Buzz Buys (Oct.): Tiffany Stratton ink, old movies, Bo, Shotzi, retro autographs, old mags, new Hall of Famer & 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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THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR TIFF
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2024 Panini Instant WWE Red-White-Blue Autograph (/10)
The Price: $49.99 via Panini Instant
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was an instant buy for me for that price and I suspect that future autos for this rising WWE star will cost more when they happen again via Instant based on asking and sale prices over on eBay that are far higher. (And because Panini has charged more for names who aren't as popular.) It's not a perfect card with the auto running off the sticker to a small degree here (though others I saw were worse with that being part of the "T") but that doesn't matter to me much with this being a personal collection addition. The only question is whether I'll slab it or not and I'm leaning toward no as I don't want any surprises on a solid card. With this victory, she got a title match anywhere and at any time, so this is a key moment upon that rocketship ride to the top as she only started wrestling in any capacity in late 2021 and already has all the skills to pay the bills. (Here's one match to see.) There will be more Strattons to come here as long as the prices don't get too crazy.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... WWE cards are here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

YOU KNOW THERE'S BO ...
The Card: Bo Bichette 2022 Topps Museum Collection Dual Relic Autograph (/299)
The Price: $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy had the worst season of his six-year career, playing just 81 games thanks to injuries, but that didn't stop me from grabbing new stuff and I'll likely be scouting for more in the off-season. Why? I'm a collector and the prices are getting a lot more back to normal, reasonable prices for him thanks to that year. He'll be only 27 next season and is a .290 career hitter (.299 before this season) and two-time All-Star who clearly as the skills to stick, barring those injuries. He's got a bunch of cards so far -- many still very pricey though some slabs can be cheap with massive volumes of RCs graded -- but with a bad year people only in it for the flips are more likely to be bailing, fearing more falls. Why shouldn't they be? He still has the potential to end up somewhere big -- either by trade (this year or next year) or free agency in 2026 if he's not re-signed. If he stays he can become one of the franchise faces forever or he could end up somewhere where he's got even more of a spotlight. 
Grab a box right here: MLB cards are here

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ONLY A-LISTERS HERE
The Items: Seven (1995) promotional photos featuring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman & Gwyneth Paltrow
The Price: Pocket change as part of a bulk buy
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a small part of a press kit for the memorable film -- the full package included at least five more images and some on-set polaroids to play off the crime scene/evidence mysteries of the story -- but these photos are arguably the best ones and they cover the bases for the top names found here. When I saw them, I knew these were some of the reasons to grab the lot -- no, not a box ... it was an album of images -- that included a number of newer titles and then more of the typical stuff one might find. Clean single-topic or clean two-shot images can sometimes sell for $10-20 apiece but I'm just busy building up some albums in a collection. I figure stuff like this can and likely will dry up more and more over time. 
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... Non-sports cards are here

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YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME 
The Card: Eli Mitchell 2021 Panini Gold Standard Emerald (/11) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Price: $26
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This 49ers RB came up just short of a 1,000-yard campaign (963 yards) as a rookie and it was one of those big days back then that got me to speculatively grab this RC parallel that's definitely low-volume. But, as with a lot of my buys like this (I don't do that many), well, let's just say his two seasons after that hot start upped his yards to only 1,523 and he's out on injured reserve this year. Mitchell is likely to have a surgery in there before he hits the open market, so ... yeah, I own a somewhat rare rookie parallel from a short-lived surprise out of Louisiana.
Grab a box right here: NFL cards are here

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YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME II
The Cards: Spencer Strider 2022 Topps Heritage High Number -- Rookie Card (11 copies)
The Price: All under $1 apiece 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I did some hard scouting of one site's stash of these RCs and went on a mini buying spree, grabbing all that had cleaner backs (that's where the condition issues are) that were under $1 and I ended up just short of a dozen ... and then he went and got hurt. It happens. Why buy? I just like this one and I like Heritage RCs, too, and I know that high-grade copies of anything of this 1973 re-do will be tough sledding for slabbing. One copy here, once I had them in hand, would be submission worthy hunting a true 10 but, ironically, at some point after this I just grabbed a 10 slab anyway. Like Bichette, his stats show he's a star so now's the time to be looking and grabbing stuff if you're a believer that injuries won't hamper future results. That's tougher to predict with a pitcher but he's been really, really good. 
Grab a box right here: MLB cards are here

