Buzz Buys: Spencer Strider, Bryce Young, NFL & WWE stars, Rolling Stone, vintage, Beavis & Butt-Head cards ... and 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 ... a mix of recent grabs and some older stuff, too.

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A SURPRISING SEASON
The Cards: Spencer Strider 2022 Topps Living Set (five-pack)
The Price: Bundle price via Topps.com
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The defending World Series champs didn't have the finish they'd hoped for this year, but one big highlight this season was the arrival of this rookie seemingly out of nowhere. Strider flashed record-setting potential for strikeouts when on the mound as he went 11-5 this season with a 2.69 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 172 innings He reached 200 Ks in 130 innings -- an MLB record held by Hall of Famer Randy Johnson -- and he had 16 Ks in a single game to break the team record. The year also got him a new contract that will keep him in Atlanta along with a number of other young stars for several years. Strider had RCs in this year's stuff since early on but should have more to come in the later releases that have been delayed. I grabbed this pack with an eye on grading with mixed results -- one had big, nasty surface issues, two having unusual and not-good surface problems and then two that are yes/maybe for slabbing. One is in CSG's hands as I type this.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

THE HEISMAN WINNER
The Card: Bryce Young 2021-22 Bowman University Bowman Invicta
The Price: $3.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The reigning Heisman winner hasn't had a season perhaps up to the expectations -- injuries, man, and that first loss of the year came at the hands of Tennessee -- but having cardboard before NFL Draft time is a good thing ... and he's got a lot to the point where a lot of it is soft in price. Works for me and they should be considered up until draft time whenever that comes. I liked these thick-stock cards and they're not super-plentiful even out of hobby boxes. It's nothing dramatically rare but a highlight vs. some of the stuff out there. This one is either in my to-grade stack or in graders' hands now. 
Grab a box right here: Bowman University boxes are here.

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ZERO FEAR
The Card: Penta El Zero M 2020 Leaf Ultimate Wrestling Ultimate Stars Purple Autographs (/25)
The Price: $26
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Back when this premium set arrived with nothing but ink inside, I wasn't super-familiar with a lot of the names on its checklist -- or they were names I already had autographs so I didn't bite considering the box price. One name that was well known out there in the world but new to me with the arrival of AEW was this guy. The likeness here isn't perfect, but I bit since it was ink and a little more premium-feeling card than the pricier AEW set stuff. (I have his ink on other stuff so I didn't need to over-pay on a card.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but wrestling boxes are here.

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COLORFUL COMBO
The Card: Jaylen Waddle 2021 Panini Absolute Football Introductions Red (/75)
The Price: $6.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Unlike a lot of my Alabama pick-ups here that I stockpile on the cheap, this one is a newer grab from this season after his strong opening efforts building upon a strong rookie year. Ultimately, this kind of insert isn't that big of a deal in the big picture but I liked it as a Red parallel (the right color for a Crimson Tide guy) while also showing both unis. This card is relatively rare -- and super clean -- and that clean part will likely lead it to a grading slab. Why? Because I like it. 
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes are here.

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SHE'S BACK!
The Cards: Paige 2015 Topps WWE RCs & 2019 Topps WWE Undisputed Orange parallel (/99)
The Price: About $6 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Her return to wrestling with WWE's biggest rival, AEW, was a huge surprise recently considering she had what was perhaps considered a career-ending neck/spine issue a few years ago. She's just 30 years old but has wrestled since 2005 -- you do the math -- and she's had a lifetimes' worth of ups and downs so far, too. I'm a fan and have picked up her stuff often since her cardboard arrival in 2014 and these were just a couple of RCs and a parallel on the cheap. She had very little ink during her active WWE run, but Panini has worked her into recent releases. (Not the best-looking auto but she has an interesting place in the wrestling world so they're worth a look given so few signed cards in the past.) Her AEW cards as Saraya -- her real name -- should get attention, too.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here.

