Buzz Buys: Cardboard stars, movie icons, vintage magazines, new ink, favorites from my teams, WWE icons & plenty more

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

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BATTING LEAD-OFF ... THE PITCHER
The Card: Tatum O'Neal (as Amanda Whurlitzer) 2013 Panini Golden Age Exhibit Box-topper
The Price: $14
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a modern take on the old Exhibit postcards and this one is one of a few cards in a huge set that stands out to me. Why? It's one that shows an actor in character as she was the ace of The Bad News Bears. The key here? This is a box-topper set that had 40 cards in it ... so that's a lot of boxes to open to complete a set -- just one per box -- and the collation could be quite repetitive in my experience as I ripped a ton of these over the years. While a lot of sets from even a decade ago have dried up in wax form and gotten perhaps too steep for the typical return, these are still very affordable and include some good stuff. The only drawback? A wide array of inclusions may not be for everybody and now all these years later some of the good autograph redemption cards (only a few) can't be redeemed for that ink. (Points now as they are long-expired.) There are a lot of on-card autos in this release that have no equal -- including autos from her and other Bears.
Grab a box right here: 2013 Panini Golden Age

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

PARALLEL PICK-UPS ...
The Cards: Shinsuke Nakamura 2016 Topps WWE Then Now Forever Autograph (/99) & Silver parallel (/25)
The Price: $24 and $44
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This first-year WWE auto is a key one in my mind and it was that thought that led me to pick up the parallel at a slightly premium price (high for me, maybe not for the card now) and then I did a regular one at a good price as forgot I had one already. This Japanese star has had a solid run but perhaps we'll be seeing even more of him in the coming months and years under new booking? He's signed regularly for WWE sets in all the years since, but his autograph has gotten far simpler than these -- it's more of an S-loop now -- so that's another reason I liked this card beyond it being a first. 
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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PORTRAIT OF INTENSITY
The Mag: Hank Aaron -- TEAM! magazine, October 1973
The Price: $19.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This vintage magazine is one that I had literally never heard of until a deep dig recently and I was clearly a believer at that price (though it was part of a group of pick-ups) to bite. (My typical price range on mags is $10-15 or less ... sometimes more if I like what I see.) This is a clean book for the era and the genre and the portrait is a strong one as this was an interview with Aaron leading up to him hitting home run No. 715 the following spring to take over the all-time record. The covers on this mag have some nice images ... and this is the kind of visual that would look even better in a slab. It won't grade out a 9.8 but that's not needed on vintage in my mind -- this will be cool in any grade.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but MLB boxes are here

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TOO CLEAN ...
The Mag: Joe Namath -- The Sporting News, Dec. 28, 1968
The Price: $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one was just too cheap and too clean to pass on, though I typically wouldn't buy a newspaper-style publication like this. Why? Aging and storage. It's pretty, big so I had to track down a larger-size bag/board for this (at least I think I did as I packed it away with a bunch of flats not long after I grabbed it) and then as you can see the aging here is light but if you don't stash this away the rest of it would yellow, too. You can find a lot of old issues of TSN online but the prices will likely be higher with conditions often questionable. These are too big to grade but if I could I might ... it's a nice photo and a clean cover, too. There aren't a lot of higher-grade 1968 Namath items one can find for this price. 
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but NFL boxes are here

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HEISMAN IN THE HOUSE ...
The Cards: Mark Ingram assorted printing plate, metal-stock, recent autos, Relics, premium-stock and smaller parallel cards
The Price: Pocket change up to around $25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy has always been a cheaper go-to for me for his parallels and earlier RCs and some memorabilia cards in the past and then on occasion I'll dabble with an auto here and there or a nicer patch piece. He's back with the Saints -- and he's the franchise's all-time leading rusher -- so perhaps he'll get a nice final run with the team where he started after being the Alabama Crimson Tide's first Heisman Trophy winner. I'm not buying him as a money-maker but I think off-radar soft prices on some nicer stuff from his rookie year could sell for a little more if he has some good games this coming year. There's potential for that as he paired with Alvin Kamara pretty well in past seasons.
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes are here