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A STUNNING DEBUT?
The Mag: "Stunning" Steve Austin (at right with Rick Rude, Paul E. Dangerously, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbyszko) -- WCW Magazine, June 1992 ... First mag cover for Austin? (I think so.)
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a flip-cover issue -- one side the good guys, the other the bad guys -- and I'd only ever seen the other side that has some of the biggest WCW names (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Nikkita Koloff, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes) leading the way. But this side? I'm not 100-percent sure, but my gut says (after some research) that this might be the first magazine cover for Austin, who went on to become one of the biggest names in the history of the business once he cut the hair (What?), got fired via a FedEx envelope (What?), found some stone-cold beers (What?) and gave Jake Roberts his thoughts (What?) among other things. This mag isn't perfect but it's a clean enough copy at a good price to make a nice slab. This pre-dates Austin's in-pack Rookie Card by a couple years though he had debuted in WCW about a year before this.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... WWE cards are here

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EIGHT SLIDES FOR EIGHT GUYS (AND A PAPERBOY)
The Items: Eight Men Out (1988) promotional slides for cable promotion in 1989 featuring Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, Michael Rooker, D.B. Sweeney, David Strathairn and others
The Price: About $32
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This wasn't a cheap find per se, but I liked its looks with the A-list names as well as the full "eight" as well as a ninth teammate, a paperboy, and the image that was one of the posters for this classic that is arguably overlooked compared to a lot of the baseball movies around this time. The press kits for this and some other baseball movies -- that would include black-and-white prints of these photos -- can be pricey or dry at times, but the slides are nice. These were for promotion once the film hit cable. based on their stamping for The Movie Channel and Showtime.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... MLB cards are here

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FEELING GREEN
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2020 Topps WWE Women's Division Royal Rumble Mat Relic Autographs (/10)
The Price: $79.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I wouldn't normally sweat a sticker-auto Relic, but since this design is among my favs with strong photos across the set and a big-ol' swatch of ring mat from the 2020 Royal Rumble -- her first first appearance on the main WWE roster -- I bit. Another reason? Only 10 of these were made -- and in normal years (not this one) that would have made this a blaster-only kind of card that is tougher to find ... if ever found as there are a lot of those boxes. This was a win to me -- even at this price -- and who knows is the COVID delays meant an overall smaller print run for this year. (It's definitely not as plentiful as others without a retail run.)
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here

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A HALL OF FAMER
The Card: Jose Canseco 2024 Topps Now MLB (/1,465)
The Price: $8.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Canseco's place is in the game is an odd one that seems to have meandered over time with him once being, undoubtedly, a Hall of Fame whistleblower after his pair of books detailed the issue of steroids in baseball -- or at least his perspective and place in that. And as a result of that (along with numbers that are arguably just short) Cooperstown won't be a thing and probably shouldn't be for him and any other admitted/proven cheater. (Yet, inevitably, some are in there already.) In this case, I grabbed one figuring it would be his only Hall of Fame card -- a team Hall of Fame -- and likely his only solo Topps Now card. (He's shared at least one appearances for player hitting a record plateau and that could happen again.) It's also the last Oakland A's Now card I bothered with, too. I grabbed one direct kind of fearing the volume might be low -- it kind of is -- and that a parallel might happen easily as a result. Nope.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... MLB cards are here

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EARLY INK & MEM
The Cards: Brodie Croyle 2006 Press Pass SE Class of 2006 Autographs (/200) & 2006 Press Pass Legends Saturday Swatches
The Price: About $8 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of cards for a past Alabama Crimson Tide standout who got some time with the Kansas City Chiefs is here for one trivial but big reason to me. His earlier Press Pass autos carry a full signature as you see here and that never really happened on later stuff or even on any of his NFL cardboard, which included some premium brands and pricey boxes that yielded pretty awful "BC" initial-graphs. (Click here for that look.) That's why I grab some of these full-sig cards from time to time if the price is right. This memorabilia card was even cheaper and an even-easier grab as a throw-in at that moment with a game-used jersey piece inside.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... football cards are here

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THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR TIFF II
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2024 Panini Instant WWE Tiffany Stratton Versicolor parallel  (/5)
The Price: $29.99 via Panini Instant 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Remember what I said for the auto? That also applies here for the rarest non-1/1 parallel that I also grabbed with the ink. I also picked off a small lot of base cards but I'll drop those in a lineup at a later (Tiffy) time.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... WWE cards are here

