Buzz Buys: Toni Storm, Rhea Ripley & WWE legends lead way with Sadaharu Oh, Ichiro, Joe Namath, error cards & 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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IT'S STILL WRESTLEMANIA SEASON ... 
The Card: Toni Storm 2019 Topps WWE NXT Silver Autographs (/25)
The Price: Under $100
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Here's a bit of a spoiler here ... there will be a number of WWE items in this piece and (another spoiler) you probably won't see Toni Storm at WrestleMania ... but I'm still a buyer. Why? This first WWE autograph is still her only signed card (also with parallels) to date. They have been scorchers since that time, too, but I'm sure we'll finally get a new wave in the next WWE Women's release that's set to arrive after Mania. (Right?) The price on this was arguably lower than it should have been and the condition is a lot cleaner than many other cards from this dark-bordered, skinny-stock release. I pulled one parallel version, have bought a couple base autos (they're in past editions of this series) and then I grabbed this one. Why? Because she's one of a trio of young and/or NXT stars I'm sold on. I also kind of like the challenge of trying to get an auto from this release with a good grade but that's something for a story down the line later. Once more autos arrive, perhaps prices will come down some here ... I'd probably still be a buyer.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all WWE boxes here.

Keep reading for more interesting items in this one ...

A PIECE OF A LEGEND ...
The Card: Sadaharu Oh 2000 BBM windbreaker memorabilia card (/2,000)
The Price: $50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you know baseball then you should know this name as he's a Japanese icon who hit 868 home runs in his legendary career with the Yomiuri Giants, a team that he then managed for eight seasons immediately after he retired. After a few years away from the game, he managed the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks for more than a decade and that's when this card with a piece of a game-used jacket inside was made. There's a good chance I paid more than this one typically might go for, but I had been eyeing it for a while. Then the price dropped ... and I bit. It's not a rare card volume-wise, but I'd bet that a ton of these got locked away in collections when they arrived and those will never be seen again. (I'm also not sure how much stuff he might have for memorabilia cards, either.) I'm a big believer in trying to have a good mix of autographs and memorabilia cards in a collection and Sadaharu Oh is easily among the biggest names for Japanese baseball. 
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all baseball boxes here.

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I'M UP TO TWO ...
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Transcendent WWE -- Rookie Card 
The Price: Around $100 (I was feeling like Vince McMahon that day)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: One of these you have already seen here before if you're a regular reader but I got them back together to show off this time as, well, she may end up being a big deal between now and WrestleMania. (We'll see ... it's all a mystery so far.) Ripley lost her NXT title in a Mania match to Charlotte Flair at the event last year so there's already a level of experience there for the top WWE event. This card, an unmarked Rookie Card, is from the priciest release of the year and she's one of only a small number of young stars in that set ... with only 50 copies made. The prices on these haven't really dropped as more of the pricey sets have been broken -- it's consistently over $100 -- but I'd totally want more the second it dips. Even a relative boatload of autographed cards (she's been in pretty much everything that arrived after this one) haven't out-competed this card for buyers' bucks -- a lot of her ink sells for more, a lot sells for less, but these have held strong. I've bit on a number of cards of hers ... because I'm a believer here, too.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...see all WWE boxes here.

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A UNIQUE STYLE GRABBED ME
The Card: 2021 Topps Project70 -- 1982 Pedro Martinez by Distortedd (/2,720)
The Price: $19.99 direct from Topps
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Distortedd's style is a unique one in the Project70 lineup if you ask me and the Philly-born Dominican illustrator delivered well with this interesting and ornate take on Pedro as part of her series that will mostly focus on stars from the Dominican. I liked a lot of the touches on this one and it looks like the second (Albert Pujols) carries through with some similar elements ... though I don't think I'll reasonably be focused enough to collect them all as the series goes on this year. Distortedd makes my ones to watch list for sure, though.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all baseball boxes here.

