BlowoutBuzz.com has a new home … now a section of BlowoutCards.com

If you want the latest news in the hobby, we’ve got a new location for you. You need to go to BlowoutCards.com.

After more than two years and nearly 3,800 stories posted here on The Buzz, we’re joining the main site as our own section on the revamped BlowoutCards.com that launched this morning.

We still have some boxes to unpack and things to tweak both here and there, but we’ll continue to keep things Buzzing there daily and give you everything you expect … and more. This site will remain active for some time, too, as we get things going there — we just won’t have new stories posted right here. For the newest stuff, click here.

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

Black Friday is coming & we want you ready over at BlowoutCards.com + win this Kris Bryant autograph now

As the hours pass by before Black Friday — the biggest day in the hobby — we wanted to get your attention and fill you in on what to expect over at BlowoutCards.com.

It’s there where we’ll be offering up the best deals in the hobby beginning at 6 a.m. Eastern Friday morning with Doorbuster deals that will make some of you very happy — and keep some of you hunting for the next round of big deals.

We’ve been readying for this event all year — and there have been Black November sale waves all month, too, to give you an idea of what’s to come. And it’s here on The Buzz where we’ll have contests all day long where we’ll get hit-filled Buzz Boxes into the hands of collectors.

Keep reading to see how this Kris Bryant autograph can be yours.

Today is Topps National Baseball Card Day — details & gallery here

Topps National Baseball Card Day is this Saturday — and it’s a day to make some memories. That’s exactly what collector/blogger Ben Aguirre Jr. got when he took his kids, Alexa (age 7) and Antonio (age 5) to South Bay Sports Cards in Sunnyvale, Calif., last year.

Today’s the day — it’s Topps National Baseball Card Day.

Now is your chance at some free baseball cards that you won’t find anywhere else other than at your local card shop. That’s because today is an annual event that helps draw new fans into the hobby and gives veteran collectors some new stuff to check out.

There are six-card packs of NBCD baseball cards available free with a visit to a participating store, while a $10 purchase will yield a Mike Trout bonus card. The full checklist for this promotion can be seen here — spoiler — and it includes Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Carlos Correa autographs in some packs. (Topps also will be using the hashtag #ToppsBaseballCardDay on social media for those who go and want to show off their new baseball cards, too.)

Topps National Baseball Card Day is way for shops to draw new faces — and for fans to make new memories

Topps National Baseball Card Day is this Saturday — and it’s a day to make some memories. That’s exactly what collector/blogger Ben Aguirre Jr. got when he took his kids, Alexa (age 7) and Antonio (age 5) to South Bay Sports Cards in Sunnyvale, Calif., last year.

Mark your calendars, baseball fans — this Saturday is your chance at some free baseball cards that you won’t find anywhere that day other than at your local card shop.

That’s because that day is Topps National Baseball Card Day, an annual event that helps draw new fans into the hobby and gives veteran collectors some new stuff to check out all in one place for free.

There will be six-card packs of NBCD baseball cards available free with a visit to a participating store, while a $10 purchase will yield a Mike Trout bonus card. (The full checklist for this promotion can be seen here — spoiler — and it includes Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Carlos Correa autographs in some packs.) Topps also will be using the hashtag #ToppsBaseballCardDay on social media for those who go and want to show off their new baseball cards, too.

Scenes from the Show … Before The National begins (and more)

The BlowoutCards.com booth — awaiting the National Sports Collectors Convention crowds.

The calm before the storm is here.

On-floor preparation for this year’s National Sports Collectors Convention is nearing its finale as the booths fill up inside the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. What you see here is the view of what will become Booth No. 854, the home of BlowoutCards.com for the show, which begins Wednesday evening and runs through Sunday evening.

But that’s not the only early scene seen so far …

Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Nov. 24)

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 Black Friday thread you must read … along with some breaks you must see (well, except not the one) on this day of turkey.

Blowout’s Thanksgiving Contest: Predict NFL points scored & win a 2016 Panini Prime Signatures case

Are you ready for some football cards? BlowoutCards.com has a chance for you to score big as part of our preparations for Black Friday.

In a comment right here on The Buzz, guess the total number of points scored in all three Thanksgiving NFL games without going over. The closest to predicting the total point score for the Vikings-Lions, Redskins-Cowboys and Steelers-Colts games — without going over — gets a 2016 Donruss football set.

If the total is guessed exactly, the winner gets a sealed 12-box case of 2016 Panini Prime Signatures — a $660 value.

All entries must be entered before the first game starts at 12:30 Eastern time on Thursday. Comments will be held here before they are approved in batches. (Don’t worry if you don’t see your answer appear immediately on the page. It will show up.)

In the event of a tie, the first correctly posted entry based on the timestamp wins. Limit one entry per email address.

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

Mariners’ “Swelmet” started as idea of Blowout member Larry Andersen

It started as an idea of long-time Seattle Mariners fan and Blowout member Larry Andersen and it’s become a phenomenon and a symbol of a team in the hunt for the American League West crown.

It’s the Swelmet — a painted Darth Vader helmet that Andersen wore to a Mariners game in Oakland, an item that caught the eye of the players and an item he traded to the team for a signed Robinson Cano bat.

Now, it’s become a piece that the team awards to a player after sweeps — the “sweep helmet” became “Swelmet” — a piece seen in photos tweeted by the team and a likely future promotional piece if the team can get them made in time.

#BuzzWorthyPulls Week 6 — Show us your favorite card pull (sports or non-sports … anything!)