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OLYMPIC INK
The Card: Lolo Jones 2015 Leaf Legends of Sport Medal Graphs Bronze
The Price: $12
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: High-profile Olympian ink can often be found on the cheap if you're looking when there isn't Olympic action happening and then some names are high-profile without getting their storybook moment. Both basically apply here for this track star and bobsledder. Numbered parallels of this one have asking prices almost 10x what I paid so that makes me think I did better than I thought with the bargain price.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but Olympic boxes are here

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LAST-SECOND DECISION
The Card: Toni Storm 2020 Topps WWE Undisputed -- with autograph from Highspots.com signing
The Price: More than I should admit between signing fee (around $50) and expedited shipping
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a card where I think at this point I have the full rainbow save for the 1/1 and printing plates. I own the Topps Vault 1/1 of as well. Why? I just like this set's design and this is a perfectly simple photo of a trademark entrance routine you see regularly. So, what's the deal with this? Well, a couple days before she was to do a signing for Highspots.com, I found out about it on their mail-in program ... so on impulse I figured I'd give it a go. Since I was so close to the cut-off, though, I had to send this one overnight to the company to make sure they could take it with them to their event-site signing session. The cool part about these is that they stream them so you can see stuff signed, ask questions you submit or even request inscriptions -- all free. I didn't do that (since cards are small) but I'm keeping an eye out for other stuff like this for names I am a fan of. (Highspots also doesn't often charge more for premium items like promotors do at traditional signings.)
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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YO, LISTEN!
The Card: Rich Caster 1972 Topps -- Rookie Card
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This TE/WR was on the receiving end of passes from Joe Namath for a few seasons with the Jets as part of his career that spanned from 1970-1982 ... but that's not why this former Jackson State star is here. Why am I dabbling with 1970s NFL commons? Well, his son is AEW wrestler Max Caster, the rapping tag team star from The Acclaimed who isn't afraid to mix things up on the mic. One could easily collect a run of his NFL cards (less than two dozen) from his playing days, though some of the obscure food-issue/team-issue stuff might take a little time.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but NFL boxes are here

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SCHOOL TIES ...
The Mag/Cards: Chris Boucher -- Sports Illustrated Nov. 7, 2016 & Panini Obsidian and Mosaic parallels 
The Price: About $35 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy's path to the NBA is a whole lot of all over the place with something like three college stops (two where he dominated on a national scale) and then a season-ending/career-threatening kind of injury that led him to the NBA G League (where he dominated again) and then had bench time with the Golden State Warriors. (That got him a ring.) Then he went to the Raptors and got another ring. For some time, he never had a traditional in-pack Rookie Card (that story is here on the Buzz, poke around) while having certified auto cards left and right. After he emerged as a go-to guy for them, the regular cards started to flow. The Sports Illustrated cover was a fun one to me (he's got school ties and I intend to grade one) when he was at Oregon, while the parallels are affordable and colorful. He's got so much stuff now I can't even ponder buying them regularly but I do look.
Grab a box right here: NBA boxes are here

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PORTRAIT POWER
The Card: Roger Maris 2020 Topps X Derek Jeter 
The Price: Under $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This icon's team home run record might fall this year -- maybe -- but I grabbed this one since it was a clean card from a set made by a different Yankee and the price was right. I often get tempted to dabble with online releases but have gone the singles route more in recent months, just grabbing the cheaper ones I want or players I like.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but MLB boxes are here

