Buzz Buys: Mike Trout, TV legends, Trish Stratus' autographs, Acuña ink, Father's Day, NFL stars and ... Red Forman's script?

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 there's some variety as well as some Father's Day nods.

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VOLATILE FISH
The Card: Mike Trout 2020 Topps Project 2020 -- Artist: Andrew Thiele (/13,199)
The Price: Factory cost from Topps
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was just the second Trout card made in the set that's generating more attention than most releases this year, and Thiele's allegiance to the original 2011 Topps Update Rookie Card got me to bite here a lot faster than the first one, which is far more abstract. This isn't my favorite Trout of those released so far -- that nod still goes to Ben Baller's version -- but I do like it. I'm not buying Project 2020 cards to sell -- many of you out there are -- but now that the big wave of mainstream attention that has come and gone there should be more cards with print runs closer to this number (not for Trout as each of his cards to come has a shot at autographs). This one leads off here as a reminder that this is a set that needs to be watched closely. Only about 285 more cards to go!
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but MLB boxes are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

NOT QUITE TV-SIZED, BUT BIG
The Card: Johnny Carson 2014 Panini Golden Age 5-by-7 Box Toppers Memorabilia (/50)
The Price: $30
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I'm not a big fan of this TV icon or anything, but I am a big fan of unique cardboard and Carson's appearances in the final year of Panini's Golden Age line are not that plentiful. He has a standard memorabilia card and then this box-topper that's printed on thick stock and is a nice display piece with a solid portrait. He has a dozen cards in the Golden Age set but only two are hits and he doesn't have a lot of authorized card appearances beyond those here. These toppers don't drop all that easily, but there are plenty of solid cards to be found in those releases. This isn't my favorite year of this brand but cards like this always get a look from me when they pop up. Worth a definite look for the box price. 
Grab a box right here: 2014 Panini Golden Age

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TWO OF A KIND
The Card: Julio Jones & Calvin Ridley 2018 Panini Immaculate Collection Immaculate Dual Jerseys (/49)
The Price: $4.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a duo with some school ties as well as NFL and position allegiances but the two things that got me to grab here were the volume made and the price beyond them both being guys I pick up from time to time. It's not super-flashy but it's nice and simple. It may cost a little more for companies to make these (double the swatches) but I'd think that multi-player mem cards should be made more regularly just to keep the non-auto hits a little more fresh. There's potential power in those pairings that could excite more than you might expect compared to plain one-player swatches.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Panini Immaculate Collection football cards

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ACUÑA ROOKIE INK!
The Card: Ronald Acuña 2002 Bowman's Best Red Autographs 
The Price: $5.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I haven't picked up any Acuña ink recently -- I pulled a couple of Juniors as a rookie -- but this newest addition is the original and one who's a lot cheaper. For those who don't know, this guy is the dad of the Braves outfielder and he spent eight seasons in MiLB never making it past double-A ball for the Mets, Blue Jays and Brewers organizations. He did get MLB cardboard, though, in 2002 Bowman, Bowman Heritage, Bowman's Best and Topps Traded. His only five certified autos were in this release, a standard auto along with a Blue, Gold, Red and Uncirculated version which is limited to only 20 copies. The rest are not numbered.  
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...but MLB boxes are here

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STRATUSFYING PURCHASE
The Set: Trish Stratus signed 2014 Topps WWE Road to WrestleMania Queen of WrestleMania set (eight cards)
The Price: About $50 (U.S.)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Back in April, this seven-time WWE champ offered up signed copies of her eight-card career retrospective set from Topps at a substantial discount (they're regularly $120 Canadian on her website) for one weekend with the proceeds going to the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto to help fight the COVID-19 outbreak. Mine took a little bit of time to arrive but they landed this weekend and the set can be seen in its entirety above. It could have easily been more than eight cards -- but now I have them all ... with ink.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...but WWE stuff is here

