Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Gallery baseball cards (collector’s 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 Gallery MLB cards (collector’s box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 20
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 101
Base set completion: 
85 of 150 (57 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, Ichiro Suzuki, Jose Altuve, Gary Sanchez, Jacob deGrom, Andrew McCutchen, Kenta Maeda, Yoenis Cespedes, Francisco Lindor, Adrian Beltre, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Corey Seager, Noah Syndergaard, Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado, Carlos Correa, Giancarlo Stanton

Rookie Cards (22) – Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Andrew Benintendi, Dinelson Lamet, Amir Garrett, Sean Newcomb, Jake Thompson, Christian Arroyo, Paul DeJong, Jharel Cotton, Josh Bell, Mitch Haniger, David Dahl, Jordan Montgomery, Antonio Senzatela, Yuliesky Gurriel, Alex Reyes, Lewis Brinson, Ian Happ, Anthony Alford, Manny Margot, Hunter Dozier

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 2017 Topps Gallery MLB collector’s box (Hour 4)

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 4.

The box: 2017 Topps Gallery baseball cards (collector’s box)
The cost: BlowoutCards.com

What’s inside this one? Keep reading …

Topps readies extra cardboard for holiday season shop promotion

There’s some extra cardboard coming to card shops for the holiday season.

Topps revealed on Friday its 2017 Topps Holiday promotion, which will include three-card packs of a new set complete with holiday touches and December superstars alongside possible autographed cards.

First Buzz: 2018 Topps Opening Day baseball cards

What: 2018 Topps Opening Day baseball cards
Arrives: March 14
Box basics: No hits guaranteed per 36-pack box (20 boxes per case)

What’s buzz-worthy: Opening Day returns for its 19th season with an insert in every pack, autographs and Relics in the mix and it even gets a little dirty as you can see above.

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

Buzz Break: 2017 Donruss Optic 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 Donruss Optic baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 6
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 30
Base set completion: 
13 of 100 (13 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Nolan Ryan, Buster Posey, Mookie Betts, Duke Snider, Manny Machado, Chris Sale, Francisco Lindor

Rookie Cards (3) – Dansby Swanson, Mitch Haniger, Reynaldo Lopez

Forever Collectibles’ caricature line offers fun nod to bobblehead fans

If you’re in the camp that sports novelties just weren’t quirky and fun enough, then Forever Collectibles has something you might like.

They’re caricature bobbleheads.

Buzz Break: 2017 Topps Chrome 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 Chrome baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 96
Base set completion: 
70 of 200 (35 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – David Ortiz, Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story, Albert Pujols, Gary Sanchez, Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana, Carlos Correa, Paul Goldschmidt

Rookie Cards (24) – Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Yulieski Gurriel, Trey Mancini, Tyler Glasnow, Carson Fulmer, Kyle Freehand, Amir Garrett, Antonio Senzatela, Jeff Hoffman, Luke Weaver, David Dahl, Tyler Austin, Orlando Arcia, Matt Strahm, German Marquez, Hunter Dozier, Mitch Haniger, Jose DeLeon, Jesse Winker, Joe Jimenez, Manny Margot, Jordan Montgomery, Christian Arroyo

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: 
31 of 200 (16 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Buster Posey, Gary Sanchez, Albert Pujols, Javier Baez, Carlos Correa, Andrew McCutchen

Rookie Cards (8) – Alex Reyes, Teoscar Hernandez, Manny Margot, Ryon Healy, Gavin Cecchini, David Dahl, Yulieski Gurriel, Mitch Haniger

Topps & New Era team up once again for card-cap crossover promo

Topps and New Era are bringing the cards to the caps.

Two baseball card sets — 2017 Topps and 1987 Topps — get some of their design touches added to caps in a new line from New Era that will be available in some MLB ballparks and other stores beginning next week. All teams will be had in caps that have their visors branded using memorable elements from the card sets as well as a Topps logo on the side.

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.)

