Buzz Buys: Rhea Ripley's best, big Marino botch, Rex Chapman, Axl Rose, John Lewis, Black Panther, Gina Carano's dad & 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 ... and this time around there's a bit of everything.

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A SLEEPER NO MORE
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps WWE Transcendent Collection -- Rookie Card (/50)
The Price: More than I want to admit ... but less than a Chrome box
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was a card I was watching for intently when the second edition of Topps' WWE super-premium brand arrived, and this one was on my radar before any autograph in the super-rare release -- well at least within my typical budget. Why? She's pretty much the only newcomer of note in the base set -- I spy at least one other who is no longer with WWE and one other lesser name -- amidst a sea of past greats and some notables from today. It's an odd set as it's not the typical lineup but also not a full lineup. (I think the checklist-maker tried to cover all the main bases between the base set and the auto set.) Nobody got an RC logo here and this card's thunder may be stolen a bit with the delays resulting in her Undisputed and Chrome cards arriving close together -- and with her first certified autos -- just recently. This card has topped the $100 mark and is bolstering some of the base set prices out there. (On the cheapest side, these were around $60 in terms of sales but asking prices are now far higher.) I'm somewhere in between but I ponied up as this Aussie badass should be a major player soon. I'll grab ink and other cards eventually.
Grab a box: 2020 Topps WWE Transcendent Collection

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

MY FIRST MARINO RC ...
The Card: Dan Marino 1984 Topps Rookie Card ... with a "slight" miscut
The Price: About $16 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is so botched I had to have it ... and it's one of the best (if not the best) cards in a landmark 1980s NFL set. Did this ever end up in a pack? I'm not sure ... maybe a bad rack pack? It's so miscut I'm not sure how I'd store it. If you look closely you can see guideline markings from the side of the uncut sheet -- he's on the far left, fourth row down. Elsewhere on the sheet but better protected? Another Hall of Famer Rookie Card, John Elway. I never really aspired to own one of these but this one presented itself as an oddity I couldn't pass up.
Grab a box: No boxes of this one but NFL boxes are here

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NOVEMBER RAIN (WITH MY TEARS OF LAUGHTER)
The Card: Axl Rose -- 2017 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Battle of the Bands Diecut Sketch Cards by artist Kelly Greider
The Price: $35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The release this sketch card came from is one I like a lot -- I think I bought a couple hobby boxes and I don't do a ton of GPK, let alone hobby boxes -- and when I spotted this Axl Rose parody I had to have it. Why? I dunno, I just did ... I figured it would work well within my GPK music slab stash once (if) I get it encased. What's going on here? I'm not sure. I've often seen sketch cards with celeb homages sell for more and I've seen a lot of simple sketch cards, too. This one worked out well within all of my collecting variables.
Grab a box: Garbage Pail Kids boxes (all releases) are here

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WAKANDA FOREVER
The Card: Four 2018 Upper Deck Black Panther The King's Mantle Memorabilia cards (single, duals, triple) 
The Price: About $13.50 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The shocking news of Chadwick Boseman's death in August got me looking for cardboard and while he never did any certified autographs he does appear on a good number of memorabilia cards from Marvel releases. I grabbed these four -- most showing either Black Panther or T'Challa (him unmasked) -- before they got too pricey. Alone these can sometimes cost more than all four of these. I picked these because they show Boseman and because they also pair him with with some notables -- his mother in the film and his sister, who is rumored to be taking on the Black Panther role in future films. (She's not signed any cards yet, by the way.)
Grab a box: All Marvel non-sports boxes are here

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A TWITTER MACHINE ...
The Card: Rex Chapman 2013-14 Panini Prizm Target Red Prizm Autographs (/99)
The Price: About $6
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: There are a number of basketball cards out there for this former NBA player turned Twitter-churning machine (he doesn't like "influencer") who is a must-follow for smart, sometimes stupid and always RT-worthy stuff as well as more. But for certified autographs, he's got just under 40 different cards and only two were signed during his decade-plus career (Autographics). The Panini stuff is pretty spread out over nearly a dozen releases but Prizm is the one with the most thanks to parallels. (This card, for example, is one of six colors and all but the standard one is rarer than this.) I grabbed it since the price wasn't bad. Plus, there will be a shameless Twitter tagging for this post. I'll admit it. Now, can we get some new cards with "Block or charge?" inscriptions?
Grab a box: 2013-14 Panini Prizm boxes are here

