Buzz Buys: Ronald Acuña Jr., Broadway Joe, Bill Buckner, signs of a name change, Tawny Kitaen ink, Muhammad Ali & more

Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year and talk more about cardboard that I -- and you -- might like. One way to do that? Simple show and tell -- present a few pick-ups and say why they captured my attention. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around it's another super-sized edition.

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BATTING LEAD-OFF ONCE AGAIN 
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Topps Heritage High Number Rookie Card (BGS 9)
The Price: $14
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: You may think it's a comedy bit with this Atlanta Braves slugger's RC batting lead-off here once again -- and it's not even the first time it's been this card in a slab, just a different company -- but Buzz is still sold on his hobby potential as part of a first-place team loaded with home-grown talent ... and he bats lead-off there, too. There will come a time where the wax will become harder and harder to find so these slabbed versions are always worth a look on the cheaper side in my mind. This also was my first buy for a BGS card without sub-grades -- people tend to price them lower than other cards. This one does have issues with vertical centering but it doesn't bug my eye at all compared to left-right centering issues when those exist. For the price, I'm good here ... and I still miss 1969 Heritage compared to this year.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Topps Heritage High Number baseball cards

Keep reading for five more interesting items ...

THAT SWATCH, THOUGH ...
The Card: Mallex Smith 2016 Panini National Treasures St. Patrick's Day Jersey Signatures Prime (/10)
The Price: $9.57
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card's green edges have some spots and the autograph is more of a rookie-style trainwreck than that of a big-leaguer but the set that this one is from -- one of a few inclusions in that realm in this brand -- is a classic one. It's a set showcasing game-used jerseys worn just one time a year for many teams during spring training -- St. Patrick's Day specialty uniforms. The jerseys are a little low-keycompared to other Braves unis but this piece is, I think, from the "E" in what you can see here. I had always wanted to find a prime version of any St. Patrick's Day cardboard with some details on the cheap. This is that and for less than a couple packs of stuff these days. 
Grab a box right here: National Treasures baseball boxes (when available)

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A SUBTLE SIGN OF LEGAL 
The Card: Ruby Riott 2018 Topps WWE Women's Division Silver Autographs (/50)
The Price: $14.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This relative newcomer to WWE made a mark seemingly out of nowhere with two other members of her faction known as The Riott Squad, but now she's on the shelf due to injury and they've broken up the team. What might come next? I'm not sure, but her ink is still on the pricier side compared to others in WWE and this one struck me as not only a cheaper must-buy but an interesting one because of one little detail. Well, one or two. This one is all about her autograph as this is clearly an earlier sig. (Don't believe me? Click here ... Acuña hit lead-off then, too.) Or, maybe at least her some of stickers were signed differently early on. This card is newer than that one and that's where even more autograph detail comes in. If you noticed the other card at the link, her name there was Ruby Riot. On this card? It's Ruby Riott ... except not on the autograph. Her name was changed around the time of the arrival of The Riott Squad and I'd bet that some trademark lawyer somewhere had to have that happen so the shirt she's wearing in this card's photo could exist. Fun stuff. Her newer autos don't use many letters but now there are a pair of marks at the end to indicate that she's well aware she's got two T's now while signing. And, with stickers, ironically, the new sigs are also found in this exact same release. Even more intterestting.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Topps WWE Women's Division wrestling cards

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A GREAT'S ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Bill Buckner (and Jack Jenkins) 1970 Topps Rookie Card (SGC 80)
The Price: $6
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former batting champ's recent death at age 69 got me looking at his cardboard and I grabbed this one since it was super-affordable and in a slab -- and because I thought I already had an auto but wasn't 100-percent sure. This 22-year MLB veteran played for a number of teams but it was the one he started with, the Dodgers where he played a long, long time (same number of years as he spent with the Cubs). He had 2,715 hits in the majors and more than 1,208 RBI but we all know why people remember him -- and that's something I'm not specifically mentioning here. It's interesting that he's got this card from this year as he played in just one game in 1969 and just 28 more in 1970. Normally that wouldn't be the case for older cardboard -- he'd simply have to wait until 1971. (He had another multi-player non-RC rookie card then.) Buckner's career is far from being about one play and this card is one of many affordable options out there for him.
Grab a box right here: No 1970s in stock but his auto can be found in many newer MLB boxes

