Buzz Buys: Big ink, old mags, Star Wars, NFL newcomers, college football & even more from around the collecting world

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 it's a little bit of everything.

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ALREADY A STAR ... 
The Item: Jahmyr Gibbs autographed 16-by-20 photo (Fanatics Authentic)
The Price: Under $40
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy has a number of autographed cards already thanks to NIL deals, but to me they're often on the wrong team as he transferred to the Alabama Crimson Tide just this season after two years at Georgia Tech. Atop that, his autograph isn't the flashiest thing out there so that's one reason sticker autos might not appeal ... but when I saw this signed photo for the size and price? Well, I bit -- and it's a really good photo for college merch. He's rushed for 850 yards and seven TDs so far this year and added 42 catches for 378 yards and three more TDs on a team where, well, at times he's been the beast on the ground this year. His next stop? Likely the NFL -- he's popped up as a late first-round or early second-round guy in some quick searches -- though I'm not buying to scout. I just wanted his ink in my stash and this one will go alongside a few other larger-format college photos I've stacked up in the last few years. Depending on where he goes, autographed Rookie Cards should easily top this price. It also helped that I had some sales discount rewards in play, so I paid less than the $40 it had been going for. For me, this one was a win ... and, again, I really like this photo.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but football boxes are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

A RARER PARALLEL FOR HER RETURN
The Card: Paige 2015 Topps WWE Undisputed Silver (/25) -- Rookie Card parallel 
The Price: $25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Slowly but surely I've been tackling this one's parallels and this recent addition was one I found not long after she made her AEW debut as Saraya (her real name). The price was right for the volume here and it looked very clean, so I bit on this one fast. This card -- a parallel of a Rookie Card but one without their RC logo -- is one I like and have graded in a few colors ... so this one is in grader's hands now and it'll show up in Making The Grade next year.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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I DIG THESE ... 
The Card: Bryce Harper 2020 Topps Rookie Card Retrospective Logo Medallions
The Price: $1.55
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This super-cheap pick-up was one I made before his team made a deep postseason run and I actually grabbed it simply because I like the stock and finish they used on these medallion-embedded reprints. I like this one so much that it's another card I might grade at some point. Why? They should grade well and it feels like an RC even though it's not ... and I suspect many won't slab here.
Grab a box right here: 2020 Topps boxes are here

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A LEGENDARY TIME ...
The Mag: Hit Parader -- Winter 1969-70 Yearbook 
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This mag and all of its black ink struck me as interesting considering its age and its montage of big names on covers from that year. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and others are there, though I'd admittedly perhaps rather have some of the original issues. It's not perfect but at that price it is -- and this one doesn't have much color loss on all that black ink so it might grade better than some newer stuff. It's not a high-priority, but I might at some point. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here

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A SASHA BANKS CAMEO
The Card: Clan Kryze 2022 Star Wars The Mandalorian Chrome Beskar Edition Armored and Ready Blue Refractors (/99)
The Price: $15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is a simple insert parallel from the Chrome release and when I found the basic version I knew I'd probably do some color. Why? I pick off the Star Wars cards for Koska Reeves (aka Mercedes Varnado ... aka WWE's Sasha Banks) as a kind of extension to my wrestling stash. This one isn't the best card -- as I already had it in a semi-rigid for potential grading -- but it's a nice card for one trying ti show three people. I liked the blue here as it matched their armor over other parallel colors. The printing on this set also was clean, too, which made me want to grab and grade more than just this.
Grab a box right here: Star Wars boxes are here

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A STRONG SEASON
The Cards: Jaylen Waddle 2021 Panini Chronicles Draft Picks Select Orange & 2021 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Front Row Seats Red
The Price: Under $4 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy has had a solid second season on a team that's putting up numbers and yet has players sill not super-pricey. For my primary tastes, I'm fine with him in his school colors to fit my school ties part of my stash -- I prefer parallels with colors that work -- over Miami unis. I liked the Select photo and then the Red version of the other card in this case while doing some bargain hunting.
Grab a box right here: Football boxes are here

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A FUN MOMENT
The Cards: Leslie Jordan 2017 Topps First Pitch 
The Price: Under $2 total 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: His death at age 67 last month got me looking to see if he had any cards and, yes, he appeared in one of my favorite insert set runs ever found in MLB packs. I'm not sure where I knew him from -- he was in a boatload of TV shows and one-off appearances -- but I knew these were worth the pick-up. He also was a king of goofy videos and tweets online in recent years, so there were a lot of fans talking about him online.
Grab a box right here: 2017 Topps boxes are here

