Buzz Buys: Non-traditional additions, WWE ink, classic cards, old magazines, new cardboard, odd autographs & 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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END OF AN ERA
The Item: Sasha Banks autographed 11-by-14 photo (BAS Witnessed)
The Price: $60
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: She's back in the ring but not in WWE -- and she's known as Mercedes Moné now -- and those are reasons why it looks like an industry mega-dealer that did a witnessed signing is moving these at a bit lower than they might normally be over on WWE Shop. (Since she's not with WWE, they can't be sold there now.) I have her auto on a number of cards and she's typically a pricier sig, but I couldn't pass on this striking kind of photo with its size and big, bold sig. I suspect she'll be back at some point and she'll still be high-profile elsewhere, though, and all that starts later this month with her first match in New Japan Pro Wrestling. If her other past ink dips more, I'll be looking.
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NO, NOT THE ORIGINAL ... BUT CLEANER
The Book: The New Mutants #98 Facsimile Edition (2022)
The Price: $3.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The original book here has been on my land-it-slabbed radar for years ... but it always has been too pricey with no changes really coming on that front. Why? This is the first appearance of Deadpool, which is really kind of this generation's Spider-Man as the smart-ass vigilante killer is absolutely everywhere in books, movies and online. It all started here and I grabbed this as part of a small books order just to have one. I figured a cleaner re-do would look better than the original anyway in every way but cost. It does. 
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CLASSIC MEMORABILIA
The Item: Dazed & Confused media photo featuring Rory Cochrane, Milla Jovovich, Deena Martin & Jason London
The Price: Around $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This print photo for the iconic 1990s Richard Linklater movie about a day in the life of 1970s high schoolers wasn't found as part of a kit -- those are often too pricey for me if they pop up -- but for this price and in this shape I grabbed it since it's got four key characters from a really strong ensemble cast that has gone on to so many, many other things since this one. I've talked about press kit photos for some time now -- I think these are fun card-like creations with the approach like this ... they even have numbering (D3 here). A lot of this kind of stuff just got thrown out, too, when newspapers closed, folded, etc.
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THREE OF A 1/1 KIND
The Cards: Nick Swisher 2014 Topps Gypsy Queen, 2009 Topps 206 and 2013 Allen & Ginter 1/1 printing plates
The Price: Around $30 a pop
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: My player hasn't had new cards for a few years now so when the 1/1s pop up I pounce -- at least when it's certain brands or card types. I've been a sucker for framed tobacco minis for a long time now since Topps' first revival of T206 and then in other brands like these. I don't have a lot more to say there so I let them pile up in the last year to present them here all at once. 
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ADDING TO THE ORIGINAL ...
The Cards: Shotzi Blackheart 2021 Topps WWE Undisputed Rob Schamberger 1/1 Topps Vault proof and artist's autographed card
The Price: $45 and free with a purchase
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of pieces showcasing a creation from the WWE artist -- a piece I own in original form as seen here -- were cool pick-ups last year but I have let a lot of my heavy WWE buying pile up to spread out here. (Why? Just so it's as heavy here ... even though it is. I'm falling back to basics I like as wax elsewhere is getting too pricey for my taste and the typical return.) The Topps Vault card was my first 1/1 for her -- I don't chase a lot of her rarities as there are collectors with deeper pockets than me or a narrowed focus -- while the artist card is a nice simple take on a base card. There are artist and wrestler autos of these (both /10) that are rare and pricey so I haven't grabbed those ... yet. They're on a longer-term radar if they ever present themselves affordably.
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BIG FRANK
The Card: Frank Robinson 2005 SP Legendary Cuts Lasting Legends Memorabilia
The Price: $3.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer is one who I collect casually -- I'll go look a few times a year and grab bargains like this for early cards or memorabilia, though I prefer him in his Reds years. This one is well-designed though, and looks good so I couldn't pass it up at this price.
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CAN'T STOP CHASING ...
