Buzz Buys (June): Some surprise cards, a few affordable hits, WWE autos, movie throwbacks & more of my usual suspects

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Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ... 

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TIFFY TIMES TWO
The Cards: Tiffany Stratton 2024 Panini Three Count WWE Prime Memorabilia Autographs Purple parallel (/25) & standard version (/99)
The Price: About half of a Three Count box these days
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card was immediately on my radar back when it first was revealed among the mock-ups for this high-end WWE brand and, I've said it before, if this set hadn't used sticker autos it would be perfect. The end of the Panini WWE run combined with a logjam of releases and then the collector (and definitely flipper) focus perhaps shining more on Chrome actually made secondary market prices on a lot of stuff here a bit softer than I had expected, allowing me to pony up on two of these at prices I could handle. (I had initially figured I wouldn't land one of these, let alone one and a parallel.) I was picky with these and wanted to make sure I landed one with a clean auto -- full name, not the abbreviated and half-empty-sticker "Tiff" that shows up sometimes. Both of these hit the spot on both auto quality and price ... and if they ever dip more, I'll do more. Why? It's a Tiffy Time world and we're just collecting in it.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

TWO BRAVES
The Cards: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2024 Topps Allen & Ginter B Relics & Michael Harris II 2024 Topps Major League Material Black Relics (/199)
The Price: About $8 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of Relics are pretty standard -- one from a brand I used to rip heavily, and one where a parallel like this is a steal at this price because the odds of landing one of them is awfully high -- too high. (A reason I don't rip that one as heavily any more.) That parallel set is roughly one in 1,000 packs in both series of flagship. For the total price here, I didn't mind them.
Grab a box right here: MLB cards are here.

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FINALLY GOT AROUND TO THIS ONE ... 
The Book: U.S.Avengers No. 1 -- Captain Britain cover (UK variant & Forbidden Planet exclusive)
The Price: About $13 (shipped)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: It only took me about eight years to getting around to finally throwing this in a cart when I spotted it and the price was right. This is one of a whopping 54 different cover variants for this issue -- based on characters from specific states or other areas -- and its gimmicky approach arrived back in January 2017. This series ran just a dozen issues and, according to Marvel, this one was the most-ordered variant. (Perhaps because it was an international parallel and many feared that would make this one harder to find if they wanted to collect 'em all?) I latched onto the character years ago -- when the first Marvel Universe trading cards arrived in 1990 packing some interesting trivia -- and have casually (slowly as you can see here) picked up stuff through the years when items are interesting. (Can't collect it all ... but will dabble.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but Marvel cards are here.

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FEELING BLUE
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2025 Topps Chrome WWE Sapphire Edition Blue Brand Autographs (SP)
The Price: About $45
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Her five-year run with WWE may be over (for now) but that's not stopping me from collecting her stuff -- and a contract non-renewal might make collecting her stuff a little easier for a bit, allowing me to play catch-up. That news perhaps also nixes her from a lot of the high-end, high-priced Topps WWE stuff to come, which is probably a plus for me. She had a smaller presence in Chrome -- a base card, a Chrome auto and a Blue Brand auto only in Sapphire -- but I suspect the gap between that late signing and the next stuff arriving may have left time for checklist changes after roster changes. All of her autos in Chrome were released as redemptions and her ink had a smaller rainbow of parallels than others -- 50 copies or less on everything there -- and then these, which appear to be very limited and have an even tinier rainbow of parallels. If this is as low-volume as some have apparently been told, I think I got a steal of a price and it was redeemed and back in my hands quickly. There will be more Shotzi to come in the ring and seemingly every month in both this series and Making The Grade ... because I'm a collector. 
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

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CRIMSON & FLASH
The Cards: Bryce Young 2023 Panini Father's Day Football Red (/99) & Holofoil (/199)
The Price: $8 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of promo pack cards showing the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft looked particularly solid to me -- and I had an eye on potential grading, too, but since that list is long they're here instead for now. No matter what he does as a pro, he'll always have a spot in my Crimson Tide stash and I liked the price vs. the volume made on these. I think in the long haul a lot of show promos like this might be tougher finds that can perhaps appreciate more vs. standard stuff given print runs at times these days. Finding standard set's cards won't be as tough as stuff like this.
Grab a box right here: Promo pack cards are here.

