Buzz Buys: Rhea Ripley, Hank Aaron, Roddy Piper, Weird Science, Bernie Sanders' mittens & a non-cataloged RC error?

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 I play catch-up on some old names and school ties guys along with some new grabs.

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THE DEMOLISHER 
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Chrome WWE Gold Refractor Autograph (/50)
The Price: About the price of a box
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This young WWE star from Australia is a strong seller in last year's releases and this is one auto I had to grab as Gold Chrome is a favorite color of mine -- at least in combination of appeal and price. They are rarer but not too rare to be way too expensive and this one was a bit underpriced compared to other copies. I sprung a bit more than I might have for this one -- but that's what happens when there's just not as much wax out there for me to buy. The cool part was that I landed a sweet surprise bonus with this one ... I'll show it off next time. Ripley appears to have arrived on the main roster during the last WWE pay-per-view and lasted about halfway through the Royal Rumble match ... finishing second. That indicates she should be primed for an interesting debut run and she has a persona that makes her feel like a six-foot-tall demolisher, though her look was still evolving at the time this card was made. Unlike some young stars, she actually has a number of autographed cards in 2020 releases and I'm pretty close to having locked down at least one from each of them ... and that's pretty strong for me as I just don't have the budget or patience to chase full rainbows. In other words, I'm sold.
Grab a box right here: 2020 Topps Chrome WWE wrestling cards

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

COLLECTING THE MOMENT
The Card: Hank Aaron 2017 Topps Transcendent Collection MLB Moments Sketch Reproductions (/87)
The Price: Around $17
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This purchase came long before this baseball legend's death as cheaper cards showcasing his 715th home run have been a focal point for a lot of my dabbling. (Spoiler: You'll see more today.) This brand's artwork wasn't the crispest but I still liked the feel of this one and the price, so I grabbed it. Unfortunately the serial-number was just one short of the one on his uniform -- that would have made this a stronger find. Aaron has always been a somewhat under-valued player on cards except for his Rookie Card and autos, so I have a lot of older stuff (mostly low-grade) but now that he's gone I think there will be a lot more people looking for his cardboard ... as they should have been doing all along. 
Grab a box right here: Topps Transcendent cards (all years)

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CATCHING UP ... 
The Cards: 2020 Topps Project 2020 Rickey Henderson, Bob Gibson, Dwight Gooden and Mike Trout (artists noted below)
The Price: Direct from Topps (except on Trout ... but basically same price)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is the last of my Project 2020 grabs -- save for one card that arrived with an inch-long surface crease that I sent in for replacement (maybe that one will be here at some point) -- and it includes two Rickeys, two cards that came with one of those in a combo and then a Mike Trout I really liked once it was live. The Hendersons are from Naturel and Don C, while the Gibson is from Joshua Vides, the Dr. Dre, err Dr. K, was an Oldmanalan joint and the Trout is a King Saladeen. Early on I had intended to do a run of Hendersons but some pieces just didn't appeal to me so that ended about halfway done. The original Gibson is a favorite I don't own, but I thought this affect was OK and as part of a bundle I was fine with it. Cards with direct ties to the originals always got my attention ... we'll see how Project70 does with all of these artists and more in the mix. It's coming soon and it could have some wide-open possibilities.
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one ... see MLB boxes here

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THE RING'S THE THING
The Card: Joe Namath 2011 National Treasures Ring of Honor
The Price: Around $3
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a simple card -- perhaps not the greatest player showcase -- but I liked the combination of showing a player, noting their Super Bowl and then the ring that they got for winning. I like this one since, well, I actually got to hold Namath's ring one time when I met him. (I'm not that special. It happens at times and I knew about that, so I asked whether he had the ring on him. He reached into his pocket and dropped it in my hand when he did.) I pick off cheap Namath National Treasures and Immaculate cards (and their parallels) often. You'll probably see me drop a number of them here in the future. In fact, I guarantee it. 
Grab a box right here: See National Treasures boxes (all years)

