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: 2016 Fanatics Authentic Under Wraps Series 1 autographed baseballs
The cost: BlowoutCards.com
What’s inside this one? Keep reading …
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 Luminaries baseball cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 1
Cards per pack: 1
Base set completion:
N/A
He’s had a long road to MLB but he’s here — and at the moment he’s under the radar and hot.
He’s Oakland A’s rookie first baseman Matt Olson and he’s got 11 home runs in his last 15 games — 22 for the year. Olson, 23, was a first-round pick of the A’s way back in 2012 and he’s delivering so far with a .267 average and all those longballs in just 172 at-bats this season.
That long road? It’s even longer when it comes to cardboard.
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.”
Update: The jersey sold for $45,578.40 after eight bids.
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How priceless are the pinstripes of the hottest New York Yankee?
We’ll find out soon as the game-used jersey worn during Aaron Judge‘s first career grand slam from May 28 is on the auction block.
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.)
It’s got some rough edges, fuzzy corners, some light surface snow, and a curved-but-not-awful corner crease — but it’s got some character and it’s mine.
And it’s also signed by Rickey Henderson.
It’s a copy of his 1980 Topps Rookie Card and it’s also a recent pickup from a major autograph dealer. It’s also a story that has a few pieces that this collector thought made it interesting enough to present right here.
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?
You should know the name, but you probably don’t know the player.
At least this one.
His baseball name is Boog Powell, his real name is Herschel. He’s not related to John Wesley Powell, aka Boog Powell, but they share the nickname because his dad was a fan of the Baltimore Orioles icon of the 1960s and the 1970 American League MVP.
It’s one of the weirdest baseball card ever made for a long-time player who’s ultimately common-bin material, but it’s the inspiration for a minor-league bobblehead giveaway coming this summer.
It’s the 1984 Fleer Glenn Hubbard, No. 182 in the set, and it’s been getting big-league attention among the Intentional Talk crowd and goofy pre-spring headlines.
🤘 Sean Doolittle Metallica Gnome WITH SOUND 🤘 April 30. #2016Promotions @whatwouldDOOdo @Metallica pic.twitter.com/HCPMzRoy0r
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) January 19, 2016
Sean Doolittle of the Oakland A’s leads the league in rocking preseason promotion hype with an assist from Metalllica. The gnome in the video above was revealed by the team this week in advance of an April 30 date where 15,000 fans will know “For Whom The Bell Tolls.”
On a scale of one to 10, this one goes to 11.
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When 2015 Topps Strata arrived last week with just two cards per box, some collectors may not have noticed one of the features that the high-end brand includes on its Clearly Authentic Autographed Relic and Clearly Authentic Relic cards.
But it’s something that many collectors say they have been seeking for a long time.
What is it? Added authenticity — as in specific game-dating — thanks to the little silver MLB Authentication sticker found on every single card in those two sets.
Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it’s to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it’s to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.
For the first Grading Diary here on The Buzz, it will be a mix of cards graded for a few reasons.
The Card: 1993 Upper Deck #449 Derek Jeter
The Reason Graded: This was pulled straight from an underpriced factory set and looked very clean except for a tiny spot on the back — Buzz figured it might push into the high grades even with the gloss issue. These cards are also not easy to pull from wax or sets cleanly because the high-gloss cards often stick together, peeling away specks of paper. Another reason? This is an iconic card that’s worth grading if you own a clean one.
The Grade: BGS 9
| Grade: | 5 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.5 | 10 | Total |
| Population: | 24 | 20 | 65 | 124 | 334 | 761 | 1,314 | 1,579 | 806 | 307 | 3 | 5,360 |
Reality Check: The SP Jeter rookie is the one people chase, not this one. This one’s $20 on eBay — and perhaps undervalued considering how they grade on the pop report. BGS 9s and higher are really much rarer than people think.
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