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 ...

The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Living Set #179 RC
The Reason Graded: While I own a few Topps Living Set cards the arrival of this second-generation MLB star in this weekly release sparked my first purchase from this popular brand that's clearly popular with flippers. I ponied up for 10 copies of the card --solely with potential grading in mind -- but didn't receive a single perfectly centered card in my batch, which was a bummer. After some grumbling, I picked out this one from the batch and sent it in.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It graded as well as I thought it could -- maybe better -- so I wasn't unhappy with the grade and it appears that I'm perhaps on the luckier side with just two 10s out there better than it via BGS ... for now. This is a card that will likely be graded more and more often so those won't last but but it appears that this one is arriving between 8.5 and 9.5 more often than not. I have a second one I'll submit to PSA at some point with my sights set on a 10 there. We'll see sometime later this year.

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: 2019 Bowman Platinum baseball cards (collector's box)
Where to buy: Click here

Packs per box: 20
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 100
Base set completion: 
44 of 100 (44 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Ronald Acuña Jr., Cody Bellinger, Juan Soto, Albert Pujols, Giancarlo Stanton, Max Scherzer, Jose Altuve, Francisco Lindor, Ozzie Albies, David Price, Alex Bregman, Miguel Cabrera, Yasiel Puig

Rookie Cards (14) – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (SP), Eloy Jimenez (SP), Michael Kopech, Christin Stewart, Dakota Hudson, Corbin Burnes, Touki Toussaint, Justus Sheffield, Chance Adams, Cedric Mullins, Ryan O'Hearn, Danny Jansen, Josh James, Ramon Laureano (no RC logo)

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: 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 8
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 47
Base set completion: 
27 of 300 (9 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Ronald Acuña Jr., Post Malone, Walker Buehler, Manny Machado, Mookie Betts, Roy Halladay, Cal Ripken Jr., Don Mattingly, Danielle Colby, Fred McGriff, Rickey Henderson, Ryne Sandberg, Frank Thomas, Wade Boggs

Rookie Cards (1) – Pete Alonso

Continue reading →

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 Rip Card risk pays off, players you love to hate, The National, an industry lawsuit, a big Braves pull and breaking down a 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter case.

Continue reading →

It's back -- and it's literally bigger than ever.

Those who attended The National last year had a shot at some big surprises in last year's Blowout MegaMix -- I landed a Ronald Acuña Jr. autographed baseball in mine -- but this year the Blowout mystery boxes are bigger and bolder than ever before. How so? Well, for one, you don't have to actually go to the show in Chicago to get your hands on one of these boxes this year.

Keep reading to learn more ...
Continue reading →

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and break down 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: 2019 Donruss Optic baseball cards (FOTL box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available)

Packs per box: 2
Cards per pack: 12
Cards in this box: 24
Base set completion: N/A (all parallels and ink in these)
Duplicates: 0

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: 2018 Topps Series 2 (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (a few formats)
Packs per box: 11 (10 plus patch pack)
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 101
Base set completion: 
77 of 350 (22 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Freddie Freeman, Max Scherzer, Xander Bogaerts, Paul DeJong, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa

Rookie Cards (5) – Kyle McGrath, Taylor Williams, Victor Caratini, Tim Locastro, Ryan Sherriff

Continue reading →

A record-setting MLB All-Star Home Run Derby means a monster day for baseball cards.

The Topps Now lineup for today includes more than 50 cards between standard cardboard, autographs and Relics from last night's big event won by New York Mets rookie Pete Alonso but with nods to the fireworks generated by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Joc Pederson and others in the event in advance of tonight's All-Star Game.

Continue reading →

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 8 in 8 -- a series of a eight breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in as many hours today. We'll post one every hour ... this is Hour 7.

The box: 2018 Topps Holiday Box baseball cards
Where to buy: Click here

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

Continue reading →

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 8 in 8 -- a series of a eight breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in as many hours today. We'll post one every hour ... this is Hour 3.

The box: 2019 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (hobby box)
The cost: Click here

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

Continue reading →

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 8 in 8 -- a series of a eight breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in as many hours today. We'll post one every hour ... this is Hour 2.

The box: 2019 Topps Series 2 baseball cards (hobby box)
The cost: Click here

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

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: 2019 Bowman Platinum baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: Initially only at Walmart; Click here (when available)

Packs per box: 8 (seven standard, one parallels)
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 32
Base set completion: 
16 of 100 (16 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, Andrew Benintendi, Nolan Arenado, Javier Baez, Aaron Judge, Clayton Kershaw, Buster Posey

Rookie Cards (3) – Austin Dean, Kolby Allard, Eloy Jimenez (SP)

Continue reading →

If you're headed to the MLB All-Star Game, Topps will be there, too, with some new cardboard for your collection.

The company revealed its plans for event-related promos on Tuesday in advance of next week's Midsummer Classic as part of MLB's Play Ball Park -- formerly known as MLB FanFest -- that starts Friday in Cleveland and runs until next Tuesday.

Topps will have wrapper redemptions, set bonuses, a signing guest and more during the show.

Continue reading →

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: Pulling a Babe Ruth auto, Tyler Skaggs, The National, inside a Ronald Acuña Jr. collection and more in today's edition.

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: 2019 Topps MLB Sticker Collection jumbo pack
Where to buy: Check retail (past sticker releases here)

Packs per box: 50
Stickers per pack: 4
Stickers per box: 200
Base (backs) set completion: 184 of 223 (83 percent)
Duplicates: 16

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 ...