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NOT MUCH MEMORABILIA
The Card: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper 2020 Leaf In The Game Used Gear Purple Spectrum (/15)
The Price: $35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This may seem like a higher price (it is) but there was a reason in my mind. This WWE Hall of Famer doesn't have many memorabilia cards at all -- they are only found in just a couple of recently released Leaf sets -- and this one seemed rare enough with enough color variations and textures so I bit. No, those aren't kilt swatches -- I think they come from a soft fabric jacket based on other swatches in other cards with larger pieces that look like they have chest logos. Piper is an all-time great who died too young but I landed his auto long, long ago and then when I saw this I knew I needed one. Will more be coming? Probably, but grabbing them sooner than later might not be a bad thing as once people realize he doesn't have too many mem cards the prices might jump some.
Grab a box right here: 2020 Leaf In The Game Used

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ANOTHER TYPE OF CARD
The Card: Angela Fong 2012 BenchWarmer Hot For Teacher Green Autographed Kiss Card (/10)
The Price: $15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former WWE and Lucha Underground standout appeared on just a single wrestling card by my research -- a Slam Attax card as announcer "Savannah," not when she wrestled -- but she's got a boatload of BenchWarmer cards. Not that long ago I decided to collect some of her stuff with a rainbow of autos, some different card types and other cards that seemed cool for the price. (Some can be cheap, some can be priced like they are a WrestleMania main event.) An autographed kiss card seemed like a "type" of card I needed in my stash so here we are.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... see all BenchWarmers boxes here.

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FORGOT I HAD THIS ONE ...
The Card: Baker Mayfield Funko Pop! toy (Fanatics exclusive) 
The Price: $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This figure is a Fanatics-only release so you can't just pop on down to a Walmart or Target to find one, but before this past season I grabbed one of these as a throw-in on an order. Why? I think it was the eyeblack and the headband that made me laugh ... a lot of the football ones aren't all that exciting but this one was different. It didn't hurt that the Browns had a decent season, either.
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one ... see NFL boxes here

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SEASON FINALE
The Set: 2020 Topps The Mandalorian Topps Now Chapter 16 set (/2,172)
The Price: About $11 (after rewards discount)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This cardboard finale for this series for this year was a given for me with appearances from some of the series' newcomers, Sasha Banks and Katee Sackhoff. There also are Baby Yoda and Boba Fett appearances. While there were no surprises when buying, I was a little surprised we didn't get a Skywalker appearance as a nod to the finale. I won't be able to pull it off but chasing some of their Star Wars cardboard could be in my future. We'll see how much there is to come relatively soon.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... but Star Wars boxes are here

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ROOKIE CARD VARIATION?
The Card: Tommie Aaron 1963 Topps -- Rookie Card
The Price: $7.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: A lot of people may not know it, but Hank Aaron's little brother played in MLB. Tommie Aaron spent seven seasons with the Braves (and didn't do much) but he did have a number of cards. What I thought was interesting about this copy -- I have a low-grade one from long ago -- is the elbow on the inset photo. That's not surface damage on the card -- it's a gradable strong copy here -- I legitimately think this is some kind of variation that's never been cataloged. There's no missing black ink on the rest of the card in that area (the number, his hand) and it looks like scratching on the negative to maybe make it less dense? Or perhaps that's how the image looked and Topps colored it in on the negative? (That's actually where I'm leaning based on how other cards look.) There are only five copies of the card like this on eBay based on a quick search that showed nearly 200 copies in all. I think it's legit. Somebody get Rich Klein on it!
Grab a box right here: No boxes for this one ... see MLB boxes here

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RETRO HILARITIES
The Card: Kelly LeBrock signed Weird Science 8-by-10 photo (via Hollywood Show)
The Price: Around $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: "So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?" That was the first line from LeBrock in the 1985 John Hughes film where two nerds somehow created her using a home computer dialed into some kind of government mainframe -- and it's a comedy with a number of memorable scenes and you just have to see it to believe the stupidity. (But it's good.) While scrolling through signed photos on the Hollywood Show's site, I threw this one in as it was a classic -- and her certified autos where she signed on stickers don't work well at all as she signs too big for them. This image is a little odd -- it's part of the poster for the film -- but I thought it was a fun and somewhat iconic autograph from the 1980s that needed a spot in my stash.
Grab a box right here: See non-sports boxes here

