Buzz Buys: Unique gridiron memorabilia cards, John Belushi, San Diego materials, David Justice's ink & more

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 ...

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DAK & THE DETAILS
The Card: Dak Prescott 2018 Panini National Convention Sparkle Relics (/15)
The Price: $4.95
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This card has a few things going for it and it was found in a show promo pack instead of some super-pricey box, which is a plus for me and my bargain-minded buys. (I like good pulls from cheaper places. They just seem more interesting ... or at least more of a challenge.) I picked this one off primarily because it's got a "prime" type swatch from a game-used football on this parallel and these inexpensive cards are gimmes for me since there simply aren't as many game-used football cards out there vs. other pieces of equipment. I did a double-take when I saw the serial-number, though -- his jersey number -- and that made it a done deal.  To me that adds to the appeal of this card and I'm still a big fan of memorabilia cards. Is this a money card? Probably not, but I'm a collector not a flipper and it just seemed like a no-brainer for the price and scarcity.
Grab a pack/lot: Check out the promo packs section

Keep reading for six more interesting items ...

COMEDY LEGEND'S CARDBOARD
The Card: John Belushi 2013 Panini Golden Age Museum Age memorabilia card
The Price: $20
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This memorabilia card simply can't be a plentiful one from this baseball-and-more release as it just hasn't popped up as often as others in the brand that celebrates newsmakers of the past from the sports world and beyond. This late comedy legend and Saturday Night Live star doesn't have a lot of cardboard in general and this is his only memorabilia card -- a swatch from a high school football jersey if I remember past chatter correctly -- that's ever been made. I watched and watched online to see if these might pop up once prices settled down and never caught one. I paid dearly for my first -- far more than this -- because I simply had opened so many boxes that it was becoming pointless to not just buy the card if it popped up without a super-crazy price. (I merely paid a crazy price last time.) This time? I think of it as my even-things-out card where I got one on the cheap to go with the one I overpaid for. I'd still grab more if they presented themselves within reasonable prices. There are versions with a darker-colored swatch so that approach might be the way I go if I do. This is just a cool card in my mind, and I'm not sure if we'll see more like it in the future.
Grab a box: Boxes can be cheap but they're long gone here -- click here for other baseball boxes

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UNIQUE MEMORABILIA
The Card: Gaines Adams 2007 SAGE Aspire School Pride helmet sticker card
The Price: $1.15
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I'm a big fan of creative cardboard and this card checks that box as it's got a helmet decal affixed to it just like those that can be found all over the helmets of players racking up key plays for this team and a few others in the college game. SAGE did these sets a few years and they're not expensive in many instances. It's not likely that these were game-used decals based on the card details -- perhaps why the cards are this cheap -- but they are still something that's unique to a few teams and directly reflective of what's on the field. This set consists of just nine cards and this late Clemson star might be the biggest name of them all.
Grab a box: Click here for football boxes

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FORGET ABOUT TABLECLOTHS ...
The Card: Diana Bang 2015 Breygent Bates Motel San Diego Comic Con Authentic Props bedspread card
The Price: $5.95
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a card from a pack made available to those who were at SDCC and that's funny because a recent San Diego signee's memorabilia cards seem to be on peoples' minds. That one was a Manny Machado news conference tablecloth via Topps Now, but this one is a bedspread from a scene in the Bates Motel TV series that ran for five seasons. I didn't pick this one up because of Machado, the show, the price or even the unique piece inside it, though. I bought it not that long ago because I didn't even know cards for Diana Bang existed. (I never watched this show.) She's a comedian and she played North Korean government official Sook-yin Park in The Interview, an admittedly stupid classic from Seth Rogen and James Franco that generated plenty of headlines for a real-world reaction from the leader that it mocks. She signed a ton of autographed cards for this Bates set, though I'd much rather own something signed for her as the badass rebel in the Rogen film. Non-traditional memorabilia cards are all over non-sports sets -- some of the coolest cards you can find when it comes to unusual inclusions -- so a recent tablecloth just didn't strike me as all that controversial. 
Grab a box: Click here for non-sports boxes

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BACK IN THE DAY ...
The Card: Vida Guerra 2017 Leaf Pop Century autographs 
The Price: $5.55
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This was one of those "I remember that name" click-buys when I saw it from a recent release and the price seemed lower than it might be. This print model probably first known for appearances in FHM and Maxim back in the day has other credits as an entertainer (music, TV, movies, video games) that include Eastbound & Down, Not Another Celebrity Movie, Dorm Daze 2 and CHIPS (and probably others that I don't know) but none seem to me to be as big of a deal as I had thought. And yet she's got cardboard ... go figure. That kind of leads me into the next entry here.
Grab a box: Click here for non-sports boxes

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... AND THEN TODAY
The Card: LaVar Ball 2018 Leaf Originals Metal Blue Prismatic (/20)
The Price: $2.25
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I shouldn't wonder about the credits of my previously mentioned autograph addition compared to this one. Why did I pick up a card of a Twitter/media personality and businessman perhaps best-known for being a loud-mouthed basketball dad? Probably just to write this item ... and I'm not sure it's saying all that much right now. (That might sum things up now that I think about it.) His playing days weren't all that special -- he averaged 2.2 points a game for Washington State back in 1987-88 -- his only season there -- before he spent time on the practice squads of the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers and then with the London Monarchs of the WLAF. His kids seem to be having mixed results these days in the basketball world, so that might not be helping the brand ... but at least I have a card. One is enough just to say, "hey, look at me" ... and, now that I think about it, that might sum things up with LaVar cardboard, too. Maybe someday it will all pay off for the empire. We'll see. (Maybe then I'll be rich off this card. Or something.) ... Next!
Grab a box: Click here for basketball boxes

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BONUS BUCKS
The Card: David Justice 2002 Bowman Heritage autograph (Steiner Sports authenticated/slabbed)
The Price: About $5
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is just a standard card that was signed during a past Steiner session but was slabbed by the company as part of a push to see if there is more demand for encased auto cards. There aren't that many slabs available from the company and a lot of the better cards they sell are moved without them. These typically sell for around $30 for lesser names but I recently cashed in about a year's worth of Steiner's rewards program bucks to get this for about $5. It's not easy to use those rewards -- some stuff isn't eligible at all, sale stuff isn't, either, and even some nearly-identical items mysteriously aren't eligible. Example? I would have grabbed his 2003 Topps Heritage -- a much better-looking signed card -- but only the raw copy was available for the discount, not an encased one. (Without the case, I'd just find a certified auto somewhere else but I needed to use my rewards before they expired.) I like the idea of slabbing auto cards like this -- something Fanatics also does -- so that's why it's here along with the simple fact that I'd never landed any Justice ink in all the years he's had cards. I also liked how detailed the auto was on this one -- something you don't see on all of his certified autos.
Grab a box: Click here for baseball boxes

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