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SUCKED IN BY THE SERIAL-NUMBERING ...
The Card: Randall Cunningham 2017 Panini Phoenix Green (12/25)
The Price: $7.25 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Buzz collected Cunningham heavily back during his Eagles days but now it's just an occasional and very casual search to see what's new for this under-rated and Hall of Fame-worthy player. I really liked the color scheme of this parallel card and never ripped into the brand before, so I figured I'd jump on one of these -- and then I saw its serial number. A uniform number match is a fun piece of extra trivia about a card -- and something many try to collect -- so that's probably why you see this one-of-a-kind card here. I paid a little more than I hoped -- at least compared to other cards here -- but it's fun enough from a box that's definitely not in my comfort range price-wise. (Thanks, Patrick Mahomes.)
Grab a box right here: 2017 Panini Phoenix football cards

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ALL ABOUT THE CENTERING
The Card: Joe Namath 1972 Topps (PSA 4)
The Price: $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer has less than a decade's worth of cardboard from his playing days and this is a more-affordable specimen (regardless of its condition) that's from later in his career. It's all about the centering with this grade as it's way off a couple ways and even a little tilted but, man, otherwise this one is a pretty sharp and clean piece of cardboard. I barely hesitated to click and pick it off when I saw the price. It presents very well for a PSA 4 if you can just focus on the photo. I don't have all of Joe Willie's cardboard from his career yet but I'd take them all a few times over if they looked like this in this grade for this price.
Grab a box right here: No 1972s in stock but his card are all over many newer NFL releases

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BIG-LEAGUE CHEWER
The Card: Robert Nelson 2010 TRISTAR Obak Autographs Black (/50)
The Price: $1.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Clearly I picked this up off somebody who had absolutely no need for bubble gum. This card is from a classic and tougher-to-find brand (at least in wax form) that celebrates the oddities in and around the game like this guy, the inventor of Big League Chew bubble gum. How did that happen? Click here for a long story. He only played in the minor leagues and his 22 cards in this product are his only cards -- and he shares some of them with Jim Bouton who helped finance the idea for the gum not long after his successful big-league career was over.
Grab a box right here: No Obak in stock but his auto can be found in many newer MLB boxes

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A HUNKA HUNKA BURNING CARDBOARD?
The Card: 2017 Topps Pro Debut Promo Night Uniform Relics Gold -- Elvis Night (/50)
The Price: $2.15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is another dirt-cheap parallel card from a fun set that celebrates the quirks of the minor-league game. In this case, the Toledo Mud Hens wore Elvis style jerseys on Aug. 25, 2016 -- close to the 60th anniversary of him playing in Toledo. (It had its controversies back in the day.) The Mud Hens didn't rumble, knocking off the Columbus Clippers, 5-1, in the game and an Elvis impersonator played after the game until everybody decided it was time to leave the building. These cards aren't all that pricey but they are unique.
Grab a box right here: Topps Pro Debut baseball cards (all years)

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A NAME IN THE NEWS ...
The Card: John Dean 2012 Panini Golden Age SP photo variation
The Price: $4.15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This key player in unraveling the Watergate scandal long ago was back in the news recently with testimony before Congress but that's actually not why I picked up this card. Why? It's a rarer (but not super-rare) photo variation. Unlike some brands, this release notes the variations as part of the card numbering -- this one card No. 105-SP. Why is this one here? Consider it a tip -- check those card backs if you have access to a bunch of base cards from this set. You might find something worth a few more bucks than you expected.
Grab a box right here: None for this one but see other baseball boxes here