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END OF THE LINE?
The Cards: Mark Ingram ... various memorabilia cards and parallels
The Price: Pocket change up to $6-8 or so ... a couple might be pricier but not many. 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is an Alabama guy I have stockpiled on the cheap for years since he was their first Heisman Trophy winner and this is perhaps a year's worth of adds on the memorabilia and parallel front. Cheap patch cards from early years in a player's career are an easy grab when they get low enough. Then, parallel cards from later in his career from either a few favorite brands or stuff that was low in volume and price often get me, too. He was a long-time leader for the Saints -- he left there just short of some franchise records -- and he was part of a couple of Ravens runs but this past season wasn't a strong one and he was released. Will he end up somewhere next to make his cheap stuff strong buys? We'll see ... but either way he's not a guy I buy to sell. As I noted last time with an affordable player, everybody should have a cheap star to chase ... this is one of a few of mine.
Grab a box right here: See NFL boxes here

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CHEAP HANKS
The Cards: Hank Aaron ... 1977-84 TCMA Renata Galasso, 2000 Topps Aaron Reprints, 1989 Topps Tiffany, 2001 Topps HD Images of Excellence, 1991 UD Heroes of Baseball Hologram
The Price: Pocket change up to $1.35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These were among a few Aaron cards I had in my folders waiting to show up here at some point with none of them really all that pricey. The hologram is one many might remember -- they are tough to find in top gradable shape -- but the others could be fun cheap slabs. I'm probably priced out on doing a lot of cheap grading these days, but some of these affordable cards -- if perfect slabs are a possibility -- would make the cut for me.
Grab a box right here: No boxes for these ... see MLB boxes here

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WEEKEND TV CURIOSITY
The Card: Robyn Lively 2019 Rittenhouse Twin Peaks Archives Autographs 
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Ever watch a movie or TV show and wonder if somebody you see on screen has an autograph? That's what this is. One weekend I turned on the TV and was flipping channels to find one of the Karate Kid movies on and, well, here we are. Lively is the half-sister of Blake Lively -- that makes her Deadpool's sister-in-law, right? -- and was in The Karate Kid III and later in Twin Peaks ... though not much later as she basically looks the same on this card. I'm not sure I've ever watched a minute of either Peaks series, but I still grabbed this auto as it's one of only three options she has ... all in this release.
Grab a box right here: See Twin Peaks boxes here

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COLLECTING BUSTS ... OR I JUST LIKE SPECTRA?
The Card: Johnny Manziel 2014 Panini Spectra Blue Prizm Rookie Card parallel (/49)
The Price: Just under $6
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is one of a couple RCs I grabbed on the cheap for this bust and I think it's because I'm a total mark for Spectra -- and this Blue parallel looked pretty good. Not much more to say than that ... other than, man, his stuff (including autos) has been getting cheap. Aren't people supposed to love NFL busts? Or do we have to wait longer for them to be appreciated?
Grab a box right here: 2014 Panini Spectra NFL boxes

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THE BOSS' TIME
The Cards: Sasha Banks 2020 Topps Now WWE 
The Price: Direct from Topps (five-card bundle price)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was in the final wave of Topps Now cards for 2020 and I grabbed it since I thought the match was pretty good and the cardboard came out well, too. There was a stretch of time where I was ready to grab any and all Banks Topps Now WWE cards back in the day but it seemed she either got snubbed, lost the match or the photo just didn't work for me. She's had a lot lately so I've had to be picky -- can't buy 'em all -- but I think this one worked.
Grab a box right here: See WWE boxes here

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THE RECORD-BREAKER
The Cards: Bernie Sanders 2020 Topps Now U.S. Election 
The Price: Direct from Topps (five-card bundle price)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This moment launched seemingly a million memes and this card sparked more interest than any Topps Now card ever made with 91,169 copies sold. I didn't expect that many to be ordered but I knew it would be a hot one in the short-term -- and there's always a chance it's a one-time card appearance, too, giving it long-term appeal. Once (if) I get back into the grading game, I think this one will make my submission list. It's just funny and one card that can easily represent this year so far. (It's a 2021 card but the set started last fall with the debates.) It's fun ... we need a fun 2021 on cardboard.
Grab a box right here: See political non-sports boxes here

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