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THE OTHER COLOR
The Card: Jack McKeon 2004 Topps Cracker Jack Mini Blue
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one has been sitting in my Buzz Buys files for a while now but I grabbed this oddball name from this oddball set just to mention two things. One, I'm wondering when this brand name might get a tie-in or a comeback -- these boxes came with a bag of Cracker Jack by the way -- and, two, these parallels (the regular cards are red) still stand out as a favorite of mine from that first set from a two-year Topps reboot.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

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SHE'S BACK, TOO ...
The Cards: Renee Young 2014 Topps Chrome WWE Atomic Refractor (RC parallel), 2018 Topps WWE Undisputed Blue Autographed Relic (/25), 2017 Topps WWE Road to Wrestlemania Gold Kiss Card (/10)
The Price: About $62
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Most of the dollars here are in the Kiss Card -- I grabbed it for about $40 since I thought that was seriously underpriced vs. what most cards of that type go for in general and even moreso since it was a Gold parallel. Did I need it? No, not really, but it was a bargain. Young left WWE in 2020 but remained on the wrestling radar doing podcast interviews -- good behind-the-scenes stuff -- in recent months. She worked almost a decade for WWE -- with a decent amount of cards  -- hosting pre-event shows and doing interview segments during shows before a surprise return to AEW this month. I picked up the Relic on the cheap for that volume because her sticker autos have a full-name sig (albeit a first name), while her on-card stuff was more of a bad "R" auto not worth grabbing. The parallel RC was a cheap grab as I have always liked that design and eyed that one for grading.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here.

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BACK IN THE DAY ...
The Card: Mark McGwire 2017 Panini Father's Day USA Baseball (/499)
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: A numbered card for pocket change was one main reason I jumped here but also because that's a USA photo I hadn't seen before for this past record-breaking slugger. It struck me as something different to go with some of my stashed 1985 Topps Rookie Cards and other USA stuff.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but promo packs are here.

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A CLASSIC COMEBACK
The Program: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Georgia Bulldogs 2018 National Championship game program
The Price: $19.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was the Tua Tagovailoa arrival game -- easily one of my favorite games ever as it was a shocker that won a national title on a dramatic TD -- and I grabbed this as an item to get me to a free-shipping plateau with another item. Programs aren't the flashiest items out there -- and the other copy I have arrived damaged from the big company selling them -- but this one was minty fresh this time. A good throw-in item to me.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but football boxes are here.

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LOOK CLOSELY AT THIS BACK ...
The Card: National League Batting Leaders 2016 Topps Heritage Gum Damage Back
The Price: $1.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These parallels may not even be looked for by a lot of people ripping into older Heritage packs these days, but I thought this was a perfect example of what to look for. There's a sprayed on white rectangle on the backs of many cards out there and it's a parallel meant to emulate the powder/staining that sticks of gum used to leave on cards. On a lot of cards it's very easy to miss.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes are here.

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A FAVORITE BECAUSE ...
The Cards: T.J. Yeldon 2018 Panini Silver Knight parallel (/50) (twice) & 2018 Panini Cyan printing plate (1/1)
The Price: $10 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This I grabbed this plate for about $8 and the other numbered cards (not realizing it was a duplicate) for $1 apiece since this is one of the cooler situations in my collection. The play? It was a touchdown run and I own that ball. Check out the story at that link ... and be sure to note how the NFL makes Panini clean up players' socks on its cards. (I wrote about that, too, with another card where this play was seen.)
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes are here.

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MY FIRST LOOK ...
The Card: Bron Breakker 2022 Panini NXT Red parallel (/199)
The Price: $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: A lot of the NXT 2.0 stars actually debuted on cardboard in 2022 Panini Prizm WWE, but with the arrival of Panini's first NXT set I knew I'd bite and my very first taste was this parallel on the cheap. I like pretty much all I saw from the hobby box I opened other than some errant gloss and edge issues on the bottom backs of pretty much every card in my box. I'm not sure if that holds up for all cards -- if so, good luck doing any grading -- but I know I'll rip more here soon. This one was just an affordable parallel of a top newcomer.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here.

