Buzz Buys: Superstar ink, memorable debuts & 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 ... a mix of recent finds and some from throughout last year.

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LEADING OFF WITH A BARGAIN ... 
The Item: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. autographed 2019 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby 8-by-1o photo (Topps Authentics)
The Price: Around $80 (regularly $130)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This autograph is one I've never bothered with on cardboard mostly for how it typically looks (it's not the greatest sig) but also because the stock-pilers have stayed busy grabbing them up as he's one of MLB's better young hitters today and he's not cheap. I landed this with a sale combined with some discount certificates on one of the sites that Fanatics populates and went here since that price was strong and the image isn't bad -- it's from his dominating Derby showing where he didn't win but wowed many. This was cheaper than most if not all autos from where I typically buy most often ... and those were sticker autos. I'll probably go this route for ink of notables (or singles in some instances) vs. ripping to chase 'em with pack prices these days. Pro tip: Just because a box is old doesn't mean the autographs just vanish ... hunt him from 2016 prospect stuff forward and Rookie Cards/ink in 2019 forward.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

MY BOOK OF THE YEAR?
The Book: The Official CGC Guide to Grading Comics 
The Price: Around $30
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This book should be a strong reference piece for not only comics collectors but also graders of magazines and other printed (non-card) materials -- and after just a cursory walk-through this one is easily my book of the year for collecting. It's over 300 pages of full-color everything for comics and printed like an old college football media guide where it's all on heavy dense paper that's made to last. I've graded more stuff in the last year than pretty much anything else in collecting (beyond comics) and I'm getting a better feel for condition issues on mags as I await some long-delayed returns. (Mags really didn't get bought with preservation in mind like comics so more can be wrong with them. I think it's an untapped area to explore because there are tons of possibilities and collecting niches.) This one can help everybody learn what to look for both in the fundamentals and the details that go into grading. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but non-sports cards are here.

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JOLTIN' JOE ...
The Item: Joe DiMaggio (with Ken Keltner) 1968 The Associated Press wire photo
The Price: Around $12
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Photo collecting isn't something I'm that heavily into -- especially Type 1 stuff that people slab -- but I do like picking up fun, iconic or interesting pieces from the past. In recent years, major newspaper chains sold off their physical libraries of photo prints to service providers who would scan it all and send them a digital library in part for exchange for the originals, which are then sold. Some can be pricey -- especially if original and local to publications and photographers -- while many are not. This image dates to 1968 when Joltin' Joe worked for the Oakland A's -- that's why I like this one -- but it's doubtful it's from its from that far back ... a wire photo could be called up from a system and printed as needed. But, it's definitely old and the back shows marks and notes from past use but the front its pretty clean save for some minor cropping marks. I like this one and if I ever look into slabbing of photos (would be more casual/exploratory since conditions are so funky here) this one might make a cut. Why? Just for fun ... and it would present better than just being top-loaded. (I'm way more into magazine slabbing at the moment.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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RARE AIR
The Card: Chris Boucher 2020-21 Panini Immaculate Collection Jumbo Jersey Numbers patch (/11)
The Price: $30
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy's story is a fascinating one I've mentioned here before and he's got school ties for me, too, which is why I made sure to grab this rare game-used patch card when it presented itself. Why? So I have one ... likely just one as he's popular and a little pricey. (Not by typical NBA hit standards ... but for mine.) I have picked off a few autos of his but those are rough -- it's not an impressive sig -- so now that I have some memorabilia to go with it my casual look-and-see here may wind down to a halt unless I spot bargains. 
Grab a box right here: NBA cards are here.

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TWO OF A KIND ...
The Cards: Jaylen Waddle 2021 Panini Chronicles NFL Score Update & 2021 Panini Clearly Donruss -- Rookie Cards
The Price: About $5 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former Alabama Crimson Tide star is one on my radar on the cheap side and these RCs were early season grabs after some strong games. Why? I liked the look of both and they're from releases that I just didn't bother chasing to rip. (I should but I'm merely a casual NFL collector and can't do it all.) I have one or two autos in my stash to call it good unless his prices falter ... and they might not given how the Dolphins look to be on the up-tick. He's also one of the reasons why.
Grab a box right here: NFL cards are here.