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OHHHH, WHAT A RUSH ...
The Card/Mags: Paul Ellering 2017 Topps Legends of the WWE Autographs Bronze (/99), 2010 Topps Platinum WWE Legendary Superstars & a few 1980s wrestling programs and magazines 
The Price: $65ish total 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This small group just happened over the last year (or so) with the iconic manager's auto being an affordable pick-up (under $10) and then a basic insert being a couple bucks (that photo session is their favorite for me). The two programs (about $30 total) were recent finds and then the rest are budget buys. Why all this? The Road Warriors (or The Legion of Doom) were easily one of the best tag teams when I started watching wrestling in the 1980s and that pink mag was one of the first I owned back then. Newer mags that are in good shape can often be found cheaper than you might think, while some of the WWE's official mags can command higher amounts if they are clean and slab-worthy. I went on a 1980s wrestling mag kick earlier this year and all of these were cheap vs. WWE stuff. Grade-worthy? No on a couple of them (too discolored or have minor writing inside the cover) but the others maybe. Each of these is still clean for the era or feel more historic with the program feel ... and that's why I grabbed them.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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ACTUAL WARDROBE
The Card: Rose McGowan as Paige -- 2004 Inkworks Charmed: Connections Pieceworks
The Price: $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I knew about the cast of Charmed back in the day but with college and work in its early years, but never actually watched it ... but I did keep an eye on non-sports cards from Inkworks after I met the company's owner at a comics show in the past. I was impressed with the array of licenses they had, the ink and, of course, sketch cards. I picked this one up since the price was good and there was a piece of WWE trivia in the mix that I really didn't know about until recently. You see the name here? Yep, the WWE star's name is a nod to this character.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here

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TWO OF A KIND ... STRAIGHT FROM THEIR STORE
The Item: Penta Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix autographed Republic of Lucha 8-by-10 promo photo
The Price: $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These international stars are in AEW -- how I found them to tell you the truth -- and how I found this dual-auto was via their wrestling-themed store in California. Simple as that. (Poke around here and you'll see others' autos I landed from them, too.) The address is on the photo.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but AEW boxes are here

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ROLL TIDE ...
The Cards: Assorted Alabama Crimson Tide players -- hits & parallels
The Price: Pocket change up to about $15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a photo dump for Alabama guys I have picked up on the cheaper side of things for the last year, maybe more, with parallels in a couple instances but mostly affordable autos and memorabilia cards. Cornelius Bennett on an Action Packed 24K gold card, ink from David Palmer, Freddie Milons, A.J. McCarron, Eddie Lacy and Brodie Croyle for starters and some of them and others on memorabilia. If you hunt in the right spots and have a focus (I do ... but I don't) you can amass small collections like this over time easily these days.
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes are here

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CATCH-ALL FOR NON-SPORTS NAMES
The Cards: Assorted non-sports cards  -- comics, movies, TV & pop culture
The Price: Pocket change up to about $5 (maybe less)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These are all names I liked from comics, TV and movies for varying reasons and some are also cheap pick-ups or from sets that I didn't really remember existing like Last Action Hero. A second motivation? Cool cards in high-grade slabs if the condition was there. A couple here were bummers on that front but there's at least one here that will be showing up in one of my monthly Making The Grade posts later this year. It's a small and fun mix with Domino, Drew, Jinx and and Dale ... and even some holograms.
Grab a box right here: Non-sports boxes are here

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INTERNATIONAL APPEAL
The Card: Sabu 1995 BBM Pro Wrestling -- "Rookie Card"?
The Price: $47
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I don't really worry about international oddball wrestling sets unless they are traditional in-pack releases -- because there's a lot that's not -- but for this former ECW icon this card may be one of his earliest if not his first and it comes from Japan. As far as I know, his only ECW stuff comes a few years later and for in-pack stuff even later during his brief WWE version of ECW run. I paid up a bit for this one as I simply wanted it, though I don't think it will slab as well as I had hoped so it was a slight bummer. Prices on these can be meatier than what I paid, though, too.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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AN HOMAGE TO MARILYN ...
The Mag: Jessica Simpson -- Esquire May 2008
The Price: Around $3 (in a bulk lot)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Jessica Simpson probably doesn't make my cut for recent-decades icons where I'd want to have on a slabbed magazine cover in my collection but I landed this in a small lot of cheap mags where the $3 cost here is mostly for the shipping. (It was in a lot with something else I really, really wanted and it will get slabbed sooner than later.) What makes this one interesting? This cover is a nod to a 1965 Esquire cover where a Marilyn Monroe look-alike did the same thing. Monroe turned down that shoot but many think it was her. I like stuff from pop culture that's a nod to elsewhere in its history -- the duality adds appeal. Esquire is a title with a ton of memorable covers and big names attached -- just like Sports Illustrated, People and other titles that appeared for decades.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here