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A FORCE ON THE FIELD
The Card: Harlon Hill 2011 Panini Prime Signatures (/499)
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Back in 1954, he was the Rookie Of The Year. A year later, he was the league MVP and his stats were freakish for then and still strong in the here and now in Chicago Bears history. Think of all the ways football has changed in just the last 20 years, right? Now compare it to the 1950s. Hill still ranks second in Bears history for receiving yards and the guy who tops him had 130 more catches to do it. He's still second in TD catches, 16th in catches and 43rd in games played. He scored 40 TDs in nine seasons but 32 of those were in his first three seasons (freakish) ... and he still holds more team records ... yet a lot of people probably don't know his name. (His Rookie Card is in 1955 Bowman, by the way.) Read more about him here. He went years without cards until Donruss worked him into some 2000s releases like this one.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... NFL cards are here

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STUCK IN THE MIDDLE?
The Card: Michael Madsen 2019 Upper Deck James Bond Collection Autographs
The Price: $8.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: He might be best remembered for the Kill Bill saga and his ear-burner finale 0f a scene in Reservoir Dogs, but those film classics didn't have card sets. That's OK, though, as Madsen actually has quite a few certified autos for fans to choose from Leaf, Donruss, Panini America and Rittenhouse Archives. I've picked off a few over the years for my stash of Tarantino-tied ink and this one was a good add for the price and for an on-card sig.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... Non-sports cards are here

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BEEN STARING ME DOWN SINCE 1988 ... 
The Item: Randall Cunningham 1987 The Sporting News archives print by George Gojkovich
The Price: Under $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This archive photo jumped out at me when doing a deep dive of names and it was a no-brainer as it's as simple as it gets -- ultimately a mugshot -- but with details like those old NFL coats, those details on the helmets back then and, of course, a look right into the camera from the former star QB for the Eagles. It's not a match but it also gives me vibes that this could be from the same photographer for Cunningham's 1988 Topps card. There's no jacket on the card, but it definitely has the same feel, a similar crop and that shirt collar under the jersey is the same, too.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... NFL cards are here

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GOING BIG
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter box-loader 
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This box-topper was a bit of a throw-in for me with an order of some 0ther stuff to get free shipping, but I still liked it for the price. Ginter has had a lot of hobby box-toppers over the years -- since the Topps arrival in 2006 -- but I've done fewer and fewer hobby boxes of late, so stuff like this I just don't really see that often unless I'm doing a particular player search or something Ginter-specific online. I think box-toppers are a seriously overlooked niche -- they're easily among the rarer standard (non-hit) cards made as there's a cap to them (depending on how many topper sets are in a release ... this one has a lot) and they're not in retail unlike a lot of stuff in the packs. The biggest drawback is still storage as it always has been, but I liked the look of this one.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... MLB cards are here

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WHY CAN'T WEEEE ...
The Cards: Friends Uno deck 
The Price: Around $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I've checked the traditional card and gaming sections a little more in recent months and this one was an easy addition as these decks are cheap and they showcase the key stars in a franchise that ultimately hasn't had much cardboard (but some is coming). Why? I'll admit it's more of an impulse -- they're cheaper than a typical retail packs of cards but if a card has a strong photo I'm not against grading one for an oddball slab. Why? Just for the heck of it ... it's probably odd to the grade-and-flip crew with cash on the mind, but I think having a stash of oddball slabs (preferably with high marks) for oddball stuff with iconic subjects who don't have a lot of card options could be popular over time. Nothing in this particular deck has made it into a grading sub but it could ... other gaming cards have. You'll see.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... Non-sports/gaming cards are here

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BAMA BUYS
The Cards: Assorted Alabama Crimson Tide football alum cards (Ja'Corey Brooks, Terrell Lewis, Malachi Moore, Jameson Williams & Shaun Alexander)
The Price: Under $10 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This six-pack has some rarer cards in there in terms of serial-numbering, but since these names are mostly not A-list in the here and now to many I'll just pop them in here as a group. I try to dabble with something for a lot of players in the school ties part of the stash and these worked for the price/volume/color variables.
Grab a box right here: NFL cards are here

