What: 2026 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Platinum Achievements Edition autographed baseballs
Arrives: March 27
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase brand hits the field for a new year with a Grand Treasure of an all-time great and some new chase balls also in the mix.

Keep reading for that and a gallery of what's in this one.

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What: 2026 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Platinum Autographed Mini-helmets Honors Edition
Arrives: March 20
Box basics: One autographed mini-helmet per box (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The newest arrival from the TRISTAR Hidden Treasures portfolio of autographed memorabilia arrives this spring with an array of stars from the past and present, a number of chase and variant helmets and some big names.

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What: 2026 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Bats
Arrives: Feb. 25, 2026
Box basics: One autographed baseball bat per box (four boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This less-seen player in TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase product lineup is back once again with nothing but signed bats -- and there's a big chase item in this one, too.

Keep reading for the details and a gallery of what's in this one.

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... sometimes stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new fun cards and oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

FORE!
The Card: Nate Alleyne 2017 Grandstand San Jose Giants
The Buzz On This: A clubhouse manager isn't somebody you'll find in MLB sets -- and this month's card isn't even this guy's first (or his last) appearance in this series. This card? It's clearly all about enjoying the natural elements of the golf course on the baseball diamond -- err, about some Photoshop -- while his other card in a past month of this series was all about fire. (OK, it's barbecue ... we can get behind that, too.) Joining these? Drink up this run of cards that reinforce the greatness that is MiLB cardboard with no tie to what it's worth. The best part? His weirdest card is still to come ...

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards (and other stuff) you can find in and around MiLB.

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What: 2026 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Platinum Autographed Football Jerseys Honors Edition
Arrives: Feb. 6
Box basics: One autographed jersey per box (four boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The newest arrival from the TRISTAR Hidden Treasures portfolio of autographed memorabilia releases drops just before the Super Bowl with Hall of Famers or current players with honors in their playing history.

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What: 2026 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Footballs
Arrives: Jan. 23
Box basics: One autographed football per box (four boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures line of autographed footballs hits the field for a new year with its familiar format and a variety of balls in play.

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Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

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TWO OF BLACKHEARTS
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2025 Panini Instant MLW Autographs Water parallel (/10)
The Price: $39.99 each via Panini
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former WWE star is taking over a prominent spot in indy wrestling with appearances downright everywhere these days but with only a handful of card appearances to show for it (at least for now). Panini's newer foray into cardboard for Major League Wrestling has so far spawned a trio of base cards with parallels and some with autographed versions. I've been lucky enough to be plugged in and online to land ink for a couple of those drop days and in this case landed a pair of these autos where only eight others exist. Generally speaking, I'm not that big of a fan of the elemental parallels used in Instant these days, but they are an upgrade over the previous year's parallels that merely colored in one of the stripes in a design similar to this instead of the border as it is here. Either way, this one I'm a fan of as she's arguably my top collecting target these days as WWE stuff has gotten too pricey to comfortably dabble/rip boxes and have fun with the typical returns. In this case, the only angst is battling bots -- cards like these vanish in seconds and end up on eBay with prices three (or more) times higher. At least when I plunk down the money for these I know what I'm getting. (For those curious, the auto stickers here are older when she was signing in higher volumes for WWE releases -- her auto is back to an every-letter sig now.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but wrestling cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... sometimes stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new fun cards and oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

98 DEGREES ON THE DIAMOND?
The Card: Nick Lachey 2009 TRISTAR Obak T212 Minis
The Buzz On This: His musical genre isn't on my radar, nor are the reality shows ... but the baseball card? Now we're talking. The pop star was among the ownership group of the Tacoma Rainiers baseball franchise (a Mariners farm team as you can see on the card) for about five years and that got him an appearance in this MiLB-celebrating oddity of a card set from TRISTAR. His 10 baseball cards in this release (this is one of the parallels) are all there are for him when it comes to sports cards ... unless the team snuck him into a set and nobody noticed. Obak is a fun one full of weird stuff and I've trotted some of them out in this series a few times ... and there will be more.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards (and other stuff) you can find in and around MiLB.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures End Zone Season Edition Autographed Football Memorabilia
Arrives: Dec. 17
Box basics: Four autographed football items per case
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR once again offers up a big box of memorabilia for football fans with nothing but signed stuff inside every box of this one -- and the biggest chase this time showcases one of the NFL's top stars of today.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Basketballs Season Edition
Arrives: Dec. 17
Box basics: One autographed basketball per box (four boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures brand hits the hardwood for a new season with some top newcomer ink to be found and a number of past greats in there, too.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Mini Helmets Season Edition
Arrives: Dec. 10
Box basics: One autographed mini helmet per box (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures line arrives with minis for a second time year with a new assortment and some of the biggest names in the history of the game among them.