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IN-PERSON INK ...
The Card: Frank Lary 1956 Topps autographed card (CAS authenticated)
The Price: Under $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: "The Yankee Killer" has school ties for me and this one was old enough and cheap enough I bit, though I don't know much of anything about CAS other than these sealed, authenticated autos do seem to be plentiful out there in the world. This is his first Topps card (Bowman had his only RC the previous year) and certified autographs for him are not easy finds -- he has a Real One Auto and a red-ink parallel in 2014 Topps Heritage ... and that's it. He's not a tough auto, this one just struck me as nice for the price even if it's not perfect.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but MLB boxes are here

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ICONIC MOMENT
The Mag: Jimi Hendrix -- Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time (2012)
The Price: $6.99 (half of cover price)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: It was March 1967 when Hendrix lit his guitar on fire mid-song at the Monterey Pop Festival to make a Little Rock history and this special edition of Rolling Stone caught my attention at a cheap price even though it's 10 years old. Why? That moment for one, but also the fact that this is a traditional-size mag and not the larger-format that the standard title used for years. Will I grade this? Maybe not immediately, but I probably will at some point to have a Hendrix mag slab along with some cards I've graded. I'll also watch for vintage stuff but big, big names on the front of older mags can get a lot pricier.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here

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A SET I LIKE ...
The Cards: Chelsea Green, Kairi Sane, Xia Li, Toni Storm, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose Rhea Ripley & Beth Phoenix 2020 Topps WWE Women's Division Superstar Mat Relics (varying colors)
The Price: $4 up to $15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Relic set is in some ways pretty traditional and basic -- the mat pieces are from the Royal Rumble PPV -- but what I liked here was that most of the photos are from the stars' long entrances at the all-star match and some have signature entrance moments. These aren't super-pricey and there are a lot of parallels here (nine versions per card) and I picked them off over time when cheaper with a couple names ones where I paid a little more. Could I build the set (any color) over time? Maybe, but it might be on accident if I do -- there are 35 cards in the set.
Grab a box right here: 2020 Topps WWE Women's Division

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A SET I LIKE II ...
The Card: Bob Gibson 2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Americana Position Materials (/100)
The Price: $5.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer has a lot of cards and a lot of memorabilia cards from releases over the years and I'll admit this is perhaps not one of his best as he's in a suit and not in uniform -- but there are others in this release that I have picked up over time and I like the cards if the price is right. This one I liked the swatch type -- oldschool wool flannel. If you don't know, this set includes stars on the field as well as stars from TV and film with baseball ties. It's fun and there are a number of parallel versions (this one uses the position for the window) and also autographs in the overall mix. It's too big for collecting now in my book but there's a lot to dabble with.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but MLB boxes are here

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SWISHER SWEETS
The Mag & Cards: Nick Swisher Ohio State baseball media guide & assorted autos, patch cards, other Relics and parallels 
The Price: Pocket change up to about $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This player is my long-term traditional go-to but since he's retired and no longer appearing on new cards the pickings can be slim -- well, at least for me as the percentage of what is a true need vs. what's out there is low. But what I do pick off are patch cards from early on from some brands, other Relics from brands I like, bargain buys (of course) and then parallels of lower volume or earlier times. There's not a ton to say that's not all that different here from card to card ... so here's a bunch all at once. Congrats if you made it this far as a reader.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes are here

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