming for a nine, so this mark was a slight bummer -- but it's still a big card. Mine is the only Gold graded by CGC and among the 12 graded in all colors nothing checks in higher than a nine.

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

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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: 2024 Leaf Metal Collective Football 1/1 Pre-Production Proofs (two)
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery for 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 pack: 2024 Leaf Metal Collective Football 1/1 Pre-Production Proofs 
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading for a full 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 lot: 1989 Pro Set Series 2 football cards (two packs)
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football 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 box: 2021 Pro Set Baseball cards
Checklist: Click here
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of images.

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What: 2025 Pro Set Metal football cards
Arrives: June 27
Box basics: Seven autos per 11-card hobby box (10 per case) or 10 autos per 10-card super box (eight per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Pro Set's Metal returns with a pair of box formats that are both heavy on autographs of past, present and future stars on a mix of past and new designs.

Keep reading for more details.

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What: 2024 Leaf Collective football cards
Arrives: March 2025
Box basics: Four autos and three base cards per hobby box (12 per case) or eight autos and six base cards per jumbo box (eight per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf meshes three brands into one line for just football this time with Press Pass, Leaf Metal and Pro Set all leading the way.

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

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For years now, autographed books coming direct from the publishers -- or direct from the authors themselves -- have been an affordable way to collect ink from notable names in all realms of pop culture.

It's not a perfect system with stamped autos, fakes and autopens sometimes in the mix -- a problem for publishers to catch as they are not authenticators -- but thanks to dedicated collectors on the Blowout Cards Forum and elsewhere, those problems often get caught and fixed ... or at least become well-known enough to avoid if it's an issue that goes uncorrected.

Getting ink in-person is always best -- book tours still happen, of course -- but landing autographed editions from publishers, online sellers or celebs themselves via their websites or other appearances are common.

Our latest subject and autograph in this ongoing series? Global icon Gisele Bündchen ... without the international premium price.

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What: 2024 Leaf Collective Multi-sport trading cards
Arrives: Dec. 13
Box basics: Three autographs and two 1/1 base cards per hobby box (10 per hobby case); One autograph per Solo Edition  pack (30 packs and 10 1/1 base card packs per Solo case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf meshes its three brands into one for this new line with Press Pass, Leaf Metal and Pro Set all leading the way in a multi-sport release that's packed with only ink and 1/1 cards.

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

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What: 2024 Pro Set Pure football cards
Arrives: Nov. 29
Box basics: Four autos per seven-card box (12 boxes per case) or one or two autos per two-card Solo Plus pack (42 packs per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: The Pure brand hits the gridiron for another season with a pair of options for rippers but with both showcasing an array of young stars between the prep, college and newly drafted ranks in an all-acetate release.

Keep reading for more details.

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What: 2024 Pro Set Southern California Beach Volleyball cards
Arrives: June 28
Box basics: One autographed card and one set per pack
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Leaf has signed the four-time national champion University of Southern California women's beach volleyball squad to an NIL deal to produce a trading card set for everybody on the team and include ink in every pack, too.

Keep reading for more info 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 ...

MY FIRST WEM-BAM!-YAMA ...
The Card: Victor Wembanyama 2023-24 Panini Prizm Green Prizms -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: My first -- and actually only -- batch of Prizm NBA blasters included this gem and I knew instantly that it would be in a slab once I saw its centering and then no issues among the sometimes-pesky edges for Prizm and similar stock of the last few years. (Sometimes clean ... sometimes not.) In this case, I had this one in a box headed for grading even before I had its Buzz Break box broken down and posted here ... and it's a solid keeper for me vs. my Hoops finds that all had things that me scared off of slabbing them.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: That's pretty much the perfect scenario isn't it? Top grade for a retail blaster -- at suggested retail price even -- pull ... even if there's a curtain that seemed to lather up some people out there. This won't be the last you see of this generational talent in this series ... but this is it for this month's slabs.

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

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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 lot: 1989 Pro Set Series 1 football cards (33 packs)
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery for 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: 2024 Topps arrives, MLB breaks, Rob Manfred, Zay Flowers and more in this edition.

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What: 2023 Pro Set Pure football cards
Arrives: April 26, 2024
Box basics: Three autos per hobby box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: The Pure brand takes on a football focus with this release that will have every card autographed and showcase acetate stock on every card as well.

Keep reading for more details.

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What: 2023 Pro Set Metal football cards
Arrives: January 2024
Box basics: Six autos and four base/parallel cards per hobby box (10 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Pro Set's Metal run returns with "the top young college and pro talent on the gridiron" as well as "some of the greatest legends and superstars in the game" in a release that's still heavy on ink but also includes base cards this time around and a buyback auto in every box.

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 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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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 ... a mix of low-and and higher-end finds as well as some non-traditional things people might like to collect. 

--

MY HERITAGE SLEEPER SET ... 
The Card: Hank Aaron 2023 Topps Heritage Puzzles (announced /500)
The Price: $17.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This oversized box-topper set isn't huge at just 20 puzzles on the checklist but they don't drop all that often, either, from what I have seen -- one per case at most (and maybe not at all). It's one that I knew I liked immediately back when Heritage dropped with its lineup of mostly current names but also with some past stars all in one spot. What are they? Literal puzzles shrink-wrapped to a cardboard backer placed atop the packs in some boxes. A total of 13 active players (two rookies) are here along with seven Hall of Famers -- but some obvious names like Shohei Ohtani didn't make the cut ... so I suspect we'll see more in the second series later this year. I liked a few of the options in this one but waited for prices to dip and they really haven't as much as I had hoped they would. (Why? They're on the rarer side of things compared to a lot of stuff in this one.) This one presented itself on more of the affordable side more recently so I bit. These are just oldschool cool if you ask me -- something that feels a bit anti-2023 but also not totally part of a rigid Heritage formula that's been going for two decades plus now. I like surprises -- and this set felt like one.
Grab a box right here: 2023 Topps Heritage

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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.

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 lot: 1990 Pro Set Series 1 football cards (five packs)
Where to buy: Check junk bins ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery for 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 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.

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 ... a mix of recent finds and some from throughout last year.

--

LEADING OFF WITH A BARGAIN ... 
The Item: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. autographed 2019 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby 8-by-1o photo (Topps Authentics)
The Price: Around $80 (regularly $130)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This autograph is one I've never bothered with on cardboard mostly for how it typically looks (it's not the greatest sig) but also because the stock-pilers have stayed busy grabbing them up as he's one of MLB's better young hitters today and he's not cheap. I landed this with a sale combined with some discount certificates on one of the sites that Fanatics populates and went here since that price was strong and the image isn't bad -- it's from his dominating Derby showing where he didn't win but wowed many. This was cheaper than most if not all autos from where I typically buy most often ... and those were sticker autos. I'll probably go this route for ink of notables (or singles in some instances) vs. ripping to chase 'em with pack prices these days. Pro tip: Just because a box is old doesn't mean the autographs just vanish ... hunt him from 2016 prospect stuff forward and Rookie Cards/ink in 2019 forward.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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 lot: 1991 Pro Set Platinum Series 1 football cards (four packs)
Where to buy: Check junk bins ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football cards

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

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