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... sometimes stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new fun cards and oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

THE DUO FROM DURHAM
The Cards: Tim Robbins & Susan Sarandon 2024 Leaf Vivid Strike a Pose & Colorful Combos Autographs Clear & Prismatic Pre-Production Proofs (both 1/1s)
The Buzz On This: One of the favorite baseball films of many, Bull Durham has popped up in a few spots in a few baseball and non-sports sets from Leaf Trading Cards in recent years. These blank-back proofs are test runs for the series where this baseball set included autographs from some other baseball-related areas. There are varying colors and textures in play, so all cards are a 1/1 of that type but there are multiple versions. That has softened prices on these, but I like them and have picked up a number of them for very little. Why? I'm a collector.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards (and other stuff) you can find in and around MiLB.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Basketball Jerseys Season Edition
Arrives: Nov. 14
Box basics: One autographed basketball jersey per box (five boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures line hits the court for the new season with some of the biggest stars in the history of the game involved and a notable trio of Texas No. 1 picks as its Grand Treasure prize.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Full-size Helmets Season Edition
Arrives: Nov. 7
Box basics: One autographed full-size replica helmet per box (three boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This staple within TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures lineup of autographed memorabilia releases arrives for another time this year with a new batch of full-size helmets that are inked by some of the game's greatest players today as well as top newcomers and past greats.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Football Jerseys Series 2
Arrives: Oct. 17
Box basics: One autographed jersey per box (five boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: The newest edition in TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures brand of autographed memorabilia includes some all-time greats as well as stars of today and tomorrow all in one spot -- and there's a "case chase" inclusion once again

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Platinum Edition Mini Helmets
Arrives: Oct. 10
Box basics: One autographed mini helmet per box (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: A new batch of Hidden Treasures autographed minis arrives from TRISTAR this year with every box including either a Hall of Famer or an active player.

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The National is days away and here are just some of the basics like hours, pack promo details and other basics all in one spot -- at least all that's known at this time. (A different approach since a lot of info has been released later than normal this year.)

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Keep reading to see all that's known so far ...

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Footballs Season Edition
Arrives: Sept. 24
Box basics: One autographed football per box (four boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures line of autographed footballs hits the field during the season once again with its familiar format and mix of pro and college balls in play.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Platinum Achievements Edition autographed baseballs
Arrives: Sept. 26
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase brand hits the field with a focus and one of the strongest Grand Treasure packages possible its ever offered for players of the modern era.

The biggest chase of them all this year? Keep reading for that and a gallery of what's in this one.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Grand Slam baseball memorabilia
Arrives: Oct. 1
Box basics: One autographed baseball jersey, one autographed baseball, one autographed bat and one encapsulated autographed item per case
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase lineup goes high-end with this one that guarantees a variety of items and plenty of possibilities from the past and present.

What's the biggest of them all this year? Keep reading for details on those and a gallery of what's in this one.

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Via @tristar1 ... Bo Jackson

This year's National Sports Collectors Convention is nearly here -- it's set for July 30-Aug. 3 in Chicago with a strong roster of autograph guests ready to sign for collectors who get a ticket and get in line for their moment beyond the ballpark.

Some signers are free if you attend the VIP reception on opening day of the show or buy a VIP ticket package -- a bonus for taking the time to hit every day of the show -- but landing other signers will take some planning and a few bucks.

It's tough to see everything at The National -- it's that big -- and the time it takes to work through autograph lines is valuable in that it impedes your shot at seeing it all. But, if you have wanted to meet a player and get that ink, a number of past and present stars are on the list this year. With that said, here are my picks -- skewing toward the best names for the lowest prices possible -- to grab off the autograph list during the full days of the show this year. (Keep reading for the full signers list at the end ... and, remember, times are always subject to change.)

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Minor league baseball cards from the past can include some weird stuff ... sometimes stuff you wouldn't imagine to be found on a baseball card. Here are some some new fun cards and oddities in this latest edition of MiLB Madness. 

ONE MORE DURHAM NOD ...
The Card: Steve Dalkowski 2009 TRISTAR Obak T212 Minis Green (/25)
The Buzz On This: This set isn't one limited to MiLB players per se -- it's more about the history and oddities around baseball at every level in every direction -- and it's not one issued in team sets, either. But, this card popped up in my digging for unique and different stuff with a story and, well, this one has it. Dalkowski is a legendary minor-leaguer whose powerful arm -- and unruly control -- inspired Bull Durham creator Ron Shelton to create Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh. How unruly was he? As an 18-year-old in Class D- Kingsport in 1957 he struck out 121 batters in 62 innings. He also walked 129 while recording a 1-8 record in 15 games. That's 17.6 Ks per nine innings and 18.7 walks per nine. The next season, he went 4-10 with a 7.63 ERA, striking out 203 batters in 118 innings and walking 245. The final stats, though not complete due to it being MiLB and being way back in the day, are impressive. You can find his only MLB card in 1963 Topps among the higher-numbers (despite never actually pitching in MLB) and basically his cards in this release are the only other option. He was slated to sign certified autos for it, too, but they were never completed. This one will always be an add for me if I see them.

Keep reading for more examples of some weird or fun baseball cards (and other stuff) you can find in MiLB.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Full-size Helmets 2
Arrives: Aug. 20
Box basics: One autographed full-size authentic helmet per box (three boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This staple in TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures autographed memorabilia lineup arrives for a second time this year with a new batch of full-size signed authentic-model helmets that are inked by some of the game's greatest players of today as well as top newcomers.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Autographed Football Photos
Arrives: Aug. 27
Box basics: One autographed football photo per pack (15 packs per case)
Order: Click here (live soon)

What's buzz-worthy: TRISTAR's Hidden Treasures line arrives for another year of signed football photos with some big-chase items, bonus upgrades and more awaiting collectors.

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What: 2025 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Dugout Dreams autographed baseballs
Arrives: June 27
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This newer brand in TRISTAR's autographed baseball chase lineup is back for another summer with a (green) monster of a Grand Treasure package to be found and then plenty of past and present superstars in these mystery boxes.

What's the biggest of them all this year? Keep reading for details on those and a gallery of what's in this one.

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