The Bowman Critic is one who spends countless hours examining checklists and box scores to see who should be emerging on collectors’ want lists soon. On days like today where the checklist for 2015 Bowman Draft arrived — click here to view it — there’s even more to say.
Keep reading for The Bowman Critic’s pros and cons about this release, which is set to arrive redemption-free on Dec. 9.
What: 2016 Topps WWE wrestling cards
Arrives: May 4, 2016
Box basics: Two hits in every 24-pack hobby box
What’s buzz-worthy: Next year’s flagship WWE release arrives with new talent and new signers making their Topps autograph or regular card debuts — among them NXT women’s champion Bayley, Mandy, Asuka, Apollo Crews, Chad Gable, Dana Brooke and Nia Jax to name a few. Also a first here? NXT mat Relics from TakeOver Brooklyn and a return of “Macho Man” Randy Savage to WWE cardboard.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
After Black Friday, the hobby presents seven new products this week with a pair of NFL and a pair of NBA products leading the way from Panini America and Topps.
In football, arguably the biggest of them all is 2015 Topps Triple Threads, a high-end brand that features “the best retired legends, veteran superstars and game-changing rookies in the NFL.” Each box will include an autographed triple Relic, a triple Relic, a rookie auto Relic and a rookie jumbo Relic inside with all numbered to no more than 99 copies.
Also coming from Topps for football will be the first gridiron take on Tek with one of the hit brands of last season in MLB getting retooled for the NFL. Inside every box of 2015 High Tek will be one autograph, one parallel and six base cards all printed on the colorful and enhanced acetate stock Tek was known for in the past.
He’s a real-life Crash Davis and just like the big-screen journeyman the career of former big-leaguer Mike Hessman is over.
If you don’t know Hessman, it’s OK — you’re probably like most of us. You might have one of his baseball cards long forgotten in a box somewhere — from back in the days when he was a rookie for the Atlanta Braves and a guy who finally got his shot after eight seasons in the minor leagues.
That was back in 2003, but he’s still in the news now.
Topps released the checklist for 2015 Bowman Draft on Monday.
You can see it below.
What: 2015-16 O-Pee-Chee Platinum hockey cards
Arrives: March 2016
Box basics: One autograph in every 20-pack box — 16 boxes per case
What’s buzz-worthy: The highly colorful and highly paralleled O-Pee-Chee Platinum returns with a secret weapon that’s far from a secret — Edmonton Oilers rookie Connor McDavid.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
Brock Osweiler had to wait a long time for his first NFL start — but his second one that came on Sunday dethroned the NFL’s most-successful team in an overtime classic.
After a 30-24 win over the previously undefeated New England Patriots, this Denver Broncos QB has to be one on the minds of a few collectors — not just on the mind of NFL legend Peyton Manning. Osweiler threw for 270 yards and a touchdown in the game — one where Broncos RB C.J. Anderson (2013 RCs) could easily be right here, too — and he’ll be the talk of football until either his next loss or the potential return of Manning, who is out with an injury.
Osweiler’s RCs can be found throughout 2012 NFL brands and his autographs are plentiful along with his memorabilia cards. If he’s truly the future in Denver, there are bargains to be had. Have we seen a scenario like this recently with the Broncos? Perhaps.
>> Click here to shop for football boxes on BlowoutCards.com.
Keep reading for four more guys who generated some buzz on the field this week.
Two of the top Heisman Trophy candidates this year already have cardboard and certified autographs thanks to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl sets from Leaf Trading Cards.
Alabama junior Derrick Henry set the Crimson Tide’s single-season rushing record in a dominating 271-yard, 46-carry day against the rival Auburn Tigers on Saturday. Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott also put up a dominating 214-yard day with a pair of touchdowns in a rout of the rival Michigan Wolverines.
What: 2015 Super Break Holiday Football
Arrives: Dec. 14
Box basics: One signed jersey, one signed photo (8×10 or 11×14), one other signed item (jersey, photo or cut), three buyback cards and one Super Break rookie per box
What’s buzz-worthy: The final release of the year from Super Break includes “top teams, players, rookies, stars and Hall of Famers.”
After a rough start to his 20th season in the NBA, a 37-year-old Kobe Bryant confirmed in a Players Tribune essay published Sunday night that this year will be his last.
It’s probably not a surprise to most NBA fans given his injuries in recent years, but an end to a career doesn’t mean an end to cardboard, either. In fact, we’re probably just getting started with this Panini America spokesman.
Black Friday has come and gone, but we’ve left our biggest contest to run through the weekend and into Cyber Monday.
We’re giving away a case of Panini America football cards.