The Cards: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps Utz -- "Rookie Card" 
The Price: $13 or so
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This food issue "Rookie Card" has been the bane of my existence as I've picked up at least a half-dozen of them wanting to land a clean, high-grade copy to slab. I gave up and actually already landed a slab -- an OK mark but I'd want higher if I could find it -- but it still gets my attention. Centering and bottom corners seem to always be an issue with this set, which was a few cards in a pack thrown in jumbo bags of Utz snacks. My gut says this might be on the rarer side of Bichette's first-year cards (not really a RC as a food issue but it has the logo) not that it's that rare -- it's just that a lot of other stuff is readily available.
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A DEBUT & TWO FACES IN NEW PLACES
The Cards: Thunder Rosa, Toni Storm & Saraya Upper Deck AEW Moments & New Arrivals cards
The Price: Pocket change (under $1) on all of them
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This trio is among my favorites in AEW and these are some of their first cards, too, as they are available online after key matches or debuts. I recently bought a ton of cheap samples here for these stars and other newcomers who don't have a lot of cardboard for potential grading. The Rosa I got lucky and landed a card that graded a 10 -- cool since it's among her earliest AEW cards. The Storms were not clean enough to send one in right away and the Saraya cards were a massive bummer for surface spots and gloss issues ... which is unfortunate as her return and this moment was easily one of the biggest surprises of 2022 in my mind. I want that one in a high-grade slab. None of them are super-expensive but all are clean nice "moment" cards I'd want in a slab.
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A THROWBACK
The Card: Joe Morgan 2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic Classic Materials
The Price: $3.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer's death in late 2020 -- it's already been that long? -- got me looking for his cards and this one jumped out at me like the Robinson as it's an affordable, clean and striking memorabilia card. I'm sure I have others but this seemed like a nice pick-up. I like his early team stuff more than with the Reds but I think The Big Red Machine creations probably sell better.
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DID YOU KNOW?
The Set: 1993 Score Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders set 
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Somebody I know went thrift-store shopping awhile back and found a cache of oddball cards -- mostly the same old 1980s/1990s stuff that you see all the time and in volume -- but this one popped out like a sore thumb because a quick search showed that every one of these sets included an autographed card inside. For the price, I told them to grab it and it did include the ink all these years later. The auto was from Gigi Pittman, while the one-per box Optigraphics (think Sportflics) insert was Dorie Braddy. The DCC has plenty of documented history out there between its alumni and newer squads -- and this wasn't their first card set -- but this you don't see everyday. A couple of other names here included Jill Marie Jones who is an award-winning actress with a number of TV and film credits and Michelle Parma who was on the third season of MTV's Road Rules reality show. The box here was substantially faded but everything else inside was crisp and clean. Pretty good for the price.
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RECORD-SETTER
The Card: Frank Gore Jr. 2021 Leaf Memories 1990 Purple Spectrum Autographs (/30)
The Price: Around $11
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This second-generation football star rushed for 329 yards in Southern Miss' bowl game this year -- the most rushing yards for any player in a top-tier bowl game ever -- and since he's got autos on NIL deals already I bit the night of the game. Why? Just for the heck of it -- you don't often see an RB rack up 15.7 yards per carry in a game, scoring two TDs and then throwing for another. He was just a freshman last year so it should be interesting to see how things go from here.
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AN ACTION FRANCHISE
The Cards: Desperado & Once Upon A Time In Mexico lobby cards featuring Antonio Banderas & Salma Hayek
The Price: Only a few bucks as part of a huge lot
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These came from a large lot of lobby cards where a previous collector eyed a few stars and broke up various film sets to build a large collection. I picked off a trio of names and these are a few from the pair of Robert Rodriguez films showcasing these two stars. Like media kit photos, these are a cheap and different kind of item to collect -- and they're sort of card-like, too -- but with a bit more mystery as there are international editions (and likely fakes) out there to complicate things. (And a lot isn't documented.) A lot of these are made on simple paper or slightly glossed paper and of all kinds of sizes so that's one more reason why they are perhaps not as popular as other things. But if the price is right, I'll dabble.
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A THROWBACK
The Mag: Ric Flair, Bob Backlund & Nick Bockwinkel -- Wrestling Revue, September 1982
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked this up since it's from around the same time as the memorable Wrestling All-Stars set -- and this actually is from the same publisher that made them and includes an ad for the cards, too. I thought this might be an interesting slab candidate but the pulpy paper is a bit more aged on the inside than I would have liked and you can see hints of aging issues on the spine, meaning this would need pressing for slabbing ... just not worth the time/cost there. The issue is an interesting one as it looks at the histories of the three major wrestling companies at that time, too, as you can see by the cover. For the price, I bit. Not sure I would have had it been more.