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OHHHH ... YEAH!
The Card: Randy Savage & Elizabeth 1985 O-Pee-Chee WWF -- Rookie Card
The Price: Under $7
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card isn't perfect (bottom right corner is fuzzy for sure) but it was otherwise very clean back when I grabbed it last year ... and this card is one that has seen a lot more action in that time since. It's sold for more than $200 in some instances raw and higher if slabbed, though grading O-Pee-Chee cards isn't the easiest thing to do and get high marks. (This one's got potential ... except that corner.) Savage and Elizabeth didn't appear in the 1985 Topps counterpart so that puts even more focus on this one and after Hulk Hogan this one is likely among the next tier of notables in the first Topps/O-Pee-Chee sets. 
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...see all WWE boxes here.

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BROADWAY JOE JERSEY
The Card: Joe Namath 2016 Panini Spectra Epic Legends Materials (/25)
The Price: About $10
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This price is about half of what Namath's jersey cards typically go for -- and they can easily go for more than that -- but this one was a perfect combo of rare and a brand I like. One thing that has softened some prices on his jersey cards is that Panini has moved to using player-worn jerseys for Joe Willie ... but not on this one. It's a gamer.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all NFL boxes here.

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ROLL TIDE
The Card: Justin Thomas 2016 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Goudey Memorabilia
The Price: About $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former Alabama Crimson Tide star recently won The Players Championship to add to his titles -- 14 on the PGA Tour since 2016. I missed his arrival with certified autos in past Goodwin releases and they are pricey ... perhaps too pricey for my want to grab one, despite my school ties, but I do pick off memorabilia cards and selected inserts here and there on a very casual basis. (It's golf ... I'm not the biggest fan there.)
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all Goodwin boxes here.

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A WWE DEBUT CARD SO NICE ... I BOUGHT IT TWICE
The Card: Rey Mysterio 2006 Topps Heritage Chrome WWE Autographs 
The Price: One about $30 ... the other in a bulk lot for under $3 per card
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This future Hall of Famer has been a mainstay on TV screens for years and he's got a pretty good volume of cardboard in general -- over 1,000 different cards -- but when it comes to certified autos this is a first. Sure, it's funky -- a silver sticker on a Chrome retro-styled heritage card -- but a first is a first and it features a full-name sig as well as a 619 inscription (that's his pueblo) while many of his recent autos are mostly "Rey619." It looks like he still signs a full sig from time to time but not on cards. He doesn't have a ton of WWE autos with most of them in 2019 releases and nothing of substantial volume last year. One more interesting thing about this duo? One was clearly signed a lot earlier than the other and you can basically see every letter ... then the other is back to a cursive fast sig like most of his autos.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...see all WWE boxes here.

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THE WONDER YEARS WOULD BE TOO EASY
The Card: Dan Lauria signed Pitch 8-by-10 photo (via The Hollywood Show)
The Price: About $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you wanted an autograph from this acting veteran, then it would probably be from his time as Kevin Arnold's dad in The Wonder Years. I could have gotten a photo from that series via The Hollywood Show, but I opted for something different. This is from Lauria's role in Pitch, a Fox TV series that lasted just one season and had a woman pitching for the San Diego Padres. The cast was pretty strong but it didn't last. I was actually surprised to see this auto among the options, which was probably another reason I grabbed it vs. a Wonder ensemble photo signed by just one person.
Grab a box right here: See all baseball boxes here.

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PITCH ... IN THE REAL WORLD
The Team Set: Ila Borders & 1997 St. Paul Saints teammates (32 cards)
The Price: Under the price of a blaster box.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This set also includes a card for J.D. Drew from when he refused to sign with the Phillies who took him with the second pick in the MLB Draft that year, but this buy was all about Borders. She's one of many women with a place in baseball history but she's one of very few to actually take the field as a player. She was the first to start a game against the guys in a men's minor-league/pro game and she played parts of four seasons. She had a 2-4 record with a 6.77 ERA ... but also 36 strikeouts in 101-plus innings. She may appear on other cards but this was the only one I could find from her first year so I picked it up. There appears to be as second MiLB set where she was carded and then she had a Sports Illustrated For Kids card but that's about it otherwise. These team sets come tightly sealed and she's on the back of the deck so graded copies of this might be tough. (I actually did have that in mind with this one.)
Grab a box right here: See all baseball boxes here.

