Buzz Buys: Derrick Henry, Roger Maris' pants, Star Wars, AEW, a few Crimson Tide greats, Hammerin' Hank, Machete & 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 boxes 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.

So, with that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around there's a bit of everything but more on the affordable side.

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MONSTER YEAR, SIMPLE ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Derrick Henry 2016 Donruss Rookie Card (BGS 9.5)
The Price: $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I made this pick-up just before he started his recent run of big games mostly because it seemed underpriced for the grade, which is a solid quad 9.5. Interestingly, just 25 copies of this card have been slabbed and nothing has checked in below this mark. It makes me think you could pick off a factory set at a pretty cheap price if you want to dabble with grading key cards here -- and there are a few where you could do pretty well with some 9.5s or 10s. About that price ... one of the other 9.5s had an asking price of $40 on eBay when I looked. Sure, the action here is heavier on Optic, ink and rarer parallels, but simple RCs of affordable sets seem to be go-to cards for more and more people these days.
Grab a box right here: 2016 Donruss (several formats)

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

OLDSCHOOL ADDITION
The Card: Roger Maris 2002 SP Legendary Cuts SP Legendary Game Jerseys
The Price: $19
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This price was an eye-popper for me when I saw it -- an instant buy. I pick off Maris stuff when I can and while they can dip down this low they typically don't for some brands. This one seemed like a card where somebody could have easily asked $10 more and gotten it -- and probably more. A lot of the non-MLB-licensed stuff can dip this low or lower but that's typically for bat Relics, stadium seats and other pieces in cards. One interesting fact here? Despite the set's name, the back of this card notes that the swatch is from a pair of game-used pants. Still a solid card.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes are here 

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LET ME TELL YOU A SECRET ... 
The Card: "United against Snoke" -- 2019 Topps Star Wars Chrome Legacy Blue Refractor (/99)
The Price: $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Did you know there's a new Star Wars movie coming? I bet you didn't. With that in mind, I picked off a few serial-numbered singles with key characters from this recent Chrome release to see if they'd be slab-worthy but this one didn't make that cut. Why? The top-right corner has a little something going on that I didn't see when picking and clicking. This release is a colorful and cleanly cut set, though, based on what I have seen and even this one could probably slab well -- I just wanted to chase something in a 9.5 or higher for fun.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Topps Star Wars Chrome Legacy

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TWICE AS NICE AT A LOW PRICE
The Card: Joe Namath & Don Maynard 2007 Donruss Classics Classic Combos Jerseys (/250)
The Price: $8.35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This memorabilia card includes a pair of Hall of Famers from the New York Jets and their Super Bowl III championship team. It's not the flashiest card but the price was right as Namath typically sells for more on his own. (And he's a guy you have seen here often ... and will see more of in the future). This is a brand that includes a lot of notable names for both autos and memorabilia -- and you can still find it in box form. That's worth a look at the link below. 
Grab a box right here: 2007 Donruss Classics 

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A FRIENDLY REMINDER ...
The Card: Damien Harris 2019 Panini Donruss Press Proof Yellow 
The Price: $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This color of parallel could be a tougher one to find in the long-term as it's only found in cheaper Dollar Tree packs that don't deliver a ton beyond these special cards. I picked up one from this set showing a player with school ties just to say I have one -- and to remind you guys of this option. A few brands have had yellow parallels in a few Panini products the last few years -- they could all prove to be tougher to find than one might expect. They can't have massive print runs compared to regular stuff.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Donruss (several formats)

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OFF-SEASON BUYING
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2019 Panini Leather & Lumber Naturals Gold (/99)
The Price: $5.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This insert set is among several in this unique release that has some nice design touches and concepts you haven't seen elsewhere. This one has a feel that's something like a beer bottle label -- the name Naturals reinforces that, too -- but it works for me with a photo of his follow-through on his swing. It's a small set with four parallels -- 15 cards per -- and it's got notables from the past and present that include this guy along with Mike Trout, Ken Griffey Jr., Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Juan Soto to name a few.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Leather & Lumber