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THROWBACK INK
The Cards: Steve Swisher autographed 1975-1979* Strat-O-Matic cards
The Price: About $25 (via two lots)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is also a six-pack of oddball ink for a player I lightly collect -- he's the dad of a past big-leaguer you should know by now if a regular reader -- but I thought it was an interesting angle for old-timers who like old gaming (too old for me) and the autograph chase. It's a long-running game series -- more info here -- and this run covers the start of his career (if that card is truly from 1974 then it pre-dates his Topps Rookie Card) and then one at the end* is clearly from a newer edition but probably not from back in the day. I'm not going to get into the game or detail it more ... I just grabbed these as some oddball ink for my Swisher stash and a reminder that here's one more thing that a team/player/autograph collector can look for or even use for through-the-mail auto hunting that probably won't break the bank.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... MLB cards are here

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TWICE AS NICE
The Cards: Meiko Satomura 2022 Panini NXT Signatures NXT 2.0 parallel (/25) & 2022 Panini Impeccable WWE Stainless Stars Autographs (/99)
The Price: About $19
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Japanese wrestling legend made her debut back in 1995 and is set to retire next year with a match in Tokyo (A WWE event?) after a career working around the globe and also working as a promotor. Her NXT run the last few years has meant new cardboard, and, while I don't know a ton about her career (can't watch everything), I knew I needed these cards with on-card sigs in my collection.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here

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GOLDEN AGE BOX-TOPPERS
The Card: Jane Russell 2013 Panini Golden Age Exhibit box-topper
The Price: $2.95
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This product is one that I opened a ton of -- easily a few cases via loose boxes -- and these box-toppers are a throwback to the Exhibit cards of long ago that showcased actors, wrestlers, boxers, baseball stars and other athletes for years. This set has some surprises -- this is more the typical kind of stuff for non-sports stars -- but I grabbed this one simply as a cheap reminder that this 40-card set is out there. There are a number of them I'd grab if they were cheaper -- and in volume -- but since they are box-toppers they're also not as plentiful.
Grab a box right here: Baseball cards are here

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ANOTHER BUMMER BREWING?
The Cards: Bryce Young 2022-23 Bowman's Best University Fight Song & 2023 Panini Chronicles Draft Picks Clear Vision
The Price: Less than $3 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of cards shows why I often wait on draft stuff ... now I could easily find both of these for less than what I paid here, which was sometime earlier in the year. (I held them for football season ... and then Young derailed.) I dig the looks of both and his NFL career ultimately doesn't matter to me as this is part of my school ties part of my collection, not for grab and slab or flipping. In fact, with his riding the pine I might be looking more and more for stuff I had wanted but was not reasonably priced in the past.
Grab a box right here: Football cards are here

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BREAKING BAD?
The Cards: Booker T & Kairi Sane 2023 Panini Impeccable WWE (/99) & Silver parallel (/49) plus an Apollo Crews 2023 Panini Prizm WWE Under Card parallel 
The Price: Too much ... LOL.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Buzz got lured by the big-time possibilities of the delayed WWE releases and did a few group breaks earlier in the year ... and this was my result even with spots that included multiple names. This edition of Impeccable is strong -- arguably cleaner than its predecessor -- and the Sane is a nice find that would have gotten my attention if I found it hunting singles but, man, I could have bought both and had the same amount of money left over to buy even more. I'm not sure I've even pondered any breaks since unless there's something that's a guarantee with a spot.
Grab a box right here: WWE cards are here

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A TRIO OF TILLY
The Items: Jennifer Tilly Shaping Up (1984) and Bound (1996) promotional photos & Videoscope, Spring 1999
The Price: About $20 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Tilly has a long career and a lot of stuff you can consider between card appearances in the poker card realm -- yes, poker -- and non-sports stuff such as Family Guy or merch for all of the Chucky franchise and all kinds of other roles. I'm not actively collecting her at all but I've looked for a few things and struck out ... but landed these as they seemed underpriced, interesting or maybe slab-worthy (the mag). The ABC series promo photo is from one of her earliest credits and it's the first TV series where she appeared on multiple episodes. Also, I'm not sure I would have recognized her had I just been scrolling all images. Rookie Card? Well, it's not a card ... but not a lot of stuff could be earlier. That's why I grabbed it for around $5. ... The Bound image comes with cameos of a couple other notables, Gina Gershon and Joe Pantoliano, for about the same price, while the horror mag I thought was perhaps just a bad scan but I think that image was taken off of a television screen (I swear) instead of a Chucky promotional slide for its cover photo. I didn't see other mag covers but I think something from the Chucky realm is what I want to find ... so that's why I grabbed it. It's that time of year, Chucky is always worth some laughs, and, despite that the newest TV series recently got the ax. That's a bummer but they'll all inevitably be back.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... non-sports cards are here