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AFFORDABLE ROOKIE OPTIONS
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Panini Chronicles Contenders Optic Rookie Card
The Price: About $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This set is loaded with cheap Rookie Cards of this notable MLB newcomer and it's always one I watch and pick off. Boxes aren't cheap these days -- there are plenty of big possibilities in them -- but the basic RCs here can be. If I wasn't collecting his stuff more casually, I'd chase some parallel rainbows in this one. Why? I have a feeling stuff like these will be a lot rarer in the future vs. the standard MLB-licensed stuff. Not a knock either way -- just a reality that I don't think as much was made for sets like this compared to MLB sets.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Panini Chronicles baseball cards

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VARIATION WITH A MOVIE NOD
The Book: Stanley "Artgerm" Lau variant cover for Catwoman No. 15 (CGC 9.8)
The Price: $44
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I could count the number of comic book slabs I own on one hand, but with a lot of wax boxes getting a little nutty I've been looking more and more at other stuff -- at least for the time being before we get a boatload of new releases to dabble with. (They're on the way.) I picked up this slab for a couple reasons -- the artist's work is ridiculously detailed (see his Instagram here) and it's a variant that uses the Michelle Pfeiffer version of Catwoman, making it a movie tie-in, too. For some reason the movie part makes it more interesting to me. My photo here doesn't do it much justice so click here to see more details.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... find non-sports cards here

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SQUIGGY'S SQUIGGLES
The Card: David L. Lander 2015 Rittenhouse Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 1 Autographs
The Price: $5.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Some Star Trek sets can have really, really deep autograph checklists that include a lot of oddball characters perhaps most appreciated by the diehards. But, they can also have appeal elsewhere in pop culture. Lander appeared in just a single episode back in 1989 but he's probably best known as Squiggy from more than 150 episodes of Laverne & Shirley. He's got more than 110 other credits and has been acting since 1969 but has just a few signed cards. They are all in Leaf Pop Century sets except for this one.
Grab a box right here: Star Trek Portfolio Prints boxes (all series)

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PLAIN PATCH + NICE CARD = BARGAIN
The Card: Calvin Ridley 2018 Panini Elements Radioactive Rookie Materials Gold (/99)
The Price: $2.95
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This release has a lot of high-end stuff in it but I've opted for the singles route with cards like this (ones that fit my narrowed NFL interests) instead of collecting it in general and ripping a ton of wax. The plain white patch here probably didn't help the value (it certainly doesn't help the appeal) but for the lower volume made and price I grabbed it.
Grab a box right here: Panini Elements NFL boxes (all years)

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OVERLOOKED RELEASE?
The Card: Josh Jacobs 2019 Panini Phoenix Red (/299) Rookie Card parallel 
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: You know how Prizm, Optic and Mosaic seem to be blowing up? Well, Phoenix is an Optichrome-stock release, too, and it's got a simple design and plenty of color parallels that might be worth a look if you're ripping to flip or hunting key names as singles. These cards seem just a smidge thicker to me (I could be wrong) and the releases aren't necessarily all built the same, but this one seems a little overlooked if you ask me. (That's not a detailed analysis, just a gut feeling.) There could be some movement here you don't see in other brands since they are definitely more popular and can be pricey.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Phoenix football cards

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HELLO, PAIGE ...
The Card: Rose McGowan 2015 Panini Americana Blue Signatures (/49)
The Price: $21.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I must have had some cash to burn when I bought this one -- that's a little steep for my typical pick-ups -- but this is one of the autos I wanted to land from this once-plentiful set (in box form) that just isn't as easily found now. While you may know her as Paige from Charmed, this auto fits in my Tarantino stash as she was Cherry Darling, the former go-go dancer whose missing leg was turned into a machine gun during a zombie-like apocalypse in the Robert Rodriguez-Quentin Tarantino double feature collectively known as Grindhouse. (It's absurd and that's the point.) A number of names from their films have autos in the Americana lines so this goes with others who have had ink here.
Grab a box right here: Donruss Americana boxes (all years ... when available)