The Card: 2018 Topps Home Run Challenge Silver #HRCAJ Aaron Judge (/59)
The Reason Graded: Aaron Judge recently returned from injury for the first time since April and that prompted me to lead things off with this rare card I recently got slabbed. I only have this card because I managed to predict one of his homers not long after he returned from injury last year after missing more than a month and a half. Injuries have mounted for his popular slugger the last two years, but I figured this card, given its scarcity, was one worth a slab.
The Grade: BGS 10

Reality Check: The pop report is a little iffy on this one -- there could be others not slabbed* -- since the checklist isn't complete on their site for this set this is merely a guess. (Pop report and checklists typically sync up.) I have gotten very few 10s in the last few years, but I thought this would be a contender and it was. Other Judge cards from this set -- there are at least three before this one -- are a lot rarer. Meanwhile, this appears to be the only Judge (of any color) from this set that's been slabbed.

Keep reading for the rest of this month's new grades and additions.

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: 2019 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 8
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 40
Base set completion: 
32 of 300 (11 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve, Dansby Swanson, Miguel Cabrera, Francisco Lindor, Felix Hernandez, Carl Yastrzemski, Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Fred McGriff

Rookie Cards (5) – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (SP), Luis Urias, Kyle Tucker, Patrick Wisdom, Steven Duggar

Continue reading →

Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's release: 2019 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards

--

A BIG CHALLENGE
The Set: 2019 Topps Stadium Club jumbo box-topper set
The Price: Moderately challenging
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: A new inclusion this year are box-topper cards and the challenge is that there are 50 of them -- one per box. Do the math and you'll need somebody ripping into four cases to land them all, assuming clean collation. Why do I like these? The larger size (roughly 4-by-6) give you a little better look at some cards that just don't read as well at standard size. One example? The Jackie Robinson you see here -- note the details with the dugout, the faces in the crowd and more -- and then think about how getting an autograph might have been different back then, especially with this being from Robinson's first day at spring training with the team on March 6, 1948, according to Getty Images. With 50 jumbo cards in the set and a lot of classic images -- and it not being an impossible project -- this could be popular. While the prices should drop over time, they may not always be immediately available, so I'd recommend picking off what you think are the best ones early.

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

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: 2019 Topps 582 Montgomery Club Set No. 3
Where to buy: Only part of membership

Base set completion: 
20 of 20 (100 percent)

Continue reading →

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 it's another super-sized edition.

--

BATTING LEAD-OFF ONCE AGAIN 
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Topps Heritage High Number Rookie Card (BGS 9)
The Price: $14
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: You may think it's a comedy bit with this Atlanta Braves slugger's RC batting lead-off here once again -- and it's not even the first time it's been this card in a slab, just a different company -- but Buzz is still sold on his hobby potential as part of a first-place team loaded with home-grown talent ... and he bats lead-off there, too. There will come a time where the wax will become harder and harder to find so these slabbed versions are always worth a look on the cheaper side in my mind. This also was my first buy for a BGS card without sub-grades -- people tend to price them lower than other cards. This one does have issues with vertical centering but it doesn't bug my eye at all compared to left-right centering issues when those exist. For the price, I'm good here ... and I still miss 1969 Heritage compared to this year.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Topps Heritage High Number baseball cards

Keep reading for five more interesting items ...

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: 2019 Topps Finest baseball cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 12 (via two mini-boxes)
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 60
Base set completion: 
45 of 101 (45 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Ronald Acuña Jr., Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, Ozzie Albies, Clayton Kershaw, Buster Posey, Christian Yelich, Alex Bregman, Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Max Scherzer, Francisco Lindor, Miguel Andujar, Trea Turner

Rookie Cards (13) – Pete Alonso, Ramon Laureano, D.J. Stewart, Cedric Mullins, Rowdy Tellez, Steven Duggar, Touki Toussaint, Ryan O'Hearn, Chance Adams, Luis Urias, Danny Jansen, Kolby Allard, Kyle Wright

Continue reading →

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 8 in 8 -- a series of a eight breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in as many hours today. We'll post one every hour ... this is Hour 2.

The boxes: 2019 Bowman baseball cards (four Mega Boxes)
The cost: BlowoutCards.com

What's inside these? Keep reading ...

Continue reading →

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 8 in 8 -- a series of a eight breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in as many hours today. We'll post one every hour ... this is Hour 1.

The box: 2019 Topps Series 2 baseball cards (jumbo)
The cost: Click here

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

Continue reading →

What: 2019 Panini Immaculate Collection baseball cards
Arrives: July 24
Box basics: Six autographs or memorabilia cards per box (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: Immaculate is back on the field with nothing but hits this time around and plenty of what collectors have come to expect on the jumbo memorabilia front, too.

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

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: 2019 Bowman baseball cards (Mega Box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 6 (four standard, two Mega Box Chrome)
Cards per pack: 10 in standard, 5 in Chrome
Cards per box: 50

Set completion: 
20 of 100 (20 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Prospect set completion: 
12 of 150 (8 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Chrome Prospect set completion: 
8 of 150 (5 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base/prospect cards – Ronald Acuña Jr., Mike Trout, Anthony Rizzo, Nolan Arenado, Clayton Kershaw, Nolan Gorman, Jazz Chisholm, Kevin Smith, Ryan Costello, Keegan Thompson, Logan Webb

Rookie Cards (6) – Kyle Tucker, Rowdy Tellez, Chris Shaw, Steven Duggar, Jeff McNeil, Adolis Garcia

Continue reading →