The Chicago Cubs may not be playing right now, but the memories of last season’s historic World Series win are still fueling demand for unique pieces of memorabilia.
And it might not get more unique than an MLB-authenticated piece of the famed ivy from Wrigley Field.
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: Big pulls, big possibilities in MLB and “the world’s greatest forger.”
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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Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
One generation might know him as a bit of a slugger and the 1979 American League MVP, while another might know him as a manager and coach.
Either way, Don Baylor was a man who lived his life in baseball — his career that spanned from the 1960s until 2015. He died on Monday at age 68 after a battle with multiple myeloma.
“Don Baylor: 14 teams as player, coach and manager. Countless lives influenced. There’s a hole in the universe, its expanse without end,” said J.G. Taylor Spink Award-winner Claire Smith on Twitter. “Deepest love and condolences to Becky Baylor and the Baylor family who are mourning a man whose heart was as big as all of Texas.”
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: The first auto you ever pulled, Steve Bartman’s World Series ring, Jose Altuve goes streaking, inside NSCC promo packs & more.
What’s rarer than a trade between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox?
A big-leaguer with only five certified autographs in the year 2017.
That’s Jose Quintana and he was dealt to the Cubs on Thursday morning as part of a five-player deal that could make some prospectors unhappy — or spark added interest in the team that’s not the defending World Series champion.
If you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, there’s now one more card that you need from 2017 Bowman.
Topps revealed on Tuesday that rookie Ian Happ is the Bowman Lucky Autograph Redemption from the popular prospecting product.
Your next big-name New York Yankees rookie to arrive in The Big Apple will face big expectations — but he doesn’t have nearly as much cardboard as those who arrived before him.
Unlike the arrivals of Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge — guys who had plenty of baseball cards and plenty of certified autographs when they hit The Show — shortstop Gleyber Torres doesn’t.
And that could bode very well for collectors who own them.
The newest big-name Chicago Cubs prospect arrived on Saturday and made his presence felt immediately in his first game with a two-run homer.
So far, Ian Happ is hitting .429 in his first two games, further helping bolster a mostly home-grown lineup that is watched closely by collectors.
Happ is not a surprise for prospectors as the defending World Series champs took him with the ninth pick in the 2015 MLB Draft out of the University of Cincinnati– and he’s been watched on cardboard ever since — but sales of his cards, at least so far, are showing some room for growth.
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: Derek Jeter & Topps Heritage, big pulls, Ian Happ & more.
Ok, it’s not the weekend, but this was slated to be sent last night — further proving that it was a busy one on The Buzz this past week. Here are 10 stories worth a look if you missed out. Check ’em out & hit the subscribe button at right if you want email updates.
This Week’s Big Hit?
It seems that 2017 Donruss‘ arrival has collectors talking and there’s fun to be found inside its packs. Click here to start with variations and find links to checklists & more. After that, check out a Buzz Break of a hobby box right here.
Keep reading for more …
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: Kris Bryant Transcendent cards, 2017 Topps Heritage & big breaks.
Real cards in real time — or at least the next day. It was a simple idea that became Topps Now that has helped in some ways transform collecting beginning on April 3, 2016.
Need proof?
There are 1,184 different Now cards now for MLB alone — some with autographs and game-used memorabilia from the games that are depicted on the card. There are also Topps Now cards for last year’s election and presidential debates, Now cards for WWE and for UFC and even real-time cardboard releases from AMC‘s Preacher and the Garbage Pail Kids taking on real-time scandals and viral curiosities. Oh, and there are other companies in on the real-time card business now for the other leagues, too.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the highlights from last year’s MLB releases before the 2017 Topps Now cards — with a new look and numbering — start soon and some basic info on every single one of the 2016 releases.
How do we knew there’s a new look? Buzz checked the mailbox and found something inside. Keep reading for a first look at 2017 Topps Now.
As the reigning National League MVP and a member of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs, Kris Bryant is on top of the baseball world right now.
And that place in the game comes with signing a lot of autographs — and when it comes to baseball cards an exclusive deal to sign only for Topps’ products.