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A THROWBACK ...
The Card: Frank Robinson 2002 Topps American Pie Through the Years Relics
The Price: $3.65
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This Hall of Famer is one who I'll pick up for mem cards if cheap enough and this is 100-percent just that -- although it's also one of very few cards showing him in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform. Fun fact: This photo is on his 1973 Topps card -- as an Angels player -- and that's why the Dodgers logo was airbrushed off his jersey.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

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SOMETHING DIFFERENT
The Card: Captain Britain 2019 Flair Marvel Pieces of Flair (SP) commemorative patch 
The Price: $3
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These patch cards are oddly interesting to me so I grabbed one. That's the issue-number box off of the front cover of a past issue in patch form. (Why? Why not? It's something different.) The design around it is funky to go with the Office Space concept I guess, but grabbing one worked for me.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here.

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ON THE COVER OF A ...
The Mags: Kurt Cobain, Prince, Miley Cyrus (subscriber and newsstand) -- Rolling Stone magazines 
The Price: Too much ... because these were a fail.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These were attempts at pick-ups for grading that are at least three-fourths a fail. Most issues of this magazine -- its best years -- are oversized and can't (at this time) be graded by CGC as they are too big for magazine slabs. But from 2008 to just a few years ago the mag went to a standard size. I scouted the options and targeted the Cyrus cover -- her first and she's more of a modern icon who could do well as a slabbed item. The Prince is his obituary/tribute cover and the Cobain is a look back ... but both of those were lessons and bummers. I picked up both since they were polybagged subscriber copies that looked really good -- still sealed with the renewal envelope inside them helping prevent them from being folded up in the mail. But ... the sad reveal was after I opened that bag I saw how the subs box obliterated the art on both and the envelope was attached to the mag with a dollop of adhesive that left a dark oil mark on both covers. (Not gradeable at all in my book and they look dumb, too, with the box.) The Cyrus subscriber copy didn't have an address printed on it but apparently the envelope inside had been removed long enough ago to not leave a stain (or it wasn't glued on). That leaves the newsstand issue as the only potential slab here ... though the mag has a spine issue due to in-mail damage due to careless mailing. Part of me wants to grade both Cyrus issues but I don't think that would be worth the $50ish cost for a matching pair not at top marks. You can find RS issues easily ... but grading worthy clean ones on the cheap? Not so much. I averaged $10-15 a pop here, maybe a little more. Meanwhile, some sellers are asking a lot more for key issues in top conditions.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here.

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TWO TUAS
The Cards: Tua Tagovailoa 2020 Panini Chronicles Draft Picks Playoff & 2020 Panini Chronicles NFL Playoff Momentum Rookies
The Price: $3.50 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of purchases came in the pre-season and they're simple cards from both types of Chronicles -- a release where the volume of what you can find definitely affects the prices on the easily found stuff. These are that -- cheap RCs -- but I liked them. Ironically not long after I landed the Dolphins card, I found one in a slab on the cheap.
Grab a box right here: Football boxes are here.

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WHERE'S THE POP REPORT?
The Card: John Edwards 1967 Topps (SCD Authentic 8)
The Price: Under $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one is a nice-looking card -- that looks better than an eight -- and it might be graded that way elsewhere as SCDA during these days (the red-logo slab) was a pretty tough grader. They did a lot of vintage and other stuff before their parent company opted to shelve the grading and keep publishing its sports magazines. Later owners of SCDA used a different color on their slab and arguably weren't as strict about grades, so those I wouldn't bite on unless it was really cheap and a card I liked/needed. The lesson/question here? There are a boatload of new grading companies out there ... will they be around later? This one isn't, so I don't know a pop report -- a key thing with grading that can help values -- unless it's buried out there somewhere. The side edges here are slightly funky but this one looked too good to pass up at less than $5. Could it be a better card in a different slab? Maybe.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

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CLOSE TO AN ODD FAVORITE
The Card: Jordan Danks & Cat Osterman 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition College Ties Jerseys (/100)
The Price: $4.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The iconic college softball star was one of a handful of non-traditional inclusions in EEE this year with her certified autographs and memorabilia cards mixed in among college baseball prospects and others. Her autograph here is one I made sure to grab early on and a couple of the inserts here are also really strong ones with a solid photo for a pitcher. That image is jammed into the format here along with a piece of what looks more like a USA Softball item than anything in the Longhorns' burnt orange. This card was super-cheap considering its volume, so I added it to my stash.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