First Buzz: 2017 Topps Five Star baseball cards

What: 2017 Topps Five Star baseball cards
Arrives: Aug. 30
Box basics: Two autographs per box (eight boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here to view

What’s buzz-worthy: Every autograph is on-card or a cut signature with “more case-level hits” this time around on “new high-end designs.”

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

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. 

Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (May 1)

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: Anthony Rendon’s big game, huge pulls, MLB headlines & more.

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter blaster box (Hour 9)

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 9.

The box: 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball cards (blaster box) 
The cost: $14.99 (Click here for hobby)

What’s inside this one? Keep reading …

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 2017 Topps Heritage blaster Hot Box (Hour 8)

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 8.

The box: 2017 Topps Heritage baseball cards blaster (Hot Box)
The cost: Click here

What’s inside this one? Keep reading …

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is this year’s Topps Now intern

Topps Now was a game-changer last season for baseball cards and it’s been a big enough hit that “Fred” and friends now have an intern.

You might know him.

Buzz Break: 2017 Donruss 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 Donruss baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 8
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 56
Base set completion: 
41 of 195 (21 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Short-prints (Nos. 1-45; Diamond Kings & Rated Rookies) (3) – Mike Trout (DK), Josh Bell, Jose DeLeon

Notables on base cards – Pete Rose, Mike Trout, Wade Boggs, Clayton Kershaw,  Jose Bautista, Noah Syndergaard, Yoenis Cespedes, Jackie Bradley Jr.

>>> For a variation gallery, click here
>>> For a checklist & general gallery, click here

Rookie Cards (2) – Josh Bell, Jose DeLeon

Loot Crate enters sports world with 10 MLB teams and superstar toys

Loot Crate is hitting the baseball diamond and the aces are leading the way.

The Sports Crate subscription box has launched and 10 MLB teams are up for grabs for fans who want a box of stuff for their team delivered to them on a regular basis. Among the items inside each crate is a uniquely styled action figure for one of the team’s top pitchers as the theme for this debut is “Bring The Heat.”

Which teams made the cut? Check out the figure slideshow above and keep reading for more details and a look inside every crate.

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 2017 Topps Heritage MLB hobby box (Hour 1)

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 1.

The box: 2017 Topps Heritage hobby box
The cost: Click here to see

What’s inside this box? Keep reading …

Mets & Marvel team up for Thor-Noah Syndergaard bobblehead

The Mjölnir has a new home.

The New York Mets announced this morning that they have joined forces with Marvel to create a bobblehead of Thor — no, not The Avengers’ Norse God — aka Noah Syndergaard, who is one of the Mets’ biggest comic book-nicknamed stars.

Topps reveals new autograph inclusions for 2017 Topps Tribute

There will be some new features in 2017 Topps Tribute when it arrives later this month and chief among them will be some new autographs that weren’t available back in September when this one was announced.

The biggest one? Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who signed with the company in November. His ink will be found in Tribute Autographs and the Generations of Excellence Autographs sets.

What else is in play? Keep reading …

Buzz Break: 2016 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: 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 8
Cards per pack: 6
Cards in this box: 48
Base set completion: 
34 of 300 (11 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notable players on base cards – Noah Syndergaard, Alex Rodriguez, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Altuve

Rookie Cards (7) – Corey Seager, Gary Sanchez, Stephen Piscotty, Jerad Eickhoff, Zach Davies, Matt Duffy, Aaron Nola

Black Friday is nearly here & here are five preview wave deals to consider

If you hadn’t noticed this month, there have been a number of boxes with discounted prices now over on the mothership as BlowoutCards.com’s Black November has been rocking the hobby.

Now, though, we’re prepping for Black Friday with a preview wave of what’s to come.

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 options that caught this collector’s eye. (Be sure to click this link to see how much these will be discounted.)

2015 Bowman Chrome baseball hobby box
The rookie auto crop isn’t what a lot of Chrome buyers scout first but the list of names found in this one is impressive — Byron Buxton, Carlos Rodon, Francisco Lindor, Joc Pederson, Kris Bryant and Noah Syndergaard. There are, of course, then the prospects and plenty of rainbow potential that the Chromies are known to collect in bulk. A lower price on these boxes should entice more than a few rippers — and cards like this Bryant auto could be in there with two autographs in every box.

