Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (blaster box)

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: 2017 Topps Series 1 baseball cards 
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (several formats)
Packs per box: 11 (10 standard, one patch pack)
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 101
Base set completion: 
78 of 350 (22 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Kris Bryant, Francisco Lindor, Albert Pujols, Dustin Pedroia, Jake Arrieta, Mookie Betts

Rookie Cards (8) – Aaron Judge, Andrew Benintendi, Alex Bregman, Yuliesky Gurriel, Ryon Healy, Braden Shipley, Joe Musgrove, Robert Gsellman

Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Chrome baseball cards (Walmart jumbo box)

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: 2017 Topps Chrome baseball cards (Walmart jumbo box)
Where to buy: Initially at Walmart for $34.98 (BlowoutCards.com for hobby & blasters)

Packs per box: 12 (10 packs plus two X-fractor packs)
Cards per pack: 4 per standard, 5 per X-fractor
Cards in this box: 50
Base set completion: 
30 of 200 (15 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, David Ortiz, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Aroldis Chapman, Paul Goldschmidt

Rookie Cards (3) – Braden Shipley, Chad Pinder, Matt Olson

Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Series 2 baseball cards (hobby box)

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: 2017 Topps Series 2 baseball cards 
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 36
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 365
Base set completion: 
305 of 350 (87 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Yu Darvish, Nolan Arenado, Jake Arrieta, Michael Conforto, Buster Posey, Justin Verlander, Yasiel Puig, Ichiro Suzuki, Albert Pujols, Manny Machado, Jose Altuve

Rookie Cards (22) – Manny Margot, Roman Quinn, Adalberto Mejia, Jorge Alfaro, Jharel Cotton, Hunter Renfroe, Koda Glover, Bruce Maxwell, Hunter Dozier, Jesus Aguilar, Rob Zastryzny, Jose Martinez, German Marquez, Renato Nunez, Stephen Cardullo, Rob Segedin, Ty Blach, T.J. Rivera, Matt Olson, Gavin Cecchini, Pat Valaika, Trey Mancini

Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Series 2 baseball cards (blaster box)

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: 2017 Topps Series 2 baseball cards 
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)
Packs per box: 11 (10 standard plus one Independence Day MLB logo card)
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 102
Base set completion: 
76 of 350 (22 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards of note – Yu Darvish, Nolan Arenado, Jake Arrieta, Michael Conforto, Buster Posey, Justin Verlander

Rookie Cards (6) – Manny Margot, Roman Quinn, Adalberto Mejia, Jorge Alfaro, Jharel Cotton, Hunter Renfroe

Aaron Judge could have been an Oakland A’s star — and here’s his 2010 Bowman Draft Picks card

You probably know Aaron Judge by now. After all, he’s tied for the MLB lead with 15 home runs, is the 6-foot-7 young face of the New York Yankees and on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

But in an alternate reality — and an alternate reality with baseball cards — none of this would have happened. He’d be playing somewhere else.

You probably didn’t know — this collector didn’t — that Judge was once a draft pick of the Oakland A’s, the Moneyballing squad that ultimately sends all of its star players to the Yankees anyway and gets its playoff hopes dashed by Yankees stars and unlikely plays that will never, ever go away. (They even start off movies made about the A’s.)

Elite Extra Edition boxes can pay off for bargain hunters & auto chasers

To say that the baseball card landscape has changed in the last decade might be an understatement, but there’s been one prospecting brand that has delivered many of the biggest names early and often and delivered a good amount of ink, too, thanks to Hot Boxes.

It’s packed a number of surprise inclusions, a tremendous rainbow of serial-numbered parallel autos and even some pretty good bargains as many collectors have their established habits elsewhere. In recent years, it’s also given us a teaser of younger USA Baseball players, too.

This mainstay — and arguably a simultaneous sleeper — is Elite Extra Edition. 

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 2017 Topps Tribute baseball box (Hour 6)

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 6.

