Buzz Buys: Nothing but football -- Hall of Famers, mascots, memorabilia, voices & plenty more -- this time around

Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters 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. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around it's nothing but football pick-ups.

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THE MOUTH OF THE SOUTH?
The Card: Paul Finebaum 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Mini Autographs
The Price: $9.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: When it comes to college football, Buzz is pretty much SEC or nothing. The SEC Network wasn't around with this guy at the center of a lot of things when Buzz was around there, but he was still all over the place back then. Who's Paul Finebaum a small few of you might say? He's one of ESPN's top names covering the college game on the Network, though he's been a big part of radio and newspaper scenes for years covering the SEC. Finebaum's only card appearances are limited to a literal handful of autographs in this baseball set that often includes media personalities and he has no standard cards. Podcaster James Andrew Miller said this of him: "Paul Finebaum knows the American Southeast like Jay-Z knows Brooklyn. And that's a big blast of wind at your back if your job is covering college football. His instincts as an interviewer rank him in the top tier of the sports world. And he is beyond mere savvy when it comes to speaking very virally." While I'm not the biggest fan, it's a unique autograph and one that a lot of non-collectors would want if they knew it existed. I finally grabbed one since it was cheap.
Grab a box right here: 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter

Keep reading for even more interesting items ... again, all football from here on out.

BROADWAY JOE
The Card: Joe Namath 2004 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Ultimate Jerseys (/175)
The Price: $10.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer's place in NFL history is a solid one with landscape-changing moments in football lore. For years, the Mickey Mantle of football cards was a super-pricey autograph (and he's not that cheap now -- just cheaper than he had been) and that, for me, meant owning few autos for a long time. That's changed some -- I have a few, including one I got in-person decades ago -- but what has changed more is his game-used cardboard. Prices on his stuff have definitely gotten cheaper as his newest stuff is all merely athlete-worn vs. game-worn and that seems to be helping soften prices on his game-used cards like this one. Works for me. I have lost count of how many Namath mem cards I own, but this one is my newest at a bargain price.
Grab a box right here: Click here for NFL boxes

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READY FOR A BIG YEAR?
The Card: Mark Ingram 2011 Playoff Contenders Rookie Card
The Price: $7.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: For the first time in nine years as a pro, Mark Ingram is on a new team. This year, the former Heisman Trophy winner suits up for the Baltimore Ravens and he'll be in a prime spot to get the ball more than others on a relatively inexperienced team. He won't be sharing the load with Alvin Kamara this year (and that guy could have a breakout year, too) so there could be some added action on his stuff. He's been a 1,000-yard rusher twice in his career and was just 89 yards short of setting the Saints career rushing record with 100 fewer carries than Deuce McAllister. His 50 TDs do hold the top spot. It should be fun to see what he can do on a new team. The 2011 rookie crop is a decent one, making those boxes worth a second look all these years later.
Grab a box right here: 2011 Panini Contenders

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PHILLY'S FINEST?
The Card: Reggie White 1986 Topps Rookie Card (PSA 8)
The Price: $18.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: People may not consider 1986 to be in the vintage years, but technology and printing wise that's a year that's far closer to the vintage era than today. While this set stands out from the pack for that era, the printing quality and cutting can be painful for this colorful release and the Jerry Rice Rookie Card makes what's left of these packs pricey. Trying to pull this Hall of Famer's affordable NFL Rookie Card (he has previous USFL cards) to grade isn't all that realistic so I looked graded. This card may be an 8 but it looks better than that with ultimately some minor fuzz here and there not helping it out. (That top left corner is the white stripe, not a nick) I own a copy I landed decades ago but it wasn't grading-worthy so I ponied up a little bit here, though I still think it's a good price. 
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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THE HEFTY LEFTY
The Card: Jared Lorenzen 2004 SAGE HIT Silver Autographs
The Price: $2.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: My other Buzz Buys earlier this month included an NFL card for this Kentucky Wildcats legend who recently died at age 38 due to an infection and other ailments. This card isn't perfect and the auto isn't exactly all that visible from the silver-sticker years, but I wanted some ink in his college colors.
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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NATIONAL TREASURES
The Card: Calvin Ridley 2018 Panini National Convention Gloves Rapture parallel (/49)
The Price: $4.45
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The newest wave of National promo packs is upon us with a new crop of NFL newcomers and that Zion guy you might have heard of, but it was this former SEC standout that got my attention to grab this one. Why? A rarer-volume card that includes a piece of a glove. (That's a little more meaningful for a WR.) He had some strong games as a rookie, so I've been picking off cheap but not standard cards of him here and there.
Grab a box right here: Click here for promo packs

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RELATED TO BALTIMORE'S RAVEN-MAKER
The Card: Poe Brothers (Samuel, Edgar Allan, Johnny, Neilson, Arthur & Gresham) 2011 TRISTAR Obak Green (/25)
The Price: Less than $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I broke away from the SEC for this Ivy League classic showing six Poe brothers who are related to the famed poet Edgar Allan Poe and who all played football for Princeton between 1882 and 1901. (The poet died in 1849.) Why? I don't know other than it was cheap and rare and it's a unique card from a unique set. I'm a total sucker for TRISTAR's Obak sets in both baseball and football because of all the odd things they included. Boxes of those are seemingly long gone thanks to their autographs, but the parallels are fun projects for those who like some history beyond just stats with their cardboard.
Grab a box right here: Click here for NFL boxes