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EARLY AND AFFORDABLE
The Cards: Bryce Young -- assorted Pro Set, Bowman Next and Wild Card Matte cards 
The Price: Pocket change to about $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy has been a college superstar and a Heisman Trophy winner -- the first Alabama QB to do so -- but his teams did come up short of national championships with him as starter. Despite that bit of unfinished business and a year of eligibility left, his next stop will be the NFL this year and he might be the No. 1 pick in the draft in April. He's been one of the high-profile guys in NIL releases the last couple years so he has a lot of cardboard already from pretty much all companies and these are just me doing some bottom feeding among cheaper cards. The green card is limited to only three copies and it looked clean enough that it's in CSG's hands at the moment -- and that one was the priciest card here, too. When all his new stuff starts arriving is when I'll probably look a little more at his past stuff and do some bargain hunting -- but that may depend on where he lands.
Grab a box right here: Football cards are here.

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NOW THE BEST IN NXT ...
The Cards: Rok-C (Roxanne Perez) 2019 Sabotage Wrestling Series 5 -- pre-rookie cards 
The Price: Not much at all for how obscure these are.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: She's now the NXT women's champ and only 21 years old but her training and indy experience dates back to 2018 when she was 16. I mentioned all of the developments here over on this month's Making The Grade and an eBay Buzz piece (poke around to read both here) but her run as champ could be an interesting one as she's new to NXT and doesn't have a lot of cardboard from 2022. This isn't her first indy card appearance but all that stuff can command good attention when somebody arrives ... and she has arrived in a babyface underdog/phenom kind of way. These aren't perfect copies but I opted to send both in for grading so don't be surprised if you see these here on The Buzz again soon. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but WWE cards are here.

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A MASTERPIECE OF A MOMENT
The Card: Joe Namath 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces 
The Price: $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This moment is an iconic one for NFL history on video but not for still photography as it's his moment leaving the field after the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III just as he had guaranteed. That scenario has led to some rough-looking cards when they were attempted (not often) but for a painted football set like this one? It's a solid card in a set with a few moments like this captured. This is the kind of simple card I'd want to grab and slab but this was the only copy I saw when I was looking and its centering is not the best ... yet I still grabbed it. Will I slab one at some point? I guarantee it.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but NFL cards are here.

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COLLECT 'EM ALL?
The Item: Clerks III Best Buy-exclusive SteelBook edition 
The Price: Around $25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: No, I'm not collecting limited-run DVDs now -- but I do own a few -- this one I actually opened to use the download code for a one-watch and then haven't made the time to check out the extras if there are any on the physical discs. Why? I own everything Silent Bob movies-wise and this one was fine ... but also a bit of a bummer. I wasn't expecting the drama that came with this one.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but non-sports cards are here.

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A MiLB MOMENT
The Card: Chuck Carr 1987 Bellingham Mariners Team Issue (/15,000 announced production)
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former MLB veteran died in November and out of curiosity I looked up his cards -- mostly as I couldn't remember what year his Rookie Cards are from (1990 Fleer Update ... his only one) -- and that's when I spotted this card, which was his very first MiLB card. Why is that production volume so high? This set also included another cardboard newcomer ... Ken Griffey Jr. Carr played parts of eight seasons with five franchises but his three years as a Florida Marlin are where most of his games were played. He stole a league-leading 58 bases in 1993, which was the first season for Marlins baseball and he finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, which was won by one-time Marlin Mike Piazza.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MiLB cards are here.

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A SUCKER FOR MOVIE COVERS ...
The Books: Guardians Of The Galaxy No. 17 variant and Suicide Squad: Their Greatest Shots trade paperback
The Price: About $15 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of comics drew my attention for the price and their covers that are movie ties -- I'm not a heavy new-comic buyer but stuff with movie aesthetics will get me easily if I spot them and the prices are right. Graded, that Groot book has asking prices pushing $100 while the other one has some good star power for a quirky movie I liked.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but non-sports cards are here.

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ALL THOSE NAMES ...
The Item: Blue Chips press kit folder, booklet and photos 
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This movie was merchandised hard -- it even had its own card set from Skybox -- as Shaq was a monster deal back in 1994 not long after his NBA arrival. This cast is loaded with NBA names, stars of the time and some pretty notable acting names, too. I never saw it but when I saw all of those photos -- minty fresh never-touched photos I might add -- I had to grab it for that price. The booklet is some serious marketing material, too with some strong photos, while 21 8-by-10s in a kit is definitely on the high side. Click for a closer look and to see who you know among all of them.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but NBA cards are here.

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HIS FIRST WWE MAG COVER ...
The Mag: The Undertaker -- WWF Magazine, May 1991
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one felt like a steal and it might be -- I'm definitely grading it at some point -- as this is Undertaker's first WWE magazine cover and quite possibly his first cover on any wrestling magazine. It's impressively clean -- it should be a good high-grade contender -- and one that I'd definitely had on my mental radar but was not actively searching for. Out of nowhere, this popped up where I occasionally do some looking and it was an instant grab. All you fans can have your graded in-volume 1991 Rookie Cards but I'll take this one in a slab. I'm not the biggest fan of him from this timeframe -- more a fan of his performances later -- but he's an iconic, big name for much of modern WWE history.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but WWE cards are here.