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THREE OF A KIND
The Cards: Mike Matheny, Jered Weaver & Atlanta Braves 2016 Topps Heritage 1967 Advertising Strips
The Price: $3.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These three-card box-toppers were kind of obnoxious finds -- yet I liked them -- in several years of Heritage because they are a pain to store ... and yet I've been picking off some here and there that have good names on them. In this case, my player has a cameo and I had kind of forgotten about this one until I was revisiting a watch list. Do I have all of them for Nick Swisher? Not sure ... storing these things can be a bit all over the place and I don't even know where I put my other ones.
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A DEBUT & INK
The Cards: Xia Li 2019 Topps WWE Women's Division Bronze (/75) and Purple (/99) parallels & 2020 Women's Division autograph (/199)
The Price: About $35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: She's the first Chinese woman ever to compete for WWE and she's been in the mix since 2017 and is now on the main roster with mixed results and lots of different looks -- but the same martial arts specialty that comes from her background as a combat sports competitor before wrestling. I clearly let these sit in my stash a while as I paid about $29 for the ink alone -- I think that was her first auto so I bit early. She's findable for less now but still can well relatively well.
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AN ODDBALL GRAB
The Card: Roger Kieschnick 2007 USA Baseball Autographs
The Price: $2.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: He played in 63 big-league games over two seasons for the Giants and Diamondbacks but that's not why this one arrived here (with my admittedly bad photo ... but I already stashed the card away and have no idea where it might be now). I grabbed this since it was cheap and it was one of the release's rarer finds ... an on-card and stamped auto version of a base card. Almost all of the ink here used embedded trapped autos for its sets, but a small volume of these went into the mix, too. I ripped multiple cases of this one and plenty more loose boxes after that and only landed one of these. I don't know how rare this player might be, but others like it are supposedly limited to between five and 20 copies with most of those being 10 or less. I didn't need it but I figured throwing out how rare these are might surprise some people.
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A PATIENT MONEY-MAKER?
The Mags: 2007 Spotlight Tribute trading card book (two)
The Price: $22 for two books
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: There was a short-lived trend around this time for "cards" released in magazine or book form -- it didn't last/work or was perhaps met with legal challenges ... I don't know. But what I do know is that these are filled with cardboard pages of perforated cards from some of the biggest A-list names in pop culture with 72 stars in this one alone. The design is oddly almost the same as the 2003 NetPro tennis cards -- at least the same name font -- and a paper slip on the back of the mag shows 'em all. I picked up a pair of these quite awhile back and just never really got around to writing about them -- some singles pulled out can sell well on their own but I like this more in sheet or complete form. I'd pick up more of these if I spotted on the cheap -- or if I had a bunch I might try to separate some out. I want to say they ended up at Dollar Tree stores with deep discounts many years ago so eBay is probably the best place to find them.
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LET ME TALK TO YOU ...
The Card: L.A. Knight 2021 Topps WWE Undisputed -- Rookie Card
The Price: $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This WWE newcomer has a lot of experience coming into the here and now and, well, I bit on this cheap RC early on as it's his only one made that year save for a card in a UK release. (I'm not sure if I'd call that other one a RC given its smaller distribution.) This premium set is a nice one that has a cap to its overall print volume with a hit in every pack and the boxes always dry up pretty fast -- that, along with them grading well, is why I grabbed it.
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THOSE ROOKIE COLORS
The Card: Roger Maris 2007 Topps Sterling (/250)
The Price: $2.35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This version of Sterling has a pretty non-traditional approach -- a mystery box with a hit and then base cards all of the same player inside -- and, well, that one's easily out of my price range even if it still could be found in box form. (It's basically not.) I have picked off some singles here and there, though, and this one caught my attention as it's the one showing him as a rookie with Cleveland. Maris appears on literally a couple thousand cards as a Yankee but fewer than 60 while in Cleveland.
