First Buzz: 2017-18 Leaf Ultimate Hockey cards

What: 2017-18 Leaf Ultimate Hockey cards
Arrives: February
Box basics: Three autographs or memorabilia cards per box (12 boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What’s buzz-worthy: Leaf cuts its box sizes in half and doubles the boxes in each case for this  high-end celebration of the action on the ice — and new this year will be Leaf Ultimate Choice redemption cards that allow collectors to pick their 1/1 from an elite and always-changing list of cards.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

First Buzz: 2017 Leaf Lumber Kings hockey cards

What: 2017 Leaf Lumber Kings hockey cards
Arrives: Nov. 10
Box basics: Four stick cards per box (10 boxes per case)

What’s buzz-worthy: Leaf sticks to the game plan that worked pretty well last year with another look back to the past with nothing but hockey sticks being the sources of memorabilia cards in this release, which promises “added themes and even more value than last year.”

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

Buzz-worthy Bargain Break: 2013 In The Game Sportkings Series F

If you hadn’t noticed, there are a number of boxes with discounted prices this weekend and for the next week or so over on the mothership and they were dramatic enough that Buzz had to sit down and ponder the possibilities in many of them.

So much so here’s another of a few “picks” to come in the next few days.

First Buzz: 2017 Leaf Pearl sports cards (updated)

What: 2017 Leaf Pearl
Arrives: Late February 2018
Box basics: 11 cards per box (two boxes per case)

What’s buzz-worthy: Leaf’s next release will be a “product that will change the industry landscape” and “will set the standard for aesthetic beauty and legendary content by which all products will be measured.”

 

First Buzz: 2016-17 In The Game Heroes & Prospects hockey cards

What: 2016-17 In The Game Heroes & Prospects hockey cards
Arrives: May 31
Box basics: 15 autographs or memorabilia cards per box (12 boxes per case)

What’s buzz-worthy: Leaf takes to the ice with some of the biggest prospects in the game as well as some of the biggest stars of the past in this nothing-but-the-hits release that is its finale for Canadian Hockey League cardboard.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

First Buzz: 2017 ITG Stickwork hockey cards

What: 2017 ITG Stickwork hockey cards
Arrives: May
Box basics: Four memorabilia cards per box (10 boxes per case)

What’s buzz-worthy: Leaf’s ITG brand explores game-used from legends of the past and present via just one type of memorabilia.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images released so far.

Gordie Howe game-used Detroit Red Wings sweater heating up at auction

“Mr. Hockey” wore plenty of sweaters during his more than 30 seasons on the ice as a professional, but it’s still a big deal when one of his gamers hits the auction block.

This one’s a $64,843 big deal — though that still sounds like a bargain — with more than a week to go in an SCP Auctions sale of the Detroit Red Wings gamer once worn and signed by Hall of Famer Gordie Howe, who owned most notable NHL records until some kid named Wayne Gretzky came along. Howe died earlier this summer at age 88.

“In the field of game-worn hockey jerseys this is a pinnacle artifact,” said Dan Imler, who is SCP’s vice president, “[it’s one] worthy of museum exhibition.”

Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (June 11)

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: Gordie Howe, Tier One pulls, BenchWarmer’s Dream Girls & more.

Sports loses an icon — “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe dies at 88

Before “The Great One,” there was “Mr. Hockey.”

Gordie Howe, who led the Detroit Red Wings to four Stanley Cups and won six MVP awards before retiring as the NHL’s most-prolific scorer, died on Friday. He was 88.

“A lot of times when you meet your idols and people you respect and look up to, sometimes it’s not as great as you had anticipated or you built it up too much,” Wayne Gretzky told ESPN. “I was so lucky when I met Gordie. I was 10. It was so much nicer and bigger and better than I had ever imagined it. To this day when people come up to me that talk about having done a book report or speech about me, I always talk about the time that my fondest memory in public school was writing a book report on Gordie Howe.”

First Buzz: 2016 Leaf Sports Heroes trading cards

What: 2016 Leaf Sports Heroes trading cards
Arrives: May
Box basics: Three autographs per box (12 boxes per case)

What’s buzz-worthy: Leaf puts some of the biggest names from the sports world all in the same box — a brand that even includes a 27-signature book for the 1972 Miami Dolphins and a triple-auto for The Hanson Brothers from Slap Shot for a few surprises.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

First Buzz: 2015 Leaf SportKings trading cards

What: 2015 Leaf SportKings trading cards
Arrives: January 2016
Box basics: One autograph, one memorabilia card, four base cards and one mini per box.

What’s buzz-worthy: SportKings returns with a new mix of cards that includes numbered autographed parallels and buyback autographs for stars throughout the sports world (and even a few from elsewhere) on the famed design from the 1930s.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.