Buzz Buys: Derrick Henry, Baby Yoda, Vladdy 2.0, WWE stars, TV & movie icons, The Goonies, Super Bowl winners & 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 ... and this time around it's mostly stuff found on the affordable side.

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WORKHORSE PLATES
The Card: Derrick Henry 2016 Panini Spectra Plates & Patches black printing plate (1/1)
The Price: About $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: We'll know soon whether this monster of the gridiron this season will be playing in the Super Bowl for the first time, but I figured I'd lead off with him since he's had a huge year. I'd also let this serve as a reminder that there are some solid bargains to be found among stuff that's not brand new and that there are types of cards that seem to be overlooked. This card fits that bill. Yes, printing plates can have less appeal depending on the color of the plate and the design of the cards, but they seem to be overlooked by many for some unknown reason to me. They are 1/1s available in four different colors/separations but people don't seem to always act like they are when selling or buying. This price works for me and for my collecting tastes, especially when you consider this is also from his rookie year.
Grab a box right here: Spectra NFL boxes (all years)

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

A CARDBOARD PHENOM
The Card: Baby Yoda (aka The Child) Topps Star Wars Living Set (9,663 printed)
The Price: $4.49 (since I bought in bulk via Topps)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you're a regular reader of The Buzz, then you should know that Baby Yoda has sold some cardboard -- a record was set with this one and it's not alone. I'm not all that worried about recapping sales for Baby Yoda cards here -- they were volatile the last time I looked -- but I will note that there's still a finite amount of them  since he won't be making his way into packs soon based on what's been announced so far. I picked up a lot of 10 here for grading purposes and I've sent one off for slabbing ... we'll see how Forceful Baby Yoda is when he meets Darth Grader. The left-right centering was a smidge off on all 10 of my copies and the back edges and corners on the retro stock had their moments, but generally these printed cleanly and are some fun cards in my mind. (I have a gut feeling The Mandalorian Topps Now cards might grade better than these ... but I didn't buy any of those. Go figure.) 
Grab a box right here: Star Wars boxes are here (no Baby Yoda cards there just yet)

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OFF-SEASON BUYING
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Museum Collection Rookie Card (BGS 9)
The Price: $12
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a Rookie Card from a premium brand and the RCs are only found basically once per four-pack box, so I figured I'd give this brand a look on that front. I'm fine with nines, so this one was a bit of a no-brainer for the price, though I'm not super-sold on Guerrero having a monster sophomore season like some other rookies might. (He under-performed last year considering the hype coming in.) This will be a formidable year for his stuff both on the field and on cards -- there could be some gains if you're buying in low and he delivers well. Brands like this one that are shredded for the hits more than anything might be ones that deliver better in the longer term because there's simply less of this one compared to other stuff out there. We'll see.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Topps Museum Collection

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SUPER BOWL MISMATCH
The Card: Joe Namath 2010 Panini Certified Fabric of the Game (/250)
The Price: Less than $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: No, this isn't some error card -- it's a game-used jersey swatch from the year (1977) where Namath played for the Los Angeles Rams. His Rams stuff isn't all that common, so I pick them off when they present themselves on the affordable side and this was as low as I've ever seen. Typically you can find his easier mem cards around $12-20, but the influx of player-worn stuff seems to be lowering the game-used card prices, too, as people compare them to move them. 
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but NFL boxes are here

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DON'T FORGET THE PRO BOWL
The Card: Shaun Alexander 2006 Topps All-Pro Relics
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The Pro Bowl happens soon and there are always memorabilia cards to be found for the event, so I figured I'd present a cheap pick-up here from some past options. The corners here inevitably led to the cheap price but memorabilia cards are seemingly always rough around the edges so it didn't bug me as much as it could have. It's not a dazzling kind of card, but I do like the slight white texture added to the swatch ... something you can see more often on specialty jerseys.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but NFL boxes are here

