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

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MY BEAR NECESSITY
The Item: Paul "Bear" Bryant autographed & dated/inscribed (Oct. 18, 1976) 8-by-10 photo (BAS authenticated)
The Price: $219 ... high for me but it's the perfect item for me
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was a jaw-dropper of a find for me during a random search of Mill Creek Sports' superstore for autographed stuff earlier this year and I've saved it for football season, specifically this month, to present it and tell its story. It's personalized and that makes it perfect for me this time ... and to top that, the signed date -- the legendary Alabama Crimson Tide football coach and football icon who won 323 games dated everything signed like this -- might as well be on Buzz's actual birthday. (It's close ... close enough.) The odds of this existing or one being signed on my actual birthday? Well, I'm sure there were a number of things to sign on this Monday and I'm also very sure he wasn't sitting down to sign requests on a gameday when I kicked things off in the world. So, this is perhaps as close as it can get. The quality and condition of the photo are perfect and the ink is perfectly legible, too. Now, is his autograph really rare? Not particularly, but he died in January 1983 well before sit-down and paid signing sessions were en vogue for sports legends and he's still in high, historic demand despite Nick Saban equaling him and/or re-writing the Alabama record book in more recent years. It's the perfect item at a perfect price and it will always be mine.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but football cards are here.

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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 ...

IMPORTED PERFECTION
The Card: Ichiro Suzuki 2000 Upper Deck Ovation Japanese (Nippon Professional Baseball)
The Reason Graded: This set is a favorite of mine among oddball/international releases and while it might look familiar it's not one you found at, say, a Toys R Us store back in the day. This is from a set made for the stars of Nippon Professional Baseball and was sold in Japan and it uses the familiar Ovation MLB design that really does stand out as a unique one from the past with its embossed baseball seams framing the photo. The core of this set isn't huge -- you'll get that part in a typical box -- but there are short-prints in th set that are serial-numbered as well as a number of inserts to chase as well as some MLB player cameos ... but this one is the biggie. It's not super-expensive and it's not a NPB Rookie Card or anything as that's 1993 for this lock of a future Hall of Famer, but this one is from the year before his MLB Rookie Cards arrived. I own two or three of these after opening a couple boxes long ago and one more recently and this one made its way into a bulk lot as my first one or two I graded came up a little short on what I wanted.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: This time? That's the kind of grade I was hoping for and that alone is a reason this one is batting lead-off this time ... it's not my biggest card in this lineup but it's a nice copy of an oddball card with a historic name attached. This grade has the highest pop but two thirds of slabs check in lower than this one ... it's not a super-easy 10 if you ask me with the soft stock and the embossing perhaps being problematic along with a foilboard (front) and glossed (back) surface.

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

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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 ... 

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THE PERFECT EARLIER SIG
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2020 Topps WWE NXT Roster Blue Autographs (/50)
The Price: Less than a box these days
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you're a regular reader, then you know this set and this auto -- in all colors -- is high on my radar and that's why I grabbed this super-clean copy with an eye on grading. It's not totally perfect but I'm fine with that as the core reason I bit here was how clean this sig is with her original WWE ink, not the shortened one that has come about on her cards since this earlier signing. (It's not quite her pre-WWE auto, which is more of a puffy almost "tagging" writing style with big curves and loops on all letters.) A quicker auto happens for many signers as they ink more and more stuff and some styles just won't come back -- so that's another reason this one is a favorite ... plus, not that many of her WWE cards have this auto.
Grab a box right here: None for this one ... but WWE boxes are here

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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.

Click for a closer look.

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

TO SEE WHAT CONDITION MY CONDITION IS IN ...
The Album: The Big Lebowski soundtrack (Mercury, 2014 -- first pressing)
The Reason Graded: As you can probably tell, I'm a dabbler with grading in a few -- but not yet all -- directions, but the notion of having a pristine item encased for permanent protection to be appreciated as an artifact of sorts appeals in a lot of ways. Video games, Funko Pop! figures, other toys, VHS, tickets, press photos and more can be graded just like cards, comic books, magazines and coins. I've tried grading VHS and there's a chance I might do more there with a different company that I use for pretty much everything else, but vinyl is one that, well, I jettisoned most of what I had long ago. That means this was more of a first project than just a first try. (I didn't have much vinyl as my early music-buying years were where the Sony Walkman and then CDs were a thing or emerging, not records.) I spotted this soundtrack cheaper than it might have been elsewhere and it's an original, so I grabbed it with an eye for a slab with Texas-based Tuned In Grading as this one is memorable as more than just a soundtrack but a film that's a cult classic with tons of interest and action beyond a couple hours of screen time. And the total package is cool front and back with scenes and even key characters noted.
The Grade: Tuned In Grading 9.0 (sealed)