“It’s not too demanding for me. I feel like I’m kind of used to it now and I try to take the time for the fans to sign for every game and sign some autographs. My arm is used to it,” he said on Wednesday as part of an event held at MLB Network headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., to note the arrival of 2017 Topps Series 1. “Winning the world series and having the year that we did. All of this comes with that territory, and I wouldn’t have it any other way honestly.”
A new baseball season is nearly here with the first spring training games set to air later this month and that’s when we’ll see the newest players on their new teams.
And many of them will be wearing new uniforms — well, at least new caps.
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: This was the XFL, Kris Bryant Rookie Cards, 2017 Topps, Star Wars breaks & plenty more.
The formal arrival of 2017 Topps Series 1 baseball cards is less than a week away, but that’s not stopping us from getting a head start on a gallery of what’s to be found here.
While the flagship brand for the hobby will have a few box formats when it arrives next Wednesday, this sneak preview came from different packs. (No, retail hasn’t hit early but above is what you need to look for when you hit the store.)
Keep reading for a glimpse at more of what’s inside.
The Chicago Cubs went to the White House on Monday and today’s the day we get the baseball cards to prove it.
Topps ended an offseason card streak of more than a month without new Topps Now cardboard by unveiling eight new cards spotlighting the visit — and some of them are autographed.
What: 2017 TRISTAR Hidden Treasures Chicago North Side autographed baseballs
Arrives: March 1
Box basics: One autographed baseball of a current or former Chicago Cub per box (12 boxes per case)
What’s buzz-worthy: TRISTAR’s autographed baseball chase goes to the north side of Chicago with some chase baseballs and memorabilia items to be found in some boxes.
Keep reading for more.
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: Error pulls, big pulls, Star Wars pulls, elusive pulls and more.
Sometimes there pieces of game-used baseball memorabilia that don’t get stashed away as museum-caliber items in private collections or chopped up to make memorabilia cards for our packs of cards.
Poke around online and you can find plaques and other unusual — but usable — items that include game-used. Wallets and coasters, for example, have been made with gamer material as part of the mix, but just like cards those novelties that have recently gone high-end and the bat knob you see here is proof.
What is it?
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, big surprises and “describe your local card shop.”
The days on the calendar are moving closer and closer to an evening in Las Vegas next month where 65 high-rolling baseball card collectors are guaranteed to meet one of baseball’s biggest stars.
The priciest box of baseball cards ever made, 2016 Topps Transcendent Collection, recently arrived packing 168 cards inside — 52 of those autographed — inside along with an invitation to a Jan. 18 party in Las Vegas to meet reigning National League MVP and World Series champion Kris Bryant.
That invite is arguably the big-ticket guaranteed item in every box and it includes hotel accommodations in Vegas, cocktails, dinner and a special gift in addition to meeting Bryant. To some fans, it’s the item to own. So far, nearly 10 percent of the 65 passes have sold on eBay, selling for as much as $5,499.99 (in tandem with another card) and one of them can be found over on the mothership. How much? Click here to find out.
If you know a Chicago Cubs fan and haven’t finished your holiday shopping, this is your post.
If you’re a fan of Major League Baseball and collecting its legends, this is your post.
A nice piece of mail — something Buzz found online and ordered this weekend — arrived on Wednesday with a surprise inside. What you see here is an oversized pair of plastic glasses — an apparent jovial bonus this holiday season with any purchase of $49 or more from 33 West Kinzie Street in Chicago.
Not familiar with the location? That’s the home of Harry Caray’s Restaurant. And, while it’s funny, this simple gift to me can’t touch what I bought.
Buy a (pricey) box of baseball cards, meet the reigning National League MVP.
Topps revealed on Friday that Kris Bryant of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs will be the special guest at a private event next month — an event specially for those who buy a box of 2016 Topps Transcendent Collection baseball cards. They are the priciest box of cards ever made at more than $26,000 a box and include an invitation to the event.
