This month's Collecting Game-used item is really just a tip ... a reminder to watch out for postseason offers from teams that need to get rid of stuff that has piled up over the last year.

Fire-sale Season for MLB teams is all about stuff that's left over for them ... knowing that another season's worth of game-used items will be showing up before you know it -- and even they don't have unlimited amounts of space (or maybe patience) for used equipment to pile up.

The ball you see above? Yes, it's oddly pearl white -- clearly not prepped and rubbed-down for game use -- and it's got a shockingly neon green color on it, too. Meanwhile, green is something I didn't have to cough up to get this particular ball into my hands.

It was a freebie, a throw-in -- a batting practice home run ball -- with the purchase of a dozen game-used balls via Phillies Authentics. It's fully authenticated just like the baker's dozen of baseballs I grabbed for just $10 a ball. Shipped. And it wasn't even a mystery box situation, either -- I'm a sucker for those -- as I got to pick my dozen off a list.

The only mystery was whose name was attached to this one.

You can keep reading to see the details ...

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What: 2020 Topps Tier One baseball cards
Arrives: May 5
Box basics: Two autos and one Relic per box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This hits-only staple arrives for a new season on cardboard a little earlier than normal next year with a mix of today's veterans and young stars as well as Hall of Famers and other notable players from the past.

Keep reading for more as well as a full 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 ... and this time around there's some variety as well as some Father's Day nods.

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VOLATILE FISH
The Card: Mike Trout 2020 Topps Project 2020 -- Artist: Andrew Thiele (/13,199)
The Price: Factory cost from Topps
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was just the second Trout card made in the set that's generating more attention than most releases this year, and Thiele's allegiance to the original 2011 Topps Update Rookie Card got me to bite here a lot faster than the first one, which is far more abstract. This isn't my favorite Trout of those released so far -- that nod still goes to Ben Baller's version -- but I do like it. I'm not buying Project 2020 cards to sell -- many of you out there are -- but now that the big wave of mainstream attention that has come and gone there should be more cards with print runs closer to this number (not for Trout as each of his cards to come has a shot at autographs). This one leads off here as a reminder that this is a set that needs to be watched closely. Only about 285 more cards to go!
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but MLB boxes are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 2.

The box: 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball cards (hobby box)
The cost: BlowoutCards.com

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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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: Pondering big vintage card investments, chasing Mookie Betts RCs, busting a WWE Undisputed case, notable NFL pulls and more.

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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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BIGGEST THING IN BASEBALL RIGHT NOW
The Item: Ronald Acuña 2017 Bowman's Best Green Refractor auto /99 (BGS 10-10)
The Price: $290 after 44 bids (active auction)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The early autograph cards for this young slugger typically get graded and put on eBay with new-car pricing but this card -- one that came just a .5 away from a perfect BGS Black slab -- is up as an active auction that will close in five days. His home run binge is something that we've already talked about here this week and it will be interesting to see where this one lands. Bowman's Best cards are typically overlooked vs. Chromes but they can command some good cash at times -- and it should do pretty well in a scenario like this where he's red-hot on the field.
Similar Pieces: More Ronald Acuña cards on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for MLB boxes

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

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Hotlanta doesn't just apply to the city this time of year -- right now it also applies to one if its rookies.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a lead-off home run for the third consecutive game on Tuesday night and that was his fifth consecutive game overall with a homer. (And he hit two.) At just 20 years old, he's the youngest to do that in the last 100-plus years and he's the first player since Brady Anderson back in 1996 to open three straight games with a longball. (Anderson did it four times during his record lead-off streak.)

The MLB record for most consecutive games with a homer? That's eight -- a mark held by Ken Griffey Jr. (1993), Don Mattingly (1987) and Dale Young (1956). For the Braves, a franchise with a rich home run history, he's tied the consecutive games mark held by eight players -- a group that includes Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby, Hank Aaron and Chipper Jones. (How many homers does Acuña have in his last eight games? Eight -- just not in every game in a row.)

For the season, Acuña is hitting .288 with 19 home runs and and 43 RBI -- and since the All-Star break (24 games) he's hitting .358 and 12 of those home runs have come during that time. And for collectors, it's also at a time when his Rookie Cards are beginning to regularly appear in baseball card sets released this season.

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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: Pondering Heritage High Number demand, Ronald Acuña and big pulls from a few different directions.

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What:

What's buzz-worthy: Flawless returns to the baseball diamond once again with more ink, more variety to the gem cards and plenty of big-time memorabilia cards.

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

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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 Topps Allen & Ginter X baseball cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for regular hobby)

Packs per box: 18
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 144
Base set completion: 
115 of 300 (38 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Derek Jeter, Giancarlo Stanton, Jim Thome, Chipper Jones, Paige Spiranac, Mookie Betts, Bullpen Car, Method Man, Genie Bouchard, Lindsay Vonn, Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Theo Epstein, Corey Seager, Anthony Rizzo, Buster Posey, Max Scherzer, Kyle Schwarber, Bob Gibson, Paul Goldschmidt, Sonny Fredrickson, Samesong Park, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander, Jeff Bagwell, Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Jose Canseco, H. Jon Benjamin, Clayton Kershaw

Rookie Cards (15) – Shohei Ohtani, Rhys Hoskins, Erick Fedde (SP), Christian Villanueva (SP), Austin Hays, J.D. Davis, Parker Bridwell, Rafael Devers, Jack Flaherty, Ryan McMahon, Alex Verdugo, Andrew Stevenson, Francisco Mejia, Victor Caratini, Chance Sisco

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In the hours before the official show opening, there had been a green tarp covering that section of the booth, but at the opening bell Blowout owner Thomas Fish personally greeted each and every buyer of the Blowout MegaMix to help them make their choice of one of 600 serial-numbered packages, see what was inside and help them collect their findings.

