Buzz buys a lot of stuff these days and for a few reasons, really. Sometimes it's just bargain-hunting, sometimes it's just something that strikes me. And other times it's a lot -- a group of things -- and that has happened enough lately I figured I'd try something different as a regularly appearing item. Sometimes my lots will be wins, sometimes they won't be ... but I'll let you decide. 

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A LOTTA AMERICANA
The Lot: A mixed-year lot of 74 Donruss/Panini Americana cards (a few base -- mostly serial-numbered inserts -- and a couple hits)
The Price: Less than a blaster box in the retail wild (with tax) -- check out some non-sports breaks here

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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 ... 

MAMI'S HOME ...
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Transcendent WWE (/50) -- Rookie Card
The Price: Less than some of my others ... and less than a new hobby box.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: My lucky No. 13th copy of this RC from a super-deluxe release puts me over the 25-percent mark for stockpiling this card's entire print run and while it was still a pricey pick-up it wasn't my highest one, either. How many more will I find? Not sure ... but I do have a price ceiling, even for this top WWE badass and this badass card. I picked up this one awhile back and it got lost in my shuffle of WWE stuff awaiting a slot here, but since she's back from injury and ready to do some mauling she leads things off this month.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... check out other WWE boxes.

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ... 

HE'S BACK!
The Card: Tiger Woods 2001 Upper Deck No. 1 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: Not that long ago I unearthed my stash of these heavily produced but in-demand RCs and sent off a couple to be graded. Since that time Woods returned at The Masters and fared relatively well considering where he was little over a year ago. While he's got plenty of high-dollar cards -- and stuff that pre-dates this with non-traditional distribution -- this one is the propellant that brought back golf cards to the masses and it has been slabbed thousands of times between all of the grading companies. I amassed a number of them because I used to rip this on the cheap whether it was repacks, hobby boxes, retail boxes or whatever. This wax was cheap for a long time and had a few formats -- for example, I opened a case of this one for somewhere between $75 and $125 (I want to say it was the lower number) probably 15 years ago ... and did better than I expected for hits (that's why I was ripping). Now? A single box would cost more than what I paid.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: Even this newcomer to grading has taken on a ton of Tiger RCs with only a dozen grading higher than this -- and with their new slabs/scale, this copy would be a CSG 10 now. (Gem Mint is now a 10 with Pristine 10s nixed and Perfect 10s still in play.) I may send off a few more from my stash to see how the new top end of the scale looks on my others. (All of my submissions came back just before the change.)

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... this is Hour 10.

The packs: 2008 PopCardz Season 1
The cost: $3 total (50 cents each)

What's inside this pack? Keep reading ...

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 8.

The box: 2015 Panini Americana trading cards (hobby box)
The cost: Click here

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... this is Hour 5.

The box: 2015 Panini Americana (hobby box)
The cost: Click here

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... this is Hour 6.

The box: 2015 Panini Americana trading cards (hobby box)
The cost: Click here

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

Continue reading →