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RON'S LITTLE BROTHER
The Card: Clint Howard as Ralakili 2023 Topps Star Wars Signature Series Autographs Design Variant Blue (/50)
The Price: $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Hollywood directing legend Ron Howard's brother has had a boatload of smaller roles seemingly everywhere through the years -- decades, really, as they were both children actors -- and that has helped him land autographed cards in a few sets. This was the first time I spotted him this cheap, though, so I bit, especially since it's an encased and rarer (volume-wise) card. The only drawback is how the case is all scratched up ... but I'll survive.
Grab a box right here: Star Wars cards are here.

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GOING OLDSCHOOL
The Cards: Shotzi Blackheart 2019 Four Corners Platinum Series B card & autographed card
The Price: About $45
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is a pre-WWE creation and it shows more of her original autograph style when she didn't have to sign so much stuff and it evolved, devolved and then returned with plenty of detail -- though without this much flourish -- as seen previously in this month's lineup. I don't like to dabble with indy or perhaps-unauthorized card sets often, but I will for some names or if sets are released by indy wrestling promotions. This one showcased a number of stars who worked for a number 0f companies over a few series.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but WWE cards are here.

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BOTCHED VINTAGE
The Card: Bud Harrelson 1974 Topps blank-back misprint 
The Price: About $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This vintage botch is a cool one to me -- blank-backs/wrong-backs are not impossible finds in past eras but finding good names might be as they likely got discovered and gobbled up years ago. Harrelson isn't a big-money name but he's a member of the famed 1969 New York Mets and a coach-turned-manager of the team in later years where he added another ring. Sure, the centering is bad but things are otherwise pretty clean. That's not always a given with vintage cardboard.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but MLB cards are here.

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CAMEO CARDBOARD
The Card: Sofia Coppola as Saché 2013 Topps Star Wars Galactic Files Series 2 Blue parallel (/350)
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Oscar-winning director of Lost In Translation (2003) has a number of roles and projects out there in the IMDb world and one of those was a smaller role in the 1999 Star Wars reboot (Episode I) which landed her this card. This card, its parallels and a couple of gaming cards (though I'm no Star Wars card savant to know for sure) are (I think) all that exist for the character. Are they her only cards? I don't know -- non-sports is not my focus -- and I'm generally not some big fan of any of her or her father's (Francis Ford Coppola) works, but I don't mind a good cardboard cameo. The photo quality here is quite iffy but I liked the character focus for this set. I also pondered a slab here since it's an interesting card with the story, but the bottom corners, as you can see, aren't clean enough on this copy.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but Star Wars cards are here.

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TIFFY TIME II
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2023 Panini Immaculate Collection WWE (/75)
The Price: $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is a very clean copy -- typically the corners with colors can be a mess (or at least show a white speck) for those who grade and, well, this is a card I would (will) grade so that's why I bought another. I've never been a big fan of the plop-a-cutout-on-a-background design, but the pose here helps fill out the space on the card making it a little more appealing card. Over time, I wonder if the base cards and parallels for releases like this might end up being the tougher cards to find vs. their high-dollar inked counterparts.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

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REMEMBER ME?
The Card: Michael Ynoa ("Inoa" on all his early cards) 2008 TRISTAR Prospects Plus Yellow (/25) & PROminent Yellow Die-Cut (/25) parallels 
The Price: Less than $1.75 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of matching parallels was more of a novelty grab since the volumes and prices were both really low here for a previously big-hype player who never delivered. He signed with the Oakland A's as an international free agent for $4.25M in 2008 -- a record for the Moneyball franchise -- and the hype and comparisons were off the charts with comparisons to Felix Hernandez and others in play with him, only to have him blow out his elbow after nine innings of Arizona Fall League ball. He returned from the injury to pitch for the White Sox in 2016 and 2017 -- 45 games, two wins and 53 strikeouts in 59 innings of relief and that was it in MLB. Meanwhile, he was still pitching as of last year in the Dominican Winter League. Interestingly, all of his early cards from all companies have "Inoa" on them -- even with his signature being "Ynoa" -- and it was changed in later years. (I think I was told it was an MLBPA paperwork error back in the day.) I'm a sucker for good cards of some busts from the past -- he's one -- though these are among those that use some rougher-looking Dominican-team photography. He'll show up more here this year ... just for fun and as a reminder that many of those prospects some newbies are paying big for in recent years don't ever actually deliver big. (Buy who you like ... but don't expect Cooperstown for 99.99 percent of them.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but MiLB cards are here.