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... AND HELLO TO YOU, TOO
The Card: Paige 2015 Topps WWE Undisputed Purple (/50) Rookie Card parallel 
The Price: $15.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Did you notice the Paige name-drop in the previous post? Well, that wasn't an accident as this WWE star's name apparently comes as a nod to that character. (I never watched Charmed and knew nothing much about the series' characters ... and I didn't learn this bit of trivia until just recently.) This buy wasn't an accident as I'll admit to collecting her stuff -- this is from her rookie year on cardboard as part of the main WWE roster and not as an NXT insert. This will probably end up in a slab at some point, too. Why? The simplicity of wrestling collecting -- a few sets a year without 37 parallels per card -- makes a slab rainbow much, much more do-able.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this landmark WWE release ... but you can find other boxes here

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RED FORMAN'S SCRIPT?!?!
The Item: That '70s Show Episode No. 215 ("Red Gets a Job") script 
The Price: $35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is an admitted oddball pickup from The Hollywood Show's website recently. The show is a celeb autograph event held a few times a year where stars from the past and present show up to sign and meet their fans. Extra autographs signed for the show organizers and other memorabilia pieces end up for sale online and this one -- one of many like it -- caught my eye. While you can find scripts for TV and film all over the place (some out there probably fresh from laser printers) I grabbed this since it's a casual favorite of mine series-wise and one small touch here made it slightly different than others. A handful of these show's scripts available have labels on them saying Kurtwood Smith -- he's the actor who played Red Forman -- with it slightly scribbled out. But, this one had it nearly peeled off but that that clearly didn't work so the rest of it remains. (It makes me think this move would be a lot less likely if somebody was trying to reproduce these.) I found the episode online -- one I remembered when seeing this item -- and read it along with the episode to compare to the final product. Some of the asides/flashbacks were presented in a different order than here and some of the scenes and lines were cut down but ... otherwise it was spot on. It also includes a lot of other info inside -- for example it breaks down when and where it was rehearsed and other details like music cues. This version of the script was finished on Dec. 8, 1999, blocked out and rehearsed the following day and filmed before a live studio audience the day after that at the end of a 12-hour day. I didn't find any writing inside this copy but the front cover definitely shows some wear to it as it was handled. The only big change? The episode was named "Red's New Job" when it aired on Feb. 1, 2000. It's the only script I own and I figured it might be an interesting piece ... and it was. Do I need more? Probably not but we'll see.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this series ... find non-sports cards here

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BACK IN THE DAY ...
The Cards: Roger Maris & Hank Aaron 1979 Topps (All-time Record Holders subset)
The Price: $2.40 for two 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card shows a pair of players from the past who I've dabbled with in varying ways -- Maris more for original cards and hits and Aaron for cheap late-career and recent stuff that hits the spot, mostly tying into his home-run record. I picked up a pair of these that looked very, very clean for the slopfest that was 1970s baseball card production with a "maybe" thought for grading. The front card seen here has a few spots and the images are dark (I think most are) but it might make its way into a slab. Really, though only cards PSA 9 and higher get expensive so it might be more realistic to buy this one as a PSA 8 instead of submitting.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but MLB boxes are here

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CHASING A GEM ... BIG BUMMER
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Promo
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This promo card's blurbage really doesn't do the photo any favors, but this copy got my attention with a slab in mind ... until I got it in-hand and found a big surface indentation that absolutely kills the card. The regular version of this uses a much, much better posed photo that helps make this mugshot version stand out more. Why was I even looking here? Well, I think dealer promo cards from this era might be an overlooked realm of the hobby where you might be able to dabble cheaply and do well with for slabs in top grades. Why? Availability. They just aren't as easily found as the regular cards.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but MLB boxes are here

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A CAREER IN ONE CARD
The Card: Tim Berra 1975 Topps Rookie Card
The Price: 65 cents
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: He's one of three sons for the baseball Hall of Famer (Yogi) and this is his only football card appearance for his one-year career with the Colts. Other than some errant black ink this is a pretty clean copy, so I'm feeling good about that for pocket change. Dale Berra has cards and Yogi does, too, of course, but Larry Jr. doesn't based on my quick research of his minor-league career. Father's Day is a simple niche you can explore in collecting -- there have been a lot of father-son sports combos in the past. Interesting trivia: He was the present of LTD Enterprises which handled business dealings for the Hall of Famer.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...but NFL boxes are here

