Buzz Buys: Hollywood autos, vintage items, young WWE stars, Hall of Famers & other notable names found on cardboard

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 FORCE WAS STRONG ... 
The Item: Daisy Ridley autographed Star Wars: The Force Awakens IMAX 3D ticket (/500) -- BAS Authenticated
The Price: Less than a couple Chrome boxes
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The next Star Wars film is in pre-production -- Star Wars: New Jedi Order coming in 2026 -- and it apparently pushes forward more than a decade from the last film with Rey Skywalker its main character. Hearing that much alone got me thinking I should really track down a Ridley auto now vs. later -- she has signed a lot but prices are perhaps softer now than they may have been in the past. Well, at least in theory ... she's seemingly always been expensive. So here we are. I had a few rules for looking here -- I wanted a full-name sig for sure, an on-card auto and a decent presence/feel for the item ... whether it be an item, an oversized photo or something else that might display a little better than merely a card. I wanted something clean and unique but also safe for a price that I'd stretch a little to get to since she's pricey. I opted for a seemingly Fanatics-adjacent seller where a number of big-ticket items reside without the massive prices that can come with those names and opted for this oversized commemorative ticket for an IMAX showing in Chicago -- only 500 numbered tickets made for each week of the promotion per location in late 2015 and early 2016 during its first run. I don't do a lot of tickets, but I liked the promotional twist and serial-numbered volume here (albeit it's only limited to 500 per venue) and then it being signed and encased gives it a nice feel in an oversized slab. This was substantially discounted by a third or maybe half of a typical price (they have a few) so I bit. Unsigned, it's not a pricey item but this felt cooler to me for its price than a lot of pricier certified auto cards.
Grab a box right here: Star Wars boxes at BlowoutCards.com

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

A MODERN-DAY THROWBACK
The Cards: Christy Mathewson 2023 Topps Pristine Orange Pristine Pulsar Refractor (/25) & Blue Pristine Pulsar Refractor (/75) 
The Price: About $23 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of encased-from-Topps parallel cards are quirky, meshing that futuristic look with a legend whose career ended more than a century ago but I think it works. I don't remember which one I grabbed first but I liked the colors here -- a rich combo that's more New York Mets than New York Giants but I think both worked along with a simple, iconic pose. The encased ones have more of a texture to the flash -- that's that Pulsar part -- while the presentation feels better to me than one of the standard parallels. (Compare the Blue to this.) There was a lot to like in the recent editions of Pristine, though boxes are pricey, but you can find some decently priced singles.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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SOME ALTERNATIVE INK 
The Card: Aoife Valkyrie (aka Lyra Valkyria) 2022 Panini Immaculate Collection WWE Shadowbox autograph (/99) -- rookie-year auto
The Price: About $22
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former NXT champ is 27 but has been working professionally since 2015, so it's hard to call her a rookie ... but the RCs are in 2022 Panini WWE releases. That's her first NXT name as it's since been changed -- and the sig did, too -- so that's one reason I grabbed this as I like the appeal of early cards with ink that isn't likely to appear on cards later. (Though her real name is Aoife Cusack so maybe it could come back in some form post-WWE.) My gut says she might be heading on up to the main WWE ranks at some point soon, so that was another reason I grabbed this one ... along with its price. That was pretty cheap for a first-year, on-card auto from a premium brand.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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A FAVORITE OF THE PAST
The Card: Spencer Strider 2023 Topps Throwback Thursday #TBT 1988 Topps UK Mini (announced /773)
The Price: About $8
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Buzz must have felt rich to grab this one at this price but, well, I really liked the look and feel of these as minis back in the day. This copy looked perfectly slab-worthy as well and that's likely why I sprung here as the card backs are colorful and can showcase flaws ... this one looked top-mark worthy. Will this make it into a sub at some point with his injury? Probably not as I have a lot of other cards waiting on me to sub ... but I'll be watching his stuff and picking off what I like if prices dip for both raw and slabbed cards. 
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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THREE BIG BICHETTES
The Cards: Bo Bichette 2023 Topps Heritage High Number Puzzle box-topper, 2020 Topps Heritage 1971 Topps Super box-topper, 2021 Topps Heritage Throwback variation 5-by-7 (/49)
The Price: About $22.50 total 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Two of these cards are box-toppers that I have bought more than once ... and I'll do more. The other was too cheap to pass up as it's a numbered oversized card from Topps' now-defunct wall art lines that offered up rarer variations (and regular cards, too) in bigger forms. That center card would be perfect without the garishly thick/large facsimile auto but I still dig it. The puzzles are really cool, too, and that stuff will dry up over time.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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A POCKET CHANGE RC
The Card: Bryce Young 2023 Panini Mosaic -- Rookie Card
The Price: Pocket change
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This subset rookie clearly isn't as popular as his standard card in this release, but since I don't think I bothered chasing any boxes/packs to rip this was still an easy grab for pocket change. The No. 1 pick didn't have the kind of rookie season many expected but for my school ties part of my stash, pocket-change Optichrome stock works every time.