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AFFORDABLE THROWBACK
The Item: Chuck Hinton, Duane Josephson, Roger Nelson, Ted Uhlaender, John Donaldson, Tommy Davis, Frank Robinson, Dick Ellsworth, Sam McDowell, Dick McAuliffe, Bill Robinson & Frank Howard 1969 Sports Collectors Photostamps sheet
The Price: Under $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This retro sheet caught my attention initially on a Frank Robinson search but it has a lot of familiar names on it for those who perhaps dabbled with vintage semi-star players in the past (some might be stars, some might not so I'll say it that way). Uhlaender is the father of an Olympian you can find on cards, while Howard was a feared slugger and Davis was a two-time batting champ and a World Series winner and others here are notables. It was clean and it was cheap, making it a curiosity addition to the Robinson part of my stash.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but MLB cards are here.

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REMEMBER MALLS?
The Item: Mallrats (1995) 8-by-10 press photos featuring Shannen Doherty, Jason Lee & Jeremy London
The Price: Pocket change as part of a binder lot
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I found this in a meaty binder of movie photos all alone and it's perhaps one of the Kevin Smith movies that I don't seem to see promo materials for as much as other comedies from that film-maker and the era. (Admittedly, I don't look all that often -- a few times a year -- and still won't overpay for 99 percent of press kits.) For the price of the overall lot and the volume, a simple photo like this was a fun find -- sometimes sellers will try to get $10 or more for single images from stuff like this when good names are in play. This one might -- might -- have cost me 50 cents. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but non-sports cards are here.

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GAME-USED: OAKLAND VS. TEXAS ... TIMES FOUR? (YEP.)
The Items: MLB Authenticated game-used baseballs from A's vs. Rangers games 2014 and 2015, including plays from Sam Fuld, Colby Lewis, Mark Canha, Robinson Chirinos, Sean Doolittle, Samuel Freeman, Brett Lawrie & Ross Ohlendorf (click to read the details on each ball)
The Price: Typically around or under $30 (likely less on these given the team and when I bought)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This fearsome foursome is one more example of how not all of my blind-bag buys over in the Collecting Game-used series are winners -- oddly, I found these in my stash sitting unused after grabbing them long ago and the plays aren't actually that bad. Three fouls and a ground-out in there are better than a ball in the dirt on all four, though I got one of those, too, as one ball has two plays attached. I probably bought these as blind boxes as Texas Rangers balls and what arrived was random -- though two are from the same game and two are from consecutive days and all three are, oddly, the same teams. (I say oddly because the Rangers do play more than one team.) The player names attached are OK, but no bonafide big hobby names are in there and the MLB Film Room footage database doesn't go back that far to make for more-detailed posts. (That's generally 2016-forward.) Heck, these were so buried in my collection (cleared desk and stuff that hadn't been photographed yet went into a storage tub with the rest) there's a 99.99-percent chance these were picked up before the Film Room even launched in 2020. Spring isn't over yet and my spring cleaning probably never will be. 
Grab a box: Nothing for this ... but MLB cards are here.

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PARALLEL POWER
The Card: Rosario Dawson as Becky Scott 2022 Zerocool Clerks III Yellow parallel (/99)
The Price: $6.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This character card has a clean portrait of one of the biggest names in Kevin Smith's film world -- or at least one of the newer big names for sure -- and I grabbed it with an eye on a possible slab since it's a numbered parallel and not a highlight card like much of this set. Since the centering is a smidge too off (somehow I didn't notice when I grabbed it), others got the grading nod instead. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but non-sports cards are here.

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IS THAT YOU, SPECTRA?
The Card: Bryce Young 2023 Donruss Optic 1st Year Fresh Blue Hyper Prizm
The Price: Under $6
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Simply put, I liked the look of this one for my Crimson Tide stash and don't really care if it was or wasn't a photo shoot-used jersey piece. (The back blurb is more minimal than some others.) This has a Spectra feel -- a brand I liked off and on in the past -- and the price was right. Enough said. 
Grab a box right here: NFL cards are here.

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TWO MORE HITS
The Cards: Shotzi Blackheart 2022 Panini Immaculate Collection WWE Modern Marks Autographs Gold (/10) and 2024 Panini National Treasures WWE Treasured Threads (/99)
The Price: Around $50 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of hits are from earlier in the Panini run and then late in that time ... a rarer parallel auto that I grabbed months ago but never wrote about since I bought others (and other versions of this card) and wanted to spread them out, and then a memorabilia-only find from one of the last Panini releases. One is prime Tank Girl Shotzi and the other is from her short-lived "spikes era" ... both cool in differing ways in my always-growing stash. 
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

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ODDBALL FOOTBALL
The Card: Randall Cunningham 1999 Burger King Minnesota Vikings 
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This deep-dive find was a card I'd never seen before and seemed pretty obscure -- a late-1990s food issue -- for a player I collected pretty hard in the past but not as heavily around this time. (I preferred him with the Eagles but picked off some stuff here and there after.) I pondered this for grading (it was a COMC find) as it's really clean (the lighting is more the cause of the bottom edge in the photo vs. bigger damage) but didn't and once I got it in-hand I was relieved that I passed. One corner has a big bump that didn't hurt the color but definitely would hurt the grade.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but NFL cards are here.