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LEGENDARY CARDBOARD
The Card: John Lewis 1991 National Education Association 102nd Congress trading cards
The Price: About $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This icon of the civil rights movement died in July and that got me wondering what cardboard he might appear on. I found this card from a relatively obscure set that came years before his more standard-release cards in Decision 2016 packs. I'm sure he has other card appearances due to his place in history, but this card is where his place is in my stash so I could talk about it here. This set was made at least three times -- one with a 1989 Fleer-styled design and another in 1993 -- so you can look for those. Meanwhile, the new Decision 2020 set has an In Memoriam card.
Grab a box: No boxes for this, but Decision releases are here

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MONEY TALKS ... RIGHT?
The Card: Johnny Manziel 2014 Panini Flawless Rookie Inscriptions (/25)
The Price: Slightly more than a blaster box
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The hype for his autographed cards was huge not that long ago and while you can find some of his ink now for less than $10 with some work, I wanted something more premium if I was going to go there. I went with an encased on-card auto from a high-end brand. Why? Collecting NFL busts is a lot cheaper than collecting the guys who play well but then become them.  More seriously, though, I actually always liked the look and consistency to his 'graph.
Grab a box: Panini Flawless (all years, all sports) are here

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THE WHIMSY OF ERMSY
The Card: Bob Gibson 2020 Topps Project 2020 -- Artist: Ermsy (14,867 made)
The Price: About $6
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This artist might be one of the most-consistent creators within Project 2020 and while I haven't  bought a ton of his cards direct from Topps this one did grab my attention when I found it on the cheap. Why do I like it? I don't know for sure but one thing I appreciate is that its design is in line with the original ... a card I have never managed to land but have wanted to. This is also one of the simpler Ermsy cards to try and figure out.
Grab a box: No boxes of this one but MLB boxes are here

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MEMORABILIA PERFECTION
The Card: Bubba Wallace 2019 Panini Prime Race-Used Dual Sheet Metal (/50)
The Price: $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Michael Jordan's NASCAR driver (next year) had some runs in the headlines this year that got me looking for stuff out of curiosity. This memorabilia card grabbed me. Why? Those two sheet metal swatches are perfect -- colorful, textured and showing that "rubbing is racing" isn't just a Days of Thunder line. I haven't opened any Panini Prime boxes (it's high-end), but cards like this are simple low-end reasons why I want to. (Other cards will make you some money ... ones like these are just cool.) His autographs have gotten pricier this year and he's got stuff for quite a few releases in the past but I'll wait on one of those. It will be interesting to see how him driving for Michael Jordan raises his profile even more.
Grab a box: Panini Prime NASCAR boxes (all years) are here

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MY ART IN ACTION
The Card: Clyde Drexler 2013 SportKings Series F National Convention Silver Memorabilia Redemption & 2013 SportKings Series F Premium Back parallel 
The Price: Under $5 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you're a regular reader here, you might remember this image from this past post. I picked up the original art you see here and I grabbed these two cards to go with it. If I were a displayer, I'd have all of them put together for some type of framed piece ... but I'm not. They'll all get stashed away.
Grab a box: All SportKings boxes are here

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ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS
The Card: Zack Hample 2017 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autographs
The Price: About $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card's small inscription addition got me to look -- the game-used ball chaser who had at the time of his signing snagged 9,475 balls at games added an arrow and a 3K to this particular card when signing. What is that for? Well, the photo comes form when he handed that baseball, Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th hit, to A-Rod who was cropped out of this photo. The hit was a home run and in July 2015 Hample handed it over for a $150,000 donation from the Yankees to Pitch In For Baseball, a charity that Hample has supported. Also in the trade? A jersey and bat from A-Rod. The inscription piqued my curiosity, so I took to Twitter and asked Hample how many he night have signed and you can see his reply here. It's not a 1/1 creation (or maybe it is) ... but there's no doubt that it's a card with a little extra.
Grab a box: Topps Archives boxes (all releases) are here

