Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today’s your day then as we launch 12 in 12 — a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We’ll post one every hour on the hour all day long today … this is Hour 1.
The box: 2017 Leaf Metal U.S. Army All-American Bowl
The cost: BlowoutCards.com
What’s inside this one? Keep reading …
If you saw this coming, you need to be coaching The Big Game next year — and every year after that.
Alabama freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa took over behind center for the Crimson Tide down 13-0 at halftime and delivered a game-winning 41-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith in overtime to seal a 26-23 victory.
And that makes his U.S. Army All-American Bowl cards from Leaf Trading Cards the hottest cardboard on the planet for the moment — and there’s a decent amount of options to go around, too.
With a victory tonight, University of Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban would equal a giant not only in the history of college football but a giant in his school’s history.
His Crimson Tide plays in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Paul W. Bryant Drive down the road from the Paul W. Bryant Museum and the Bryant Conference Center — all reminders of Bear Bryant and his NCAA-record six national championships and 323 career victories. (Saban is at 285.)
Tonight’s College Football Playoff National Championship is Saban’s sixth title-game appearance in the last nine years and with a win he’ll have his sixth season title for his career. Saban had his chance at tying Bryant last season when his undefeated team lost in the final seconds on the final play of the game against Clemson, which Alabama knocked off in a rematch this year to advance to tonight’s game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Both of Alabama’s postseason foes this year are coached by former Tide assistants, Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Kirby Smart at Georgia, but neither has autographs and football card appearances as easily found as the legend of today, Saban.
The college football world got a pair of classic showdowns on Monday night and will get a third next week when the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs face off for the College Football Playoff National Championship.
There were some dominating performances for these two squads in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl and the good news for collectors who might not know is that a number of those stars now set to chase gridiron history already appear on fully licensed football cards thanks to card companies’ deals with prep spotlight games such as the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the Under Armour All-America Game.
In the case of the Bulldogs and their game-winning star Sony Michel — as well as his fellow bruiser RB Nick Chubb and QB Jake Fromm — they can all be found on Army cards from Leaf Trading Cards. Michel’s first of more than 40 cards was made back in 2011 and nearly all of the are autographed. Chubb has around 30 cards from 2014 and beyond, while Fromm has more than both of them with nearly 50 signed. His are all from this year’s set — and this trio is likely not alone for Bulldog cameos as there have been plenty of cards made for the event in past years (some wax is still findable — there’s even a Vault release on the way).
The Crimson Tide guys? There’s a lot more mystery there …
I’ve collected for decades — both cardboard and beyond with plenty of autographs and game-used memorabilia in my stash — but my biggest Black Friday find this year was one that I couldn’t have topped if I had tried.
(Well, at least on my budget.)
It’s my first full game-used NFL item and it comes with a pretty strong story but without my having to pay a premium price to go with it. How? It all came down to doing some research.
For a few months now I had been obsessing about finding a game-used NFL football for the heck of it — a whim, really — simply finding any ball on the cheap yet with some semblance of ironclad authentication. Better than that would be a ball with those attributes and also with some type of tie to what I collect, which really isn’t any one particular NFL team or player but instead my school and many of its recent stars, the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Thanks to Fanatics‘ business deal with its hometown Jacksonville Jaguars, the ball you see above is a reality in my collection and it came on the cheap for what it really is. That’s thanks in part to the Getty Images app that anyone can download on their phone — it’s a free tool that any game-used memorabilia collector must have.
From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there’s a box you’d want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
The box: Fanatics Authentic Alabama Crimson Tide football block (50 cards)
Price: $14.95 (via JCPenney.com)
What’s inside one of these? Keep reading for a rundown and gallery.
If you didn’t know, Super Bowl LI is on Sunday with the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots facing off for top honors in the NFL — something the Patriots have done four times and something the Falcons have come up short at grasping one previous time.
We all know the household names here and that list starts with the quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Matt Ryan, but we also should all know that this is one of those games where an unknown and cardless player could become a postseason legend like Malcolm Butler two years ago.
So, who else should be on the radar of football collectors already?
We’re a week away from a rematch between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff — and we’re less than a week away from the newest college football cards from Panini America.
No, you haven’t missed any First Buzz previews — we’re talking about promo cards for those attending the big game.
Panini America’s latest nod to college football comes via a high-end brand arriving on Wednesday with some of the biggest names in the NFL game today — you know, guys like Ezekiel Elliott here — and big names from the past, too.
It’s 2016 Panini National Treasures Collegiate football and it will pack even more into every box than originally planned.
From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there’s a box you’d want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
The boxes: 2015 Panini Alabama Crimson Tide football cards vs. 2015 Panini Ohio State Buckeyes football cards (blaster boxes)
Where to buy: Check Panini’s webstore for NCAA cards from 2015-16.
ALABAMA
Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 80
Base set completion: 63 of 80 (79 percent)
Duplicates: 12
Notables on base cards – Big Al, DeMeco Ryans, Eddie Lacy, Latrell Sprewell, Joe Namath, John Hannah, Julio Jones, Mo Williams, Mark Ingram, Robert Horry, Ozzie Newsome, A.J. McCarron, Amari Cooper, Antonio McDyess
OHIO STATE
Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 80
Base set completion: 49 of 49 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 27
Notables on base cards – Brutus Buckeye, D’Angelo Russell, Cris Carter, Evan Turner, James Laurinaitis, Jim Jackson, Paul Warfield, Rutherford B. Hayes, Ted Ginn Jr., A.J. Hawk
From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there’s a box you’d want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
The box: 2012 Upper Deck University of Alabama Crimson Tide football cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: Check online.
Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 192
Base set completion:
100 of 100 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 20
Notables on base cards – Nick Saban, Paul “Bear” Bryant, Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Bart Starr, Joe Namath, Lee Roy Jordan, Ken Stabler, John Hannah, Ozzie Newsome, Cornelius Bennett, Derrick Thomas, Shaun Alexander
After five years, he has signed.
Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones has signed his 2011 cards — Rookie Cards that were all issued as redemption cards a half-decade ago.
“The folks inside the Panini America Acquisitions department never lost hope,” read a statement on the company’s blog. “And they never gave up. They kept working the phones, and remained in frequent contact with the NFLPA and Jones’ representatives in hopes of one day landing that elusive ‘Yes’ that would lead to Jones signing the thousands of key cards that had been safely in his possession since he received them during his rookie season.”
The recent Ken Stabler Career Collection sale via Pristine Auction was one on my collecting radar from the second it was teased and on my mind until the final gavel came down earlier this month.
Simply put, I had to have something.
Why? Stabler wasn’t the first NFL player I ever met — he was probably the second — and I had his autograph a dozen times from various appearances where I played autograph hound in the past, but I knew I had met someone unique every time I ran into him. I knew that the MVP awards and the game-used items would be out of my reach. I knew that the game balls would be scooped up by serious collectors just like many of the odd mementos in the auction that included everything from wedding photos to belt buckles, cowboy hats and mix tapes.
But I knew I had to have something.
The NFLPA Rookie Premiere is here and that means more than 40 newly drafted NFL players are already signing, signing and signing some more before donning their pro uniforms for trading cards.
Among those who have signed so far is Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, who just might have the most-dynamic autograph of the bunch.
It’s been 39 years since Joe Namath last suited up for an NFL game, but his 1965 Topps Rookie Card remains an iconic one and is among the most-valuable RCs out there.
And a high-grade specimen on eBay right now is going to prove it when the auction ends.
What happens when you take some memorable baseball card designs of the early 1990s, add the latest crop of potential NFL players and autographs?
You get 2016 Leaf Ultimate Draft.
Today may be Pro Day for the Ohio State Buckeyes, but Urban Meyer‘s top stars are already being found somewhere else besides the NFL.
They’re on eBay and on 2016 Leaf Metal Draft football cards after the brand arrived this week packing five autographs per box.
One of the biggest football auctions of the year is set for Friday and Saturday as Hunt Auctions continues its traditional Super Bowl sale.
The Super Bowl 50 Live Auction will be at the Moscone Center in San Francisco with more than 900 lots including modern-day game-dated memorabilia like the J.J. Watt Houston Texans gamer above — a jersey with a hefty price already in early bidding — and pieces from football’s early years. too.
Because of its high profile as part of the NFL Experience show, prices can be pretty strong once the auctions close.
He may not end up being a top-10 pick, but he’ll definitely be a target of collectors.
Alabama junior running back Derrick Henry is headed to the NFL with a formal announcement to come on Friday. This comes on the heels of a Heisman-winning campaign where he led the Crimson Tide to a national championship and set single-season and career rushing records for the program.
Henry is rated as the second-best running back by ESPN behind Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott in a draft that, based on some projections, may not be super-stocked with collector-friendly offensive players (QBs, RBs, WRs) among the first-rounders.
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: The Steiner Sports Cleveland Browns trade-in, Nick Saban’s greatness, some Panini America NBA and baseball cases and one mighty pack of Star Wars cards.
If you’ve watched any NFL games this season, you’ve likely heard the word “concussion” many times as the league has implemented new tests on players to help prevent future problems by assessing the here and now immediately following a hard hit.
On Christmas Day, a film about the issue of concussions in football called Concussion opens in theaters. You’ve probably seen the commercials for the film during NFL games.
Will Smith stars as Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered the degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. It’s a real-life issue that has affected more than 80 former players — many you’ve seen on football cards and might have collected. The movie is an important one and Sports Illustrated has Smith on its cover this week to discuss the movie.
Is it the first time a celebrity has appeared on the cover of the highly collectable sports magazine?
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.”
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.
When the No. 2 LSU Tigers took on the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday night, it was supposed to be a showcase game for the Tigers’ Heisman Trophy candidate Leonard Fournette, who has been a dominating presence this season with more than 1,300 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.
What it turned into after a convincing 30-16 Crimson Tide victory over the previously unbeaten Tigers was, potentially, the national arrival of Alabama RB Derrick Henry.
What: 2015 Panini National Treasures Multi-sport college cards
Arrives: Jan. 8, 2016
Hobby box basics: Six autograph or memorabilia cards with one being a booklet plus two base/parallel cards. Four boxes per case.
What’s buzz-worthy: National Treasures arrives for the college ranks “with something for every college fan,” according to the company. More than 500 players will appear in this hit-driven high-end brand all in their college colors. There will be a mix of players from the past and present from baseball, football, basketball and notable college coaches, too.
See a gallery and more … below.
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