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SUBTLE PARALLELS
The Card: Bayley 2018 Topps WWE Women's Division Women's Royal Rumble Blue parallel (/25)
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The WWE's Royal Rumble event will happen the Sunday before the Super Bowl and it will once again include a women's battle royal, too, for just the third time. The previous two women's Rumble matches got insert sets from Topps showing the competitors either in action or on the way to the ring and most of them have solid photos that seem stronger than the norm for various reasons. This isn't one of those better times image-wise, but it is a rarer parallel card that I picked up since it was underpriced. The parallels for these two sets -- they carry basically identical designs both years -- are very subtle. The blue stripes on the side are the way that the color changes with the parallels. People miss them. I probably have ... someday I'll dig back through all of my past boxes to see if I missed any.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Topps WWE Women's Division

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LEGENDARY DEBUT
The Card: Howie Long 1984 Topps Rookie Card
The Price: $3.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer talking oldschool football and the crazy days of the Raiders in a recent podcast got me looking for some cheap cardboard on either the auto, memorabilia or older front. This RC won. It's definitely off-center but otherwise very clean -- so for the price I grabbed it. The cards from this year can be brutally centered or diamond cut straight from fresh packs ... and they can be so bad looking that this is one I'd ponder grading at some point since it was clean. (It won't get a 10, of course.)
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but NFL boxes are here

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WHATCHU TALKIN' 'BOUT?
The Card: Gary Coleman 2008 Donruss Americana II Private Signings (/150)
The Price: About $16
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Something popped up on weekend TV that made me think of this Diff'rent Strokes star who, believe it or not, died a decade ago after battling kidney issues his whole life. That series was at its peak in the early 1980s and it lasted eight seasons with plenty of memorable episodes that helped put Coleman on the map with a ton of movie and TV appearances. A 2005 VH1 pop culture countdown placed him atop a list of top child stars that included Macaulay Culkin, The Olsen Twins, Jodie Foster and Drew Barrymore at the pinnacle. Coleman and his Strokes brother Todd Bridges signed for what is now Panini's Americana lines in 2008. Coleman only appeared on four different autographed cards in this one -- a total of just 360 autographs.
Grab a box right here: None for this one but non-sports boxes are here

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GOLDEN GEMS?
The Card: MLB Network 2017 Topps 5-by-7 Gold 10-card (Series 1) parallel set (/10)
The Price: Around $25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is an oversized take on the inserts found just one per hobby box (and I think one per jumbo box) of Series 1 back in 2017, and this was on my radar because there's one standard card from packs that can pay for a good part of your box if you happen to pull one. The sixth card in that standard set, Lauren Shehadi, sells very well on eBay and that made me wonder ... what might the demand for one of these oversized parallels when there were only 10 made? (I won't find out ... I've stashed mine.) I haven't even found a clean copy of the regular version for grading since the black borders showcase any flaws easily, but it's on my list to add and slab at some point. Interestingly, Shehadi also appears to sign a ton of her regular cards through the mail as signed versions are constantly popping up on eBay. Certified autos here for a number of them in the set were limited to only 10 serial-numbered copies -- and all of those who signed are tough pulls with prices that show it. This MLBN set has a pretty good mix of past MLB players in it -- Kevin Millar, Sean Casey, Harold Reynolds, John Smoltz and Dan Plesac for starters -- and the cards released in Series 2 and Update were not sold in jumbo form. The regular jumbos that are /49 and then just 10 copies of this set are all that were made beyond the stuff in packs.
Grab a box right here: 2017 Topps Series 1 boxes (not the jumbo cards there)

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DON'T FORGET THE OSCARS
The Card: Quentin Tarantino 2008 Donruss Americana Celebrity Cuts (/499)
The Price: Under $3
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Once upon a time in collecting this movie-maker allegedly signed autographs for the Americana releases but since the quality of his signature isn't all that (it's rather minimalist ... Q-squiggle T-squiggle) and because it really isn't sticker-friendly in its size, I never really chased one. Why? Because they just didn't come cheap at all back then. Tarantino had just seven different autographed cards in this one -- all pretty low-volume creations at around 300 total sigs. I don't remember the last time I saw one out in the wild (it's been that long), but I grabbed this since I didn't have one. I doubt any autos will pop up on eBay with his Once Upon A Time In Hollywood up for 10 Oscars soon, but we'll see. Like most things Tarantino, I'll be watching.
Grab a box right here: None for this one but non-sports boxes are here