Our weekly Blowout #BuzzWorthyPulls Contest is back. Every single Saturday we’ll launch a new post where all you have to do is show off your biggest, newest card via a photo posted on Twitter and here on BlowoutBuzz.com.

Your prize if you’re the winner? A $25 BlowoutCards.com gift certificate.

This week’s contest & instructions: Show your best pull from any product, any sport or non-sports. We have simplified the steps — read the instructions to make sure your entry is done correctly. (If you don’t follow the instructions, you will not win.)

Step 1 — Take your photo. This must either be a selfie with the card or a card image with #buzzworthypulls hand-written beside it. Be sure to show the card clearly.

Step 2 — Tweet us and tag it. Tweet your pic to @blowoutbuzz and @blowoutcards and you must include the #BuzzWorthyPulls tag. You don’t have to say anything else but if you need to add a detail (“Card is a 1/5.”) you can. Limit one entry per Twitter account.

What’s next? Be Patient and wait for the following Saturday … we’ll announce a winner either in the early morning or in the evening (depends on Buzz’s schedule). The winner will be notified on Twitter and noted in the comments for that week. The comments will then be closed. At the same time, we’ll post the next contest and you can enter there.

Are you ready to win? You know what to do … show us your #BuzzWorthyPulls.

Do you have a collecting story worth seeing here? Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send BlowoutBuzz a direct message on the Blowout forum.

>> Click here to buy baseball cards on BlowoutCards.com.

Need a collecting challenge? 2014 Topps Turkey Red football has some

What happens when you have a retail-only, hit-per-pack product that can be condition sensitive with a likely modest print run and sometimes-rocky collation? A super collecting challenge — and a product that is available now at an outrageous price as part of Blowout Cards’ Super Bowl 50 sale coinciding with the big game.

How outrageous? Keep reading …

The 2014 Topps Turkey Red football set presents a collecting challenge with some surprisingly expensive cards — even for rookies who may not have lived up to expectations. Need an example of how expensive? Click here. Yep, that much … even for Johnny Manziel. And one expensive card that’s unsigned? Click here.

There aren’t that many $100 cards popping out of retail packs regularly, but these two cards are not alone in Turkey Red. In fact that second sale above might be underselling the card based on scarcity. Overall, it seems autograph asking prices are healthy, too.

Introducing our #BuzzWorthyPulls Contest — enter Week 1 right here

Note: This week’s contest is now closed. New entries should be posted on the new weekly post.

Your big pull from a pack doesn’t have to be Ruthian like this one to win our weekly Blowout #BuzzWorthyPulls Contest that we’re launching right here, right now.

Every single Saturday we’ll launch a new #BuzzWorthyPulls post where all you have to do is show off your biggest, newest card via a selfie posted on Twitter and here on BlowoutBuzz.com.

Your prize if you’re the winner? A $25 BlowoutCards.com gift certificate.

Every single week we’ll have a new winner — and it could be you as long as you follow the instructions below.

Were you among our final group of Blowout contest winners in 2015?

Simply put, it pays to follow @blowoutcards and @blowoutbuzz on Twitter.

Besides the latest info about your hobby and collecting, there are also contests — and we’re here on the first day of 2016 to reveal the final contest winners of 2015.

Boxes of Topps‘ Star Wars cards, Upper Deck‘s hockey cards, Topps‘ 2015 Bowman Draft baseball cards and Panini America‘s football cards were up for grabs with a simple retweet contest that developed on Twitter Thursday evening.

Were you one of the winners?

How can a case of Panini America football cards be yours? Simply predict Monday night’s point total (Hint: Also read the tie-breaker!)

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.

>> Click here to buy NFL cards on BlowoutCards.com

A special message from Blowout Cards on Black Friday

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.

2015 Bowman Chrome Black Friday sale gets ’em buzzing before temporary crash of Blowout site

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.

 

Board Buzz: Five must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Nov. 24)

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.

Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview #5 — 2007 Topps Triple Threads football cards

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?

Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview #4 — 2013-14 Panini Contenders hockey cards

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?

Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview #3 — Topps Indiana Jones Heritage eight-box hobby case

The third Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview this year is one that will make a case for buried treasure and cinematic greatness all in one pretty large package.

Autographs of Harrison Ford, George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg aren’t the easiest pulls in the world, but they all can be found in Topps Indiana Jones Heritage. An eight-box case of this one will be one of the dramatically discounted Doorbuster deals on Black Friday (Nov. 27) at BlowoutCards.com.

How much for a case?

Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview #2 — 2013-14 Panini Timeless Treasures basketball cards

The second Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview this year is one that will give you three shots at something big from Panini America.

Specifically, you’ll get two autographs and one memorabilia card in every box of 2013-14 Panini Timeless Treasures basketball cards. It will be one of the dramatically discounted Doorbuster deals on Black Friday (Nov. 27) at BlowoutCards.com.

How much for a box?

Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview #1 — 2014 Bowman Chrome baseball cards

The first Blowout Black Friday Doorbuster Preview this year — you’ll see them daily right here on BlowoutBuzz.com — is one that will give you a few chances at an autograph of the reigning National League Rookie of the Year and the guy who’s been the hottest buy in the hobby for more than a year.

He’s Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and the first box is 2014 Bowman Chrome. It will be one of the dramatically discounted Doorbuster deals on Black Friday (Nov. 27) at BlowoutCards.com.

How much will it be?

Board Buzz: Five must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Nov. 16)

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.

Board Buzz: Five must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Nov. 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.