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PLAYING THE PARALLEL GAME
The Cards: Nick Swisher 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings Challenge (announced /450) & Blue Framed (/100) parallels 
The Price: About $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of parallels is more on the obscure side than the pricey as this release got really cheap in the past (long ago) and got ripped heavily ... and it also had a boatload of parallels for every card that probably didn't help prices. The blue is an in-pack version, while the Challenge card comes from a boxed edition of the set that was a reward as part of, you know, a collecting challenge.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... MLB cards are here

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ROLLING ON THE LINKS
The Cards: Emma Talley & Michael Thompson 2021 Upper Deck Artifacts Red (/249), 2021 SP Authentic Rookie Signatures (/799) & 2021 SP Game Used Tour Gear
The Price: Under $3 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This super-cheap lot of two names are not here because Buzz has hit the links ... they're just two names with Crimson Tide ties for my stash. I figured the Red parallels made the most sense for them and then I added an auto and mem card for him ... that's all I'll really need and that's ultimately my casual goal for Alabama names where I'm not inclined to chase a bunch of stuff. The prices worked for me ... that's the biggest reason I finally did some golf dabbling.
Grab a box right here: PGA cards are here

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STILL FEELING GREEN
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2022 Panini WWE International Green parallel
The Price: $20 (must have been feeling rich that day)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This color of parallel for this international release from Panini's first year in the ring was on my radar from the start and that's probably why I ponied up a bit to grab this one ... as a collector. The overall set isn't that tough to find either as singles or packs but the parallels, which are the only chase in the simple product, are only found a few times per box for three different colors. That combined with international distribution can make some stuff here not as easily found (at least at times) as one might think. I still have a couple of specific cards I want to find in this set with an eye on grading.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... WWE cards are here

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ALWAYS READY TO RUMBLE ... LIKE THAT CARDONA GUY?
The Item: Ready To Rumble (2000) press kit with three photos featuring Goldberg, Oliver Platt, Dallas Page, David Arquette, Scott Caan, Rose McGowan & The Nitro Girls 
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: There aren't a boatload of wrestling movies from the past, so once you get around to this dumb classic, well, at least you won't be worn out before it wears on you. I picked up this partial press kit months ago from a place where I buy regularly and it was short a photo or two from being complete ... no biggie. It was more of a filler buy and that's why I'm dropping it here, too. Some deep filler. The images could have been cooler with more full-frame selections to show off the real-world stars from WCW that are in play here, but ultimately the folder is the only really flashy thing.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... WWE cards are here

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A PAIR OF ROSES
The Cards: Mandy Rose 2016 Panini WWE Wrestling Action & 2020 Topps Now WWE (with Otis) (announced /93)
The Price: $18
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Spanish Panini card and a relatively rare Topps Now card were easy pick-ups long ago -- probably back when Rose was still in NXT based on the price -- but this, too, is just some spring cleaning (err, fall cleaning) of stuff I had sitting and waiting to pop up here when the time is right. I think Rose will be back in the ring somewhere at some point -- she should -- and I still collect her stuff here and there just ... not as heavily as in the past. It's hard to do that when she's not on weekly TV.
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... WWE cards are here

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HALLOWEEN HAVOC?
The Cards: Gothika (2003) lobby cards featuring Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz & Robert Downey Jr.
The Price: P0cket change via a bulk lot
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Halloween is coming and maybe that means some spooky movies are on your radar. I'm sure I saw this one long ago -- the plot seemed familiar when I looked it up -- but ultimately these are just some stragglers from a massive haul of lobby cards I landed in the past. There are some good names to collect here and you can find plenty more out there in the collecting world ... just hit eBay. Prices might surprise you depending who or what you're looking for and bigger movies will have international versions, too, that are often overlooked and perhaps underpriced despite inevitably being harder to find (here).
Grab a box right here: Not for this ... non-sports cards are here

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