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 ...

TICKET TO HISTORY ...
The Ticket: Woodstock (Aug.15-17, 1969) -- three-day ticket ($24)
The Reason Bought: There are more than a dozen different styles of tickets for this historic event in music and pop culture history and none of them are all that rare -- and that makes for an interesting grading market. High-grade tickets can be priced like they're non-existent yet about 60 percent of the full tickets that are slabbed check in at a PSA 9 or 10 and raw tickets (assuming they are real ... but there's a chance they might not be) can be found on the cheap under $100. I knew quite awhile back that I wanted one in a slab and I was patient with my window shopping until I spotted this one. I wanted a three-day style but there are single-day tickets that are very traditional-looking and I finally spotted this one at a good price (just under $100) vs. the same thing with asking prices for 9s and 10s that are as high as $1,000. Actual sales for higher grades are typically anywhere from $200 to $700 on eBay with a lot of irregularity -- and BINs just under the $200 mark quite often. In short, they're findable.
The Grade: PSA 8

Reality Check: More than 3,750 different full tickets have been slabbed for Woodstock and this version -- one of three types in the PSA pop report for a three-day ticket -- is the easiest and the only one with more than 1,000 copies slabbed. In fact, the number of 10s for this style is higher than all but two of the entire slab totals for other styles. I didn't sweat the grade as the flaws on this one seem minor -- I'm imagining some minor black ink "snow" on there perhaps dropped it a grade but generally everything here is clean to the eye with no obvious flaws. That's good enough for me as beginner or one-time dabbler. Modern tickets for big artists can be quite pricey when slabbed as availability is often an issue, but I'm assuming a bulk "find" of these happened at some point back in the day given the high-profile event and all that went into it.

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: Elly De La Cruz anticipation builds, MLB and NBA Finals chatter, new pulls and more in today's edition.

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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: 2015 Topps WWE wrestling cards (retail gravity box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available) or for newer WWE

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one as well as a gallery of highlights.

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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: 2023 Topps Heritage baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)
First Buzz preview & checklist: Click here

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

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The NBA Finals are nearly here and the biggest first autographed cards of two big basketball stars are almost here, too.

You can take a shot owning the highly anticipated autographs from Victor Wembanyama and Caitlin Clark right here, right now with one click via the Blowout NBA Finals Giveaway over on Instagram. The free contest will run as long as the NBA Finals do and it tips off on Thursday.

We're giving away a hobby box of 2022-23 Bowman University Chrome basketball cards (live on Friday) over there ... all you have to do is follow the simple instructions. Do it ... do it now.

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy baseball cards on BlowoutCards.com

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: The NBA Finals are set, MLB chatter and breaks, a big Topps Heritage box and more in today's edition.

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: Ripping into even more 2023 Topps Heritage, NBA Playoffs chatter, new pulls and plenty more.

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: Ripping into even more 2023 Topps Heritage, NBA Playoffs chatter, new pulls and plenty more.

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: The Celtics stay alive, a LeBron question, vintage NFL Hall of Famer Rookie Cards, 2023 Topps Heritage and more 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: Ripping into 2023 Topps Heritage, inside a case of new Star Wars Chrome, ripping some Historic Autographs boxes, Bowman thoughts, Adley Rutschman and 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: 2023 Topps Heritage, soccer cards, Ja Morant, a Hall of Fame question and early collecting memories.

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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: 1987 Topps baseball (rack)
Where to buy: Check junk bins ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer MLB 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: NBA Playoffs, 2023 Topps Heritage is here, Spencer Strider, MLB breaks, the PWCC sale and early looks at 2023 Topps Allen & Ginter.

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What: 2023 Topps Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi Chrome Sapphire Edition
Arrives: June 21 (Wednesday online-first release; $199.99 start)
Box basics: Two parallels per 32-card box
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here (when available)

What's buzz-worthy: The 40th anniversary of Return Of The Jedi gets its cards Chromed with a Sapphire touch coming this week from Topps.

Keep reading for more.

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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: 2015 Topps WWE wrestling cards (retail gravity box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (when available) or for newer WWE

Keep reading for a full breakdown of what was in this one as well as a gallery of highlights.

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: Denver heads to the NBA Finals, Fanatics adds PWCC, pondering vintage, a huge Heritage pull and more in today's edition.

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What: 2023 Topps Series 2 baseball cards
Arrives: June 7
Box basics: One auto or Relic per 24-pack hobby box (12 per case) or one auto, one Relic & one manufactured Relic per jumbo (six per case)
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The second wave of the flagship release of Topps baseball cards arrives with a similar approach to the past but also with some new looks and new stars on cardboard.

Keep reading for more info.

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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 Topps Chrome McDonald's All-American Games basketball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

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: NBA playoffs, Carmelo Anthony retires, MLB breaks and chatter and hunting autographed CDs.

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: Comic book variants for Disney 100, new pulls, Victor Wembanyama, NFL, soccer, NBA chatter and 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: Collectors remember Jim Brown, thoughts on 2023 Bowman, NBA Playoff chatter and plenty more in today's 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: New pulls with Bowman U, the Victor Wembanyama hype train, a big retail mega box, Doctor Who and more.

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What: 2023 Bowman Sapphire Edition baseball cards
Arrives: May 19 initially via Topps.com
Box basics: One autograph and three parallels per eight-pack (32-card) box
Checklist: Click here
Odds: Click here
Order: Click here (when available)

What's buzz-worthy: Sapphire gets another run with a release that includes base cards, parallels and then a small crop of autographs to chase.

Keep reading for 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: 2023 Bowman baseball cards (blaster)
First Buzz preview & checklist/odds: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

Keep reading for what was inside this one ..

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: Victor Wembanyama is likely headed to San Antonio, NBA Playoffs chatter, new pulls, alleged high-profile breaker issues and all eyes on Aaron Judge.

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