Reality Check: I did this one to basically to go through the process and see if I liked the results and then to decide how I would approach doing more. It seems based on their grading scale and description that a 10 isn't easy -- that's fine in my book and that took away some of the grade-shock here. (A nine is fine in all realms, really, but we all want perfection and in some genres a nine has a few slots above it on the scale. Not here.) There isn't really a pop report just yet (but I know of at least one copy*) and it appears that the typical overall grade is a meshing of five applicable sub-grades -- record, cover, inner sleeve, labels, shrink -- but since this is a sealed record only two of those are in play. They both clicked at nines for me -- the cover here had a small bend on the back, while the shrinkwrap has a couple minor spots on the right side but I didn't notice one of them previously. I wasn't totally surprised as I knew the small bend would hurt me but everything else seemed strong. Part of me wants to try something vintage that's not sealed next time, but that's easier said than done in terms of balancing condition, an item I like and price -- I know of a few I'd try but I'm a stickler for condition and this kind of grading isn't quite as cheap as others but still less than some so I'd want something with an appealing grade. Plus, if it's not sealed then other things get looked at ... that you can't examine unless you're buying stuff in-person. Part of me also thinks albums without shrink-wrap could look better in the sleeve but I haven't really read up on what the musical devotees prefer. I think, generally, I dig it but I think for storage and size I like the idea of slabs for CD, DVDs and stuff that's more game-sized more ... but the size here also makes all the details you see on the back of this one as well as that main art on the front pop a bit more, too.

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

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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 ... 

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ONLY 40 MORE OUT THERE ... 
The Cards: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Transcendent WWE (/50) -- Rookie Card
The Price: More than I'll admit
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Not all 10 of these are totally new pick-ups -- I showed off five of them awhile back right here in this series -- but with this run of super-premium RCs I wanted to show them off all together. It's not often that I have been able to track down 20 percent of a print run -- especially in a brand that carried such a massive price tag -- or, well, really even tried except for maybe my PC player. But, last year I made an effort to start amassing them and I'm not done yet. How many more might I grab? Depends on availability and price -- I can think of four I have missed on recently but things could slow here as I'm not going to overpay more than I did to get this far. If you don't know, Ripley is the new Smackdown women's champ after a classic win over Charlotte Flair at Mania and could be the title-holder on both shows at some point ... and since she's young she's got plenty of time to do even more in WWE barring any injuries. Her 2020 Rookie Cards and autographs should be worth a look ... raw or slabbed.
Grab a box right here: BlowoutCards.com for other WWE cards

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

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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HER TIME IS NOW ... 
The Cards: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Transcendent WWE (/50) -- Rookie Card
The Price: Less than some of your new boxes out there
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one is more of a long-term buying project for me as I think Ripley has the potential to be an all-time great in the WWE's women's ranks. She's only 26 and has literally been wrestling half of her life, already has held WWE gold and this is her premium-brand Rookie Card (gaming cards don't count in my world) that has an iconic pose and is limited to only 50 copies. This one also is easily among the priciest of the unsigned cards in this pricey set that was made to be broken up. Only three of these are new additions for me but I had to take a pic of all five together as a bit of a brag -- I don't do that a lot and I don't like to give the prices when I spend big on stuff -- but this is a card I like ... and I'm definitely not done yet. She has other Rookie Cards (with logos ... this set didn't use them) from 2020 but this one will always be the best in my book and we know exactly how many exist and that it cost plenty for somebody else to land one. She's got another WrestleMania match against an all-time great, Charlotte Flair, here soon and I don't know exactly how that might go ... but I do know she's definitely worthy of a long and dominating title reign and a smackdown of a great would solidify her place. I think her time is now.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes can be found here

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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 ... 

GOOD AS GOLD ...
The Card: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin 2022 Panini Select WWE Gold Flash (/10)
The Reason Graded: If you recognize this card, well, there's a reason. Just a few weeks ago, I pulled it from a blaster box and thanks to CSG's quick, budget-minded services I turned this around fast and, well, this rarity pays for itself. This retail-only card is rare -- only nine others like it exist -- and it came back with a top mark since even the horizontal centering was clean. (That's not the norm from what I have seen with this release.) This is a pricey card right now so that was my main reason for slabbing, and now it's that much better.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: It's the only one that has been slabbed so far. How many might still be sitting in packs? Generally speaking, Select is a strong release worth your look in any format -- and I have other stuff here I intend to get graded.

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

Continue reading →

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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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2021 BBM Woman's Pro Wrestling cards
Where to buy: Will take some looking online ... find WWE boxes here

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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