Vintage
Buzz Buys (Sept.): New oddball cards, vintage finds, Ozzy, Shotzi, Bo Bichette and plenty more of my usual suspects
Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...
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GOING FOR THE GOLD
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2022 Panini Select WWE Gold Wave Prizm (/10)
The Price: Around the price of a blaster box at arrival
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This brand is my favorite of the Panini years for WWE, and in the case of this star who I collect I have seemed to found her rarities on the affordable side at times with this release. This is a perfect example of that with it being one of the rarest parallels in there but it cost me not much more than the price of a retail box. It was arguably underpriced, so I grabbed it quickly when I spotted it. Will I grade it? It's a possibility, though this release's centering issues can create some surprises (that aren't totally surprises) as I found out with a different parallel of this card. Poke around in Making The Grade last month for an example.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.Keep reading for more interesting items ...
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Aug. 17)
What's Buzzing: Modern vs. vintage, talking Aaron Judge, fake cards, Big Dumper, little details and more in this Sunday edition.
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1 -- A modern vs. vintage question
2 -- Talking the Yankees ... and talking Aaron Judge
4 -- Watch out for allegedly fake cards
6 -- All your NFL chatter as the season nears--
Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Auction Buzz: Big cards, iconic images & debuts via Heritage
Auction Buzz is a monthly look at some of the variety found out there on the auction block ... check 'em out.
It's going to be a busy second half of the year for Dallas-based Heritage Auctions with a number of regularly scheduled events as well as some showcase auctions with high-profile stuff all on the calendar. This time, we look at a few things from a few active sales this month.
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AS BIG AS IT GETS
The Item: Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs (1/1) -- PSA 6
The Price: $4,150,000 after 32 bids (ends Aug. 23)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one has plenty of time remaining but as you can tell it's already one of the biggest monsters to ever hit the auction block -- and that's with the grade that, well, would be a bummer on any other card from the modern era. But, with game-used NBA logos from two of the game's all-time greats and their ink? Well, it's all about the card, not that dinged corner. "Do you hear that rumbling? It's the sound of the standing world record price for a basketball card getting ready to fall," Heritage said in its listing. "For five years, the 2009-10 National Treasures Steph Curry logoman autograph card has enjoyed the view from the top of the heap, the $5.9 million private sale to an investment fund in July 2021 demonstrating the virtually unlimited elasticity of the market's upper edge. ... We're proud and privileged here at Heritage for the opportunity to take the title back for the auction world," Heritage continued, "providing the manner of competition and high drama that private transactions lack, and which serves as a far more fitting tribute to the iconic subjects this remarkable trading card celebrates." ... This one is estimated by Heritage to top the $6-million mark when it's sold.
Keep reading for more interesting pieces up for grabs right now.
Making the Grade (Aug.): Aaron Judge, Rickey Henderson's Rookie Card, Roger Maris, WWE stars, three Mariahs & more
Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.
NINES ARE FINE
The Card: Aaron Judge 2017 Topps Archives -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: The unique 1960 Topps design always stands out to me. Why? Because one of my first clean vintage cards as a kid was a Gus Bell form the set, which I got since I knew he was a big-leaguer's dad. (Yay, trivia!) So that's perhaps one reason I held this Judge RC instead of letting it go. (Plus, I didn't rip as much of this brand ... so it was the only copy I pulled.) Judge's dominating 2025 season should make you stop and wonder about slabbing any RCs or early/rare stuff you have now ... just because. He and Shohei Ohtani are all-timers playing right in front of our faces now and are as safe as it gets when it comes to grab and slab or buy and hold -- even with plenty of their cards being graded.
The Grade: CGC 9Grade 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 P10 Total Population 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 20 10 8 0 44 Reality Check: I knew this wouldn't be a 10 contender with the finicky stock here and the centering being a smidge off by my typical standards for a slab, but, like I said, it was my only copy. Most check in at this grade, so the nine makes sense, too, and the volume below it also shows this card isn't the easiest to grade.
Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (June 29)
What's Buzzing: Talking Topps Chrome, Dave Parker, The National, vintage cards and more in today's edition.