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THE TANK IS BACK!
The Cards: Shotzi Blackheart 2021 Topps WWE Women's Division Purple (/99) & Pink (/150)
The Price: $24 (bought one at arrival of product so I overpaid)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The color on these Relics really pops but on some images the cutouts are cooler than others. I don't think this one is perfect but with the WWE's Tank Girl on her mighty steed I had to grab one when they arrived. Later on, I added the purple but she's generally pretty pricey on her mem cards -- at least for the few out there with asking prices. I don't hate what I paid seeing those prices, though eBay completeds are lower. I'm a fan, so I'll pick off her stuff no matter what if it's in certain price ranges.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here.

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THEY'RE BACK, TOO ...
The Card Sheet: Beavis & Butt-Head 1994 Fleer Ultra Beavis and Butt-Head promo sheet
The Price: $14 ( ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This dynamic duo is back on Paramount+ with a series and a movie that dropped earlier this year and that got me looking. One of a few pick-ups -- one I actually have another copy of somewhere and it might even be in a past Buzz Buys from long ago -- is this promo sheet for a now-pricier Fleer set. The boys had a couple of card sets and I think a sticker set back in the day and this was a decent (but not perfect) piece. I'd rather do this than take the chance on a pricey but possibly bricked wax box.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here.

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SCHOOL TIES ... COLLECT IT ALL
The Program & Cards: John Johnson -- assorted oddball cards, Topps Vault proofs, autographed Rookie Card and 1969-70 Iowa Hawkeyes media guide
The Price: Priceless to me
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Johnson has some school ties for me and was the first NBA player I ever interviewed, so I'm always casually looking for his stuff. (Though he doesn't have that much.) This is a small lot of oddball and somewhat rare stuff I have picked up over, say, the last year. The media guide is a definite obscure piece -- and I landed a pair of them just recently (I forgot to take a photo of the other one) while the clean RC and a RC signed with his shortened initial-graph upside down (That has to make it real, right?) were affordable must-grabs. Joining them are an Upper Deck insert from recent years (he has very few post-career cards) an oddball, a Police set, an oversized print from a set (a jumbo card in my mind) and then a trio of progressive proofs from the Topps Vault that, oddly, popped up from different sellers. I'm always looking for certain things -- and a signed full-name Rookie Card would be a dream piece along with a clean autographed 1979 Topps card. I had a 1979 card but that became a nightmare as my box was lost/stolen in USPS' possession on way to BAS to be slabbed. I'm still salty on that one -- really salty -- even with all of these new, cool finds.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NBA boxes are here.

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POP CENTURY ICONS
The Mag: Gwen Stefani -- Blender, December 2004 (subscriber issue)
The Price: $12
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This mag is a favorite of mine as it's got a defined focus -- music -- and a lot of names who are iconic from more recent years but don't have many -- if any -- cards to grade can be found on its covers. I picked up this one since it's clean and does look grading-worthy. My 2022 mag buying was deep but mag grading is the slowest CGC service ... so you're seeing more previews here than slabs. But, I'm starting to get stuff back ... so that means other stuff will be going off for grading. This may not be done soon, but I think there could be a lot of interest in big names from recent years. That's why I'm buying.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but non-sports boxes are here.

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A WWE DEBUT ... TIMES TWO
The Mags: John Cena -- WWE Raw Magazine April 2003 (first WWE magazine cover)
The Price: Under $30 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I'll admit ... I'm not the biggest Cena fan but you can't generally argue with the body of work in the ring or beyond and that got me looking for his earliest magazines. This one is his first from WWE's publications -- it even says "rookie" to reinforce that point -- and I grabbed one only to be bummed out by some issues before I found a near-perfect one not long after. (I also have one that's a lower-grade slab, too, as it was a cheap curiosity.) Will I grade my strong copy here? Yes as I think I have a 9.8 contender. You can find a lot of wrestling mags on eBay and elsewhere ... but conditions will be downright awful more times than not as the paper here is thin and highly glossed with stapled bindings. All those things make for condition challenges all these years later and I suspect the volume of copies saved or bagged and boarded here wasn't as much as in other collecting realms.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but WWE boxes are here.

