PSA authenticated or graded 10 of most-expensive items sold in 2017

Just 10 of the most-notable items in the sports world that were sold in 2017 totaled more than $6.7 million in sales, ranging from the $1.68 million Norman Rockwell piece you see here to high-grade copies of Mickey Mantle‘s iconic 1952 Topps card.

And they all had one thing in common — PSA or PSA/DNA authentication.

“We certified a myriad of incredible items last year, and the list is full of sports history from top to bottom,” said Professional Sports Authenticator VP Steve Sloan. “We’ll continue pushing ourselves toward another great year in 2018, and look forward to what’s in store.”

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based company recently took the time to examine the markets last year and touted its Top 10 for 2017. Keep reading to see everything on the list.

Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! icons get artistic tribute via Gallery1988

We don’t have all of the details yet, but one of the most-popular video games of the 1980s is getting full artistic honors with a tribute show launching tonight via a Los Angeles gallery.

The game is Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! and the locale is Gallery1988.

It’s the latest show with ties to pop culture and the sports world at the venue and this time it’s several artists taking on the battles of Little Mac — and those are items that could be in big demand from fans and collectors.

Tom Brady artwork & autographed prints help benefit charity

A Boston-area autograph company has teamed up with one of Boston’s biggest icons for a limited-release piece of art available to collectors now.

The company is JG Autographs and its new teammate is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

The piece is by artist Jace McTier and just a dozen signed and numbered prints as well as the original artwork will be sold.

WWE releases high-end statues for Roddy Piper, Shawn Michaels

A pair of WWE Hall of Famers have been revisited in porcelain form as part of two high-end statue lines that are now available.

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper is the latest to be sculpted for the Immortal Moments Collection, captured during a promo in Piper’s Pit, while “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels is the latest  in the Championship Title Collection.

S. Preston’s Minimalist Mascots finally get official MLB licensing nod

If you’re a long-time reader of The Buzz, you should remember sports artist S. Preston, who focuses on the small details and builds artwork around those little things that sports fans see and appreciate.

After a year of waiting for MLB licensing, Preston’s work is back with a new series of Minimalist Mascots prints, which are now available with a focus on the fast and furry-ous stars often found running around the ballpark.

The pieces were part of his portfolio back when we first visited his work in December but could not be sold because they were not licensed. Now, though, they are available to fans.

Topps celebrates Rocky’s 40th anniversary with series of prints

Topps is getting in the ring with “The Italian Stallion” for a new line of wall art.

Why? This is the 40th anniversary of the Oscar-winning film, Rocky, which was written by its star, Sylvester Stallone.

Buzz Q&A: ‘Trading Cards’ illustrator Cuyler Smith

A card show begins in Los Angeles tonight and lasts all the way until March 26 — and you have a shot at owning any and all of the superstars in attendance as long as you’re there early enough.

The difference? It’s at an art gallery — at Gallery 1988 (East) — and the cards are prints from California illustrator Cuyler Smith, whose focus is the biggest names in the sports world … err, the sports movie world.

Buzz caught up with Smith before his show, “Trading Cards,” opens with a reception tonight at 7 p.m.

Q: How did you happen to focus on cards and card-size art?
A: It all started when I made a card for a group show at Gallery 1988 focusing on the films of Tom Hanks. I knew I wanted to do something different and the baseball card was a perfect fit for A League of Their Own.

Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (March 4)

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.

What’s Buzzing Today: Busting 2016 Topps Heritage, custom cards, RGIII … and more Heritage.

California-based illustrator readies for ‘card show’ of his own in March

California illustrator Cuyler Smith has a “card show” coming in March — and it’s likely to include some of the biggest names in the sports world.

Well, at least the world found in sports movies.

Even cooler? Some of his prints are found in card size and come in top-loaders — at least while they last.

Old baseball cards become artwork for graphic design student

What to do with old common cards is a question and a challenge for many collectors, especially as they continue to pile up.

But for 19-year-old New York-based Blowout member Steven Verdile, aka Metsfan1121, the temptation to simply throw them away was thwarted when the graphic design student received an assignment in a 3D class earlier this year.

“We had to take items that we already had and aren’t typically used for art, and use them to create a 3D piece,” he wrote on a post on the forum. “I quickly thought about using my cards, and came up with an idea. I decided to make a baseball field, along with bleachers and a dugout, out of cards.”

Minimalist Ballparks & Ballpark Princesses are focus of sports fan and sports artist S. Preston

They’re two distinctly different styles of art probably catering to different types of sports fans, but you should have no doubts about one thing — the works of S. Preston are the work of a sports fan. 

“I won piano competitions, art competitions and mathematics competitions, but that didn’t matter because all I wanted to do was be in sports,” he writes on his website. “But as we all know too well, the dream of being a professional athlete is not for everyone, including me.”

Working with a broadcasting team led to a lot of time in stadiums and one day an old doodle led to an idea of drawing stadiums in the simplest ways possible — but noting the details sports fans can Identify with. “Minimalist Ballparks” was born. On the other end of the spectrum are his hand-penciled “Baseball Princesses” sketches of iconic characters little girls love with a simple twist and the simple idea that “girls can be baseball fans, too.”