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A DIG THESE, TOO
The Card: Mac Jones 2021 Panini Chronicles Playoff Momentum Rookies 
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I grabbed this as part of a small lot of cards as I like the acetate stuff and I knew I wasn't going to be ripping a ton of packs where this one came from until perhaps later on once other stuff pops up and flipper/collector attention moves elsewhere. I'm not the biggest fan of the original years where these are emulating but on acetate I like them. Grading them? Maybe.
Grab a box right here: 2021 Panini Chronicles football boxes are here

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ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE CARDS ...
The Cards: Toni Storm 2020 Topps WWE Undisputed Blue (/25) and Purple (/5) parallels 
The Price: About $50 total (I was feeling rich and really wanting to finish a 1/1-less rainbow)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card's photo is an absolute favorite of mine with its moment coming from her in-ring introduction routine -- a moment that came and went quickly on video. I needed the Purple as part of a rainbow run -- I have everything except the in-pack 1/1 at this point, but I have the Topps Vault 1/1 to fill my void -- and I ponied up. (I also have a signed base version.) I actually have a few copies of a few colors here and at some point I intend to grade them all. Why? Great photo, good name to collect with plenty of time in the ring to come if she chooses to.
Grab a box right here: : Nothing for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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TWO OF A KIND ...
The Mags: Britney Spears -- Esquire, November 2003 subscriber (left) & newsstand copies 
The Price: About $40 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: (First, a note ... My photos here are a little funky -- one was quickly photographed long ago before I sent it off for grading (right), while the other was a recent pick-up photographed in its bag and board. One looked bad but I wanted them to match ... Photoshop hackery commence!) Now ... what is this? I didn't know the back story here when I remembered seeing this one on a Walmart shelf long ago -- I passed but contemplated grabbing one -- but it's a Spears homage to an iconic Esquire cover featuring Angie Dickinson back in 1966. It's also a cover that has been re-done again in more recent years for a notable Esquire anniversary (2008) with others, too, so it has a few layers of pop culture publishing history to it. When I was brainstorming magazine covers from the past late last year for grading, this one came to mind -- and it was a challenge to find in clean, gradeable form. (Spears stuff got oddly pricey during her conservatorship trial atop already iconic status in pop culture of recent years.) The left side one's bottom right corner folds pretty much nix the high-grade slab there but it was otherwise clean. I should have my slabbed one back toward the end of the year. If you're a regular reader then you'll know my logic here -- big names without a lot of cardboard appearances from recent years might make for good money-making slabs as long as the grades are strong.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here

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A 1988 TOPPS HOMAGE ...
The Mag: MAD magazine, October 1988 
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I remembered this issue from way back in the day because of its 1988 Topps baseball homage but I never grabbed it back then. But with my recent kick for grabbing mags to grade? Well, this one was a gimme for the price. That back cover will look just as cool slabbed as the front, which isn't the norm for most all mags. This cover also had a trading card appearance in a past MAD set and I have that, too. Now I kind of want to slab them both ... just for the heck of it.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here

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SHE'S BACK IN WWE ... AND A CALLBACK IN MY COLLECTION
The Cards: Mia Yim 2021 Topps Finest WWE Autographs & 2020 Topps WWE Women's Division Mat Relics Gold (/10)
The Price: Under $15 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: She's another star with a return to the ring -- she's back in WWE -- and these had been simple grabs for different reasons. The mat Relic I grabbed because it was low-volume and cheap, while the autograph was an addition since that piece of gear she's wearing on the card is in my collection. I wrote all about it here.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here

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SCHOOL TIES
The Cards: Antonio McDyess 2003-04 UD Glass Auto Focus & 2001-02 Topps High Topps Relics
The Price: About $6 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This auto has been deep in my stash for a while now -- perhaps since the ink didn't stand out in the pic so I kept passing it over -- while the Relic is from a one-time tallboy style NBA release from long ago. He's a school ties guy for me and both were super-cheap hits. I like the acetate stock for the ink while the larger cards worked well for using NBA photos well. I'd rip a box of that one if I could find it on the cheap side of things ... not likely, though.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NBA boxes are here