We want our 20-box case of 2014 Panini Rookies & Stars Longevity football boxes to be yours. It’s jam-packed with four hits per box (that’s 80 per case!) and originally carried a suggested retail price of $50 per box.
In a comment right here, guess the total number of points scored in the Ravens-Browns game on Monday night without going over. All entries must be in before the game starts at 7:30 Central time on Monday and comments will be held before they are approved in batches throughout the weekend. (Don’t worry if you don’t see your answer appear immediately on the page.)
***KEEP READING FOR STEP ONE OF TIE-BREAKER***
If there are several collectors who correctly pick the same score, our tie-breaker process will be this:
1. First preference goes to a blog subscriber. Look for the red button you see here 
on the upper right of the screen (or at bottom of story feed on mobile). Suscribe and you will get an email every time there is a story posted on BlowoutBuzz.com. (We’ll have plenty of info posted here daily.)
2. If all correct responders are already blog subscribers, we will select one winner at random.
Oh and be sure to follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
Were you shut out on 2015 Bowman Chrome during the downtime on BlowoutCards.com today? Keep reading …
Thanks for hanging in there with us.
We understand many of you got shut out on the 2015 Bowman Chrome special and we are working on a remedy. We will be listing a generous quantity sometime this evening with a limit of one box per household at the Doorbuster price of $29.95.
We do upgrade of servers every year for this event, and, honestly, we are overwhelmed by your support this year. We continue to restock many items well above what we had allocated for this event.
The BlowoutCards.com Black Friday sale stalled just a bit Friday morning as demand for 2015 Bowman Chrome hobby boxes at just $29.95 apiece crashed the website.
It’s just temporary, though, as the crew at Blowout is working on things right now.
Demand for Chrome is king — here’s the direct link for when it’s back online.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
We know Black Friday is about doorbusting bargain prices, but we’ve also got something in store for you right now from BlowoutCards — a deal that can’t be beat if you’re creative or lucky.
It’s free and it all starts right here.
We have three ways for you to win, beginning with tonight’s Bears-Packers game.
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.
The semifinalists list for this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame vote was revealed this week and there are some legendary names on the list of 25 — Brett Favre, Terrell Owens, Morten Anderson, Alan Faneca.
And if you’re like Buzz — a long-time collector but maybe someone whose focus isn’t purely on football all the time — one of those names may have left you saying, “Who?”
What: 2016 Topps Finest baseball cards
Arrives: June 8, 2016
Box basics: One autograph per mini box — two mini boxes per master box with six packs of five cards in each one.
What’s buzz-worthy: Back for its 24th year, Finest once again includes a mini-box configuration to help more collectors enjoy the colorful high-energy and autograph-fueled brand. Among the highlights this year? Ichiro Suzuki autographs and a Ken Griffey Jr. tribute set.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
Today’s the day for 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection football cards to arrive and BlowoutTV has been at it since the early morning, busting a few cases already and box after box as well.
Buzz is a collector who has to be selective — can’t collect everything but would want to — so that’s why a day like Black Friday can be important.
It’s a way to try stuff I normally wouldn’t or something I’ve always eyed but never done simply because the price is right.
Blowout’s Black Friday Doorbusters have been revealed and there are some serious bargains to be found along with the previous waves of Black November discounts on other brands beyond these. Keep reading for my picks on the deals that would get my attention first.
What: 2016 Topps Series 2 baseball cards
Arrives: June 15, 2016
Box basics: One autograph or Relic in every 36-pack hobby box (10 cards per pack, 12 boxes per case)
What’s buzz-worthy: The second series of the 2016 Topps flagship includes all of the things found in Series 1 but also some new inclusions such as rip cards and tributes to Ichiro Suzuki as he nears the 3,000-hit club and Ken Griffey Jr. as he’ll likely be in Cooperstown not long after this one arrives next summer.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are five threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.
There will be an awakening in less than a month and we’ve all felt it in some form or fashion as collectors.
The latest example of that might be Empire magazine’s newest issue, which arrives this week with not one, not two, but six different covers for stars of Star Wars: The Force Awakens arriving on Dec. 18.
Each cover arrives with a 3D look delivered via lenticular plastic — you know, like the old school Kellogg’s and Sporflics cards … but just more intergalactic and stuff.
It’s no secret that Ringo Starr isn’t a fan of signing autographs — even though he’s done so thousands of times up until a few years ago when he posted a video on his website saying “no more.”
But now The Beatles’ drummer is signing just 250 copies of “Property From The Collection of Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach” which is the auction catalog box set for the upcoming sale of his memorabilia collection though Los Angeles-based Julien’s Auctions.
How much?
If you’ve missed Cole Beasley on the football field, it’s not that big of a deal — it’s easy to miss the Dallas Cowboys’ 5-foot-8 wide receiver.
