Buzz Poll: Who gets your single vote for the Hall of Fame this year?

This year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with several new names and players who appeared on last year’s ballot but failed to get selected on 75 percent of the vote.

It’s a crop that includes Chipper Jones, Jim Thome and Johan Santana among the newcomers and Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens among those left over from past ballots.

Below is the ballot that all BBWAA members will receive. The writers can vote for as many as 10 players. Those who appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast will be inducted into the Hall.

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 1999 Upper Deck Ovation MLB blaster (Hour 7)

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 7.

The box: 1999 Upper Deck Ovation baseball cards (blaster)
The cost now: $19.95
The cost then: $34.99

What’s inside this one? Keep reading …

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 1992 Upper Deck MLB jumbo box (Hour 12)

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 our finale.

The box: 1992 Upper Deck baseball cards (jumbo box)
The cost now: $9.99
The cost then: $43.80 ($2.19 per pack … printed on every pack)

What was found inside this one? Keep reading …

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 1993 Upper Deck Series 2 MLB jumbo (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: 1993 Upper Deck Series 2 baseball cards (jumbo box)
The cost now: $19.99
The cost then: $55.80 ($2.79 per pack … printed on every pack)

What was found inside this one? Keep reading …

Buzz 12 in 12: Busting a 1994 Upper Deck Series 1 Hobby Eastern Region baseball wax box (Hour 3)

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 3.

The box: 1994 Upper Deck Series 1 Hobby Eastern Region baseball cards
The cost now: $19.99
The cost then: $72 (or more … it was hot)

What’s inside this box? Keep reading …

You get one Baseball Hall of Fame vote … who gets it this year?

This year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with 19 new names as well as the players who appeared on last year’s ballot but failed to get 75 percent of the vote.

Below is the list of names that all BBWAA members will receive. The writers can vote for as many as 10 players and those who appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast will go into the Hall. Your challenge here is different.

Unlike the writers, you don’t get to pick 10. You get to pick just one player. 

First Buzz: 2016 Historic Autographs Friends-N-Foes Holiday Edition

What: 2016 Historic Autographs Friends-N-Foes Holiday Edition
Arrives: Dec. 20
Box basics: One dual-autograph cut booklet per box (13 boxes per case)

What’s buzz-worthy: Historic Autographs’ second release with booklets is here pairing players with common ties or opposing ones. The Friends cards will include family members, teammates and memorable pairings, while rivalries will be found on the Foes cards.

See a gallery and more … below.

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 …

—

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com

Cooperstown calls for Ken Griffey Jr. as well as Mike Piazza

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes are in, and there’s no surprise at the top — Ken Griffey Jr. is headed to Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer to join baseball’s immortals.

He received 99.3 percent of the vote — a record and three votes short of unanimous — after his first time on the ballot. Joining him is former Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza, who appeared on 83 percent of the 440 ballots.

Griffey helped usher in a new era of collecting in 1989 as the iconic No. 1 in the first Upper Deck set, a release that helped change the printing and packaging of cards and the collecting expectations of a generation. For those same thirty-somethings and beyond, he’s an also icon on the field with his backwards cap and a smooth but powerful left-handed swing that helped produce 630 home runs and countless more memorable moments for the Mariners, Reds and White Sox over 22 seasons but never a World Series at-bat.

Clearly he’s one of the greatest players — and most-beloved players — in MLB history, a symbol of what’s good about the game in an era of bogus records and inflated statistics that have undermined not only the results on the field but also the cardboard of our youth. His enshrinement this summer in Cooperstown will be the stuff that cardboard (and baseball) marketing is made of. In fact, there are already two forthcoming brands — 2016 Topps Series 2 and 2016 Topps Finest (above right) — that will spotlight Junior.

Examining 20 Baseball Hall of Fame candidates’ Rookie Cards + Buzz casts his votes for Cooperstown

There are 32 players on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot this year and the ongoing debate of who’s worthy, who’s not and who cheated with performance-enhancing drugs will rage on well beyond the reveal of the voting results on Jan. 6.

In Buzz’s book, there’s quite possibly only one new Hall of Famer headed to Cooperstown this coming summer, and that lock is Ken Griffey Jr.

The rest? Well, it’s not that easy. Buzz has eliminated 12 of the guys who are not likely to even make the cut to be on next year’s ballot and examined the stats for 20 of those who are left. Along with this, Buzz has added some key Rookie Card info, too, just in case you haven’t tracked any of them down just yet or want to revisit cardboard from your youth.

Who gets your single vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame this year?

This year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has been released by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with 15 new names and several players who appeared on last year’s ballot but failed to get 75 percent of the votes.

Below is the ballot that all BBWAA members will receive. The writers can vote for as many as 10 players. Those who appear on 75 percent of all ballots cast will be inducted into the Hall. Your challenge here is a bit different.