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THE CHAMP IS HERE
The Card: Muhammad Ali 1992 Pro Line Team NFL 
The Price: Less than $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is an insert card in the non-traditional (and over-produced) yet important 1990s release that included an autograph in every single hobby box -- and that also included autographs from this boxing and global sports legend. His ink is rare -- and heavily faked -- but I wasn't worried about that. I've opened probably a dozen boxes of this one -- several in the last year -- but never pulled this card. I pulled several copies of others in the set, but never Ali. In more recent years including celebrity fans of the game in sports sets became a big deal. This release was a game-changer in many ways and this is a card I actually picked up more than once. You'll see this one again here on The Buzz.
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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HALL OF FAME BARGAIN?
The Card: Ollie Matson 1954 Bowman (BVG 3)
The Price: $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer's Rookie Card was two years before this one, but the lure of a cheap slab for a big name got me to bite. (And, for some reason, I'll admit I thought this was a RC at first.) He was a former Olympic sprinter and a first-round draft pick of the Cardinals who was later traded to the Rams for nine -- yes, nine -- players. He rushed for 5,173 yards and 40 TDs in his career and had 222 catches for 3,285 yards and 23 more TDs beyond that. Throw in action on special teams and even defense -- and consider that he has a spot on the Hall of Fame's all-1950s team, too. Why consider all this? He has fewer than 150 cards and around a dozen standard cards from his playing days -- and he's an example of how collecting oldschool NFL can be done on the cheap.
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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NEW TO ME
The Card: Billy Shipp 1961 Topps CFL 
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I don't remember why I did a search for Canadian Football League cards, but I've been a collector of football cards for 30 years now and literally had never seen anything from this set before. It's such a simple design and I'm sure it's one that has been done elsewhere (it's that clean), but I wanted an example from the set. I grabbed a guy with school ties. Simple as that.
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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SUBTLE SCARCITY?
The Card: Randall Cunningham 1992 GameDay Atlanta National Convention preview card 
The Price: $2.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Veteran collectors probably remember the tallboys of the 1960s in the NFL and NBA but there was a time when they briefly made a comeback with this release, some other Fleer brands and with Topps NBA in the early 2000s. The standard cards in this GameDay release aren't all that rare but this card has a slightly different back as it was a show promo -- The National way back in 1992. Since Cunningham was my favorite player in this timeframe, I grabbed it. This one is from a 46-card preview set for the release, which I'll admit I didn't know existed until I started poking around for Cunningham cards recently.
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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MAKING THE GRADE?
The Card: Dan Marino 1986 Topps
The Price: $1.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This third-year card of a Hall of Famer used to be a kind of a big deal but even Marino's RCs are relatively cheap these days unless they are in a slab with a high grade. This card jumped out at me as a potential grading specimen, so I grabbed it. (Why? I'm a sucker for 1984-88 Topps football cards.) There's a surface texture issue on one part of the card front, but it still looks slab-worthy in-person. That green field border can showcase nicks well but this one looks like the lawnmower's blades were very sharp all those years ago. Will I grade it? It's on my waiting list with a 50-50 shot. I need to research the PSA standards for surface flaws a little more closely.
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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MASCOTMANIA
The Card: Big Al 2019 Panini Prizm Draft Silver Prizm
The Price: $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I did some brainstorming before I clicked this one and I think the following statement is 100 percent correct. Big Al is the only sports mascot I've ever interacted with to appear on a trading card. (Shocker, right? Probably not.) There have been a boatload of mascots through the years and a surprising number of them have appeared on trading cards, especially in oddball releases like MiLB team sets and then in fun-driven releases that include them like Topps Opening Day. I've pulled and own my fair share of mascot mem and auto cards, too, but I've only "met" one of them before and that's Big Al. I tapped him on that big ol' forehead and survived to write about it. (I know you care deeply if you made it this far in my buys diary. Thanks for reading.) 
Grab a box right here: 2019 Panini Prizm Draft 

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FINISHING WITH A GREAT
The Card: Joe Namath 1989 Pro Set Announcers (PSA 10)
The Price: $10.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: While I don't necessarily have my first copy of this card, this is the first NFL set that I ever collected and that means this is the first card of this Hall of Famer that I ever owned. (That's not quite as cool of a story compared to you guys who were around in the 1960s for his cards ... but it's the truth.) If you've read my Making The Grade monthly items here, then you might know that I have a love-hate thing going on with grading and Pro Set football cards. Rather than fight it, I simply grabbed this one when I saw its price. While I'd prefer that to be a BGS 10, those simply don't exist -- I was shocked to see that 14 cards from this insert set have graded a 9.5, including two Namaths. 
Grab a box right here: Click here for newer NFL boxes

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