The box: 2017 Topps Tribute
The cost: Click here for price

What’s inside this one? Keep reading …

Buzz Break: 2017 Panini Diamond Kings baseball cards (blaster box)

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: 2017 Panini Diamond Kings baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 35
Base set completion: 
19 of 100 (19 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Francisco Lindor, Josh Donaldson, Jake Arrieta, Chipper Jones, Lloyd Waner, Pee Wee Reese, Ty Cobb, John McGraw, Stan Musial, Joe Jackson

Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Gypsy Queen baseball cards (hobby box)

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: 2017 Topps Gypsy Queen baseball cards (hobby)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24 (plus one box-topper)
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 193
Base set completion: 
173 of 300 (58 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Addison Russell, Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Albert Pujols, Max Scherzer, Kyle Hendricks, Trevor Story, Francisco Lindor, Manny Machado, Kenta Maeda, Josh Donaldson, Jake Arrieta, Giancarlo Stanton, Yu Darvish, David Ortiz, Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Correa

Rookie Cards (21) – Jharel Cotton, Alex Bregman, Yoan Moncada, Andrew Benintendi, Orlando Arcia, Alex Reyes, Tyler Glasnow, Robert Gsellman, Tyler Austin, Matt Olson, Manny Margot, Trey Mancini, Teoscar Hernandez, JaCoby Jones, Carson Fulmer, Gavin Cecchini, David Dahl, Joe Musgrove, Hunter Renfroe, Ryon Healy, Bruce Maxwell

Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Tribute baseball cards

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: 2017 Topps Tribute baseball cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 6
Cards per pack: 3
Cards in this box: 19
Base set completion: 
11 of 90 (12 percent)
Duplicates: 0

 

Base cards – Cole Hamels, Ozzie Smith, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Lindor, Jake Arrieta, Trevor Story, Harmon Killebrew, Duke Snider, Roger Maris, Wade Boggs, Starling Marte

Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Gypsy Queen baseball cards (blaster box)

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: 2017 Topps Gypsy Queen baseball cards (blaster)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 8
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 48
Base set completion: 
44 of 300 (15 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Bryce Harper, David Ortiz, Giancarlo Stanton, Jake Arrieta, Yoenis Cespedes, Addison Russell, Nolan Arenado, Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel

Rookie Cards (4) – Tyler Glasnow, Jharel Cotton, Seth Lugo, Raimel Tapia

Surprises in 2017 Topps include MLB Network, Stephen Colbert’s first pitch, Cubs World Series cards

Although the MLB Network has its share of Hall of Famers like John Smoltz, “Rookie Cards” for some of the other names who bring you the highlights begin arriving on Feb. 1 in packs of 2017 Topps Series 1 baseball cards.

A 10-card release begins a set that will continue in Series 2 and Update later this year and this series will include Lauren Shehadi (RC), Kevin Millar, Mike Lowell, Greg Amsinger (RC), Ryan Dempster, Sean Casey, Harold Reynolds, Dan Plesac and Smoltz as well as an MLB Tonight card.

A number of that crew’s members already have cards as players (click to view a Buzz archives piece) — but there will be several debuts in the forthcoming releases. Meanwhile, a number of them haven’t had many autographs and all nine found in Series 1 will have ink.

Buzz Poll: Would a Chicago Cubs World Series win be the biggest thing ever for cardboard?

We’re just a few hours away from Game 7 of the World Series where the Chicago Cubs will end more than a century of futility — or the Cleveland Indians will make them once again wait for next year.

On cardboard and in the hobby, there’s no comparison between the two teams as the Cubs are largely stocked with young players (several homegrown) who are well-established and readily available on cardboard — for now — compared to the Indians, who have a few young notables but nobody who’ll truly break the bank. Among the Cubbies’ notables are Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Jake Arrieta, Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo … and that’s not all on a list that’s meaty and the cardboard is boldly available for nearly all of them.

That got Buzz wondering … if the Cubs win it all, is their victory bigger than the Boston Red Sox’ 2004 World Series win when it comes to the hobby and collecting? Is it bigger than Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens — you know, all those historic super-human performances that ultimately turned out to be, well, a bit questionable? They all sold plenty of cardboard in the past — plenty — but that team and those players were mostly established veterans. The Cubs are largely kids with plenty of potential for future successes — dare we say dynasty — for years to come being a real possibility.

And that would all start with a ring tonight and pay off for collectors for years to come.

I’d argue that demand for the Cubs’ key players autographs and key players could be the biggest thing seen in years once it’s all said and done. Once The Curse of the Billy Goat is dead and buried alongside that of The Bambino there’s all kinds of potential for now in the short-term, later in the weeks and months to come and, ultimately, for future seasons.

It could be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.

Agree? Disagree? Tell Buzz what you think in the poll below …

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

Chicago Cubs’ Game 6 rout sparks another big Topps Now day — and platform’s first dual auto Relic

We’ve seen autos. We’ve seen Relics. We’ve seen auto Relics. We’ve seen double autos. But today’s lineup of Topps Now cards spotlighting Game 6 of the World Series is something we have not seen before.

