Buzz's Pick Six: 2018 Panini Contenders football cards

Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new or recent release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's release: 2018 Panini Contenders football cards

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UNIFORM NUMBER PREMIUM?
The Card: Baker Mayfield 2018 Panini Contenders Draft Class Gold Autograph (/18)
The Price: $1,999.95 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I didn't choose this card because of the serial-number that matches his uniform -- that might be partly behind the asking price here as it's a one-of-a-kind card from the 18 that exist -- instead it's simply because I think there might be more upside for his non-standard autographs in this one as people chase the regular autographs and their various parallels more for this brand. Those are pricey (and this is, too) but over time if he continues to build upon his rookie year it's the rarer cards that could have the most movement or interest vs. those that everybody chased and more people might have. I also picked this one because I think the design is solid and the photo works so well I'd almost slap the "cardboard perfection" tag on this one. In fact, I can't do that. It is perfect.

Keep reading for five more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

LEGENDARY CONTENDERS
The Card: Peyton Manning 2018 Panini Contenders Legendary Contenders Gold Autograph (/5)
The Price: $399.95 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a high-end option from of an array of inserts I really like from this brand, the Legendary Contenders. There is a standard set of 15 cards -- all all-time greats -- with Emerald, Gold, Platinum, Ruby and Silver parallels. Atop that there are standard autographs, Gold autographs and 1/1 Platinum autographs. It could just be a checklist oddity, but the company's auto checklists show 20 players in those sets. To me, the ink is a challenge project but the unsigned cards seem like a simple project that includes a solid design with legends such as Brett Favre, Emmitt Smith, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Dan Marino, Joe Namath and Deion Sanders to name a few. 

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SIMPLICITY & AFFORDABILITY
The set: 30-card 2018 Panini Contenders Rookie of the Year Contenders set
The Price: $15.99 Buy-It-Now
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one includes the reigning Rookie of the Year, Saquon Barkley, and others who were candidates on a simple and bold color backdrop. This set has the same lineup as the Legendary cards -- Emerald, Gold, Platinum, Ruby and Silver parallels for the standard set and atop those are regular autographs, Gold autographs and 1/1 Platinum autographs. They're not all going to be top guys but this one is also a small set within this one that can be collected without breaking the bank.

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UNDERVALUED GEM?
The Card: Lamar Jackson 2018 Panini Contenders Rookie Roundup autograph (/25)
The Price: $189 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is from one of three autograph sets in this release with this far simpler take on a ticket stub design -- a major plus as there's no doubt that this is not overwhelming the content of the card. (You can't say that in many years for this one's standard design.) The standard set has a number of cards that are rarer than others but only 10 Bradley Chubb cards were made so only 10 potential sets could be built. Meanwhile, as many as 99 copies exist for some players. The Platinum cards are all 1/s for this one, while the Gold versions are all limited to 10 save for Chubb again, who signed five. Jackson might be one of the somewhat overlooked rookies from this crop who isn't super-pricey, so there could be room on this one in the future, too. (For him I might bargain hunt his standard autos first ... but this one looked too solid to pass up here given its scarcity.) 

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A NEW TOUCH ... WILL IT LAST?
The Card: Saquon Barkley 2018 Panini Contenders Ticket Stub autograph (/26) (BGS 9.5/10)
The Price: $2,000 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The ticket stub aesthetic has always been the name of the game here when it comes to the autographed Rookie Cards but this year's new touch of a stub cut on these versions is something that's different and allows for more of a chase. Barkley's initial-graph doesn't do much for me but he's definitely one of the guys in biggest demand here. I might look to the Stub version of guys since they are low-volume if you can find them in ideal circumstances -- affordability and in top grade like this. I'm priced out on this copy but it's a solid card and ones like this and others seen so far are big reasons to rip into boxes of this one.

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DON'T FORGET RETAIL ...
The Card: Sam Darnold & Saquon Barkley 2018 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Dual Swatches
The Price: $17.99 opening bid (five days remaining)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Retail packs are the home to memorabilia cards for this one with these duals not easy pulls at one in 341 packs, per pre-release info. (That's a lot of blasters.) This set is 20 cards and includes pairs of teammates and then new rivals and others who might have common ties such as position. These won't probably be bank-breakers in the future but they might be tougher to find than you think in the future, especially when the one-player versions also have parallels. (This one does not.)

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

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