Buzz Buys: Brock Lesnar's NFL cards, Ronald Acuña Jr., Kevin Hart, San Diego Chicken, Katelyn Ohashi, Henry Ruggs & 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 there's a mix of everything but mostly on the affordable side.

--

WAIT, WHAT?
The Card: Brock Lesnar 2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars NFL RC (SGC 9)
The Price: $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't argue with one interesting and unique fact about Brock Lesnar when it comes to cardboard -- he's got Rookie Cards in wrestling, MMA and pro football and that's something that's just not that common. I can think of a lot of two-sport players on cards between various combinations for MLB, NFL, NBA and WWE but, three? Sure, Lesnar never actually played in a real NFL game -- the Vikings cut him before the season started -- but it got him a few cards that do remain popular and a tad pricey these days due to their novelty and relative scarcity. He had 15 cards in three brands -- Rookies & Stars, Playoff Honors and Sweet Spot -- and some can sell for more than this. I grabbed it since I'd never found one and it was slabbed for not much more than a raw copy -- and also purely for the novelty. Some raw copies of this have higher asking prices than this over on eBay, too, while his cards for the other two sports are easy finds.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for NFL, but WWE boxes are here

Keep reading for five more interesting items ...

AFFORDABLE ACUÑA
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2019 Panini Immaculate Collection (/99)
The Price: $6.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Normally this is the kind of affordable but simple card that would have lead off here, but the Braves got bounced from the postseason in historic fashion this year ... so that changed my plans a bit. That result is a bit of a reminder that this might just be the time to buy on a guy who came up just short of being the youngest member of the super-exclusive 40-40 Club and is on a team that still could be successful in the future. Some of his cards have easily reached hobby icon status -- the "bat down" SP for sure -- and there's plenty of potential for more movement with many of his cards. Now might be the time to buy for later if you can spot bargains. 
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Immaculate Collection 

--

ALL-AMERICAN DOMINANCE
The Card: Henry Ruggs III 2017 Leaf Metal U.S. Army All-American Bowl Blue (/50)
The Price: $13.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy is currently one of the Alabama Crimson Tide's wide receivers on the end of many passes from Tua Tagovailoa, who is a super-expensive auto out of this set in any instance, this year. Ruggs is a junior and has five TDs this season -- 22 for his career -- and that puts him behind only Amari Cooper on the school's all-time list. He's ahead of guys like Calvin Ridley, Julio Jones, Ozzie Newsome and many others who have played on Sundays and he'll get his shot at that soon. He's not the only guy from this dominating program to appear on these prep All-American cards but he might be one of the more-affordable ones. A recent CBS Sports mock draft had six Crimson Tide players going in the first round next year -- Tagovailoa first overall, WR Jerry Jeudy third, Ruggs 11th and then the other guys on the line or defense later. Will all that happen? Probably not, but plenty can happen between now and the national championship game. There could and should be some movement here between now and draft day.
Grab a box right here: Leaf All-American boxes (all years)

--

THE REIGN HAS ENDED
The Card: Kofi Kingston 2017 Topps WWE Undisputed Silver Autographs (/50)
The Price: $7.35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked this one up earlier this year when he won the WWE championship for the first time after years as part of a popular tag team, The New Day, because I actually wasn't sure if I had pulled his ink previously and because it was a relatively rare card at a low price. He had a pretty solid run with the title but his basically instantaneous loss to Lesnar earlier this month was vomit-emoji-worthy. Despite that craptastic end to his title run, he's still a fun character along with Big E and Xavier Woods so it should be interesting to see where things go from here -- whether he's back in the hunt solo or if the team rejoins to make a new belt run. (Or maybe even splits?) He has a lot of auto cards so there's plenty to choose from here -- Undisputed is probably my favorite brand for ink with its thicker stock. I recommend those cards first. 
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here