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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FATHER & DAUGHTER + IRONY
The Card: "Milly Thinks Silent Bob Looks Like Kevin Smith" 2023 Skybox Jay & Silent Bob Reboot Snoogans parallel (/799)
The Price: $1.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This simple scene was a classic one with Kevin Smith's daughter doing a double-take at ol' Silent Bob while Kevin Smith (who plays Silent Bob) is on the stage in a scene. I grabbed this numbered parallel partly due to that and the price ... and to see how things looked here for potential grading of cards from this release. I like a lot of what I see in this one.
Grab a box right here: Non-sports boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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THREE-EEE-OOO, THREE-EEE-OOO,
The Cards: Sasha Banks 2022 Panini Prizm WWE Next Level & Green Prizm parallel 
The Price: About $4
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This trio of cards got my attention back when she was working in Japan between her WWE finish and her recent AEW return. This insert wasn't a tough find in that landmark Prizm set and it's got a crop of solid portraits used pretty well a part of a colorful design. These were easy grabs with the regular two being pocket change and the retail parallel looking solid with all that color shining a little extra. I need to revisit this set again ... it also might have some slab-worthy cards for collectors who like to dabble.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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HER TIME IS NOW
The Item: Tiffany Stratton autographed 16-by-20 WWE photo (Fanatics Authentic)
The Price: $41.99 
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one came and went on WWE Shop pretty fast, but I actually found mine on eBay before that from one of the Fanatics-adjacent companies at a better price. It was a no-brainer with these coming from one of her first signings for the Shop after her recent call-up to the main roster from NXT where she was champ. Hopefully there's more signed merch to come ... it will all get a look from me as her certified autos from last year are still pretty steeply priced after having nothing in her Rookie Card year (2022) for ink.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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THREE-E-W
The Cards: Excalibur & Jim Ross 2021 Upper Deck AEW Spectrum Memorabilia & The Great Muta 2022 Upper Deck AEW Match Dated Moments 
The Price: Under $4 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This small batch of AEW stuff comes from a premium brand (Spectrum) and an online release. I added the mem cards for the announcers since they were so cheap -- about $1.25 apiece -- and then the other three as the Japanese legend got a cardboard moment (along with Sting and Buddy Matthews) for pocket change.
Grab a box right here: AEW boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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AN INNOVATOR OF SIGN LANGUAGE IN SPORTS?
The Card: Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn 2021 Historic Autographs Famous Americans Aurora Employee parallel (1/1)
The Price: $15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This baseball innovator and Hall of Famer has some legendary stats but his legacy lives on jokingly on Twitter (well, it used to) with snarky takes on baseball but with old-timey twist. When I spotted this one among a run of 1/1s from this non-sports/history release that slightly touches on sports, I bit with an eye on a novelty slab. That may or may not happen after suffering a small surface bump during shipping (shipped in an old-timey fashion without a top-loader) but it's still a fun card to me. Here's a USA Today story on one reason Old Hoss is still remembered.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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DWAYNE'S DEBUT
The Mag: Rocky Maivia -- Wrestling World, December 1997 ... aka Dwayne Johnson's first magazine cover 
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was an easy grab for this price as this apparently is the first magazine cover of any kind (per a CGC slab label) for this international icon -- one of countless magazine covers of the last 30-some years. It's not perfect but with a pressing it might make for a solid slab and I probably will, though there's a long list of stuff I'd want to send in on that front. I prefer WWE publications and long-running mags like Pro Wrestling Illustrated, but this first for a big name works, too.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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A THROWBACK
The Mag: Peyton Manning & Brett Favre -- Esquire, September 1997
The Price: $11 shipped
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one caught my attention for a cheap price as that's a Manning cover while he was still a senior at Tennessee and he's paired with a guy who was a huge name in the NFL back then. He still is as a Hall of Famer, of course, but I think Manning has topped him in terms of pop culture beyond football and in the collecting realm. This, too, looks clean enough to slab if I ever get on it ...
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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LOOK CLOSELY ...