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IT'S GINA CARANO'S DAD!
The Card: Glenn Carano 1984 Topps USFL -- "Rookie Card?"
The Price: $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a pretty clean card, so that's one reason I grabbed it beyond some strong trivia here. Carano is a former Dallas Cowboys QB (one start, 36 appearances in six seasons ... but he got a Super Bowl ring) who never had any NFL cards other than oddball Cowboys team issues. After that time, he suited up for the Pittsburgh Maulers to get a spot in this set. One of his three daughters is former MMA fighter Gina Carano who you might know now from Deadpool and The Mandalorian. She'll have more card appearances in a new Star Wars set than he ever did as a pro athlete.
Grab a box: No boxes of this one but NFL boxes are here

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SHE'S BACK ... AND UNTOUCHABLE
The Card: Carmella 2017 Topps WWE Silver Autograph (/25)
The Price: Less than a couple blasters
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked this one up a couple of months ago while she was still off the radar (just like my wax options for WWE as there was nothing new). So at that point I started looking for rarer but still cheaper autos of some WWE notables. This card is just that, so I grabbed it and thought it might be grade-worthy. (The top left corner isn't as bad as it looks here, though there is a very minor surface spot that may nix my slabbing ideas.) She's also had a memorable career in just a few years where she's likely going to end up as a WWE Hall of Famer. We'll see how the new persona goes but she's returned right into a main-event feud with Sasha Banks ... so it could get interesting.
Grab a box: All WWE boxes can be found here

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STRONG SEASON
The Card: Mac Jones 2017 Upper Deck USA Football USA U19 Future Swatch & Premium (/22)
The Price: About $10 total 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I picked up a few of these before the college football season started and it turns out that Tua Tagovailoa's successor is just as capable of putting up some numbers. Against Georgia he set a school record with three consecutive 400-yard games and in six games so far he's got 16 TDs to just two picks with 2,196 passing yards for an undefeated team. The standard card here isn't numbered but can have color variations, while the Premium cards are limited and use patch pieces. His only cardboard of any kind right now is in this release and the flippers are in season on one site, trying to get $350 for the patch, $12 plus for the regular cards and $500 for his auto ... all readily available this time last year for not much at all. (I own everything but his 1/1 auto.) Some NFL mock drafts (CBS) have this Heisman contender moving into the first round next year. Until draft picks sets arrive, this is a collector's only option.
Grab a box: No boxes of this one but NFL boxes are here

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GETTING OUT THERE ...
The Card: Deadpool -- 2017 Fleer Ultra Spider-Man Deadpool Across America insert set (10 cards)
The Price: Under $4 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This insert set is a fun one taking the "Merc with a Mouth" on a tour of the country. Among his stops? Old Faithful, The White House, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon and more. I picked up the whole set for pocket change per card and you can see all of them above (click for a closer look). For the price, I didn't mind grabbing them all ... and it made a decent little gift for a non-collecting Deadpool movie fan who has been to some of those spots.
Grab a box: All Marvel non-sports boxes are here

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ODDBALL BARGAIN FINISH
The Toy: Ric Flair & Charlotte Flair Gold Funko Pop! two-pack (WWE-exclusive variant) 
The Price: $5 (regularly $29.99)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Did I need this? Probably not, but WWE Shop had it among a recent $5 Friday sale where they had slash-and-burn prices on nearly all of their Funko Pop! toys, including variants and exclusives only found direct from WWE. For the $5, I figured why not as my days of wandering store aisles for stuff like this and buying on a whim ended long ago with Toys R Us going poof. (And other stores just don't come close with the overall stock to make it worth checking.) This gold set also has standard counterparts out there, too, for the WWE Hall of Famer and his daughter. Cheap Funko Pop! toys of notables who don't have a lot of versions but do have a good place in sports or pop culture might be an easy stash for the future. These toys aren't all that rare but they are popular. Just like cards and comics, if you give them time to dry up on the eBay front there could be surprises a few years later.
Grab a box: No boxes but WWE boxes can be found here.

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