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ORIGINAL INK
The Card: Sasha Banks autographed 11-by-14 NXT photo (WWE release)
The Price: Under $30
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you've seen her certified autographs, then you know that this top WWE star's sig has changed rather dramatically since these were done back in 2015 and sold via the WWE Shop. That was how I first got one of these ... but even my first one of these ordered back then didn't have a sig like this -- it's got an "$-line B-line" graph just like all of her certified cards. Her autograph changed when doing these and then taking on her first certified sigs later that same year. These photos were not released unsigned and are printed on blank-back un-glossed card stock so as long as those traits are there you don't (necessarily) need to worry about third-party authentication as its WWE authentication statement is at the lower right. I picked this one up awhile back since it has the full sig that won't be coming back any time soon.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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OFF-SEASON BUYING II
The Card: Austin Riley 2015 Bowman Draft (PSA 9)
The Price: $5.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy had a monster (record-setting) start last year before the realities of a long MLB season set in. With the roster shuffling that's gone on in Atlanta, he might be getting looks in spots he didn't play last year this season ... could that could help out his cardboard? Sure, this is just standard Bowman, but it's not hard to grab a slab at this cheap price at this grade. (I wouldn't go lower if those even exist.) If he has a solid second year, you could see some gains for his stuff based on off-season prices -- he's certainly overlooked among the 2019 Rookie Card crop when it comes to prices right now.
Grab a box right here: 2015 Bowman Draft boxes

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REMEMBERING THE ORIGINAL
The Card: Lana 2015 Topps Chrome WWE Refractor Rookie Card (parallel)
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Forget the awful story lines she's been dragged into recently ... let's all go back to the earliest days where Lana was a clone of Ludmilla Drago from Rocky IV commanding Rusev to crush his opponents and would demand that rowdy crowds "Shut-tup!" before berating them in seemingly perfect Russian during promos. The stories have changed a lot since then -- along with the accent -- but I'd be lying if I said that this character wasn't a hilarious addition to WWE back when she arrived. Fun football fact: Lana -- real name C.J. Perry -- went to Florida State and was one of the FSU Cowgirls along with Jenn Sterger, who also has worked in the wrestling world ... but with new rival AEW.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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'HEY YOU GUYYYYYYSSSSSSS'
The Card: John Matuszak 1974 Topps Rookie Card
The Price: Under $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: You probably don't recognize him here if you're a fan of The Goonies -- you'd better not as he was under some serious prosthetics in that classic -- but "Sloth" was played by this former football star who was the first overall pick of the 1973 NFL Draft and a two-time Super Bowl champ with the Oakland Raiders. His playing days were over by 1982, but before that he had started to turn to Hollywood where he had a number of TV and movie appearances. He has everything from M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Fall Guy and The A-Team to Caveman, The Goonies and One Crazy Summer among his credits on the big screen. Excluding Goonies cards (he's in the 1985 Topps set), he has far fewer than 100 different card appearances from the past. Just a dozen are from when he was a player and just three are cut autographs since he died back in 1989 before certified card signings became commonplace. He hasn't had any meaningful volume of NFL cardboard since 2011, either. Catching a bit of The Goonies on a recent weekend got me thinking about cardboard of the ensemble cast -- there's actually a lot -- but I grabbed this one since it was pretty clean (other than its centering) for a vintage card and a year where the borders are tiny.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but NFL boxes are here

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SUPER BOWL SATIRE
The Card: Janet Whackson (Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake) 2007 Topps Hollywood Zombies 
The Price: $1.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: It was 16 years ago that the New England Patriots' latest Super Bowl win was overshadowed by a halftime show that forever changed the global lexicon as "wardrobe malfunction" became a thing. While both of these A-listers have a good amount of cardboard, this zombified parody set is the only one to go there for this moment, which was the finale of their performance. Stupid moment, stupid card ... but not stupid enough for me to not buy it. There's no way anything tied to official NFL cardboard could/would revisit this, and it didn't even make the 2011 Topps American Pie set that included "super-important" stuff like The Real World, Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift and arrivals for Facebook, iPods and Twitter.
Grab a box right here: None for this one but non-sports boxes are here