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FROM TIDE STAR TO ... UNDRAFTED?
The Card: Isaiah Bond 2023 Leaf Trinity 
The Price: Around $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy was a star at Alabama but cashed out for a fat NIL deal to end his college days with the Texas Longhorns where, well, the stats were not dramatically stronger. I picked up this cheap toward the end of his Crimson Tide run as I liked the photo. (It's a James Bond pose and it looks better as a natural image -- and it's one that was used elsewhere Photoshopped into Texas gear on other cards.) I doubt I'll track down much more than maybe an Alabama auto on the cheap if it presents itself, though it's not a big priority. Bond declared for the draft in January but went unpicked after facing legal uncertainties with a sexual assault case that also had him counter-suing for defamation. It's possible he'll never play again -- or may get signed somewhere if cleared. 
Grab a box right here: Football cards are here.

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THREE TIMES THE MONÉ
The Cards: Mercedes Moné 2024 Upper Deck AEW New Arrivals 
The Price: About $4 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This AEW champ is all over my wrestling collection as Sasha Banks during her WWE days but, so far, the AEW stuff has been slow-arriving in my stash -- this is it so far (off the top of my head) -- and that's in part due to production delays where she hasn't actually made it into that many packed-out releases. I'm also a little less sold on her in her new place with a new name. That didn't stop me from grabbing three copies of this card noting her March 2024 TV arrival. Here's hoping we get some more new faces there soon. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but AEW cards are here.

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A BOXING THROWBACK
The Cards: Christy Martin 2010 Ringside Boxing Round 1 & 1996 Ringside -- Rookie Card 
The Price: About $4 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: There's not as much boxing stuff out there card-wise, so curiosity deep dives don't happen as much for me there -- really just some autograph checks, Muhammad Ali card checks and then a few sets of note. Martin was a big deal in the past -- a first-time Hall of Famer for women in boxing a trio of times -- and a WBC champion, too. I think I checked for these cards when I heard that a biopic of her life starring Sydney Sweeney is on the way later this year -- her story has a lot of crazy stuff beyond the boxing ring, so that could be a big deal for her stuff. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but other sports' cards are here.

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TWO ON THE RARER SIDE
The Cards: Nick Swisher 2007 UD Black Prominent Numbers Autographs Spectrum Gold (/10) & 2016 Topps Pink (/50)
The Price: About $30 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Early on and the end ... that's the cardboard extreme here for a couple rarer cards. The ink shows some wear but the price was low, while I ponied up a bit for the parallel that I didn't have and for the card that has a game-used jersey I own shown while in use. Since he hasn't had any new cards since 2016 I've been picking off hits and parallels on the rarer side at times, whether I already have them or not.  
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but MLB cards are here.

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CANDID INK
The Item: Shelly Martinez autographed 4-by-6 candid photo (via The Wrestling Universe Store) 
The Price: About $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This retired pro wrestler had such a brief run with WWE -- she was a vampire known as Ariel in its ECW reboot -- that she only appeared in a couple of European card sets as far as I know and nothing else. After about a year there, she went to TNA where she was known as Salinas and had a handful of cards in the debut TRISTAR set with a cameo on LAX team cards. I wasn't sure if I had her ink -- I might have her TNA card somewhere and do have an Ariel official promo photo with Kevin Thorn -- but I knew I didn't have anything for her real name so I threw this simple photo into a lot from that company, which does signings and meet-and-greets often, when it had a bit of a slasher sale on ink. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but wrestling cards are here.

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KING OF BASEBALL?
The Item: King Ralph press kit featuring John Goodman 
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This press kit's extras are fun for a comedy that I never saw but was from Major League creator David S. Ward ... which might explain some of the baseball ties here. This one has the typical stapled info sheets, a handful of photos (not all seen here as my camera was not cooperating), a color booklet (the back cover is the baseball mitt photo -- really strong -- a gimmicky invitation, an oversized stamp/sticker sheet and a small tin coin (think Mardi Gras doubloons). The extras alone sold me for this price and that back cover portrait is strong -- that would make a really nice slabbed publication in my mind with the sports tie but there might be a different Goodman piece of mine going into a slab later this year. We'll see.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but non-sports cards are here.

