Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

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PARALLEL POWER?
The Card: National League Wins Leaders (Spencer Strider, Zac Gallen, Justin Steele) 2024 Topps True Photo variant & Gold Foil parallel
The Price: About $11 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The concept of this one is simple and it's striking -- knock off the border of a base card completely, using just its photo -- and I think it works. But there's also one thing here that's striking -- and not in the best way. These are arguably too rare to make that big of an impact with me and I think perhaps other collectors who might not bother to grab their players or even think about a team set or full set. How rare? They are one in 677 hobby packs and I'm confident they'd be more popular if people could reasonably collect a team run or set. Why? Because they're something dramatically different and you can compare the regular card and this version side by side. I also grabbed a Gold Foil parallel for this one this time after I bit on the variant ... just to say I had one. Even paying $10 for this was a stretch for me ... and those odds and that price might say that these aren't as popular as they could/should be. These are one in basically every third hobby case.
Grab a box right here: MLB cards are here.

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If you know a Chicago Cubs fan and haven't finished your holiday shopping, this is your post.

If you're a fan of Major League Baseball and collecting its legends, this is your post.

A nice piece of mail -- something Buzz found online and ordered this weekend -- arrived on Wednesday with a surprise inside. What you see here is an oversized pair of plastic glasses -- an apparent jovial bonus this holiday season with any purchase of $49 or more from 33 West Kinzie Street in Chicago.

Not familiar with the location? That's the home of Harry Caray's Restaurant. And, while it's funny, this simple gift to me can't touch what I bought.

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The Chicago Cubs World Series memorabilia isn't limited to trading cards and the typical items that collectors might chase and the Chicago Tribune already is getting in on the action beyond its day job.

In addition to its newspapers, the company already is selling poster reprints and commemorative printing plates of its front pages from the World Series (above) as well as from the Cubs' postseason run. It's also readying a book, which is up for sale now on its website.

These happen somewhat regularly for major markets and team championships but they haven't for hungry Cubs fans, who hadn't seen a World Series title since 1908.

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