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FIVE AFFORDABLE SIGS
The Items: Five Nick Swisher autographed Oakland A's 8-by-10 photos (two are TRISTAR and MLB Authenticated)
The Price: $22 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This group popped up online from a dealer I have bought from before and these were instant grabs as he's my player and, well, it's hard to pass up mostly official signed photos for $5 or less. (Especially with no new cards on the way.) Two are MLBA stickered and two look perfectly fine to me. Only one looks a little maybe-iffy to my eye -- I own countless Swisher autos -- but I think even it's fine (or at least not obviously bad). All are on photos that aren't as commonly found as they might have been in the past.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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TOTALLY DIDN'T REMEMBER THIS ...
The Card: Dwight Gooden 2000 Topps Chrome All-Star Rookie Team
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Dr. K's biggest years were just before or early on in my collecting years and that's all Mets, Mets, Mets and then he became a Yankee ... so I cared even less. But this card? I didn't remember him on the Astros at all when I recently saw it and there's a reason why -- he pitched just one regular-season game for them -- and I grabbed this card because of that. This is one of four cards -- all basically a version of this -- showing him there from that same season, which was his last in MLB.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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FIRST JUNIOR ... NOW SENIOR
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Sr. 2004 Leaf Certified Materials Fabric of the Game Jersey Number (/27)
The Price: $6.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This low-volume card of a Hall of Famer was a no-brainer at that price and I grabbed it without hesitation. The set is one I have picked off a few cards from but I'm sure it has a few out there who might not bother with all of its parallels tied to the swatch window. This version has the window as his uniform number.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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FROM MY CLASSIC HAUL ...
The Cards: 1987 Classic Red, 1991 Classic Blue and 1992 Classic sets (or part sets)
The Price: Only a couple bucks each in a lot
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These look like packs and, well, they are but as they are also sets (or parts of sets) that arrived with Classic board games back in the day. Those mini cards always get my attention for some reason but these few years of sets like this are loaded with star power both young and old. They're not pricey (at least most of the time) but there are some memorable cards here.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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WILL I DABBLE WITH GRADING?
The Item: A League Of Their Own -- sealed VHS
The Price: Under $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: No, I'm not going down a rabbit hole -- at least extensively -- but I did recently pick up a handful of sealed VHS tapes with an eye on grading something from them this year. Why? Just to say I did it and pop up an oddball piece in a future Making The Grade item. This one is a classic and it's got a clean, well-designed cover with three big names on it to go with a big place in baseball movie history. It didn't make my final cut to send in, but it was a candidate. One grading company was doing a relatively decent discount on grading -- still not that cheap -- but I bit. If the prices get better and I like my result for my first one then this might get a sub. (It has some damage that was more obvious but still feels clean ... the one I sent in just seemed less risky than this one. We'll see.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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A VINTAGE FAVORITE
The Card: Birdie's Young Sluggers (Ed Bailey, Birdie Tebbets and Frank Robinson) 1958 Topps
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This combos card is a favorite of mine -- one that I have mentioned here before for sure in some form or fashion -- and this also is a second-year card of the Hall of Famer. It's got issues but it was still clean enough I picked it up. Would I grade it? Perhaps. It wasn't as clean as I thought based on photos but it's a card I like and I wouldn't mind slabbing up a few copies if the variables all lined up. (Cost and time.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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A COMEDY THROWBACK
The Card: Vicki Lawrence 2008 Donruss Americana II TV Stars Retail Small Screen Materials
The Price: $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: There are a lot of fun names who aren't expensive in the past Americana sets and this card presents a character that people might remember if they know old TV comedy. (It's a little before my time but I know re-runs and highlights.) This is Lawrence as "Thelma Harper" -- aka "Mama" -- from The Carol Burnett Show. (It's a character so big from back in the day it even has a Wiki page.) A lot of Americana cards don't showcase stars in memorable characters -- those are typically images with more copyright/licensing issues -- but the visual here makes this one a little unique.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but non-sports cards are here.

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A POSTER FOR A SMALL EVENT
The Item: WWE NXT Deadl1ne event poster photo (11-by-14)
The Price: Essentially free (around $7 to ship)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I had some end of year FanCash over on the WWE Shop (powered by Fanatics) and I admittedly didn't see much that caught my attention late last year when I was looking (before my freebies expired). But, this popped up marked down, which basically made it free or close to it save for some shipping. Did I need it? No, but the two Iron Survivor Challenge matches were interesting and there are a lot of good young names here so I bit, figuring it would be a thick-paper poster for the event. It ended up being a glossy oversized photo in a top-loader ... and a top-loader that size would cost me perhaps more than this item did. I don't see a ton of later value here, really, but it could be a cool item to fans of any particular names here.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but WWE cards are here.