The Card: New York Yankees 1971 Topps team card
The Price: $1.24
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I found out about this piece of cardboard triva from this fun item. Take a look at that full front row second from right -- that's The Mick, Mickey Mantle -- pretty cool considering his last Topps card from his career was in 1969 Topps. In 1970 he was a coach for the Yanks when this photo was taken.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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MAKING HISTORY
The Item: Elston Howard February 1959 The Associated Press wire photo 
The Price: Under $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This press photo is a solid one -- as long as it's legit -- but I only say this as it seems too nice and I'm not 100-percent familiar with how AP images were distributed way back then. It has an AP stamp on the back and then an additional date stamp from whatever publication used it and then put it into its archives to be unearthed when used and then for collectors' hands after that. When Buzz worked in that realm and these types of photos were going out of style in favor of digital distribution, newspapers would just print these photos off from the feed using whatever machine they used on site. (They wouldn't have a stamp unless the newspaper, for some odd reason, would add it. I doubt that happened.) This print comes more than 40-plus years before Buzz's time, but it's a historic moment as Howard was a social pioneer for the Yankees when he signed this contract. If this is what it is -- an original -- the value should be higher than what I paid for sure.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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PLAYING THE NUMBERS ...
The Cards: Mickey Mantle 1977-78 Sports Deck Landsman playing cards 
The Price: $3 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of playing cards isn't anything too exotic, really, as they come from a series of decks where notable athletes appeared on every card in a deck each with artwork from artist Allen Landsman. While I'd seen Ken Stabler decks in the past and have a sealed one stashed somewhere in my Crimson Tide stash, this one was also a pick-off on a deep dive with grading in mind. Why? Novelty ... but I know they're pretty clean and I liked the idea of this particular number from a deck in a slab, too. Some of the other MLB players who appeared on these? Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver and Jim "Catfish" Hunter for starters.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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CHECKING OFF TWO MORE CARD TYPES ...
The Cards: Angela Fong 2015 BenchWarmer Daizy Dukez blue autographed high heel relic (/2)  & 2012 BenchWarmer National Archive Q&A autos (/20)
The Price: About $35 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of autos continues my simple "type" collection for this past Florida Championship Wrestling (aka NXT before NXT) notable turned WWE announcer whose cards I have written about before. In short, she only has a couple of wrestling cards (one rare, one from a gaming set) and then a bunch of BenchWarmer cards. Rather than try to chase them all -- not really possible years later, though many autos are super-affordable -- I just try to find a sample or two of certain types of cards here -- autograph, memorabilia, auto-mem, inscriptions, etc. These two cross off two of those types. I think I have most covered ... but maybe not all. I still have more in reserve to trot out here, too, but these two were nicer examples that I figured I'd do first.
Grab a box right here: BenchWarmer boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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A PAPARAZZI PRINT?
The Item: Drew Barrymore 1999 press photo (C.J. Contino/C2 Studio) stamped 
The Price: Under $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Most of my photo buys are more like what's below -- studio-released promotional stuff -- but with some names and in some situations I have dabbled with press photos and Type I photos if the combo of visual, price and subject all feel low-risk to me as a collector. In this case, it's a simple kind of paparazzi style photo and it  doesn't have any info attached to it other than a small sticker on the back as seen at right. That photographer/studio didn't pop up on any Google searches other than some other photos similar to this being sold on a poster site or two. For the price here and the subject -- who I collect here and there somewhat selectively -- I bit as it's the kind of item I might not see again if I passed.
Grab a box right here: Non-sports boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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'TIS THE SEASON ...
The Item: Mr. Baseball (1992) press kit folder with 10 8-by-10 promotional photos 
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This movie is a comedy but it's also a very good one showing how baseball is different in Japan and Nippon Professional Baseball. It's not heralded as a classic or anything but I definitely have it stashed on DVD somewhere and there are enough good images in this press kit that I bit ... also since they were clean, unused images. Simple as that.
Grab a box right here: Baseball boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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AN ICON'S EVENT
The Item: Rhea Ripley 2024 WWE Elimination Chamber event poster 18-by-24 photograph 
The Price: About $35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This striking image was used for the recent Australian pay-per-view event that WWE used to showcase its dominating champ in her home country in the main event and as part of the run-up to Wrestlemania. For her, it's easily a career highlight and when this over-sized image popped up on WWE Shop I bit as they arrive on matte photo paper and top-loaded, too, which is stronger than a simple rolled poster. Another reason why? It would make for an impressive autographed item if that ever presented itself with plenty of room on the bottom right for a big, bold signature. Card-wise, I don't keep up with Ripley as much as I did in earlier  years -- she's pricier now -- but still a fan of impressive pieces with potential. Plus, these items aren't in stock for an infinite kind of time, either.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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AN UNCONVENTIONAL CATALOG?
The Item: Spalding Sports Show for 1947 illustrated sporting goods catalog
The Price: $9.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This popped up where I buy a lot of older stuff and it was quirky enough -- and old/cheap enough -- that I bit for what felt like a solid price. It's comic book-sized and the contents inside are a strong mix of vintage and hand-made infographic-style cartoons and some of the names dropped are legendary, too. (Click for a closer look.) These may or may not be all that rare ... but they won't pop up every day given that age. This one isn't super clean but it's certainly not bad for that age, either.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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BEFORE THEIR NAME CHANGES ...