There are double auto Relics — and they are cards of the Chicago Cubs’ biggest bats from last night, Kris Bryant and Addison Russell.

Buzz Break: 2016 Topps Update baseball cards (hobby box)

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: 2016 Topps Update baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 36
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 356
Base set completion: 
300 of 300 (100 percent)
Duplicates: 19

Notables on base cards – Anthony Rizzo, Clayton Kershaw, Nolan Arenado, Francisco Lindor, Buster Posey, Jackie Bradley Jr., Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Mike Trout, David Ortiz, Kris Bryant, Aroldis Chapman, Jake Arrieta, Ichiro Suzuki

Rookie Cards (95; includes duplicates) – Notables include Aledmys Diaz, Michael Fulmer, Julio Urias, Willson Contreras, Tyler Naquin, Kyle Schwarber, Corey Seager, Kenta Maeda, Nomar Mazara, Trevor Story

Cubs’ win in Game 2 of World Series yields 11 Topps Now cards

The Chicago Cubs‘ dominating Game 2 victory in the World Series Wednesday night was sparked by the hot bat of a returning slugger and the strong arm of an ace who held the Cleveland Indians hitless deep into the night as part of a 6-0 win.

Today, the slugger and the ace have new Topps Now cards that will only be available for 24 hours via Topps.com as part of its real-time baseball card program.

The slugger is, of course Kyle Schwarber, who will be signing six types of standard and Relic cards, while the ace is Jake Arrieta, who is among the remaining five cards as part of today’s offering.

Buzz Poll: Who’s winning the World Series … and who’s worth collecting?

Game 1 of the World Series is set for 8 p.m tonight on FOX and it pits two long-losing franchises against each other with one of them ready to claim their first championship in decades.

Here are a few basic questions about the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians for collectors to chew on …

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

Big Papi’s farewell & Party at Napoli’s get Topps Now autos

A Party at Napoli’s and Big Papi’s farewell are among today’s Topps Now baseball cards.

The lineup includes 18 cards available for only 24 hours via Topps’ online card program. David Ortiz‘s autographs along with Mike Napoli‘s marks the first time there are two autographs available on the same day — and they aren’t the only cards.

Buzz Break: 2016 Topps Strata baseball cards

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: 2016 Topps Strata baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 1
Cards per pack: 2
Cards in this box: 2
Base (autograph) set completion: 
1 of 35 (3 percent)
Duplicates: 0

National Baseball Card Day is set for Saturday with free cards & more

National Baseball Card Day is this Saturday.

The hobby shop event will have participating stores in the United States and Canada giving away free six-card packs to visitors. It’s a promotion that hasn’t been done since 2008.

A bonus card of Kris Bryant will only be available with purchases. It can be seen above.

Buzz Break: 2016 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (hobby box)

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: 2016 Topps Stadium Club baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 16
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 128
Base set completion: 
110 of 300 (37 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notable players on base cards – Jake Arrieta, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Yu Darvish, Nomar Garciaparra, Addison Russell, Willie Mays, Greg Maddux, Hank Aaron, Willie Stargell, Mike Trout, Carlos Correa

Rookie Cards (13) – Nomar Mazara, Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Blake Snell, Tyler White, Hector Olivera, Luke Jackson, Zach Lee, Luis Severino, Michael Reed, Ketel Marte, Max Kepler, Colin Rea

May the Fourth can be with you — even if you’re a baseball fan

It’s the fourth day of May and, of course, that’s got a Star Wars tie. (If you don’t get it, you probably haven’t seen the movies.)

As part of this holiday of sorts Topps has created the 2016 Topps Star Wars Tribute baseball set — a series of prints and jumbo cards in the style of the memorable early Star Wars stickers made by the company way back in 1977.

Chicago Cubs auction Jake Arrieta no-hitter gamers to benefit charities

One of the biggest moments of the Chicago Cubs’ season will hopefully make a big impact for the team’s charities.

How?

A number of game-used items from Jake Arrieta‘s no-hitter on April 21 are currently on the auction block via MLB.com to benefit Cubs Charities.

Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (April 22)

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: Jake Arrieta, Topps Heritage Red autos, 2016 Bowman, an expired LeBron James redemption & more …

Topps’ final World Series releases recap moments & Royals’ title

Fans of the Kansas City Royals and their successful run to the World Series have two more options from Topps as the company has released an oversized set for the team and re-issued all of its Postseason Moments wall art in one smaller set.