Buzz Buys: Anthony Fauci's Rookie Card, big Bo Bichette, Kobe, Sasha Banks, AEW's start & Mark Wahlberg's new NFL card?

Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals is to rip a little less 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.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around there's some new stuff and some throwbacks as I await some new arrivals.

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IN THE HOUSE (BUT NOT IN THE STRIKE ZONE)
The Card: Dr. Anthony Fauci 2020 Topps Now (/51,512)
The Price: $6 (direct from Topps)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card was a fun surprise after his awful first pitch to start the season on Opening Day last month and it set an all-time record for Topps Now with more than 51,000 copies sold. That's more than double the previous record for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s MLB debut last year. Why? The novelty of it and the market has been strong for this card as many non-collectors apparently want one. That price has made me glad I did a handful. I may or may not slab one as I had planned as these didn't come in as razor-sharp/perfectly clean as other Topps Now cards I've done. (And also because grading prices are getting steeper.) The real question for people out there ... did anybody get a parallel? Those are new for Now this year.
Grab a box right here: None for this ... get 2020 MLB boxes here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

BIG BICHETTE
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Bowman Rookie Card wall art (/99)
The Price: $17.50 (after promotional discount)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Sorry, Jasson Dominguez, this card in 2020 Bowman is my favorite as it's got a very clean and near-perfect photo for a guy who dominated in his call-up last season. Unlike the basic paper Bowman card, there are just 99 copies of this jumbo card made (if that many are even ordered before something else replaces Bowman on the Topps site) and mine was just the second copy. They number them in order as they are made and these are printed on card stock, by the way -- they just don't have anything on the back. I stash RCs as wall art here and there -- mostly when Topps does sales -- and think that over time these might surprise. 
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get 2020 Bowman boxes here.

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ALL ABOUT THE CAP
The Card: Kobe Bryant 2010-11 Playoff Contenders Patches Place in History
The Price: Under $3
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Kobe Bryant doesn't have a ton of cardboard showing him with the cap he wore on draft night -- the Charlotte Hornets drafted him, kids -- but the few cards that do go there always get a look out of me. This one isn't my natural taste -- that's a lot of foilboard -- but I grabbed it for the price with an eye on a simple but unique slab. He has a Topps insert showing him with the cap but my lone copy has an edge issue that takes it out of the running for grading. This one might get the nod.
Grab a box right here: None for this ... get NBA boxes here.

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IT'S BOSS TIME
The Card: Sasha Banks 2016 Topps WWE Road to Wrestlemania Shirt Relics (/350)
The Price: $8.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This WWE star is on a high note right now career-wise as both a tag champ and the Raw Women's Champion, but that's not why you see this one here. I've been picking off key cards of hers (autos, mem, numbered) for a while just for fun when the prices present themselves a little more reasonably. That's not always the easiest thing to do as a lot of people pick off the WWE's women's stars just to flip them for more -- they can often sell better than the guys and fans will pay if they need them.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get WWE boxes here.

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THE BAT OF AN ARM
The Card: Nolan Ryan 2001 SP Game Bat Edition Piece of the Game 
The Price: Under $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This set was an important one in its time with a bat card in every pack -- and they made plenty, leaving a lot of the singles here dirt cheap even close to 20 years later. The bigger names, though, can be tougher to find at times and this one just seemed like a price I couldn't pass up for a Hall of Famer. Plus, bat cards for pitchers are just weird.
Grab a box right here: None for this ... get MLB boxes here.

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HIS KIDS COLLECT
The Card: Mark Wahlberg Trading Cards 5 by artist Cuyler Smith (/90)
The Price: $15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card-sized print from Cuyler Smith's ongoing series of Trading Cards takes movie characters and puts them onto real-world cards. What makes this Invincible character different? Well, Vince Papale is a real-life former Philadelphia Eagles player who has his Rookie Card in the 1977 Topps set. (I wish this one used that design so they match.) Wahlberg's kids are collectors -- you'll see them shredding Panini cases on his social channels -- so I figured I'd present this one, my third pick-up from this year's collection. (See the other two in past items.) Does Wahlberg have much cardboard? I need to go look ...
Grab a box right here: None for this ... get NFL boxes here.

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HISTORY-MAKER
The Card: Alyssa Nakken 2020 Topps Now Spring Training (/4,781)
The Price: $6 (direct from Topps)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: There have been a number of women involved in various baseball leagues in the past -- there's even one with a Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown -- but Nakken made a little history last month by becoming the first on-field coach for an MLB game. Her jersey you see here is in Cooperstown and this is her only card so far -- and it could end up being her only one unless she somehow cameos on other cards to come this year or is included in something like Allen & Ginter.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get MLB boxes here.

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SILVER, BLACK & YELLOW?
The Card: Ken Stabler 1975 McDonald's Quarter Back football cards
The Price: Under $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This food issue isn't a relatively rare one -- that's how you can find a Hall of Famer for less than $2 on a card older than Buzz is -- and that's because ultimately it's a coupon. Why did I grab it? Well, beyond the oddity of it and some school ties, this card shows something trivial that I always look for on Stabler cards -- the smiley face on the stipe of his helmet. (No, really, that's a smiley face sticker -- and it's on other cards out there, too.)
Grab a box right here: None for this ... get NFL boxes here.