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VIA REWARDS POINTS
The Card: Lanny McDonald 2013-14 Panini National Treasures Timeline Jersey (/99)
The Price: Panini Rewards points 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This NHL great isn't one that's part of some new-found stash of interest for the action on the ice, but I did like the card when I saw it among the Panini Rewards points options not that long ago. Simple as that. He's also got a pretty impressive resume and I liked seeing "Colorado Rockies" on the card there ... they moved to New Jersey and became the Devils in 1982.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NHL boxes are here

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A RARE DEBUT
The Card: Charly Caruso (ESPN's Charly Arnolt) 2017 Topps WWE Gold (/10) -- Rookie Card parallel 
The Price: About $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked up this parallel on the relative cheap for its volume made, though her days as a WWE announcer are over in favor for some ESPN minutes and she won't have more cardboard coming. I didn't actually realize it was from her first year on cards, which made this seem like a little better pick-up.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here

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A MILB MOMENT ... AND ANOTHER CALLBACK (I THINK)
The Card: Nick Swisher 2016 Choice Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
The Price: $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I'm a sucker for an oddball MiLB appearance and this one goes down as one of my player's final baseball cards of his career as it's from a year when he was down on the farm hoping for another call to the big team. That didn't happen and he announced his retirement the following spring. The cool part here? I'm 99.9 percent sure I own that batting helmet he's wearing -- I grabbed one from Steiner and I can't imagine MiLB squads using more than one set of helmets in a season. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to 100-percent photo-match any marks on the helmet as I own it now to the card photo (or other photos online) but that's another reason I like this simple card. It's also one where it's obscure enough I only own a couple copies ... so as long as the price is right, I'll grab 'em.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but baseball boxes are here

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A FAVORITE AUTO TYPE
The Card: Bill "Moose" Skowron 2008 Sweet Spot Signatures Tier 2 Ball Red Stitching Black Ink (/250)
The Price: Around $12
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've always liked Sweet Spot autos and this one was a nice example of an affordable one for a memorable name for a big franchise but without a big price attached. He signed it in black ink so that doesn't help the visual appeal vs. other cards but at least this one isn't one of the previous year's cards where the ink seeped into the ball inlay and is, at best, a haze of ink now. He was a member of the Yankees from 1954 to 1962, so he saw a lot of great moments as part of a 14-year career as a player -- five World Series rings in there, too.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but baseball boxes are here

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AN ODDBALL MEM CARD
The Card: Frank Robinson 2003 Fleer Fall Classic Pennant Aggression Patch (/50)
The Price: About $11
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer is one where, if you're a regular reader, you know I'll regularly pick off cards for him, though I prefer him in his Cincinnati Reds years. This one was too cheap, too rare and to funky to pass up ... and it's a patch piece, too. Do I hate it? Nah. Do I love it? Well, it's different ...
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but baseball boxes are here

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SOMETHING STRUCK ME
The Book: Nick Fury: Agent of Shield No. 1 (newsstand edition)
The Price: $3
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I'll readily admit that I'm probably more in on the Samuel L. Jackson version of Nick Fury from the various Marvel Movies, but something about the cover image here, the condition, the fact that it's a newsstand edition of a first issue and that price got me to throw it into a deal.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but Marvel boxes are here

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SUPER-CHEAP 1/1 BOOKLET
The Card: Archangel sketch by Chad Turner -- 2019 Upper Deck Marvel Premier Sketch Cards Dual Panel (1/1)
The Price: $7.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This artwork is probably not the normal aesthetic found in sketch cards -- or sketch booklets -- but a 1/1 dual-sketch book for that price was too low to pass on. It's not my best find but I present it here as a reminder that some sketch cards out there can be found cheaper than you might think.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but Marvel boxes are here

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HE GAVE UP THE HOMER
The Card: Steve Trachsel 1996 Leaf Signature Series Signatures Update
The Price: $2.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I grabbed this auto simply for the trivia. Who gave up Mark McGwire's record-setting 62nd home run back in 1998? This guy. It's his first of only two certified (non-cut) autograph cards he ever appeared on.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but baseball boxes are here

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CHEAP INK
The Item: Nick Swisher autographed 8-by-10 Cleveland Indians photo 
The Price: $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one doesn't need a certificate or authentication as I know the sig and I know the sig well -- and it's from later in his career where his ink would look this way when on that team. I found this with a run of similarly priced autographed photos and grabbed them all for the heck of it. Why? Most of his signing sessions were early in his career (Oakland) and then as a Yankee ... so I didn't have any signed Cleveland photos. But, again, that price ... I'm not sure you can find an 8-by-10 photo unsigned for $4 these days.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but baseball boxes are here