The scene you see above? That's The Boss in action with the collector to the left getting either a box lot of the pictured item or a sealed case. Other surprises in these $100 boxes -- besides the Blowout shirt, a VIP party drawing entry certificate (drawing is Saturday) and even a little sugary Megamix extra -- can include autographed jerseys from Hall of Famers, a guy you might know named Shohei Ohtani and even autographed baseballs from a few Atlanta Braves rookies. (That's all they would tell me in advance -- it's that top secret and the fun is in the mystery.)

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What: 2018 Panini National Treasures baseball cards
Arrives: Sept. 26
Box basics: Eight autographs or memorabilia cards -- including one booklet -- per box (four boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The fifth edition of National Treasures baseball arrives with some of the biggest names in the history of the game in some crazy booklet card combinations as well as the autographs and memorabilia of current guys that collectors have come to expect.

Keep reading for more as well as a full 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 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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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 Topps Big League baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 6 (five standard, one Blue bonus parallel pack)
Cards per pack: 10 in standard four in bonus
Cards in this box: 54 (plus one more on the box)
Base set completion: 
43 of 400 (11 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – Ichiro Suzuki, Kyle Schwarber, Francisco Lindor, Yasiel Puig, Brandon Nimmo, Honus Wagner, Byron Buxton, NL Stolen Base Leaders, NL Innings Leaders, NL Hits Leaders, Al Stolen Base Leaders, Kauffman Stadium fountains

Rookie Cards (4) – Scott Kingery, Victor Robles, Nick Williams, Tyler O'Neill

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Topps has its promo cards for this year's National Sports Collectors Convention ready to go.

The show, set for Aug. 1-5 in Cleveland, will begin with its VIP Party presented by Topps with autograph guests including Calvin Murphy, Mike Hargrove and Luis Tiant. The VIP ticket-holder gift bags will include a previously revealed 1983 Topps promo set. 

And now we have a teaser for the wrapper redemption plans for the show.

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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 Bowman Platinum baseball cards (collector's box)
Where to buy: Initially only at Walmart; Click here
Checklist: View here

Packs per box: 20
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 100
Base set completion: 
45 of 100 (45 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, Justin Verlander, Gary Sanchez, Cody Bellinger, Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa, Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew Benintendi, Alex Bregman, Mookie Betts

Rookie Cards (9) – Shohei Ohtani, Rafael Devers, Victor Robles, Chance Sisco, Dominic Smith, Harrison Bader, Clint Frazier, Ryan McMahon, Alex Verdugo

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What: 2018 Onyx Baseball Clubhouse Lumber Edition
Arrives: Sept. 3
Box basics: One autographed or game-used bat per box
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This MLBPA-approved product arrives once again from Onyx Authenticated and includes bats from top young names as well as some established veterans.

Keep reading for more info, including a full checklist.

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What: 2018 Bowman's Best baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 19
Box basics: Four autographs (two per mini-box) per 12-pack box (eight boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Bowman's Best returns with its mini-box format that delivers two autographs in just six packs with nods back to 1998 and nothing but on-card autographs.

Keep reading for more details and a gallery.

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If you want to see how different Topps' Allen & Ginter baseball card set is, all you have to do is look at the checklist set scroll down to card No. 18.

"Bullpen car."

That's just one of the surprises in the 2018 edition of the retro-styled brand that's been revived since 2006 with 1880s stylings that include not only baseball stars but "World's Champions" in other sports and beyond.

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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 Bowman Platinum baseball cards (collector's box)
Where to buy: Initially only at Walmart; Click here
Checklist: View here

Packs per box: 20
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 100
Base set completion: 
46 of 100 (46 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Aaron Judge, Andrew Benintendi, Carlos Correa, Giancarlo Stanton, Clayton Kershaw, Dansby Swanson, Albert Pujols, Javier Baez, Francisco Lindor, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Abreu, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt

Rookie Cards (11) – Shohei Ohtani, Ozzie Albies, Rafael Devers, Walker Buehler, Luiz Gohara, Austin Hays, Willie Calhoun, Tyler Mahle, Jack Flaherty, Nick Williams, Francisco Mejia

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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 chatter and notable pulls in this holiday edition.

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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: Big error cards, Ronald Acuña's arrival, big pulls, NSCC chatter and LeBron in Los Angeles.

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 3.

The packs: 2018 Bowman baseball cards (six jumbo packs)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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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 Topps Pro Debut baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 180
Base set completion: 
162 of 200 (81 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Erik The Peanut Guy, Todd "Parney" Parnell, Bo Bichette, Ronald Acuna, Michael Kopech, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., MacKenzie Gore, Hunter Greene, Adam Haseley, Gleyber Torres, Jo Adell, Austin Beck, Brendan McKay, Jake Burger, Pavin Smith, Cristian Pache, Nick Senzel, Mike Soroka, Kacy Clemens, Austin Riley, Dylan Cozens, Mickey Moniak, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Tyler O'Neill, Yu-Cheng Chang

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