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 Today: Hall of Fame chatter, looking forward to 2018 Topps and 2018 Topps Heritage arrivals, big pulls and two 1/1s in the same box.
The two newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame were revealed on Sunday night and it’s a relatively easy hunt for their Rookie Cards if you want them — you’ll just need to track down a 1978 Topps baseball card set.
That’s where you can land the RCs for Detroit Tigers stars Jack Morris and Alan Trammell, who are Cooperstown-bound next summer. One won’t cost you much and even can be found in bulk, while the other will be a bit tougher (but not all that bad) due to Trammell sharing his RC with Paul Molitor, a Milwaukee Brewers star already enshrined in baseball’s most-elite club.
Since they’re on multi-player cards, Morris and Trammell didn’t appear on the O-Pee-Chee set that year — that simplifies things a bit — but there are still two other Topps cards you’ll need to collect ’em all.
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.
What: 2018 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures autographed baseballs
Arrives: Jan. 3
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
What’s buzz-worthy: TRISTAR’s autographed baseball chase brand is back in January with nods to its hometown World Series champion Houston Astros as well as Diamond Tickets good for one of the biggest possible autographs in MLB history.
Keep reading for details on that one and a gallery of what’s possible in this one.
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 3.
The box: 2001 Topps Archives baseball cards (blaster)
The cost: $50 now ($34.99 then by the box, $3.99 per pack)
What’s inside this one? Keep reading …
Ted Williams called him the “Silent Captain” of the Red Sox and he’s a Hall of Famer, too, with 14 seasons in the major leagues, all for Boston.
He’s Bobby Doerr and he died Monday at age 99.
Doerr was a nine-time All-Star who hit .288 with 2,042 hits, 223 home runs and 1,247 RBI in 1,865 games for Boston from 1937 to 1951 save for the 1945 season where, like Williams, he was in the military.
“Bobby Doerr was part of an era of baseball giants and still stood out as one himself,” Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement. “And even with his Hall of Fame achievements at second base, his character and personality outshined it all. He will be missed.”
If you hadn’t noticed, there are a number of boxes with discounted prices right now over on the mothership as BlowoutCards.com is in the midst its Black November sales now.
Wave 4 is here and many of the discounts were dramatic enough that Buzz had to sit down and ponder the possibilities in many of the boxes and cases — and here are five boxes/cases that caught this collector’s eye.
2016 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball hobby box
You may not recognize the uniforms here but they’re creative — and wearing them are names you should know with guys like Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Rhys Hoskins on the checklist. The crop of players here is pretty strong and so is the signers list in a product that takes the 1967 Topps design back to the minor leagues. Atop the signers list that includes Dansby Swanson, Andrew Benintendi, Alex Bregman, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout for starters, they’re all on-card autographs here. A couple of boxes should get you a basic base set and a number of the inserts that this one includes. It’s a simple but fun break and you can see a sample box here.
Keep reading for four more picks …
Three autographed baseballs representing a cult classic episode of The Simpsons and a subsequent “mockumentary” of the episode will benefit the charity of a baseball icon soon.
It’s all part of a Goldin Auctions sale of baseballs signed by those involved in “Springfield of Dreams” which aired last night as part of a 25th anniversary celebration of “Homer at the Bat” a year that also included honors at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
If you’re a younger collector, you may not know the name, but the memorabilia of a long-time (and Hall of Fame honored) sports writer is headed to the auction block.
He’s Bill Madden — fun fact for collectors is that he literally helped Donruss build its roster of Rated Rookies in 1984 Donruss — and a number of his treasures will be sold next week.
Among the more than 400 lots will be photos, programs, signed items, signed books, press pins and more from some of the biggest names in MLB history.
This just might be a baseball card to go gung-ho for.
It’s one of three Materials cards from The Ted Williams Collection found in packs of 2017 Panini Diamond Kings — all memorabilia cards with pieces of personally worn material from the Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox icon.
This one’s a bit different, though.
What: 2017 Historic Autographs HOF Inductees (baseball & football)
Arrives: March 29
Box basics: Three slabbed & authenticated autographs per box (10 boxes per case)
What’s buzz-worthy: A mix of Hall of Famers from both baseball and football are found in this one, which is all about ink.
Keep reading for more information.
A new year of Topps #TBT is here and it’s bringing to us the newest Hall of Fame class and a few other stars of yesteryear all on a design from the past.
Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell are paired with one other Hall of Famer from their primary franchise’s past to round out the first pack in a weekly series.