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FROM DOWNTOWN ...
The Card: Freddie Brown 2015-16 Panini Court Kings Brush Strokes autograph (/199)
The Price: About $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former NBA star was a cross-town high school rival to a guy I collect and then they also were college teammates and then at the end of their careers they were both on top of the world as members of the NBA champion 1979 Seattle Supersonics. So, needless to say, I have seen his name pop up a lot in past research and reading. While his Rookie Card is in the early 1970s, his first certified autos didn't pop up until 2005 and then Panini's NBA run has included cards like this as well as auto-mem creations.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NBA boxes are here

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TWO TO CHEW ...
The Cards: Jay Buhner 1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated Mini Posters & 1996 Upper Deck V.J. Lovero Showcase
The Price: $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The cards using this photo from a classic Sports Illustrated cover are eternally on my want list in high grade because I want one in a slab ... just like the mag. None have gotten there yet, though as the conditions on stuff from those years is iffier for grading thanks to packaging. At left is a mini-poster that was folded and put into packs while the card at right is one on soft stock with high gloss from packs that also weren't always cooperative for keeping things razor sharp. You can see on the corners there. If I grade one I want one that is a top mark ... but I may stop hunting and just slab it.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but baseball boxes are here

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A GREAT ONE
The Card: Keith, Brent and Wayne Gretzky 1992-93 Upper Deck 
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Did you know The Great One had not one but two hockey-playing brothers? You probably do -- I'm not a diehard -- but I liked the look of this one from back in the day where all were in one spot. Simple as that.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NHL boxes are here

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OH BROTHER ... TIMES SIX
The Mags: Hulk Hogan assorted 1980s Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Wrestling All-Stars and Victory Sports Wrestling magazines 
The Price: $10 apiece 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Three of the covers here -- the top row -- are perfect images that make for good slabbed magazines if the conditions are good, brother, and I picked off all of these over a couple months to ponder that move. The paper quality of the Apter mags isn't as strong as stuff produced by WWE -- those might get first looks if you're an aspiring grader -- but I think a strong image can trump a mag being a notch or two lower grade than somebody might aim for. Or, to say it a different way, a good image might add some appeal (and value) if you go there and it's not a top mark. I also liked how these all showed him with the older 1985ish belt that was a staple of his early WWE merch before Hulkamania kicked in really hard and helped change the world.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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FROM THE TOMB RAIDER DAYS
The Mag: Angelina Jolie -- Movieline, June 2001
The Price: About $12
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This movie mag is one that I remember from back in the day but will admit I really didn't dabble with. Why? I'm not sure as there are a ton of big names in play here -- yet at the same time there were a lot more mags to check out, too. During a deep dive on listings I found this one showcasing another iconic name of the early 2000s on a cover coinciding with her arrival as Lara Croft in the first Tomb Raider movie. The condition here is strong -- these are thin-stock, high-gloss covers that can tear or scratch easily -- and the image was, too, making it potentially a nice slab. (Yes, another I may grade.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here

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OLDSCHOOL INK
The Card: Harry Gilmer 1953 Bowman autographed (PSA/DNA authenticated)
The Price: $19
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former Alabama star was taken with the first pick in the 1948 NFL Draft and had a strong pro career (eight seasons) as well as in college (a College Football Hall of Famer) but I'll admit this might be the only card I have for him ... so I got that and some ink all in one swoop. Why? He's from so long ago (in college in the 1940s and his last season as a pro was 1956) that he's off my radar. He's not super-pricey but even his Rookie Cards (1948) aren't that tough to find. I need to dabble more here.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NFL boxes are here

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FROM A SMALL LOT ...
The Cards: One and a half 1990 Classic Yellow sets
The Price: A few bucks in a bulk lot
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is another of the sets I landed in a small deal and I liked this one with that mini Chipper Jones card there that pre-dates his MLB Rookie Cards from 1991 ... and he's in an Atlanta Braves uniform, too. I opened all of my sets that I landed in this deal with an eye on perhaps some fresh slabs and might -- though they were not as clean as I had hoped them to be. This is only one set and then a half -- Classic issued them in bricks like this.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here

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