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1 -- Talking 2025 Topps Chrome
2 -- Vintage cards are on their minds
3 -- Looking at a Roki Sasaki card from before MLB
4 -- Kevin Durant trade reactions continue
5 -- Collectors remember Dave Parker
6 -- The National section is open as the show nears--
Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (May 17)
What's Buzzing: NBA postseason action, WNBA tips off, Brock Purdy got paid, Pete Crow-Armstrong, 2025 Bowman and more.
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1 -- WNBA begins & NBA postseason chatter here
2 -- Brock Purdy got paid
3 -- Talking vintage
4 -- All about PCA
5 -- Remember me?
6 -- New Bowman pulls and more here--
Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (May 1)
What's Buzzing: MLB chatter, predicting rookie QB success, Luka Doncic, non-sports cards, Bowman Red and vintage baseball players.
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1 -- All your MLB chatter is here
2 -- Predicting 2025 rookie QB success
3 -- Talking Luka
4 -- Non-sports cards are on their minds
5 -- Focusing on vintage MLB players
6 -- Bowman Red Rookie Redemption reactions--
Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
First Buzz: 2025 Historic Autographs All-time Sets baseball
What: 2025 Historic Autographs All-time Sets baseball cards
Arrives: May 28
Box basics: A cut auto or handwriting sample cut in every other five-pack box (20 boxes per case)
Checklist/inclusions: Click here
Order: Click here (live soon)What's buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs re-imagines iconic stars and cards from the past with new retro-styled modern ways with a checklist that's "only the best of the best."
Keep reading for more information.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (April 10)
What's Buzzing: Predicting the MLB market, some Heritage High Number developments, Jayden Daniels, buy-sell-trade section and more.
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1 -- Predicting the MLB card market in six months
2 -- A new twist with Heritage High Number
3 -- Hold or sell on Jayden Daniels?
4 -- Yep, you can buy-sell-trade in this section
5 -- Vintage cards are on their minds
6 -- Still talking Minecraft cards ... get yours here--
Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (April 8)
What's Buzzing: March Madness, collecting vintage, new pulls, bad collation, Jac Caglianone and ... Cal who?
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1 -- One to see ...
2 -- "The Official Jac Caglianone Thread"
3 -- New MLB pulls
4 -- One last check-in on the March Madness thread
5 -- Pondering a vintage collection?
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Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (April 5)
What's Buzzing: Alexander Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky, showing off all Ginter non-MLB ink and more.
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1 -- Alexander Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky's goals record
2 -- All your MLB chatter is here
3 -- Showing off all Ginter ink -- but not baseball -- since 2006
5 -- Reactions to new WWE drama
6 -- Check out this vintage NFL piece--
Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (April 3)
What's Buzzing: Kristian Campbell has 'em talking, possible collation issues, new pulls, NBA, MLB and showing off vintage.
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1 -- Red Sox fans are talking Kristian Campbell after his new deal
2 -- Opening a Celebration box
3 -- Showing off vintage (and vintage player) pick-ups here
4 -- Even more MLB chatter here
5 -- Basketball is on their minds
6 -- Collation issues on Heritage High Number?--
Have you spotted a hot thread? Tell us about it in a comment or on Twitter.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Making the Grade (March): Shohei Ohtani, Tiger, Spider-Man, young WWE stars, strong vintage, cheap NFL rookies & more
Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading, so here's this month's grading diary.
CLOSE TO PERFECT
The Card: Shohei Ohtani 2018 Topps -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: Ohtani's historic 2024 season had me assessing all of my cards from my 2018 stash -- mostly lower-end stuff that's heavily graded -- but not graded by me. Why? I don't grade the heavily submitted stuff because a lesser mark wouldn't be as worthy of going through the process and, really, in most instances a card can always be found already graded if it's needed. But, with his 50-50 season being so big, I opted to slab a few basics and this is one that made the cut. The stock used in 2018 is almost as thin as it gets and all that dark ink definitely showcases flaws, but I picked a pair of cards I thought were perfect from my stash and sent them in.
The Grade: CGC 10Grade 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 P10 Total Population 0 0 0 1 1 6 16 32 54 90 0 200 Reality Check: I don't know where I missed a perfect mark here but I'll still take a 10 ... less than half check in there and I think it's really harder than that -- people are examining their stuff harder before sending them in. The fact that these have checked in as low as a seven show how this one isn't easy sledding when it comes to slabbing. And as for my perfect aspirations? Well, it doesn't exist.
Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Jan. 10)
What's Buzzing: College football and NFL chatter, 2025 Topps, vintage, Topps Now WWE and more.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Dec. 12)
What's Buzzing: Santa Claus cards, Rocky Colavito, new pulls, NFL chatter, "buy the card not the grade" and more.
Making the Grade (Dec.): Juan Soto, The Mask, Tua, Penny, LeBron, Shotzi, JFK, MJ, Mariah May, Machete & much more
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 ...
STRONG SEASON ... WHAT'S NEXT?
The Card: Juan Soto 2018 Topps 582 Montgomery Club Set 1 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: A big season that came up short of the goal ... but now it's time for a historic payday while still in his mid-20s. Soto's Rookie Cards (2018) aren't all that rare, really, but there's a lot of demand -- but they still might be good buys depending on where he goes next. (Mets? Watch out.) All those thoughts were in mind when I popped this one into a submission earlier this year along with other key names from this small set for Club members. It's not a traditional RC since it's from a small set, but it's still a good Soto to me ... so I slabbed it.
The Grade: CGC 10Grade 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 P10 Total Population 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 4 Reality Check: Top grade of a small volume works for me. I'm sure there will be more and I'm sure the pops are higher elsewhere, but the range of the grades here shows it might not be the easiest kind of card to grade thanks to that retro stock.
Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Nov. 10)
What's Buzzing: Talking Topps Chrome Update, Ja'Marr Chase, soccer cards, vintage and more in this Sunday edition.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Nov. 7)
What's Buzzing: Bowman Draft has 'em talking, NFL Week 10, a completed vintage project and more in this Thursday edition.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Sept. 6)
What's Buzzing: NFL Week 1 is here, new NFL pulls, vintage non-sports, MLB position moves, MLB chatter and ... "This is arson!"
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (July 13)
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: Paul Skenes, The National, new pulls, Caitlin Clark, the Mantle theft and more remain on collectors' minds.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (July 4)
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 MLB pulls, The National, sketch cards, vintage, college football chatter and more Independence Day parallels.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (June 19)
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 react to the Willie Mays news, new pulls, The National, rare cards and more.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (May 1)
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 arrivals, new ink, NFL chatter and more in this mid-week edition.
Making the Grade (April): Cards, comics, DVDs, mags & more
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 ...
SNIKT!
The Book: Wolverine No. 50 (newsstand edition)
The Reason Graded: Back in 1992, Little Buzz was probably nearing the end of his comic book days -- or maybe a little after this one arrived -- but with some connections to a local book store I was able to get comics before they hit those spinner racks that resulted in books getting broken spines like they were Batman up against Bane. (Or something.) And with that era being one of mass-produced stuff that was still very creative on both the art front as well as the printing/gimmick front, I and many others were buying ... in quantity. This issue is one exploring Wolverine's origins and it's got a cardboard cover with his claws the source of the big die-cut gashes here revealing the first page of what's in the file (issue). I bought maybe a half-dozen of them as it was cool -- a few at the local comics shop and a few more at the book store -- and that's the key here. These newsstand versions -- same except for the UPC in the corner and not a marvel direct logo (that started in 1981) filling the box -- figure to be much, much rarer in a high grade.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)Grade 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.2 9.4 9.6 9.8 9.9 10.0 Total Population 7 5 19 30 43 66 141 339 895 0 0 1,557 Reality Check: This one was a win but I expected it as my copies here are razor sharp. How many of those graded might be newsstand copies? It's a mystery right now but asking prices on eBay as I prep this file are as high as $500 for a newsstand copy while a direct has a max asking of $299. Actual sales for 9.8s in recent weeks? About $320 for newsstand and $85 for direct. I'll take that ... I'm in for just $2.50 (though I may have gotten a discount) and my grading fees. Most "serious" collectors bought at comics shops in the boom years, seeing newsstand is inferior with those barcodes ... now those barcodes are gold as long as you're in an elite grade.
Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (March 17)
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: Justin Fields is set to be a Steeler, showing off multi-player autos, vintage NFL, Connor Bedard and more in this Sunday edition.