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BIG OFF-SEASON ...
The Card: Greg Deichmann 2018 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs (PSA 9)
The Price: $12
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy dominated in the Arizona Fall League with a league-high nine home runs and 20 RBI -- enough to get me to scout his cardboard. This slab didn't cost more than raw cards when I was looking not that long ago and it seems that they are stronger in price now. He was announced as an A's non-roster spring training invite this week, so there's a chance we could see more interest in his stuff in the future. He was a second-round pick in 2017 but his stats in three MiLB seasons haven't been dominating ... so we'll see.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Bowman Chrome 

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COULD SIGN ANY TIME?
The Card: Yoshitomo Tsutsugo 2017 Bowman Chrome Minis Gold Refractor (/50)
The Price: $8.79
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Japanese star should be coming to MLB this season and according to MLB.com he's drawing the attention of the Blue Jays, White Sox, Twins and Tigers among others. According to this piece, the 28-year-old outfielder "has been compared to Kyle Schwarber as a hitter and defender" and he's got pop good for 30-plus homers a year for the last five years, too. Here's more about his cardboard made by Topps for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Grab a box right here: 2017 Bowman Chrome Mini set

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BOTCH WITH A STORY
The Card: Lee Roy Jordan 1969 Topps (miscut)
The Price: Under $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This botched card is one that most people would pass on easily, but I saw it as a fun talker for a couple reasons. First and foremost because Jordan shares this card with another former Alabama Crimson Tide star and a Hall of Famer -- the sliver of the card on the left is of Green Bay Packers legend Bart Starr. How do I know? Well, I own that one and recognized the color and sliver of uniform that you can see here. (The bottom appears to be part of Ken Kortas' Rookie Card, but I know nothing of him.) Miscuts and botches can be appealing to player and team collectors out there at times -- this time it's this team collector who thought it would be an interesting Alabama card to own. (I'm a seasonal buyer for football in case you have spotted a trend here ... it's a trend you'll see a lot more this time. Keep reading.)
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes are here

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A-E-DUB, A-E-DUB, A-E-DUB ...
The Card: Jeremy & Max Buck 2010 TRISTAR TNA Xtreme Dual Memorabilia Gold (/50)
The Price: $2.88
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: It's been about six years since we saw the last of the TNA sets from TRISTAR and a lot of things have changed in the wrestling world since then -- and hobby boxes aren't exactly easy finds now for most of those releases, either. You can find hits from the sets somewhat easily at times, though, and this one caught my attention as it was affordable and shows two notables who are now part of a new WWE competitor, All Elite Wrestling. The Young Bucks go by Matt and Nick Jackson now and are executive vice presidents of the company as well as in-ring talents. Could we see new cards for them at some point? We'll see ... the only options now for them are in some TNA sets from 2010 and 2011. I'd suspect new stuff might sell better than their past cards when they arrive ... more like if they arrive.
Grab a box right here: Wrestling boxes are here

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PARTY OF ABOUT $5
The Card: Jennifer Love Hewitt 2019 Goodwin Champions Goudey Memorabilia
The Price: $5.67
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Goodwin always includes a number of pop culture names that draw collectors in -- mostly on the autograph side -- and this year is no exception. Hewitt's autographed cards are still a little too pricey for me as a casual non-sports dabbler, but I did pick off this cheaper memorabilia card when on the hunt. She's among a few non-sports notables in that set this year and it's a release that also includes ink from Michael Jordan, Luka Doncic, Tiger Woods, Ben Simmons, Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid and others on the sports side.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Goodwin Champions

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COLLEGE DOMINANCE
The Card: Devonta Smith 2017 Leaf Metal U.S. Army All-American Bowl Blue (/50)
The Price: $18.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: His autograph isn't much to look at -- and that's why I didn't grab one in the past -- but he was a dominating receiver for Alabama this year with 65 catches for 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior. He'll  figure heavily during awards season after a year that included the third-best yardage mark in school history as well as the third-best scoring season, too. And if you didn't realize it, Smith caught the game-winning overtime TD to win it all a couple years ago -- that elevated Tua Tagovailoa's autographs from this set in huge fashion but this guy's just didn't blow up. (I'd bet it's in part because of that autograph.) His NFL Draft stock could be on the rise, though, with some of his teammates next year so that's another reason I was looking now vs. later. We'll see what happens with that team's stars at some point soon.
Grab a box right here: Leaf U.S. Army All-American Bowl boxes (all years)