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DISNEY+ MARATHONING ...
The Card: Walton Goggins 2018 Upper Deck Ant-Man & The Wasp Quantum Stars Autos
The Price: $8.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Without a ton of sports action on TV in recent months, my weekend routine has evolved into getting my Buzz work on with a heavy dose of Disney+ -- Marvel and occasional Star Wars movies -- playing in the background. Goggins has a ton of credits out there beyond his Ant-Man & The Wasp role (and those are probably better) but not a lot of ink. I've picked up a couple in the past and this is the new one.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get non-sports boxes here.

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THAT PATCH, THOUGH ...
The Card: A.J. McCarron 2014 Bowman Sterling Jumbo Rookie Patch Black Refractor (/50)
The Price: About $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy might not have a big NFL résumé but that's fine by me as it allows me to pick off some nicer cards on the cheap for the ol' school ties part of my collection. I've never been a Bengals fan but the colors of those uniforms really work as long as there's some orange in the mix and this one has just that.
Grab a box right here: None for this ... get NFL boxes here.

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HOMETOWN HEROES
The Card: Rickey Henderson 2020 Topps Project 2020 -- Artist: Ben Baller (/15,741 made)
The Price: $19.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've admittedly slowed on Project 2020 pick-ups as I await my deluge of deliveries from Topps as it plays catch-up from the explosion of interest here but this one gets a public nod. This card is definitely one of the better takes on this iconic Rookie Card so I grabbed it. I was going to do the Rickey run but my plans changed awhile back. If I see this one on the cheaper side, I'll probably grab more as I think it's that solid.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get MLB boxes here.

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IT'S PSYLOCKE!
The Card: Olivia Munn signed 8-by-10 photo (JSA authenticated)
The Price: $40
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pick-up was one definitely fueled by curiosity about her autograph after X-Men: Apocalypse popped up on the ol' TV -- but it was about a year ago so I can't blame Disney+. (I had stashed this one away with other pick-ups but realized it never appeared here so I figured why not with other stuff delayed that would have been here.) I'm not sure of the origin of this photo, but I chose it since her rather minimalist auto had a little more going on here and her X-Men photos can be a little too fanboy-priced (overpriced) considering the look of the ink. I don't have a ton of signed photos beyond a few genres (nearly all are sports) so this was a decent addition without breaking the bank.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get non-sports boxes here.

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TIGHTLY DESIGNED
The Card: Calvin Ridley 2019 Donruss Leather Kings (/199)
The Price: Under $1.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The painted look of Gridiron Kings stuff isn't for everyone -- heck, I don't always like them -- but this player with school ties for me gets an occasional look and the price was beyond right here. And the card is pretty sweet, too, regardless of the price. The design is pretty tight -- I wish all cards had such nice balance of elements -- and he's looking right at the swatch -- a piece of a used football. Solid addition and I need to look at other cards from this set.
Grab a box right here: None for this ... get NFL boxes here.

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THE OTHER MISS ELIZABETH?
The Card: Shannon Elizabeth 2017 Leaf Pop Century Signatures  
The Price: About $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I regularly check autographs from past Pop Century releases to see what pops up and this one was a decent buy (she's normally a little pricier) so I grabbed it. The auto for the most part is a clean one and I had thought it didn't run off the sticker at all (but it does) so it's not quite as solid as I thought but it's still pretty good. Pop Century boxes aren't always the best breaks -- too few cards, but all hits -- but they do make for good singles picking and over time some of the big names who don't sign elsewhere can become pricey (making those boxes always worth a look or worth stashing as the print runs can't be huge). She's not one of those names, though. She actually has a lot of ink -- even autographs in past Topps NBA releases.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get non-sports boxes here.

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LANDMARK EVENT'S SET
The Card: 2018 All In wrestling cards 36-card set (click for closer look)
The Price: $16
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a card set made for a subscription crate showing those who were set to appear at what ultimately has become a historic indy wrestling event a couple of years ago that is the reason why WWE has a new national competitor, AEW, on cable TV now. It started with a tweet -- see card No. 1 -- and the rest is history. Why did I pick this one up? Well, it's something different and it's also got cardboard for a lot of names who don't have them otherwise (or at least not that many). I don't really dabble with indy wrestling -- or its cardboard -- but this one is something that led to something big that's still growing. Notables on cards here include Cody and Brandi Rhodes, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Arrow actor Stephen Amell, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Rey Mysterio, Chelsea Green and Britt Baker among others. Oddball sets like this might have some break-up potential if you're patient, too, but I grabbed it to stash it with my other related cardboard.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get WWE boxes here.

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POWERFUL ROOKIE
The Card: Austin Riley 2019 Topps On Demand Rookie Progression (/1,576)
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is one from a number of online-first releases from Topps, and I grabbed it along with some other cheap cards for this powerful rookie to see how the cards looked and to stash it away with some other cheap stuff. He's struggled since a record-setting start last year and this year isn't looking all that pretty, but the card got me. These are printed ultimately just like Topps Now so that works for my collecting tastes.
Grab a box right here: None for this ...get MLB boxes here.

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