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THE LAST OF THESE PICK-UPS ... I THINK.
The Card: Angela Fong ... various BenchWarmer cards and autographs 
The Prices: Between $2 and $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former cheerleader turned pro wrestler for WWE (in its developmental ranks) and then for Lucha Underground was the subject of a simple collecting project last year when there was little unopened wax to be found. It got me dabbling with stuff I might not normally collect. It started with getting a couple types of cards and then completing a rainbow for an autograph from her first year for BW cards. These are some cheaper autograph finds, a couple of thick-stock premium cards and then a promo card where you'd think she's a member of the Montreal Canadiens. (The cheerleader job was for the BC Lions of the CFL, so ... close? Eh, probably not.) As you probably know from past pieces in this series, I tried to grab various card types for her and that's not all that hard with a lot of BenchWarmers releases where hits flow pretty well so you can afford to collect them easily. I think this is the last of my pick-ups, though I think there's one I need to find now that I think about it ...
Grab a box right here: See all BenchWarmer boxes here.

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ALWAYS LOVED THIS DESIGN
The Card: Baker Mayfield 2019 Donruss Retro 1999
The Price: Under $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This isn't a Rookie Card but instead this is an insert pick-up that uses a past design that I've always liked despite it being pretty simple. It's the 1999 Donruss set. I'm sure I overpaid on this card but at the time I was a little more excited about him after his rookie year and also trying to dabble with different sets a little more (partly for this series). Then the sophomore slump hit and this card sat. I still think his cards and those of Nick Chubb will have the most movement if the Browns get some things done.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Donruss football cards.

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FLY AWAY ...
The Cards: Don Landrum 1966 Topps base/variation
The Price: Under $1 each
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: What's the deal here? Well, if my joke song reference above didn't fill you in, check out the zipper ... err, the buttons, here. Believe it or not, somebody thought that needed adjusted and there are actually three versions of this card. The regular card is the button showing on his pants ... then then Topps partially removed it but that wasn't good enough. Then on a second round of changes it was finally airbrushed away. It's not the only zipper snafu in vintage card history but with these so cheap I figured I'd pick them up as I'm a sucker for an affordable error and variation combo.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all baseball boxes here.

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BIG LEGEND ...
The Card: Ichiro Suzuki 2018 Topps Archives Ichiro Tribute 2001 Rookie Card wall art (/99)
The Price: About $15 (after promotional discounts)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Topps' jumbo cards weren't around back in 2001 when Ichiro arrived and helped remind everyone that it's not only about the longball as part of a Rookie of the Year/MVP campaign. His 2001 Topps RC is an iconic one but thanks to soft stock and high gloss they are known to stick together in packs and sets and you might end up tearing your card apart if you even try to open sets or packs these days. While I don't think I ever grabbed a lower-grade slab (I should have) I did grab this and one of his Japanese RCs instead.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all baseball boxes here.

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SEEKING A SILVER SIG ...
The Card: Ricochet 2018 Topps WWE Then Now Forever (Series 2) Silver Autographs (/25)
The Price: Around $25 ... I think.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This high-flyer arrived with a serious bang on the main roster of WWE -- literally bouncing around the ring like his name might suggest -- but then his role kind of changed and he fell off the radar. Why? I'm not all that sure but I was sure sold on him enough to grab this one as well as a different color parallel of this first auto that I had slabbed. This one is likely headed that route, too, though at some point. I bought this one so long ago I don't even have the info on how much I paid ... it might have been more but probably not a ton more. The price, the scarcity of this one and the clean look had me pouncing on it.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...see all WWE boxes here.