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: Two massive pulls from Topps Tribute, Chicago Cubs show-offs, an NBA debate and … how long until Dak Prescott cards become overpriced?
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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Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
The Chicago Cubs‘ World Series championship has prompted plenty of memorabilia and, of course, with that success comes high demand and higher costs for companies to get players to sign.
That’s the price of doing business.
But for Fanatics there’s plenty of business — and plenty of autographed memorabilia — for Cubs fans to chase including high-dollar ticket items like this 12-baseball shadowbox as part of an impressive and deep array of World Series memorabilia that might not have been seen before for a championship squad.
If you hadn’t noticed, there are a number of boxes with discounted prices now over on the mothership as BlowoutCards.com’s Black November Wave 5 hits today.
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 that caught this collector’s eye.
2014 Panini Elite Extra Edition baseball hobby box
There are plenty of autographs to be found in boxes of this one — and there are Hot Boxes that up the ante, too — but right now there’s one autograph that arguably stands out from the rest.
It’s Kyle Schwarber. The Chicago Cubs’ slugger makes his debut here and has a solid amount of available ink inside the wrappers thanks to the standard autos and parallels atop that.
Other signers here include a heavy-selling Trea Turner, Kris Bryant, Byron Buxton, Michael Conforto, Luis Severino and plenty more (though some of those big names are as insert autos). Also in play here is an under-rated Cuban National Team memorabilia card of Jose Abreu with a piece of his national team jersey — that’s quite unique in the hobby aside from World Baseball Classic releases.
At its reduced price, this one’s worth the shot — and it’s not alone.
The SI Curse went the way of The Curse of the Billy Goat — and Sports Illustrated is taking advantage of it.
The Chicago Cubs‘ World Series win gets not one but four different covers for the long-running and long-collected magazine’s commemorative issue — and they’re already available to order now in advance of their arrival on newsstands very, very soon.
A historic World Series win for the Chicago Cubs means a historic day for Topps Now.
How historic? A mere (record) 36 different cards with a record five different signers, a Relic and 10 different base cards — and that’s just in the standard Now set. There’s a completely separate Now-branded team set also available that was previously teased here.
The five signers can be seen above — Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, David Ross and Dexter Fowler. The World Series MVP, Ben Zobrist, gets a Relic.
The Chicago Cubs World Series memorabilia isn’t limited to trading cards and the typical items that collectors might chase and the Chicago Tribune already is getting in on the action beyond its day job.
In addition to its newspapers, the company already is selling poster reprints and commemorative printing plates of its front pages from the World Series (above) as well as from the Cubs’ postseason run. It’s also readying a book, which is up for sale now on its website.
These happen somewhat regularly for major markets and team championships but they haven’t for hungry Cubs fans, who hadn’t seen a World Series title since 1908.
Kris Bryant has signed a million-dollar deal to sign autographs for Topps and with his Chicago Cubs ending more than a century of futility, Buzz figured it was time for a contest.
We already have given away one Bryant autograph today via Twitter but we have this 2016 Topps Triple Threads Auto Relic … and we want it to be yours.
How? Keep reading.
The biggest Chicago Cub in the hobby has the biggest autograph deal ever signed by Topps.
Kris Bryant has reportedly signed a seven-figure, exclusive autograph deal to only sign for Topps.It’s the biggest deal in Topps’ 65-year history of making baseball cards, which has only included certified autographs since the 1990s.
“We are beyond excited to secure this exclusive deal with Kris Bryant.” said David Leiner, VP and General Manager of North American Sports & Entertainment for Topps. “Never has The Topps Company executed such a long-term deal with any athlete. Kris is one of the elite players currently in Major League Baseball and we look forward to working with him as his career continues to flourish.”
It’s still real.
The Chicago Cubs are still your World Series champions — and there is another Topps commemorative set to be had celebrating the team’s dramatic extra-inning rain-delayed victory in Game 7 Thursday morning in Cleveland.
In addition to its Topps Now set teased early this morning, Topps will be making a traditional boxed set of baseball cards that will be larger than the online offering.
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