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A CLASSIC FIND
The Cards: Two 1990 Classic baseball sets 
The Price: Only a few bucks as part of a bulk lot
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of sets came from a small lot of Classic stuff -- these bricks were clam-shelled along with some game components and sold for almost a decade beginning in the late 1980s. This one is a memorable set with different stuff like the Sanders card here -- this is a corrected version that added his name to "Prime Time" -- and other Classic sets are also the home to some odd stuff not always found somewhere else. The way these were packaged may for serious grading challenges, but I still might slab some of my favorites. (They weren't as clean as I expected from sealed sets.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

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A NAME IN THE NEWS
The Card: Roger Maris 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Red (/250)
The Price: Around $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I collect Maris on memorabilia cards and some in-career stuff as well as numbered inserts from more recent times. This brand is one where I have done a number of his memorabilia cards and then this Kansas City A's card got my attention with the volume made and the price -- he doesn't have a boatload of A's cards.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

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ONE OF A KIND
The Card: Cora Jade 2021 Topps Transcendent WWE VIP Party Red & Yellow (1/1)
The Price: $50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This young WWE star's Rookie Cards are found in this year's Panini America lineup, but Topps snuck in her first cards of any WWE kind as autographs in one 2021 release and then via a number of these VIP Party bonus cards. Each star in the VIP set appeared on 25 different 1/1 cards all having a different border design. I have landed her ink from Topps, this rarity and then some slabbed RCs as the start of a small collection along with one indy card. She's making her main-show WWE debut soon -- maybe not for a permanent run, but that could come sooner than later. I'm a fan of the potential here as she'll be only 22 in January -- that means plenty of potential time in the ring.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but WWE boxes are here.

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EPIC PHOTOS ... ON THE BACK
The Cards: Bill Russell 1996 Topps Stars Finest (parallel)
The Price: Under $5 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: When I heard the news that this Hall of Famer had died, the images seen on the back of this card came to mind first and I went and grabbed these -- the chromed Finest parallels of some base cards in this iconic set made at the time of the NBA at 50 team all those years ago. I really wish those photos could appear as main images on cards as they are legendary visuals for one of the greatest in the history of the game. I ripped a lot of these packs back in the day and I'll admit it was a release that taught me a lot about the legends of the past, too, though I knew I never landed him on a Finest parallel.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NBA boxes are here.

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DUNNO WHY, BUT ...
The Card: David Carr 2002 Donruss Elite Turn of the Century Autograph (first 40 are die-cut out of the /400) 
The Price: $6.45
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I don't know why I grabbed this ... but I do know why. The first 40 copies of this rookie's auto card here are the rounded-corner Turn of the Century version -- but they're numbered the same as all 400 cards in the set. It just seemed like it was worth it given the low volume even if the former No. 1 pick is more of a bust and second behind his little brother Derek in NFL importance.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NFL boxes are here.

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SAMPLING THE OLD STUFF
The Card: Steve Bono 1996 Collector's Edge Advantage Authentic Game Ball Promo
The Price: $2.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This game-used football card comes from a set that helped introduce the card type from Collector's Edge. It's nothing that special now, of course, for both the card type or the player but since it was this cheap I grabbed it.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NFL boxes are here.

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SWEET SPOT
The Card: Cub Swanson 2015 Topps UFC Chronicles Jumbo Fight Mat Relics
The Price: Under $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This jumbo swatch has its event noted and with the stripes and colors seen here I think this is from the stripes in the Bud Light logo in the middle of the Octagon as seen here. That was enough to grab it for me for pocket change. I'm a sucker for jumbo Relics with color like this no matter who's on the card. Simple as that.
Grab a box right here: UFC boxes are here.

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E-S-T FOR LAST ...
The Card: Bianca Belair 2021 Topps WWE Women's Division Mat Relics Blue (/25)
The Price: About $6.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This color of parallel works perfectly here with the photo, showcasing one of the WWE's top stars who is very under-rated and affordable when it comes to cardboard. I spent a little more than I might normally here for a Relic of a star I don't heavily collect, but I still think the price was good considering the volume and the look.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes are here.

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