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HERE I GO AGAIN ...
The Card: Tawny Kitaen 2018 Leaf Pop Century Signatures Pink Prismatic (/20)
The Price: $6.62
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This actress has a bunch of credits dating back to the early 1980s and she probably became best-known for appearances in late-1980s Whitesnake videos on MTV -- or later on for beating up her former MLB husband Chuck Finley. Believe it or not, her ink here isn't her first -- Rittenhouse Archives had her sign for its 2001 Hercules The Complete Journeys set. Do I have a point with this one? Well, I thought it was a unique auto -- and a rare parallel -- with some amusing anecdotes. The Pop Century sets can include some good surprises on the affordable side, which is why I like it. One more nugget before the next card ... did you know her real name is Julie and Tawny is merely a nickname? I didn't.
Grab a box right here: Pop Century boxes (all years) are here when available

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AN INTERESTING CARD OF THE GREATEST
The Card: Muhammad Ali 1979 Venorlandus World of Sport Our Heroes Flik-Cards
The Price: $1.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see." That phrase of his is the basis for this caricature of Ali in a 48-card set made in England. They're not particularly scarce but they're also not something you see every day -- and that was enough for me to pick one off because I thought it was interesting. Others of note in this multi-sport set include Mario Andretti, James Hunt, George Best, Pele, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Olga Korbut, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert. Boxing fans don't have a ton of cardboard options but Ali has more than anyone out there. You'll see him here again in the future.
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one -- check out "other sports" boxes here

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TOO CHEAP TO PASS UP?
The Card: Jane Russell 2008 Donruss Americana II (BGS 9)
The Price: $3.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I grade some oddball stuff, but this retail set version of a card of a Hollywood icon from a past Americana release is not one of them. Believe it or not, it's also not the only one of these cards graded -- there's a BGS 9.5 to go with it that wasn't graded at the same time as this one. I picked it up because it just seemed oddly cheap, though I concede that this is not the kind of card that's a big-money slab even if it were a BGS 10. There are a number of cards for her, though her autos from Americana are rarer --  a handful -- and those are the ones I'd expect to see in slabs. I'm fine with BGS 9s and you can likely find some good bargains in that grade across the entire cardboard landscape.
Grab a box right here: Americana boxes (when in stock) are here

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A FAMOUS COLLECTOR'S BASEBALL CARD
The Card: Todd McFarlane 2010 TRISTAR Obak T212 Mini parallel
The Price: 70 cents 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: In 1999 this comic book art icon and toy company leader purchased Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball for $2.6 million at auction, and, while his artwork and creations like Spawn have had many card appearances, it looks like it took until 2010 for him to appear on a baseball card. McFarlane signed fewer than 300 total stickers affixed to cards for this release so those are the cards that people might grab first. I was fine with this pocket-change purchase (for now).
Grab a box right here: No Obak in stock but his auto can be found in many newer MLB boxes

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A HEAVY-HITTING CARDBOARD BUY
The Card: Lance Berkman 2000 Just Minors Just Imagine 
The Price: $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The life of a minor-league baseball player can sometimes include time in a jumbo sumo wrestling suit. Why? That part is perhaps lost to history but believe it or not this is not the only time such a suit has appeared on  baseball card. This image also gets repeated on the back of this card with the statline running across his chest similarly to the card front. I've seen this card many times in scans through the years but it never presented itself to me ... so when it did I grabbed it. Still wondering about the other card? I'll let you ponder what other baseball set has one of these in it ... comment below or tweet at me if you know.
Grab a box right here: No Just boxes are in stock but you can find Berkman in other MLB boxes

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IT'S ADAM COLE ... BAY-BAY
The Card: Adam Cole 2019 Topps WWE Road to Wrestlemania Mat Relics Blue (/50)
The Price: $2.49
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card for a potential WWE star of the future has a piece of ring mat from last year's NXT Takeover: New Orleans event and it's rare enough that I grabbed it for a seemingly cheap price. The current NXT champ's next stop should be one of the top roster shows -- I'm not sure it will be that soon but it could be. (You never know.) He has a modest amount of cardboard -- about 150 -- since arriving on cards just last year. About a third of those are autos and even fewer are memorabilia cards. There's also something about NXT ring mat cards with their black canvas that makes them feel different than the standard stuff we've seen for years.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Topps WWE Road to Wrestlemania wrestling cards

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

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