Buzz Poll: Who gets your single vote for the Hall of Fame this year?

This year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with several new names and players who appeared on last year’s ballot but failed to get selected on 75 percent of the vote.

It’s a crop that includes Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Johan Santana among the newcomers and Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens among those left over from past ballots.

Below is the ballot that all BBWAA members will receive. The writers can vote for as many as 10 players. Those who appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast will be inducted into the Hall.

Buzz Poll: Cast your votes for this year’s MLB award-winners

With apologies to your World Series champion Houston Astros, we all know the baseball players who owned the hobby in 2017 — Aaron Judge, Aaron Judge and Aaron Judge.

Oh and that Cody Bellinger guy, too.

The finalists for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards are in and you’ll find Judge, Bellinger and several others who made things happen on the field this year among the potential award-winners. We’ll have to wait until next week for the start of the reveals but you can cast your votes right here, right now.

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Keep reading to vote for the rest of the categories.

Buzz Poll: Who do you think wins the World Series this year?

We’re inching closer to the final teams taking the field this year in MLB and, at this point, we have just a single question for collectors after a crazy year of rookie home runs and plenty of other drama.

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Buzz Poll: Which Jose Altuve Rookie Card would you want to own first?

Jose Altuve was the Houston Astros player who stole the spotlight on Thursday night with three home runs in Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series.

The number was just one short of his Rookie Card total from 2011 — and the three-time batting champ doesn’t have much cardboard before that, either, just an appearance in 2010 Bowman Chrome.

And that fact has me pondering a simple question for all of you …

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Buzz Poll: Who’s the most-collectable player on the always-winning Cleveland Indians?

The Cleveland Indians’ historic winning streak is up to 19 games and the defending American League champs have shown themselves to be overwhelming their competition.

Per ESPN, it’s the fourth-longest win streak since 1900 and they’ve hit more home runs than runs allowed, outscoring their competition by more than 100 runs.

But who on the team is making waves from a collecting standpoint?

We’ll let you pick three players from the list below to help simplify things in case you simply can’t pick just one … I can’t.

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First Buzz: 2018 Topps MLB design is here … tell us what you think in poll

Update (Aug. 4): Get the full preview & see more right here >> bit.ly/2u9vEPD

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Topps revealed the design for its 2018 Topps flagship baseball set on Thursday, giving us a new full-bleed look with some futuristic touches.

Tell us what you think about the design in the comments and in our poll below.

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Buzz Poll: Do Ezekiel Elliott’s off-field issues worry you as a collector?

Ezekiel Elliott was a force as a rookie last season for the Dallas Cowboys, coming up just short of the NFL rookie rushing record but he might as well have gotten it based on cardboard standards.

His 1,631 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, along with success for his team that firmly put it back in the national spotlight, were highlights that sold some cards and then some. But fast-forward to today and the Rookie of the Year allegedly was entangled in some type of bar fight Sunday while already being investigated for domestic violence.

We’ve been there, done that like this before — many players have had many issues, this is nothing new — but not many of them have lit up the hobby as a rookie like Elliott did last season.

That leads to questions about cardboard …

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Have more to say? Tell us in a comment or on Twitter.

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Buzz Poll: Who wins tonight’s MLB All-Star Home Run Derby?

The MLB All-Star Game is tomorrow night in Miami but all eyes will be on the showdown that is the Home Run Derby tonight (8 p.m., ESPN) where two rookie heavyweights, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, could have a showdown — and it won’t even be for the crown.

They’re on the same side of the bracket for the power showcase along with Charlie Blackmon and Justin Bour, while the other side of the bracket includes defending champ Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Mike Moustakas and Miguel Sano. 

Buzz Poll: Does Mike Trout’s first visit to the disabled list worry you?

For the first time in his big-league career, the biggest-selling star in MLB is headed to the disabled list — and it’s with a torn thumb ligament that needs surgery.

With Mike Trout cards — particularly his 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft autos — trading at record highs, there are bound to be some worries. (Here’s where it’s being discussed over on the Blowout Forums.)

Could this be the type of injury that affects his performance now and in the future? Or is it something that gives collectors a chance to catch their breath and maybe land some big cards cheaper than they might have otherwise been?

Tell us what you think in our polls below or via a comment here or on Twitter.

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

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Buzz Poll: How does Tiger Woods’ news affect your collection?