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BIG-SCREEN THROWBACK
The Item: Claudia Cardinale, Carlo Delle Piane & Mark Burns The Adventures of Gerard (1970) Keystone press photo 
The Price: Around $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This European comedy about a French brigadier in the Napoleonic Wars isn't one I could tell you a thing about -- that's how IMDb described it -- but I liked this slightly oversized image's simplicity and its back stamping that just screams retro with its Italian stamping as well as an extra stamp and the image info on the back. It's oldschool and, since I pick off a few cards and images for Cardinale a few times a year, at this price I bit. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but non-sports cards are here.

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IN THE CLUB
The Card: Michael Harris II 2023 Topps Stadium Club -- Rookie Card
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is so busy -- three players, three security guards and a camera operator -- that this non-traditional kind of photo feels like it could have shown up in the 1973 Topps set (not a compliment this time) that was full of iffy, distant images. It's not that I hate this card per se ... it's just weirdly different and, for pocket change for an RC of a player I lightly dabble with, it was an easy grab. 
Grab a box right here: MLB cards are here.

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EVEN MORE SHOTZI
The Cards: Shotzi Blackheart assorted Panini America memorabilia cards, parallels and other inserts 
The Price: Doesn't matter ... I'm a collector here. (The high is probably around $25 for the rarer Noir card.)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Some Select memorabilia cards get my attention easily when they're cheaper as the designs do a good job of filling up the card without things looking weird, so that explains why I grabbed those. The others are parallel/insert additions and then one rarer case-level find. Why? I'm a collector -- and four of these cards show memorabilia items that I own, too. (Search for "Collecting Tank-used" in the archives.) 
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

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STAN & THE MAN (WHO KICKED HIM)
The Cards: Shawn Spears (aka Stan) 2021 Upper Deck AEW Spectrum Memorabilia & Shawn Michaels 2017 Panini National Convention VIP Prizm Silver Prizm
The Price: About $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Simply put, this pair of wrestling pick-ups was cheap. The Spectrum set is one with a lot of names I'd typically grab -- but he's not one of them ... but it was hard to let that simple but multi-color shirt swatch go at about $1.25. The Michaels card is an oddball as it's not a WWE card and he appeared in the Panini card-show sets out of the blue years before the company got in the ring. Now, why are these cards here together? These ended up side by side in my files over time -- they were grabbed months ago with other stuff -- and then seeing them as the last two options together gave me a laugh and gave me a (Tiffany?) epiphany. Why? Back in 2006 before Spears was a WWE/AEW/NXT talent, he was just an extra named Stan. That clip has been viewed 6.7 million times in seven years ... and now Michaels is Spears' boss during his second run in WWE. Would it be possible to get an official Stan WWE card? I think that would be fun. Also, why Stan? Because there couldn't be two Shawns on WWE TV, duh.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here.

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PARALLEL PITCHING
The Card: Honoka 2022 BBM 2nd Version Ceremonial First Pitch Holo (/300)
The Price: $3.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This insert set has been a thing in BBM (Japan) releases for more than 20 years and this particular card is a parallel style that I hadn't seen before -- the holo pattern is hearts -- on cardboard. For the price and the volume, this seemed like a solid pick-up as a sample of one of these cards and I have a different addition likely heading into a slab where I know a little more about the pitcher. All I know here is that Honoka was a model/actress with a handful of movie and TV roles who threw out the first pitch for the Seibu Lions, which is the moment documented on this card.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but baseball cards are here.

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TWO AUTOS, ONE SIGNER
The Items: Kobra Moon and Thunder Rosa autographed 8-by-10 photos 
The Price: About $30 total (one a deal, one a bummer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of sigs come from a pair of dealers where I have bought from regularly (one mentioned earlier) with no issues, but one here was a bummer this time, while the other was super cheap and good to balance things out ... so that, along with the signer being the same person, is why they are here together. The Moon image is unique as its from Lucha Underground -- a short-lived company (about four years) that made some real interesting things a reality in how to show wrestling on TV. Cinematically was its approach with live-arena matches being in between pre-taped movie-style pieces. It also had a boatload of notable names in play back then and some have become bigger names now in AEW, WWE and elsewhere. But, the image quality here is quite bad (kind of like my attempt to photograph it) -- it was clearly a digital/online poster image blown up too much to be a printed as an 8-by-10. The other image is one I might actually already have signed in some form -- an older pre-AEW indy photo -- but at about $7 it was an easy grab as part of a slasher sale. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but AEW cards are here.

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