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: Big pulls, the Topps Transcendent party and the worst players in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Nearly 30 lots of memorabilia from one of MLB’s most-legendary hitters has hit the auction block — the balls from his first home run and his 3,000th hit, his Hall of Fame ring, his Silver Slugger awards and plenty more could soon be in collectors’ hands.
That legend is Tony Gwynn and Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based SCP Auctions is handling this second sale of his estate’s memorabilia. Just like before, a portion of the sales will will go to the Tony & Alicia Gwynn Foundation, which focuses on improving opportunities for kids.
“My husband was a man of honor and integrity who really wanted to make a difference in this world,” said Alicia Gwynn, the Hall of Famer’s widow. “Just like the first auction, this one serves two objectives: to share his baseball memorabilia with the fans who loved him and to give something back to the city that treated us so well.”
He’s one of the biggest names in the history of the game and he’s one not commonly found on cardboard when it comes to autographs.
But Christy Mathewson‘s ink has been found in a $25,000 box of 2016 Topps Transcendent Collection baseball cards and the Hall of Famer’s ink is definitely worthy of the record-setting pricey brand.
The asking price?
This year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with 19 new names as well as the players who appeared on last year’s ballot but failed to get 75 percent of the vote.
Below is the list of names that all BBWAA members will receive. The writers can vote for as many as 10 players and those who appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast will go into the Hall. Your challenge here is different.
Unlike the writers, you don’t get to pick 10. You get to pick just one player.
We’re just days away from the newest high-end baseball card brand from Panini America and we’ve got a look at some of the final cards found in its high-end boxes.
It’s 2016 Panini Pantheon and you can see a massive gallery of its inclusions after the jump.
The arrival of a new high-end Panini America baseball card brand is little more than a week away and that means we have new info about what it will include.
We have the checklist for 2016 Panini Pantheon baseball cards.
Prime Cuts is almost here — but the wait for its checklist is now over.
How many Babe Ruth memorabilia cards will there be? How many rookies made the cut? Who’s signing and whose memorabilia can be found for the first time?
Oh and who made it onto the eight-player autograph booklets?
Keep reading to find out what’s in store for 2016 Panini Prime Cuts baseball cards …
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: Big breaks, 20 boxes of Star Wars cards, the baseball Hall of Fame ballot and is Madison Bumgarner the greatest postseason pitcher of all time?
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
That’s one of Yogi Berra‘s famous Yogi-isms and Steiner Sports‘ current auction of the Hall of Famer’s memorabilia includes one item that fits that saying well.
It’s his driver’s license.
Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza are in Cooperstown, N.Y., this weekend to join baseball’s immortals as the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
One is the first No. 1 overall draft pick to ever make it to the Hall. The other is the lowest draft pick to ever be enshrined in Cooperstown.
Griffey received 99.3 percent of the vote — a record and three votes short of unanimous — after his first time on the ballot. Meanwhile, Piazza appeared on 83 percent of the 440 ballots in his fourth vote.
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: 2013 Panini Cooperstown baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 6 (five standard packs and one Green Crystal Shard parallel pack)
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 33
Base set completion:
20 of 100 (20 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Notable players on base cards – Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Carl Yastrzemski, Jimmie Foxx, Warren Spahn, Lou Gehrig
For nine years, Joe Garagiola was a big-league catcher, but for decades after that he was a voice of baseball and a personality on network television.
He worked NBC‘s Game of the Week and World Series coverage and was a host of Today and a fill-in host on The Tonight Show, too. He died on Wednesday at age 90.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of this amazing man who was not just beloved by those of us in his family, but to generations of baseball fans who he impacted during his eight decades in the game,” said a statement from his family. “Joe loved the game and passed that love onto family, his friends, his teammates, his listeners and everyone he came across as a player and broadcaster. His impact on the game, both on and off the field, will forever be felt.”
What: 2016 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Platinum autographed baseballs
Arrives: March 1
Box basics: One autographed baseball per box (12 boxes per case)
What’s buzz-worthy: TRISTAR’s autographed baseball chase brand is back for 2016 with a new batch of stars and legends along with some specialty logo balls that help add variety to the chase.
Keep reading for more and a gallery of what’s in this one.
More than 20 years after his death, the memorabilia of Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Dodgers pitching great Don Drysdale is coming to auction.
The sale will be handled by Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based SCP Auctions and will open on April 6 with more than 1,000 lots as part of the overall event.
“We feel honored to have been chosen by the Drysdale family to bring this extraordinary collection to auction,” said SCP Auctions President David Kohler. “Don was among the most accomplished and revered pitchers in Major League Baseball history and his impressive assemblage of awards and accolades speaks volumes as to his winning ways out on the mound.”