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INK FROM THE PAST ...
The Card: Riggs Stephenson 1961 Fleer autographed card (PSA/DNA Certified)
The Price: Under $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former Cubs and Indians star put up some impressive numbers long ago, hitting .336 for his 14-year career, and I picked up this ink quite a while back since he's an Alabama guy and I only have maybe a cut auto for him somewhere. He was a college football standout before he was injured and turned his attention to baseball where he was a big-leaguer just a year or so later. His batting average is only for 4,508 at-bats but it ranks 26th on Baseball Reference's all-time list. He's around some elite names there and yet many people may not even know his name. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but MLB cards are here.

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HUH-HUH, HUH-HUH ... THAT SUCKED
The Books: Beavis and Butt-Head Nos. 1, 4 and 21
The Price: $14 for the lot
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This dynamic duo's return to TV got me looking for their books from this short-lived Marvel title in slabs and if you regularly check out my Making The Grade series you have seen issue No. 1 and their teaser debut already graded. I grabbed this trio as I wanted to get that football cover in a slab but this lot ended up having damage I didn't see before they were in-hand. (Some issues on the spine of that issue looked like bag glare in the images but are there.) Older issues of this not-that-popular series can be quite pricey for raw books as they just didn't make as much before the series was shelved. Something about those two in football uniforms struck me as one that's a bit of a talker. This slab idea is on hold ... but I still might do it.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but non-sports cards are here.

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INTERNATIONAL APPEAL
The Mags: Sasha Banks -- Power Wrestling February 2017 and February 2021 issues 
The Price: $12 apiece
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of pick-ups is from early last year when I found a few magazines from a German dealer/newsstand company that I thought would look good in slabs -- both here and in other genres. These issues are from an impressive German publication as you can probably figure out from the blurbs -- a quality mag that even includes large posters inside. But, one thing derailed my slab vision -- they're both too tall to fit in a CGC slab by a decent amount. Why not buy American mags? Well, WWE shelved its only title almost a decade ago ... so she Banks never appeared on a cover there ... while there aren't a lot of others. One of the best ones is here, though, and I like that one a lot. Will this be the last you see of the star now known as Mercedes Moné? Nope, I have one more I want to slab soon and she will inevitably have some new magazine covers from Japanese publications, too, with her new career move in the Stardom promotion. 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but WWE cards are here.

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A THROWBACK/IMPORT?
The Book: The A-Team Storybook ... a Marvel Books softcover comics collection
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: What exactly is this? I'll admit I'm not totally sure but it looks like a 1983 collection of perhaps the first A-Team issues Marvel released -- and this might be for either an international release or some kids books club or something like that. (Do I dare call it a trade paperback?) The price and condition seemed really good here and I figured it might be relatively obscure, though I could be wrong. The painted cover also struck me as different for that era and it's also a simple visual that I think would look good graded. (The standard comics have to have decent pop reports. This? I don't know ... I suspect it should be a lot lower.) 
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one but non-sports cards are here.

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A CASE FOR OR AGAINST?
The Cards: An absolute haul (sarcasm) from a 2022 Panini Chronicles WWE case break 
The Price: Too much given bad collation. 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: These eight cards are everything I landed in a group break -- of a full case -- of this new release, despite having eight names from the product. What's the deal? The collation is apparently rough/streaky. The big name I had in the break was Liv Morgan, who appears on 38 different cards in the release, and not one -- not even a single card from a 100-card Chronicles (base portion) set -- was found in 12 boxes. By comparison, Shotzi has 23 and I landed two, while Natalya has 16, Valkyrie has 19 and Choo has 11. (HTM has eight ... zero wants for his cards from me ... but I got one.) I wouldn't have expected to find all of them in a case but some names popped out on base cards or similar not-deluxe cards I swear as many as 10 times, maybe more, in the break. It was my last card experience of 2022 and it soured me a bit on this one, which should have a lot to like. There are, however, some packing or printing issues here, too, like we saw in the Panini NXT set. Base stuff here has errant gloss on card backs like NXT and all three of my Shotzi Playoff cards had a surface cut/dent/bend in the same spot. I'll likely rip a couple blasters to get a better in-person impression of this one but ... this first impression was rough.
Grab a box right here: Panini Chronicles WWE is found here.

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