Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Jan. 2)

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: Favorite memorabilia pieces, DeMar DeRozan’s 52 points, an all-SEC title game, fixing the Cleveland Browns, Panini Contenders SPs, a Michael Jordan trade you don’t want to make and plenty more …

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NFL Notables: Six rookies to watch after Week 1 … Hunt, Watt & more

There were surprises and new arrivals on the NFL rookie front — and that’s just Week 1.

Six newcomers stepped up with none perhaps more surprising the Kansas City RB Kareem Hunt, who helped the Chiefs pull off a dominating 42-27 win over the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on Thursday night. He had 17 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown — and seven catches for 133 yards and a 75-yard score. Not bad for a third-rounder out of Toledo.

As you should already know from last week, he already appears on more than 450 different cards with nearly 300 of those being certified autos. He’s got 15 RCs so far by the standard (non-insert) definition and nearly 140 memorabilia cards and is found in most 2017 releases — just like most of our other notables from Sunday.

Who made the cut? Keep reading.

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Tino Sabbatelli’s first NXT ink is here — but he’s signed plenty before

The arrival of 2017 Topps WWE NXT this week marked the certified autograph debut of aspiring WWE star Tino Sabbatelli and just his third cardboard appearance, too.

But it’s far from the first time he’s sat down to sign autographs for a card company.

What? Keep reading …

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Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (April 27)

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: With the NFL Draft tonight, here’s a day of nothing but football.

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Former Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam dies at 42

rashaan-salaam

Rashaan Salaam, the winner of the Heisman Trophy as the top college football player in the country back in 1994, died on Monday and was found in a park in Boulder, Colo. He was 42.

The former Colorado Buffaloes star rushed for 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns in his final college season before playing four years in the NFL. The Chicago Bears took him with the 21st pick in the 1995 NFL Draft and as a rookie he rushed for 1,074 yards and 10 touchdowns. He added just 610 yards and three scores the remainder of his career, which ended as a member of the Cleveland Browns in 1999.

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Trading Connor Shaw for a legendary PC piece via Steiner Sports

ConnorShawIf you’re a long-time reader of The Buzz, you may remember the Steiner Sports promotion that allowed anybody, anywhere to trade in a legit Cleveland Browns quarterback autograph from the past for a $100 gift card.

Buzz’s headline back in January played up the Johnny Manziel drama — sadly, it’s derailed completely since then — and but opted to take a shot here with a cheaper auto. Buzz picked off a Connor Shaw 2014 Panini Contenders autograph from COMC.com for just $1.99, had it delivered, followed the instructions from Steiner and mailed it in.

Buzz waited but never received a gift card — as it turns out, Steiner had so many requests as part of the promotion that it ran out of physical gift cards to mail. (Those still waiting should email the company with their info and address they used when they mailed in their Browns item.) After getting the discount info, Buzz waited again to find a key item to use the code. Today was the day as Buzz spent a few minutes to check out the site after a promotional email, wondering if a worthy item could be found and searching the game-used section, entertainment section and even the clearance rack for the right item.

And then Buzz found it.

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Buzz Collector Profile: John Heckert, a 12-year-old Cleveland (& more) fan

DSCN1761John Heckert
Website: None
Email:
None
BuzzProfiles-LogoLocation: 
Ohio
Work away from cards: 
None
Collecting since: 
2008

Main focuses: I collect mainly baseball and football cards, but I collect a bit of basketball and hockey. Also autographs.

Favorite players/teams: My favorite player is Grady Sizemore and my favorite baseball team is the Cleveland Indians. Although he’s a free agent, I decided to start a collection of him a few months ago. For football, my favorite player is Golden Tate and my favorite team is the Detroit Lions. I also like the Browns.

Current collecting projects: I am collecting Grady Sizemore cards and I have decided to try to get the complete 1967 Philadelphia football set because I like the look of the design. My goal is to add 10 cards a year and make it a project that won’t cost a ton but take a while.

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Board Buzz: Five must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Jan. 12)

JohnnyManzielThe 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.

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Board Buzz: Five must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (Jan. 8)

griffeyThe 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: Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Piazza, Johnny Manziel, Steiner Sports, BGS 9.5s, Star Wars and more …

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Browns fans can trade Johnny Manziel … to Steiner Sports for $100

Manziel-BrownsSteiner Sports knows that Cleveland Browns fans have had a tough time collecting autographs of good quarterbacks lately and the New Rochelle, N.Y.-based autograph and memorabilia company announced a new program Thursday that may help take away some of the collecting pain caused by Johnny Football — and a few other notably bad quarterbacks in the team’s past, too.

You can trade in one of your certified autographed items of any Browns starting QB since 1999 for a $100 gift card.

Seriously.

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Full game-used memorabilia may not be as expensive as you think

RymerLiriano299Game-used collecting has changed immensely in the last 20 years or so with the memorabilia card — you know, those little swatches embedded into cards that can still get us going if it’s the right player or an impressively designed piece of cardboard.

Relics may not always be expensive these days, but they can add some definite variety and surprise into packs of cards — and partly because of the need for game-used items for cards it seems memorabilia has become more available than ever.

It’s not always expensive. In fact, it can be downright enticing to chase jerseys of players who you might not see all that often on cardboard (or even like!) simply because there are game-used bargains to be found.

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Buzz List: Five NFL players to watch in Week 14

JohnnyManzielBuzz-worthy or bust-worthy — those might be the labels thrown around this week depending on what Cleveland’s Johnny Bench Football does as starter for the Browns.

Johnny Manziel has probably been a disappointment to many considering where his cardboard ranked among his rookie peers last year but this week’s game could end up being a coming out party showing or one where the moralists and scouts say “I told you so” before they bail on his cardboard.

Love ’em or hate ’em, Manziel is one to watch against the San Francisco 49ers. Keep reading for four more …

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Browns TE Gary Barnidge can’t buy two things with his new contract

Gary-BarnidgeGary Barnidge is in the midst of a career year with the Cleveland Browns — and he might be the team’s only weapon on offense considering the craziness that is the quarterback spot for that 2-10 disaster.

The tight end is eight years into his NFL career — he was a fifth-round pick out of Louisville in 2008 — and has 60 catches for 817 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Before this year? Just 44 receptions for 603.

He signed a new contract with the team today, but there are two things he can’t buy with that new cash.

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Buzz List: Five NFL players to watch in Week 13

CamNewtonWith the Patriots jettisoned from the unbeaten ranks, all eyes are on MVP candidate Cam Newton as his 11-0 Carolina Panthers take on the high-powered offense and no-powered defense of the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon.

Newton has thrown for 2,466 yards and 20 touchdowns this season, scoring seven more times on the ground. His 2011 Rookie Cards have to be among the most-watched right now, too, with Topps Chrome and Panini Contenders autos among perennial favorites with more tradition-minded collectors who can’t swing for the high-end brands. (Or maybe that’s just Buzz.)

Something wants Buzz to call an upset here because the Saints have potential on offense, but … we’ll see.

Keep reading for four more guys to watch on Sunday.

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Buzz List: Five NFL players to watch this week

JohnnyManzielThe Pittsburgh Steelers will likely be without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday when they take on the Cleveland Browns and that team’s likely QB is our pick for a prime player to watch on Sunday. He’s “Johnny Football,” Johnny Manziel, who completed 15 of 33 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown in a 31-10 loss on Nov. 5.

Could a decent game against an AFC rival be enough to spark interest — or at least some optimistic hype — in a guy who was an unquestioned top rookie on cardboard last year? And what about a good game? Buzz thinks that could re-ignite some serious interest.

Keep reading for four more guys to watch on Sunday.

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