Besides, we all know he’s small and powerful when it comes to selling Tide PODS — go ahead, watch the commercial above. It’s been viewed more than 5.6 million times. (We won’t tell if you haven’t seen it.)
You know where else Beasley is small and powerful? You know, where he’s a bit of a short-print?
On football cards.
He might be the biggest thing going in The Big Apple right now — and that makes him a big deal on cardboard.
His name is Kristaps Porzingis and he’s playing so well for the New York Knicks right now that the team’s marquee player, Carmelo Anthony, has already dubbed him the future of the franchise.
“He’s going to lead this organization long after I’m retired,” Anthony said in an SI.com story today. “Hopefully we can hoist one or two [championship trophies] before that happens.”
The fifth Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview this year is one where the greats of the gridiron from the past and the present can be found.
A hobby box of 2007 Topps Triple Threads football cards will include one Triple Relic and one Autographed Triple Relic with a rookie class that includes Calvin Johnson and Adrian Peterson. This one will be one of the dramatically discounted Doorbuster deals on Black Friday (Nov. 27) at BlowoutCards.com.
How much for a box?
Jo Jo White was a Kansas Jayhawk before he was a Boston Celtic and an NBA-championship winner inducted into the Hall of Fame. Since then, he’s also worked in the Celtics’ front office.
A 25-lot sale open now via SCP Auctions includes memorabilia from all those times, including his Converse College All-America honors, two replacement rings for his titles with the Boston Celtics (the originals were lost) and his honorary 2008 Celtics championship ring from when he worked for the team.
Ever wondered how a game-used memorabilia card is made? Well, Panini America documented the steps for a Tom Brady Immaculate Collection gem or two in this video released on Monday.
Check it out.
Follow BlowoutBuzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz.
>> Click here to order 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection on BlowoutCards.com.
If you’ve done some cardboard hunting at the retail aisle, you may have passed right by the home of some of the hottest baseball cards available in stores like Target.
The card above? It’s a 2015 Topps Chrome Update Black Refractor of reigning National League Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant and it was only found in a 2015 Topps Update Mega Box — a retail box with five Update packs and two exclusive Chrome Update packs inside.
It’s serial-numbered to 99 copies and sold for $100 on eBay. Because there are only two Chrome packs per box, these have been selling quite well because key guys aren’t simple every-box pulls even for their base cards. (You can find boxes and cases at Blowout right here, though.)
Who will be signing for 2015 Bowman Draft? That’s a question that’s been ongoing and Topps has been trickling out names via the BowmanCards Twitter account.
The first two signers will be Dansby Swanson and Brendan Rodgers but they’ll now be joined by a few others.
If you’ve collected non-sports cards in the last decade or so, then you know just how interesting a good sketch card can be. They come in all media and subjects, but they all have one thing in common.
Real hand-made art on a trading card that’s typically just 2.5 by 3.5 inches.
Buzz was buzzing around Facebook today and found this image of a work in progress by Julio Nar, aka NAR!, who has created some of the most-detailed sketch cards in the hobby. The card above is all hand-inked with various passes to add detail and color.
A mysterious package arrived at BlowoutCards.com HQ on Monday morning with some sample images and a flash drive with a single video clip inside.
Here is that video.
The NFL’s newest emerging name — Seattle RB Thomas Rawls — ran for 209 yards and a touchdown and added three catches for 46 yards and a score. But — and this is a big but for collectors — he doesn’t have a single legitimate NFL card, so we’re stuck with this guy. It turns out that “this guy,” aka Tampa Bay Bucs QB Jameis Winston, had a record-setting day for his team with five touchdowns and 246 yards passing in a 45-17 win over the Eagles. Is he that good — or are they that bad? Doesn’t matter on cardboard as he’ll continue to be one of the rookies collectors hope to find in this year’s football boxes.
>> Click here to shop for 2015 football boxes on BlowoutCards.com.
Keep reading for four more guys who generated some buzz on the field this week.
What: 2015 Super Break Heavy Hitters Holiday Edition
Arrives: Nov. 27 (Black Friday)
Box basics: Three cards per box with three boxes per case
What’s buzz-worthy: The latest from Super Break includes “some of the Best Buyback cards in a Super Break this year.”
See a gallery and more … below.
The fourth Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview this year is one that will heat things up no matter where you might be.
A hobby box of 2013-14 Panini Contenders hockey cards will pack at least four autographs inside, but in many instances you might find that many autos (and probably more) on a single card. This one will be one of the dramatically discounted Doorbuster deals on Black Friday (Nov. 27) at BlowoutCards.com.
How much for a box?
BlowoutBuzz.com 