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THE ORIGINAL
The Card: Pat Mahomes 2005 Multi-Ad Las Vegas 51s
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: You know the name -- this is his dad -- and he's got plenty of big-league cardboard to hunt but that's too easy. I liked this one as it's from closer to the end of his career (Rookie Cards in 1992; finished in indy ball in 2009) and it's from a MiLB team set for a franchise that had a unique name and look as well as a card set that's pretty funky with a horizontal design and, well, everything in there. This would even look good with an autograph across the middle of that photo.
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SUPER BO!
The Mag: Bo Jackson -- Beckett Football Card Monthly January 1991
The Price: Around $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I don't have much use for a price guide these days -- I buy what I like if I like the price -- but there are a few covers from the past featuring this guy that are iconic attention-getters showing a different time and place in the collecting world. This one isn't the best one -- it's definitely second to the black-and-white "Bo Knows" cover of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly back in the day -- but Super Bo is oddly memorable despite its Auburn ties (#RollTide here). I grabbed this with a potential grading angle in mind, though the other would definitely get entombed sooner if I had a clean copy.
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DIFFERENT TIME, SMALLER SCANDAL
The Mag: Dustin Hoffman & Robert Redford in All The President's Men -- American Film magazine, October 1975
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked up this from one of my regular check-ins as it seems unusual with a twist of movie and political history involved and a pair of A-list names on an unusual kind of photo for a cover. (Feels a bit forced and very retro for a mag cover.) It also looked very clean for a mag that's older than I am. It's a low-priority slab candidate -- tons of stuff in line in front of it -- but one that could stand alone on a pop report for a while, too, if I went there unlike a lot of the heavily graded titles.
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BEFORE "ROLL TIDE"
The Cards: Chauncey Jones, Dominique Canty, Andrew Zow & Tony Dixon 1994-95 Roox IHSA AA March Madness '95 Boys & Girls, sets and 1996 Roox Southeast Region High School Football
The Price: More than I want to admit for oddballs
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This small run of Roox cards is something I didn't expect to find -- long forgotten in my mind -- so when I happened upon them I grabbed them as they're the kind of obscure stuff you might not see again if you pass. This company did a small umber of prep event and All-Stars card sets back well before NIL was a thing -- maybe that's one reason they didn't happen for long. In this case, these are all Alabama Crimson Tide players in their prep years. Ironically, Jones was one of my first interviews in a past life, while Canty was a star en route to the WNBA at that time. Zow and Dixon were also stars with Alabama in those lean years but Zow won an SEC title and Dixon played for the Dallas Cowboys for four seasons. These aren't RCs -- more like minor league cards but not even that really -- but I grabbed them as some perfect obscure cards with school ties.
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A NO-DOUBTER
The Photo: No Doubt 2001 Promotional Photo 
The Price: Around/under $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Like movies, I think promo photos in the music realm are interesting and can be collected over the years of a band's existence with older stuff obviously perhaps rarer and pricier depending on if you can find them. This isn't really that old -- they released their first album in 1992 and ran until 2004 before taking a break -- and this comes from the later part of that run. The condition here was clean -- a lot of these were used for promotion with publications or radio stations/events -- and the photo was nice with everybody identified and a logo to add more to it, so I bit. I don't intend to chase any particular bands hard but this was one of a few pick-ups while doing some affordable dabbling.
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TONI, TONI, TONI ...
The Cards: Toni Storm assorted 2020-forward Topps Now, Topps Chrome/Finest Refractors, Slam Attax and Topps Relics 
The Price: Probably more than I'd want to admit ... but most (not all) under $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This star's exit from WWE hasn't been bad for her career as she's already been a champ in AEW and is young enough she could be in the game a long time. My picking up her stuff has slowed quite a bit though beyond some of the Refractor stuff here as I was chasing candidates for grading. I probably overpaid for the Gold -- the price I paid surprised me looking back at my records but it is what it is from buying with a lot of others dabbling, too. That Topps Now card was limited to only 95 copies and has several names on there with it being an early card so that one is perhaps my fav of them all. So much so I graded it and you'll see it here in Making The Grade at some point.