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OFF-SEASON BUYING III
The Cards: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Panini Chronicles Status Rookie Cards
The Prices: Typically between $1.60 and $2.50 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is one I've picked off more than a few times as it just works for me on a few levels with its photo, color palette, design and price. I wouldn't mind chasing parallels for it but they haven't dipped enough for me just yet since it is a Rookie Card of a guy who had a dominating 2019 and could demolish baseballs again in 2020.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Panini Chronicles

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FUZZY-CORNER BARGAINS
The Card: Derrick Henry 2017 Panini Certified Fabric of the Game Prime (/49)
The Price: Under $3
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy has been among my buys for a while now -- not just since he's been playing well this year -- but mostly when found on the cheap. This solid patch card dropped low enough where I grabbed it without hesitation though it does have some rough edges up top. I'm not sure what might make for better-cut mem cards (glossed stock, thicker stock, different packaging?), but I wonder what prices might look like across the board if they all arrived a little cleaner than this. Either way, I'm not buying to flip -- just stash away -- so a cheap card with small things that aren't perfect aren't the biggest worry. I like the interplay between the photo and the standard design elements here, too.
Grab a box right here: 2017 Panini Certified football cards

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ANOTHER DIRECTION TO LOOK FOR INK ...
The Book: Rachel Maddow autographed copy of Blowout 
The Price: $27
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've been aiming to work in some non-traditional collectibles in this series and, while publisher-produced signed editions of books aren't all that non-traditional, a lot of sports collectors don't seem to look there for ink. (They may not need to as most players have plenty of certified sigs to grab.) For those without cards like this TV personality, though, you can land signed books often for cover price if you check the major chains and even larger independent dealers. A recent look at some pre-order pages show autographs from Val Kilmer, Jessica Simpson, Carrie Underwood, Colin Jost and Danny Trejo coming soon for cover price (or less) and signed books from Kevin Hart, Anna Faris, Ali Wong, Flea, Tom Brokaw, Barry Zito, Demi Moore, Kane, Gisele Bündchen, Sally Field and plenty of others already out there. My only rule if I go this route? I always buy two copies to make sure they aren't identical sigs -- that can and unfortunately does happen, especially with the bigger names. (It shouldn't but does.) If that's the case, both get returned. The pre-order market for these can be stiff as there are many of people flipping these limited-edition creations hard and heavy -- even for non-celebs like Maddow they can vanish fast and once they're gone they're gone. There are a lot of names who clearly have demand for their inked books -- and names there might make for some good autos in Allen & Ginter and other sets that are homes to non-traditional autographs.
Grab a box right here: None for this one but non-sports boxes are here

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RAZOR-SHARP BARGAIN
The Card: Don Mattingly 1984 Topps Rookie Card (BGS 5) 
The Price: Less than $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Ever run into a baseball card that gave you big ol' puppy dog eyes and you just had to rescue it from the pound? This was it in this case as this Rookie Card of a 1980s icon just screamed at me with some relatively decent centering and razor-sharp corners as well as a super-low price for a slab with a grade that just didn't seem to add up. Well, this card earned its BGS 5 with a trio of surface wrinkles/creases in the middle of the card that you just can't see here (they are there for sure with a closer inspection) but it still looks good. I wish all my low-grade vintage cards looked like this one ... just saying.
Grab a box right here: None for this one but MLB boxes are here

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END OF THE LINE
The Card: Mark Ingram 2019 Panini Phoenix Red (/199)
The Price: $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This team had a shocking end to its season, but this veteran who I've picked up for years now basically had a career year with 15 total TDs (10 rushing, five receiving) and just his third 1,000-yard campaign joining the Ravens. Had he not gotten hurt in the next-to-last game and sat the finale, he would have had career-highs across the board. It took time for new cardboard to show him in non-Photoshopped uniforms (this is a studio pose), but Phoenix is a brand that has caught my eye the last few years and I liked the color here so I grabbed it. (Apparently so much so I grabbed more than one.) The Ravens will continue to have high expectations in the coming seasons and this former Heisman winner and second-generation NFL player should figure into that in his 10th season and beyond.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Phoenix football cards

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