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AFFORDABLE PARALLEL
The Card: Nick Chubb 2019 Panini Legacy Record Book Green parallel (/100)
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pocket-change pick-up came while he was putting up a strong season and it's been sitting in my buys queue waiting for a spot here. Why did it make it this time? Well, I'm waiting on a lot of incoming stuff to arrive and I'm finally burning off some of these other pick-ups. It's a solid little card for the price and volume, but I felt a little more confident about it before the Browns flopped last year. I still think there's good potential for Chubb cards, especially right now as there are plenty of other distractions out there in the world and other new players soaking up a lot of speculators' money. He's averaged more than 1,000 yards a season in his first two years in the NFL and his 1,494 last year was only topped by Derrick Henry's 1,540 -- a monster game from Henry that cost Chubb the rushing crown in the final week.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Legacy football cards

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SAY 'WHAT?' AGAIN!
The Card: Mace Windu 2018 Topps Star Wars Masterwork History of the Jedi Rainbow Foil (/299)
The Price: $1.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I keep picking off simple Star Wars cards with an eye on doing some cheap slabs that might look good -- and this is also a parallel from a set that has graded well for me in the past. (I might have even dropped a base card of this in a past edition here.) Will I ever slab 'em up? At some point, yes, but the grading companies are backed up a bit slowing things down if you're working on the affordable side.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Topps Star Wars Masterwork

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HALL OF FAMER'S SON
The Card: Gee Gervin 2000-01 SP Top Prospects First Impressions autograph 
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pick-up was a simple one and I didn't realize how few cards this Hall of Famer's son has. While George "Iceman" Gervin has plenty of cards showing him with the San Antonio Spurs, Gee Gervin has less than 20 -- all draft picks cards from SAGE and Upper Deck. Just 12 are certified autos and two are on-card sigs. (The other is a parallel from this set and limited to 25 copies.) He didn't make it in the NBA but he did end up playing overseas and even for the Harlem Globetrotters.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...but NBA boxes are here

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A GLOBETROTTER LEGEND
The Card: Geese Ausbie 2014 Panini Golden Age Museum Age Materials 
The Price: About $1.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: He reportedly passed up offers to play for the Chicago Cubs and in the NBA to join the Harlem Globetrotters where he was one of the key stars from 1961 to 1985 -- the team's "Clown Prince." You can find him in the original early 1970s sets from Fleer and in this release where you'll find this memorabilia card and his auto. His only other autos are on a pair of National Treasures cards and his only other memorabilia cards were in In The Game releases. Not expensive but fun cards with a definite place in basketball history.
Grab a box right here: 2014 Panini Golden Age

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BIG BARGAIN TO BUZZ
The Card: A.J. McCarron 2014 Topps Five Star Autographs Rookie Card
The Price: Under $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I miss this premium brand's on-card autographs but I enjoy picking off names I like on the cheap and this is a prime example. Simple as that. Interestingly, McCarron only had nine different autographed cards in this release -- and this is the only one that's not serial-numbered. The rest are no more than 35 copies, too.
Grab a box right here: 2014 Topps Five Star football cards

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BIG MOVES
The Card: Nick Bitsko 2019 Panini USA Baseball Stars & Stripes Silhouettes Signatures Jerseys (/199)
The Price: $6.65
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was a pre-draft pick-up much earlier in the year after I read a story about his prospects as a prep pitcher in next year's MLB Draft -- Baseball America had him at No. 1 on its 2021 prep list. That was all pre-COVID, though, and without playing this year he opted to graduate high school early and make himself eligible for this year's draft -- and it paid off. The Tampa Bay Rays took him with the 24th pick in the first round this past week and this card has asking prices pushing almost $30 on one of the sites out there. That makes this look like a decent pick-up right now and it could pay off well later if this young arm with a 98-mph fastball turns into something big. This is just a more-basic card -- he's got plenty of rarer and more-advanced options out there from Panini -- but they should all be worth a look. He's got nearly 40 different autographed cards from USA Baseball releases in all years since 2017.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini USA Baseball Stars & Stripes

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