--

ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS
The Card: Drew Brees 2019 Panini Legacy For the Ages
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked this up because I wanted a chance to rip on the fact that somebody somewhere thought a laminated piece of paper (err ... commemorative certificate?) was necessary to present to Brees when he set the NFL's passing yards record last season. I'm a tad surprised that oddity made it onto a card and I also wondered whether this card's photo might have used a better crop (most websites cropped it at the waist). But, then I realized why it's probably the way it is -- those are his three sons in the background of the photo along with Saints owner Gayle Benson (in pink) who were all on the sideline to greet him after the play. Brees' wife and daughter who are behind him but not seen on the card. With a tighter crop, you probably wouldn't see any of them as easily and that would probably changed the simple appeal of the card a bit. You don't see a lot of cameo cards like this one these days ... but, then again, this isn't the only time a Brees kid has been on one of his cards, either.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Legacy

--

A BARGAIN TWICE AS GOOD
The Card: Laura Dern & Kevin Hart 2015 Panini Americana Big Screen Combo Signatures (/99)
The Price: $20.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This duo is definitely known more for many roles beyond their time spent together on Little Fockers, but I had to grab this one at that price because their solo ink can easily costs more than what I paid for both. Hart only has autos in this release -- just eight cards -- and hasn't signed anywhere since, while Dern, who had her first autos here, has had a ton of different signed cards from her Star Wars role and in Pop Century sets. His recent car crash got me looking for his auto because I knew he hadn't signed much -- and he's actually got far fewer cards and lower volumes than I had remembered.
Grab a box right here: None for this one but non-sports boxes are here

--

MAKING THE CUT
The Card: Calvin Ridley 2019 Donruss Elite Status Die-Cut (/24)
The Price: $4.37
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've never been that big of a fan when it comes to foilboard and die-cutting, but this card with those things fully in play jumped out at me and I had to grab it. Why? I think it's how the lines of the photo interact with the framing and the cut here -- his shoulders aligning with that top border and his toe right at the intersection of everything. I pick off Ridley's cards here and there in general and it also didn't hurt that this one is on the pretty rare side without costing too much. I haven't ripped a lot of Elite this year but I did like what it presented when I did -- this is a reminder to myself that I need to rip a little more.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Elite NFL boxes

--

A RETIRED GRAB
The Card: Andrew Luck 2018 Panini Plates & Patches 2018 Panini black printing plate (1/1)
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked this one up because it seemed mis-priced for the player and it's an instance where a pretty good photo still looks pretty good as a printing plate. Generally speaking, you can find some pretty good bargains out there on plates with big names and even bigger bargains on lesser names if they somehow fit your collecting needs. Not that long ago, Luck was one of the biggest deals in the NFL and now he's just not. This plate is from the basic Panini release but those plates were in the higher-end Plates & Patches release ... which kind of makes this price feel even better to me.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Panini Plates & Patches

--

ALL THOSE RINGS ...
The Card: Robert Horry 2014-15 Panini National Treasures Clutch Factor (/75)
The Price: $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The NBA season is here so I will need to work in more basketball buys while you guys all go chasing Zion Williamson. One player I pick off from time to time is Horry, who won seven NBA titles with the Rockets, Lakers and Spurs and who hadn't had too many certified autographs as of a few years ago. That has changed and that has led to some pretty good bargain prices here and there like this one with an on-card auto. Only six players in NBA history have more rings and they all played for the Celtics during their late-1950s and 1960s reign. Some of those guys can be found on the cheap, too.
Grab a box right here: 2014-15 Panini National Treasures 

--

A VIRAL REMINDER
The Card: Katelyn Ohashi 2018 Sports Illustrated for Kids Series 5 
The Price: $2.24
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I couldn't remember why her name jumped out at me when recently scrolling through pages of SI for Kids cards, but then after I Googled her name I remembered -- she was a bit of a viral sensation early this year when going through a perfect floor routine for the Bruins and people knew more of her story. The upcoming California law for amateur athletes also had her in the news as she looked back at the time where she was all over the TV and Internet and could have capitalized on some new-found fame had it been enacted sooner. This card is part of that debate, really, as she was included in the magazine after going viral a different time but she was not compensated in any way. Why is this here? It's a reminder that you should always check SI for Kids if you're at the store and happen to see the mag -- there's a perforated sheet of nine cards in every issue and it's been a home for early cards of many names in the past, including Tiger Woods and LeBron James. (That is, while it lasts ... since SI has new owners.) This card has sold for as high as $8 on eBay in recent months and asking prices on her autographs are actually pretty strong. A signed UCLA-produced card of hers sold for as much as $65 -- so perhaps we'll see her in releases like Allen & Ginter or Goodwin Champions at some point?
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one ... but other sports' boxes are here