Tiger Woods is back in the news again — and it’s not for golf.

Naturally with this development, along with his lack of time on the PGA Tour, one has to ponder the future of his cardboard. As one of the most-decorated and sought-after golf stars of all time, there’s been plenty of money put into his cardboard. He’s definitely also been one of the most sought-after autographs of anyone in the sports world … but now this.

More than a few questions come to mind … tell us what you think with our poll below or via a comment here or on Twitter.

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

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Buzz Poll: What do you collect?

What do you collect when it comes to cardboard? It’s a simple question … tell us in our latest Buzz Poll below or in the comments here or on Twitter. (You can select multiple answers.)

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Buzz Poll: Which Mickey Mantle item topped the auction block?

Mickey Mantle dominated the auction block on Saturday night in Dallas as Heritage Auctions‘ Platinum Night sports sale was topped by a pair of Mantles with very different attributes.

Yet both had very high demand.

Both items you see here — one a PSA 8 copy of his 1952 Topps card and the other being Mantle’s New York Yankees road jersey worn when he hit his 535th career home run on Sept. 19, 1968 — are six-figure items.

One went for $660,000 with a buyer’s premium while the other went for $486,000 and with that pair of facts we have these two questions for you.

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Spoiler: Highlight the text after this on this line to learn more. The card sold for more.

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Buzz Poll: Would you buy a Super Bowl used confetti card?

The Lombardi trophy confetti you see here is reportedly from Super Bowl LI and it recently fetched some surprising money — $50! — on eBay.

And it’s not alone.

Maybe it’s just those rabid New England Patriots fans out there, but that got Buzz wondering …

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It’s not been done before but it seems like everything else has made it into cards. Unless the NFL objects, it seems like it could be done quite easily.

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

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Buzz Poll: Is the trade to New Orleans good for DeMarcus Cousins?

After the defensive showcase of the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans on Sunday night, the basketball world got some rim-rocking news with one of its more controversial stars.

DeMarcus Cousins was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans with Omri Casspi for Buddy Hield, ‎Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, the Pelicans’ first-round pick and the Philadelphia 76ers’ second-round pick this year.

Cousins has averaged 21.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game for his career, which started back in 2010 when the Kings took him with the fifth pick in the NBA Draft. But he’s perhaps better known for his clashes with reporters, teammates, coaches on an underachieving team.

But now he has a fresh start — and some expectations for a team that has some talent you might have heard of. Tell us what you think with our two Buzz Poll questions below or via a comment or on Twitter.

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Does the slab make the card? It doesn’t hurt these (gallery + poll)

Slabbed cards have been a part of the hobby for decades now but a few autograph companies have started getting into the trend in recent years by encasing cards to give them a bit better display presence at a fraction of the price for a signed photo or memorabilia piece.

And it helps that while storage and protection concern go away, too.

Two big autograph dealers — Steiner Sports and Fanatics Authentic — have pretty beefy runs of signed trading cards available that in some cases take the interesting creations of card companies and makes them better.

Buzz Poll: Looking back in time, which Bo did you prefer to know?

Bo was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s as a college football star, a professional baseball and football star and a marketing star. Everybody knew his name and they still know why.

And then suddenly one day it was gone.

Sure, Vincent Edward Jackson played some baseball after his final NFL game — that hip injury was 26 years ago tomorrow — but he was never the same. And in an interview today he had a different take on his career.

“If I knew back then what I know now,” he told USA TODAY Sports, “I would have never played football. Never. I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn’t tell anybody.”

His career as a pro — in both sports — lasted less than a decade but he’s easily one of the biggest icons of his time. It’s a story worth checking out if you missed it and it’s worth revisiting if you didn’t.

Here, though, we simply have one bit of curiosity presented below.

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Buzz Poll: Who wins Super Bowl LI?

We’re down to the last 12 NFL teams and that means we have just one question for the remainder of the football calendar.

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

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Buzz Poll: Assess the 2016 NFL season with our latest questions

The regular season is now over in the NFL and that means one thing — we now have final stats.

Ok, ok … it also means the playoffs.

But for many rookies and players who are important in the hobby and may not be playing this weekend, those final stats are one way to assess whether we should continue to sink our dollars into their cards. Two rookies of note in 2016, Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, will still be playing and they lead off our first of 13 Buzz Poll questions all about the NFL this year.