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

Buzz Break: 2016 Bowman Platinum 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: 2016 Bowman Platinum baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: Initially only available via Walmart.

Packs per box: 8 (seven standard packs plus one Ice parallel pack)
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 32
Base set completion: 
16 of 100 (16 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mookie Betts, Jose Abreu, Josh Donaldson, Noah Syndergaard, Giancarlo Stanton

Rookie Cards (5) – Rob Refsnyder, Seung-hwan Oh, Aaron Nola, Hector Olivera, Kyle Schwarber

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.

Board Buzz: Must-read threads on the Blowout Forums (April 13)

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: One overloaded Museum Collection box, The New Nomar, the next Trevor Story, discussing Topps Now & more.

Topps Fire baseball set returns for second season as wall art & jumbos

Topps Fire is back.

The colorful and energetic release of last year is back on the same platforms — wall art and jumbo card sets — for this year as Topps unleashed 2016 Topps Fire Wednesday on Topps.com.

Buzz Break: 2016 Topps Opening Day 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: 2016 Topps Opening Day baseball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)

Packs per box: 11
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 77
Base set completion: 
66 of 200 (33 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notable players on base cards – Buster Posey, Addison Russell, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, Miguel Cabrera, Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Altuve, Joc Pederson, Carlos Rodon, David Ortiz

Rookie Cards (10) – Corey Seager, Aaron Nola, Stephen Piscotty, Michael Reed, Max Kepler, Luke Jackson, Trea Turner, Brian Johnson, Frankie Montas, Carl Edwards Jr.

Card Gallery: 2015 Bowman’s Best baseball cards

Bowman’s Best officially returns tomorrow for the first time in eight years and it’s going to pack two autographs into each mini box, four per master, when collectors tear in.

First introduced in 1994, Bowman’s Best ran for more than a decade before a year off and a return in 2007. It’s been sidelined ever since. This time around, the brand replaces Bowman Sterling and offers a selection of young stars that have captivated collectors already this past season or so along with a crop of new draft picks as well. Nearly all autographs are signed on-card for this release.

Yep, Mets star Matt Harvey signed that … and we’re no Joker

If you’re a baseball fan, you know the comic book references were thick this year with the National League champion New York Mets.

Those things happen when you have Thor, Captain America and The Dark Knight all on one team.

But, we need to know, do you own their autographs?

Topps reveals annual MLB All-Star Rookie Team roster

An annual tradition since 1960 is the Topps MLB All-Star Rookie Team and, no surprise, this year’s squad is paced by the reigning American League and National League Rookies of the Year.

Topps revealed the team of players on Friday who will have the Rookie Cup adorning their 2016 Topps baseball cards.

NL ROY Kris Bryant is one of three Cubs to make the team, while AL ROY Carlos Correa was the lone Astro.

First Buzz: 2015 Topps Mini baseball cards factory set

What: 2015 Topps Mini baseball cards
Arrives: Nov. 16 via Topps.com
Box basics: 700 cards plus 11 parallels and 10 bonus cards (factory set)

Buzz List: Players to watch in this year’s World Series

With the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets squaring off in Game 1 of the World Series tonight, there’s plenty of collecting potential for both squads

Why? While there are some young stars and veterans who were once much higher on the radar of collectors in the past, there isn’t one unquestioned hobby power player in the group. You know, one guy whose cardboard will be on the minds of everyone with a championship in hand.

Instead, there are a few players with big potential here … so it’s time for a Buzz List.

Buzz List: MLB’s postseason rookies to watch

The Chicago Cubs are the one to watch on cardboard so far this postseason as their powerful pack of rookies helped knock off the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals. They had four newcomers on the field in their NLDS clincher but aren’t the only team bolstered by youth. Here are 11 key rookies from postseason squads who you can find in wax boxes or sets on BlowoutCards.com.