The Cards: Jordan Devlin (aka J.D. McDonagh) 2019 Topps Now WWE (/268) & A-Kid (aka Axiom) 2022 Panini NXT Signatures
The Price: Under $7 total
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This pair of earlier and affordable cards struck me as interesting as the Devlin card is from the year before what are his Rookie Cards with his real name, while A-Kid is now working as an articulate masked star named Axiom in the NXT ranks -- a character with some interesting moments here and there. Since both are name-change scenarios, I bit ... also since it's a cheap auto with an on-card sig. Interestingly, this ink arrived in the same year as his first cards as Axiom.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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GRABBING MINIS
The Cards: Nick Swisher 2005 Topps Cracker Jack Mini Sticker & Mini Blue (/50), 2009 Topps 206 Mini Piedmont, 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Red Bazooka Back (/25)
The Price: About $25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: My player doesn't have any new cardboard going on for years now, so I'll pick up whatever strikes me or whatever is rare and available as long as the price is right. The two Topps Cracker Jack sets from the early 2000s are a throwback enigma to me -- I like them and they've dried up ... but boxes are also not that good to pay stupid prices for if they pop up. Swisher is in the second set as one of its SP cards -- one here is a sticker parallel while the Blue really pops well ... so I had to grab that. The Ginter mini is a fav as those numbered parallels are easy grabs as long as they're not over-priced. The 206 was cheap, so it got thrown in.
Grab a box right here: MLB boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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A TELEVISION THROWBACK
The Item: Brad Pitt & Jeremy Miller Growing Pains 1989 ABC promotional 8-by-10 photo 
The Price: Under $9
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This hit show had a big cast and a lot -- a lot -- of cameos or small spots for actors who went on to big things over the years. Pitt is one of those names as this promo photo shows. Per IMDb, his acting credits start in 1987 and his first of two episodes on this series was in that year, while this one is for a second episode in 1989. He apparently played different characters in them, too, with the first being a Carol Seaver beau and this one being a rock star that Ben Seaver liked. (They all loved Brad Pitt.)
Grab a box right here: Non-sports boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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JUST A THOUGHT ...
The Card: Johnathan Sullivan 2003 Fleer Snapshot Rookie 35mm Slides (/50)
The Price: $1.15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This rarer card was dirt cheap but that's not why I bought it ... I do like the concept of photo slides embedded into cards, though, and that's something that happened a few times back in the day from a few companies as they experimented with other types of hits and inserts beyond autographs and memorabilia. Now ... on to the next item.
Grab a box right here: NFL boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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IT'S ALWAYS AWARDS SEASON
The Items: Assorted media slides including Halle Berry, Helen Hunt, Sharon Stone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron, Kevin Costner, Toni Braxton, Brandy, Chaka Khan, Lauryn Hill, Courtney Love, Hole, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood, Barbra Streisand, Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay, Warren Beatty, Candice Bergen, Michael Richards, Jason Alexandr, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Faye Dunaway, Sylvester Stallone, American Beauty cast 
The Price: Pocket change on all but one of them ... most via bulk lot buys
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This niche was one I dug in on pretty hard last year with a number of small lot buys of specific names and then a few larger lots of celeb slides ... just for the heck of it. The bulk lots I did were deep -- a few thousand slides each time -- and a massive amount of those I'd never show off here (no reason to) but a lot of them seemed interesting with either common names, moments and so on. This is a sampling of names from awards shows. Slides aren't that tough to find and while one can just page them up like cards they do seem like something that could help make some cards, too. It's a thought ...
Grab a box right here: Non-sports boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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RODDY GOES HOLLYWOOD
The Item: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper 1992 acting headshot and press bio
The Price: $3.99
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling icon of the 1980s walked away from the ring for a while to try acting and this was a cheap no-brainer addition when I stumbled upon it. Rather than include a resume, it came attached to a press bio with mentions of projects such as the John Carpenter sci-fi cult classic They Live. This came after that, and it mentions a project alongside Sonny Chiba that was called Immortal Combat when it arrived as well as a singing attempt with music video that dates this from around 1992. (I missed that one, too.) This pic not alone -- there are others out there -- but I thought this was odd and interesting enough for the price. I might pick off more just for fun to add some more weirdness to the ol' wrestling stash. 
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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AFFORDABLE INK
The Item: Mark Briscoe autographed Republic of Lucha 8-by-10 promo photo 
The Price: $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This auto was too cheap to pass up when the California-based wrestling store owned by two AEW Stars -- Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix -- put all of their signed promo photos from past appearances up for grabs on the cheap during Black Friday. Briscoe has very little cardboard and no certified autos right now, so this was an easy pick-up for that price.
Grab a box right here: AEW boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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