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Keep reading to answer the rest of our questions …

Buzz Poll: What do you collect when it comes to cardboard these days?

A new year is almost here and Buzz has a few questions for you about your collecting habits.

Simply put, we want to know more about what you collect and here are 10 questions we hope you’ll take a few minutes to answer.

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See the rest of the questions after the jump.

Buzz Poll: Win or lose at UFC 207, what’s next for Ronda Rousey?

When Ronda Rousey enters the Octagon for UFC 207 on Friday night in Las Vegas it will have been one year, one month and 16 days since her career trajectory changed from unprecedented dominating badass with mainstream cameos everywhere to a rattled ex-champ with a 12-1-0 record.

Her cardboard is still arguably the hottest in the hobby — at least based on asking prices — but we all know it’s not the same as it had been when the steamroller got shocked. A win against Amanda Nunes might get the gravy train rolling back to its super-marketed hype levels — you know, something to justify all that super marketing that’s been done in her return.

But … what’s next for her cardboard if she loses again?

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

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Buzz Poll: What’s next for Yoan Moncada baseball cards?

Chris Sale is headed to Boston for four prospects and the biggest one of them all is Yoan Moncada.

Moncada was a top-five prospect for the Red Sox and easily among the hottest prospects in the game in the last year or so. Now, he heads to the White Sox where big bats like Jose Abreu have arrived with an impact but fizzled over time in terms of cardboard.

The 21-year-old hit just .211 with one RBI in eight games with the Red Sox last season after a minor-league campaign that included a .294 average, 15 homers and 62 RBI in 106 games between Salem and Portland.

What do you think?

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

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Buzz Poll: Which Dallas Cowboys rookie is tops with collectors … Ezekiel Elliott or Dak Prescott?

The Dallas Cowboys have the best record in the NFL at 11-1 and it’s due to a pair of rookies who have played very, very well this season, Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott.

Both are readily available in nearly all 2016 football wax, which is a big plus, but which one wins among collectors?

Tell us in our poll, a comment here or on Twitter.

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

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Asking prices on Connor McDavid’s The Cup rookie patch autographs are kind of a big deal right now

The Cup is here and the biggest rookie of them all is here, too, with big asking prices on eBay.

The rookie is, of course, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and his rookie patch autos from Upper Deck’s 2015-16 The Cup are something in high demand. We all knew that would be the case months ago.

But, now that they are here, the asking prices on early finds are jaw-droppers.

Buzz Poll: Did you buy any Cubs cards after their World Series win?

The Chicago Cubs’ World Series win is big business — on cardboard and beyond — but Buzz has a question.

Did you buy any Cubs cards after their championship?

Plenty of collectors did as, for example, the 2016 Topps Now Chicago Cubs World Series Championship set came in two forms — an autograph set for $149.99 that included one signed card and a standard one that was $49.99. The pricey one sold 2,581 copies and the unsigned set sold 6,636 — not shabby but probably still just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a history-making win and sales.

Take our poll below or leave a comment if you need to say more.

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Buzz Poll: Would a Chicago Cubs World Series win be the biggest thing ever for cardboard?

We’re just a few hours away from Game 7 of the World Series where the Chicago Cubs will end more than a century of futility — or the Cleveland Indians will make them once again wait for next year.

On cardboard and in the hobby, there’s no comparison between the two teams as the Cubs are largely stocked with young players (several homegrown) who are well-established and readily available on cardboard — for now — compared to the Indians, who have a few young notables but nobody who’ll truly break the bank. Among the Cubbies’ notables are Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Jake Arrieta, Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo … and that’s not all on a list that’s meaty and the cardboard is boldly available for nearly all of them.

That got Buzz wondering … if the Cubs win it all, is their victory bigger than the Boston Red Sox’ 2004 World Series win when it comes to the hobby and collecting? Is it bigger than Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens — you know, all those historic super-human performances that ultimately turned out to be, well, a bit questionable? They all sold plenty of cardboard in the past — plenty — but that team and those players were mostly established veterans. The Cubs are largely kids with plenty of potential for future successes — dare we say dynasty — for years to come being a real possibility.

And that would all start with a ring tonight and pay off for collectors for years to come.

