Buzz Buys: Ronald Acuña Jr. just keeps Living, rare Joltin' Joe, UFC mettle, memorabilia mystery & The Batboy's Rookie Cards

Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals just might be to rip fewer blasters this year 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. Would they capture yours? I'd be interested to know -- sometimes they might, sometimes they won't and that's fine. It's a buyer's market out there with plenty of options and bargains as well as high-end gems to chase.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... and this time around they're all cheap finds or something with a story.

--

LIVING AFFORDABLY ... 
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Topps Living Set (PSA 9)
The Price: $9.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Have you seen this guy's stats this week? That's why he's batting lead-off today -- he just keeps Living, err, hitting. This is the most-available Topps Living Set card at a record 46,809 made and that's one of the reasons why I was able to pick this up for less than what it would cost me to find one raw and get it graded. Nearly all of the nearly 4,000 copies of this card graded by PSA check in at this grade or a 10. There are 1,522 PSA 9s and 2,309 10s. I'm fine with nines as long as they appear relatively clean and to me the key on this card is that bottom-right black corner. It's good on this one but isn't on many others in this grade. Yes, the centering is off a tad here, but that corner would be much more jarring to me if it were nicked. This card looked very good to me, especially at its price.
Grab a box right here: You won't find these in packs ... so hit MLB boxes here for something different. 

Keep reading for five more interesting items ...

HEAVY METAL
The Card: Johny Hendricks 2014 Topps UFC Bloodlines Engraved Engots (/109)
The Price: $1.65
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you're a regular reader, you can probably tell I'm not a heavy UFC collector -- I'll touch on the realm from time to time but nothing with any regularity -- but this is a card from a set that always makes me look after I landed a different one in a group break (pick your pack) long ago. If I remember correctly, these were found one per box in a hit-based brand. It's a chunk of metal-backing on a card and they're unique in their look and feel. These standard cards are limited and there are Gold parallels limited to only 25. The checklist includes some big names on both the men's and women's sides and there are some affordable names among them, too. They won't all be this cheap, but this could be a fun project if you like the look and feel here. 
Grab a box right here: This brand is likely gone, but UFC boxes are here.

--

JOLTIN' JOE AFFORDABLE
The Card: Joe DiMaggio 2014 Panini Hall of Fame Purple Crusades (/50)
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I did a bit of a double-take when I saw the price and the serial-numbering for this Hall of Famer's card before I grabbed it. Why is it so cheap? There are a number of parallels for these cards and that hurts the overall value if you ask me. DiMaggio has 11 Crusade cards in this one -- standard, Black, Gold, Green, Orange, Purple, Red and four printing plates. All but the regular one are numbered and they're all no more than 75 copies. It also doesn't help that this is a brand that ultimately is ripped for its autographs and it's lack of MLB Properties licensing. Some of the parallels are also die-cut and have a little more advanced feel than others but this one works for me.
Grab a box right here: These boxes took a while to disappear, but MLB boxes are here.

--

SCREEN-USED MATERIALS
The Card: Rocket 2017 Upper Deck Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Galactic Garb 
The Price: $1.35
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one is a fun enigma that always gets me to stop and look. The swatch of material is "certified to [UD] as being part of the production of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 movie." It's a movie where Rocket is, of course, a CGI character. Rocket has roughly 20 or so different memorabilia cards based on one quick count and they're all noted in the same way as real-life characters. What's the deal? I'm not all that worried at the price -- I just think it's more interesting than Drax or that Moneyball guy. 
Grab a box right here: See other non-sports boxes here

--

AFFORDABLE, NOT AFCHEVYABLE
The Card: Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2018 Panini Victory Lane Race Ready Dual Materials (/399)
The Price: $2.05
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one includes a piece of firesuit and sheet metal for one of NASCAR's most-popular past drivers and it shows you just how affordable memorabilia cards can be, especially if they have slight flaws. This one has some minor chipping from a little too much rubbing and racing during packaging. That's one of those mysteries as to why it keeps happening with stock but it does come with the territory for memorabilia cards. Autographs are a bigger key in racing boxes but memorabilia for NASCAR can be some of the best mem cards out there. This is not one of those deluxe types of cards but it does feel pretty strong for the price.
Grab a box right here: 2018 Panini Victory Lane boxes

--

AN ICONIC UNCORRECTED ERROR
The Card: Aurelio Rodriguez 1969 Topps RC (SGC 8)
The Price: Less than $9 shipped
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a memorable error card as that's not the Angels player but rather Angels batboy Leonard Garcia as the photographer mislabeled who he shot that day. This new The Orange County Register story about Garcia offers more to the story that has been a piece of baseball card lore for years. I've picked up a couple of raw copies of this one through the years, but recently decided I wanted a graded copy and this one presented itself well at a price that I didn't expect to see. The centering on this one is solid -- a big issue with 1969 Topps -- but I'm happy with the light dusting of black-ink snow that's on the surface for the price. A PSA 9 of this card recently sold on eBay for nearly $50 shipped and it wasn't dramatically better than this one. Pop reports are very low on this card no matter where the slab is from and it's a high-number card that's just not as plentiful where you can just hunt one out with good centering with ease. Just 10 copies of this one have been slabbed by SGC with two coming in as 9s, three 8.5s, this lone 8 and the rest lower.
Grab a box right here: Boxes of this one are long gone ... but newer MLB boxes are here.

--

HIS OWN ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Leonard Garcia 1977 Cramer Pacific Coast League
The Price: Less than $1
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: If you clicked the link above and read the story about the batboy 50 years later, then you saw that Garcia worked as a trainer in the Angels system. That run got him seven cards of his own between various team sets from 1977 to 1986. This one is his "Rookie Card" unless you liberally count his 1969 Topps appearance as his RC. Another fun fact? This card is from the company of the guy who later created Pacific Trading Cards, Mike Cramer. He had a card, too, and you can see it here.
Grab a box right here: Find newer MiLB boxes are here.

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com