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ALABAMA LEGENDS
The Cards: Joe Namath 2016 Panini Black Gold Collegiate (/99)  & Bart Starr 2013 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection (/175) 
The Price: About $3 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: A pair of iconic Alabama stars and Hall of Famers on numbered cards for this price? Click and click. Enough said.
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AN INKED DEBUT?
The Card: Danny Davis "Ref Turned Wrestler" autographed 1987 Topps WWF card (Leaf Authenticated)
The Price: $3
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card was from a Leaf buyback autograph release and it was dirt cheap considering that's basically his Rookie Card and it showcases his biggest run in his career when he was a dirty ref who then teamed up with The Hart Foundation for a match at WrestleMania. He had plenty of ring time otherwise as a ref -- and as a masked competitor, Mr. X -- and he had other cards, too, but his few in 1987 Topps are fun. A signed copy for this price was a no-brainer, allowing me to check off ink from him for my stash. (I try to find one auto of most names.)
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COOL VINYL
The Card: Ryan Newman 2021 Panini National Treasures Race Used Sheet Metal (/25)
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: My days of buying NASCAR are largely behind me but this one was an easy grab as the piece of sheet metal has a vinyl design overlay that makes it look like a lot more than just sheet metal. This struck me as a classic example of how NASCAR memorabilia cards can be cooler than one might think and sell for more than you might expect if they look cool. Newman was a rookie back when I was just getting into NASCAR cards the first time around.
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PACKING HEAT
The Cards: Derrick Henry 2021 Panini Prizm Brilliance & 2021 Contenders Optic Winning Ticket Prizms inserts 
The Price: Free
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked up something not in the football card realm and for whatever reason these cards of an established Alabama star and potential future Hall of Famer ended up in my package as ... wait for it ... packing filler with some other cards. Nothing huge here but Contenders Optic boxes aren't cheap and that card has recently sold for as much as $10. Works for me.
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I LIKED IT THE FIRST DOZEN TIMES
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2020 Topps UK
The Price: $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: When this first arrived in Series 1 flagship, I liked the "horns" photo quite a bit ... but the same image popped up in so many subsequent version of the card it kind of lost its luster. A lot. At the time I picked off this Topps UK card, I hadn't opened any packs but have since. I like the simplicity of it.
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A THROWBACK THROW-IN ...
The Set: 1989 Topps Senior Professional Baseball Association set 
The Price: A throw-in (couple bucks) 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This isn't a pricey set and it's not hard to find, but it's one with a decent amount of star power for a short-lived league that had former MLB players on its rosters years well after their primes. All my Classic sets I've shown here in recent times were in a lot that included this one as a throw-in extra. If you watched baseball in the 1970s and 1980s, you'll know names here and the wood-border design here is very strong for the era -- a look I would have liked to see elsewhere -- and the stock is bright and white. There are even a handful of Hall of Famers.
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IF YOU SMELLLLLL ...
The Toy: The Rock Classic Superstars LJN version 
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This throwback find was an easy grab. The Classic Superstars line of toys from Jakks Pacific were favorites back in the day as you never knew who would pop up next from The Road Warriors to Jerry Jawler and Andy Kaufmann (wish I had bought that combo pack) or others. Some toys also were released in vinyl rubber form like this as a nod to the earlier WWE toys of the 198os that weren't posable at all but still evoked plenty of memories with a simple style and a cleaner, more cartoon-like form. They were chase figures per se but not all that rare ... but still different enough I'd grab some of them if the price was right. This was one of those times and it was pretty clean other than some minor bends on the front and a line through the UPC code ... small stuff I can live with with it on a shelf.
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MORE WWE INK
The Photos: Debra, Stacy Carter (Miss Kitty), Layla El, Dawn Marie & Chelsea Green autographed 8-by-10 photos (via Wrestling Universe)
The Prices: $9.99 and below
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This selection of WWE autos on replicated promo photos (the ones with names ... I wish they were originals as those would be cash) and then three others from a small lot I picked up at bargain prices come from a dealer known for having appearances at their store. Green is back in WWE as of the Royal Rumble while the others are firmly placed in WWE history so this was mostly to add their ink to my collection for the first time without breaking the bank. (Wresters sign a lot and do a lot of appearances or sell stuff themselves so you can often find auto photos for $20 or less -- a lot more affordable than a lot of cards.)
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