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PRICES SO NICE, I BOUGHT IT TWICE
The Cards: Calvin Ridley 2019 Panini Elements Signatures Steel (/75)
The Prices: $9.25 and $14.50
Why they are Buzz-worthy: This release is an interesting one and I picked these two off at different times not realizing they was the exact same set. These metal cards are pretty impressive in their feel and the on-card ink is a nice touch compared to a lot of the sets out there. His autograph isn't the best, but these are actually a little cleaner and more complete than others I have seen. And they were cheaper, too.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Elements

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STILL HAVING A BOSS SEASON
The Card: Derrick Henry 2019 Panini Absolute Football Ball Hoggs
The Price: $4.24
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've been a fan of football memorabilia cards for a while now, picking off cheap cards that show branding from the balls' various logos or other parts that make it different than just a plain swatch -- but even those are better than a plain white jersey swatch. It's unclear whether this one is player-used or game-used based on the back blurb, but for the price I'm not all that worried about it ... it's just a pretty decent-looking card of a guy having a good season and one that fits my one of collecting niches.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Absolute Football

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OLDSCHOOL PICK-UP
The Card: Hank Aaron 1976 MSA Discs (Isaly's/Sweet William back)
The Price: $1.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I went on a Hank Aaron kick not that long ago and this one is a minty fresh item from the final season of his Hall of Fame career. It's an oversized food-issue where they can be found with varying logos on the card backs. The price might be a smidge lower than the norm but there are a ton of varying sets out there like this with some really easy to find and others not so much so that seems to hurt their value some. Like I said ... I was just picking off some cheaper, older Aarons.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes are here 

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A FIGHTER IN 'GOON'
The Card: Georges Laraque 2003-04 Topps C55 Framed Mini Relics
The Price: $2.35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The 2011 hockey comedy Goon is a fun one -- I might even go so far as to label it as my favorite hockey movie since I just don't dabble with the ice much -- and it's one that included a brief scene with this former NHL player fighting (naturally) with the main character. Laraque played 12 years, mostly with the Oilers, and doesn't have a boatload of card appearances, but I actually picked up this one as it's from a style of set that always catches my attention. I never ripped a box of this one back when it arrived -- it just wasn't a big priority for the cost, though I liked it -- but it's a nice one. The Topps C55 set is a modern take on the 1911-12 C55 tobacco set, only this new one had framed hits as well as buybacks from the original set just like Topps' T205, T206, Ginter and other releases to come since.
Grab a box right here: NHL boxes are here 

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TAKING OVER FOR TUA
The Card: Mac Jones 2017 Upper Deck USA Football USA U19 Future Swatch
The Price: $2.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: You might have noticed a seasonal trend here -- like I said I tend to pick up Alabama football stuff this time of year -- and this guy is no exception. He's the QB who took over for the injured Tua Tagovailoa and played pretty well late this season. He appears on just six cards in this USA Football set -- a base card, a parallel of that, a single autograph card, a jersey card, a premium jersey card (/22) and a 1/1 auto-mem card. That's it -- and that seems minimal. I've been able to pick off nearly all of the cards for the redshirt sophomore rather cheaply -- this one the cheapest of them -- and that could pay off if he's next in line for the highly watched program next season. (If you're a flipper, that is. I'm not.)
Grab a box right here: Football boxes are here 

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MACHETE DON'T SIGN (CARDS)
The Item: Danny Trejo PSA/DNA autographed Machete 8-by-10 photo
The Price: $31.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've been meaning to mix in some non-card items with this series and this time I'm ending with one. This Machete star is one of a few certified autograph photos I've picked up recently and this one is a classic in my mind showing the movie veteran in one of his most-popular roles. His autograph isn't all that tough to find as he's done show appearances as well as sold signed stuff via his taco and donut chain websites, but I'm surprised he hasn't made it into any non-sports sets or into any Fans of the Game situations as he's often seen at Los Angeles Rams and Dodgers games. His only certified auto card came for a role on Stargate Atlantis way back in 2008 (and you can't tell it's him) but that's it. There was a relatively obscure set made for this film -- it had Lindsay Lohan autographs.
Grab a box right here: Non-sport boxes are here 

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

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