I’d argue that demand for the Cubs’ key players autographs and key players could be the biggest thing seen in years once it’s all said and done. Once The Curse of the Billy Goat is dead and buried alongside that of The Bambino there’s all kinds of potential for now in the short-term, later in the weeks and months to come and, ultimately, for future seasons.

It could be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.

Agree? Disagree? Tell Buzz what you think in the poll below …

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

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Buzz Poll: Who’s winning the World Series … and who’s worth collecting?

Game 1 of the World Series is set for 8 p.m tonight on FOX and it pits two long-losing franchises against each other with one of them ready to claim their first championship in decades.

Here are a few basic questions about the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians for collectors to chew on …

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

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Buzz Poll: Who do you see winning the World Series?

MLB’s postseason begins tonight … and we simply want to know who you think wins it all.

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

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Buzz Poll: Are you collecting Eagles QB Carson Wentz … and is he legit?

Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz is among the hottest rookies on cardboard today — if not the hottest — but how do you see him faring on the field?

His first two opponents — the Browns and the Bears — may not have been as stout as people expected, but in the first half of play on Sunday against the Steelers, he was 18-for-25 for 183 yards and a touchdown. And, just now, he just added a 73-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, making a good start look even better.

And that means we have a couple questions for you collectors out there …

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

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Buzz Poll: Will Tim Tebow ever play for Mets … and have baseball cards?

From the New York Jets to the New York Mets.

That’s the headline this morning as Tim Tebow has been signed by the Mets to a minor-league deal.

The 29-year-old hasn’t played baseball since high school and hasn’t taken a meaningful snap in the NFL since he was a Jet in 2012.

But, hey, now he’ll be eligible to appear on baseball cards. (The real question is how soon will they arrive?)

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

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Buzz Poll: Which Bowman Chrome packaging format do you prefer?

This year’s Bowman Chrome baseball card set arrives today with two new formats — one being a Finest-style mini-box format with an autograph guaranteed in each and the other being a vending box format with three autos inside.

And that prompts a simple question …

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Click here to view the 2016 Bowman Chrome baseball checklist.

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

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Buzz Poll: Which 2016 MLB debut has impressed you most?

More than 200 players have made their MLB debuts so far this season and one of the latest is the hottest prospect in baseball, Boston Red Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada.

He got his first hit last night in just his second game and that got us wondering which newcomers you think have been best. Take the Buzz Poll below …

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Buzz Poll: Will CM Punk’s UFC debut get your collecting attention?

We’re a week away from former WWE star CM Punk‘s MMA debut at UFC 203 in Cleveland. It’s been a long time coming — so much so it’s coming well after his UFC cardboard debut — and that got Buzz wondering what collectors think of the crossover.

Here are four simple questions about Punk and collecting.

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If you were wondering, his first UFC autographs can be found here in what is an affordable three-hit box.

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Buzz Poll: Do you think Alex Rodriguez will play elsewhere?

Alex Rodriguez‘s playing time with the New York Yankees is coming to an end on Friday.

How many games he might play between now and then is up in the air with a road trip to Boston, but the end as a player is definitely at home on Friday with an advisory role signed through next season if he wants it. However, he insisted that he’s “not a coach” and stopped short of saying he’d never play again. Yankees GM Brian Cashman said he’d have an open door if he wanted to play elsewhere.

It’s been a long journey with cardboard that looks back to his high school days, time with USA Baseball and throughout his years with Seattle, Texas and New York.

A-Rod is four home runs short of 700 — and that makes one wonder if it’s not a possibility. What do you think? Tell us in our poll, with a comment below or on Twitter.

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

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Buzz Poll: Now what for Deflategate’s main players?

Unless the Supreme Court opts to hear his case, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be suspended for the first four games of this season for his alleged role in the Deflategate scandal.

This puts the focus solely on Jimmy Garoppolo and the franchise in his hands. He’s a guy who has completed 20 of 31 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown in 11 games over two seasons. As a recently drafted rookie found throughout 2014 brands, he’s got plenty of cardboard for collectors to speculate with and that got Buzz wondering what you guys thought …

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

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Buzz Poll: Kevin Durant is a Golden State Warrior … what does it mean for his basketball cards & hobby?

Kevin Durant will be a member of the Golden State Warriors next season, opting to join a team that lost just nine regular-season games before coming up one win short in the postseason.

We want to know what you think this means for his basketball cards …

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>>> Collectors react to the news on the Blowout Forum.

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

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