--

NEW TEAM, EARLY MEMORABILIA
The Card: Mark Ingram 2019 Donruss Jersey Kings (/299)
The Price: $1.55
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This NFL veteran is in a new place this season and has played pretty well at times, too, but this one is here because the change of scenery didn't prevent Panini from making new memorabilia cards in at least one early season release. How? Not to state the obvious, but the Saints colors go right along with his Ravens colors -- so I'm sure this is a Saints jersey in Ravens cardboard clothing. (Ultimately this one was a cheap pick-up for a player I pick off regularly.)
Grab a box right here: 2019 Donruss NFL

--

FOOD-ISSUES ARE BACK?
The Card: Clayton Kershaw 2019 Topps Utz
The Price: $3.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card looks just like his various 2019 Topps Series 1 cards but with a logo for Utz Quality Foods added. Just 100 cards were in this set with four cards per pack released together with snacks. There also was a similar set made for PKWY baseball socks this year with packs available along with a pair of socks purchased at Target (and possibly elsewhere). I literally saw neither of these promotions where I live, so I picked up a sample card of a notable name, figuring a Kershaw collector I know would need it. (He didn't ... so here we are.) Over the long-term, these two releases could be tougher finds ... so picking off cards you might want now could prevent headaches later.
Grab a box right here: Find MLB boxes here

--

NOTICE THE DIFFERENCES?
The Card: Shannon Elizabeth 2005-06 Topps and Topps Chrome Rookie Cards
The Price: About $1 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: There was a time when Topps made NBA cards and worked a handful of celebrities into both the base sets (they even say "Rookie Card" on them) as well as the autographed/memorabilia lineups in a few releases just to add some extra chase and potentially draw in collectors with interests beyond basketball. Who knows if it worked but we still have cards for this American Pie star as well as Jay-Z, Christie Brinkley, Jenny McCarthy and Carmen Electra. I picked off a few of these on the cheap side, figuring they might make for interesting low-pop graded cards but may not have landed any worth slabbing with minor condition issues here and there. This pairing also presented something interesting ... while Chrome cards typically are carbon-copies of their regular Topps card, this one has a number of changes between them. The Lakers logos were wiped out of her photo (and others from those I mentioned) which is odd, considering they are still in an NBA set. Meanwhile, the photo frame was flipped over, too, along with the color change. There is one super-rare card from around this time that was pulled from production (a McCarthy card) that still hasn't had its story completely told.
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one ... but NBA boxes are here

--

A TIMBERWOLVES FAN ...
The Card: Craig Kilborn 2019 Goodwin Champions Autographs
The Price: $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former SportsCenter anchor was the first host of The Daily Show as well as a host of The Late Late Show before he basically vanished from TV in the mid 2000s -- after appearing on more than 2,000 episodes between those three shows alone. He's back with a presence in this year's Goodwin Champions set with autographs, memorabilia cards and a number of other cards. This is his only card appearance that I know of and I picked off his ink early after arrival only to watch the prices on his autos drop to around just $2 where I normally look -- and you can find his memorabilia cards for even less. I didn't expect that, but I guess that's somewhat to be expected as he's been off the radar. I still thought this was a different auto to add to the stash.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Goodwin Champions

--

A FOWL FINISH
The Card: The San Diego Chicken autographed 1982 Donruss Rookie Card
The Price: $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This sports legend has had baseball cards in the 1980s as well as in Panini America's revived Donruss releases in recent years complete with certified autos and even memorabilia cards in recent times. This one, though, was a pick-up of mine despite it being an in-person (in-chicken?) auto. Why? Well, it just stood out from the pack where I was grabbing a few cards and I figured why not since it was on a Rookie Card. Ted Giannoulas' certified autos with his name and "The Chicken" can be pricey at times so I figured I'd go this route just to say I have one. Maybe I'll find more at some point -- I already have the memorabilia card covered.
Grab a box right here: Donruss boxes (all years)

--

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

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com