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes are in, and there’s no surprise at the top — Ken Griffey Jr. is headed to Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer to join baseball’s immortals.
He received 99.3 percent of the vote — a record and three votes short of unanimous — after his first time on the ballot. Joining him is former Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza, who appeared on 83 percent of the 440 ballots.
Griffey helped usher in a new era of collecting in 1989 as the iconic No. 1 in the first Upper Deck set, a release that helped change the printing and packaging of cards and the collecting expectations of a generation. For those same thirty-somethings and beyond, he’s an also icon on the field with his backwards cap and a smooth but powerful left-handed swing that helped produce 630 home runs and countless more memorable moments for the Mariners, Reds and White Sox over 22 seasons but never a World Series at-bat.
Clearly he’s one of the greatest players — and most-beloved players — in MLB history, a symbol of what’s good about the game in an era of bogus records and inflated statistics that have undermined not only the results on the field but also the cardboard of our youth. His enshrinement this summer in Cooperstown will be the stuff that cardboard (and baseball) marketing is made of. In fact, there are already two forthcoming brands — 2016 Topps Series 2 and 2016 Topps Finest (above right) — that will spotlight Junior.
Memorabilia from the career of Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin will hit the auction block next week via Goldin Auctions as the former Cincinnati Red has decided to sell his collection.
Among the items in the sale, which will begin on Jan. 11 and end on Jan. 30, are his 1984 USA Baseball uniform and the ball from his first career hit as a big-leaguer. Also found among the 53 lots are items from his University of Michigan days and an All-Star Game-used uniform.
“Barry Larkin is among the most popular players in Reds history as he was born and raised in the Queen City and then played all 19 of his MLB seasons with his hometown Reds,” said Ken Goldin founder of Goldin Auctions. “During his remarkable baseball life, he was an Olympic champion, Rookie of the Year, World Series winner, MVP, 12-time All-Star and a Hall of Famer. We are honored to make these rare collectibles from his career available for the first time.”
Panini America starts off the new year with not one but four new products scheduled to arrive this week — from four different sports, too. Meanwhile, there’s only one other brand on the calendar.
The biggest for most collectors is the arrival of 2015 Panini Contenders football cards with the annual chase for the Rookie Ticket autographs one that’s been a mainstay for years. Which ones will be short-prints? Which ones are variations and which ones aren’t? We’ll find out more beginning Wednesday. Each box includes at least five autographs — and it looks like some of them might be coaches who have never signed before. Will those be short-prints? Should be interesting to watch.
There are 32 players on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot this year and the ongoing debate of who’s worthy, who’s not and who cheated with performance-enhancing drugs will rage on well beyond the reveal of the voting results on Jan. 6.
In Buzz’s book, there’s quite possibly only one new Hall of Famer headed to Cooperstown this coming summer, and that lock is Ken Griffey Jr.
The rest? Well, it’s not that easy. Buzz has eliminated 12 of the guys who are not likely to even make the cut to be on next year’s ballot and examined the stats for 20 of those who are left. Along with this, Buzz has added some key Rookie Card info, too, just in case you haven’t tracked any of them down just yet or want to revisit cardboard from your youth.
Continue reading
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.
For the first Grading Diary here on The Buzz, it will be a mix of cards graded for a few reasons.
The Card: 1993 Upper Deck #449 Derek Jeter
The Reason Graded: This was pulled straight from an underpriced factory set and looked very clean except for a tiny spot on the back — Buzz figured it might push into the high grades even with the gloss issue. These cards are also not easy to pull from wax or sets cleanly because the high-gloss cards often stick together, peeling away specks of paper. Another reason? This is an iconic card that’s worth grading if you own a clean one.
The Grade: BGS 9
| Grade: | 5 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.5 | 10 | Total |
| Population: | 24 | 20 | 65 | 124 | 334 | 761 | 1,314 | 1,579 | 806 | 307 | 3 | 5,360 |
Reality Check: The SP Jeter rookie is the one people chase, not this one. This one’s $20 on eBay — and perhaps undervalued considering how they grade on the pop report. BGS 9s and higher are really much rarer than people think.
When collectors crack into boxes of 2015 Panini Immaculate Collection College beginning tomorrow, they could find one of the more unique memorabilia cards made in a long time.
It’s a card of baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn from his days as a player at San Diego State.
What makes it different, though? The card appears to include a swatch from the Aztecs jersey seen above.
This year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with 15 new names and several players who appeared on last year’s ballot but failed to get 75 percent of the votes.
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. Your challenge here is a bit different.
BlowoutBuzz.com 