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CLEAN COPY OF AN ERROR ...
The Card: Eddie Murray 1988 Topps Record Breakers error card
The Price: $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: When little Buzz first found one of these cards in a pack of 1988 Topps all those years ago, I literally thought Murray had a twin or something ... but it turns out Topps just placed two photos of him side by side that were cut out and placed atop the red background in the Record Breakers part of the set. Doing some searches for error cards recently got me curious and I bit on this one as it looks very sharp and very clean for a card that's not among the easier variations to find. (The left-right centering is off but the rest looks very good ... and condition isn't always a given on error cards that were only part of a print run.) What's the error? The black box of info on the front wasn't intended to be there ... or at least the boxes were removed from all cards except for this Hall of Famer. The version without that type is a lot easier to find. Will I grade this one? It's very possible.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all baseball boxes here.

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A PAST PICK-UP ...
The Card: Kairi Sane 2018 Topps WWE Undisputed Blue Autographs (/25)
The Price: $50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I wasn't the biggest fan of this Undisputed design when it arrived with a somewhat heavy Walking Dead-style feel, but the color parallels that changed the background texture made them a lot more appealing. This Japanese star's WWE TV run is likely over for now -- she's back home working for the company with promotions and appearances but not wrestling -- but I couldn't pass on this one when I saw it for the price vs. the scarcity. She has a lot of autos -- I pulled or have picked off a few others -- but this premium brand always grades well so I bit. I figured a first-year auto on the rarer side with an on-card sig is pretty safe.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ...see all WWE boxes here.

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NO WEBS NEEDED
The Card: Spider-Man suit 2017 Upper Deck Spider-Man Homecoming Webbed Threads Single Memorabilia
The Price: $1.50
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This release has a number of varying memorabilia cards with varying numbers of pieces and swatches tied to particular spots on various costumes ... something cheap and different from the big screen. Simple as that.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all Marvel boxes here.

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MYSTERY INK
The Card: Tony Atlas, "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Torrie Wilson autographed WrestleMania 22 DVD set
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Do you know those thrift-store finds people seem to make all of the time with surprises that end up paying off? Well, this is as close as I'll get as I just don't have the time or energy for the hunt that way ... but I did find this one on the auction block and all the owner knew was "signed by Tony Atlas" ... who might be the cheapest auto of the three. Right away, I recognized the signature of Okerlund who died in 2019 and I knew I recognized the center sig but I couldn't figure it out until a few minutes later ... since the background where she signed is pretty busy. I'm sure if I did some digging I might find info for some signing where all three appeared around this time to nail it down, but I have no doubts that these are the signers and it's legit. Did I need this? Nah. Do I have their autos? Well, I had all but Atlas. It's not in the greatest shape ... but I felt I needed to rescue it. It's stashed away with some oddball items in my stash.
Grab a box right here: See all WWE boxes here.

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FROM A FAVORITE FLICK
The Card: Katrina Bowden 2015 Panini Americana Signatures
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pick-up was a long, long time ago ... perhaps as long as a couple years. I had it stashed and never found a spot for it here. Bowden played one of the main characters in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, a spoof of the horror genre that arrived a few years before this set and a film that has actually had a number of its players show up on cards in various non-sports sets. This Americana set was available in wax form and easily found for a few years until it simply wasn't -- and the last time I saw one of these hobby boxes out in the wild it was at least three times the previous price. Not all will include big autos -- hers might not be one of the bigger ones -- but there are some strong possibilities.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all non-sports boxes here.

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COLLECTING THE MOMENT
The Card: Michael Jordan 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Hit Parade of Champions
The Price: About $2
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card is as simple as it gets but is slightly smaller than traditional size as a nod to an old Goudey Hit Parade set. This arrived in a baseball pack where the inserts had a multi-sport element. Some of those oddball cards can be cheaper than you might expect them to be since they are in places where their natural fans might not be looking.
Grab a box right here: No boxes of this one ... see all NBA boxes here.

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