Making the Grade (Aug.): Flashy football, colorful Shotzi, vintage Bruce Lee, Barry Sanders ... and The Great Cornholio?

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 ...

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
The Card: Derrick Henry 2023 Panini Luminance Red (/25)
The Reason Graded: This card was an instant need for me in some form the second I saw that photo and I managed to find this rarer parallel on the cheap and in clean shape to make it a double win. It was so clean, it was one of a couple cards from this that made it into my recent submission and, well, it's another win for the school ties part of my collection.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: That one checks in as a good as it gets and this release grades really, really well from what I have seen -- not a lot as it's a premium-priced brand -- but enough that it will get further looks from me. (Maybe more since football season will be upon us very soon.)

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

CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD
The Card: Hulk Hogan (with Wendi Richter & Cyndi Lauper) 1985 Topps Cyndi Lauper
The Reason Graded: I ripped a full box of this one at some point in the last year and my first copy literally arrived bent in half -- and it was, oddly, the only damaged card in the box -- but the two others that I found looked good. Here's one that I sent in earlier this year thinking it looked really, really clean. Why does this matter? Well, it's an oddball card for Hogan that a lot of WWE fans may have overlooked as it's in an off-radar non-sports set.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: Also as clean as it gets and one of only two 10s and the solo example with the highest mark.

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A COLORFUL VICTORY
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2023 Panini Select WWE Ringside Level Tie-Dye parallel (/25)
The Reason Graded: I paid up a bit for this rarer parallel from a slightly rarer tier from this brand I really, really like. Why? Shotzi might be the No. 1 target in my collection these days from a simple collecting perspective (and since she's been out hurt prices have softened). Of course, I can't compete with the high-rollers out there -- and, ultimately choose not to, as I'm a collector and not a flipper -- but I liked this one so much I grabbed it off COMC and opted to grade it without ever seeing it directly in-hand. That's a risky move for surfaces but, generally speaking, I think most other probable flaws can be rooted out to some degree while grading there.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: This was a win and I like the mix of colors in this parallel perhaps more than anything else in the deep lineup that Select offers.

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UP ON THE ROOF
The Card: Bouncy Becky (Rosario Dawson) 2023 Topps Garbage Pail Kids x View Askew Green parallel
The Reason Graded: Dawson's only been a part of the View Askew world for a couple movies now and this one is an ode to Clerks II and a scene between Becky and Randall on the roof of their store. While the centering here is a smidge off for my taste, I opted to grade it anyway as this card is among my favorites in this small set that comes with an oversized box price that makes me say for myself "singles only" until it hits some slasher sales.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I was a bit surprised to see this one got a 10 but the centering is ultimately is its only flaw -- and it's also the only copy graded.

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IT'S ALWAYS TIFFY TIME
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2022 Panini Prizm WWE Orange -- Rookie Card parallel (/99)
The Reason Graded: She's destined to be a WWE champ anytime between now and the next Money In The Bank event (that's in 2025) and that made this one seem like an obvious card to include in this month's lineup. I've been buying and slabbing a lot of Stratton and this one was in a recent sub that came back with some impressive results.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: It's the only copy graded and it's right where I'd hope it to be.

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RETRO CHROME
The Card: Bo Bichette & Anthony Kay 2020 Topps Heritage Chrome (/999)
The Reason Bought: I landed this on the cheaper side of things -- a benefit of a bad season -- and that was fine with me. For whatever reason, his slabbed RCs in Heritage don't seem to be as cheap as others -- probably because it's got to be a tough 10 with the colorful backs and fronts for this release -- and that made this an easy buy for less than the price of a blaster and maybe for less than it cost to grade. (Nines are fine but when some people don't land a 10 they let stuff go easily.)
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: The pop report here is pretty low but the top two slots are where almost every copy lives. That makes sense with a card/set like this.

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ANOTHER UPC SLAB
The Book: Uncanny X-Men No. 289 (1992) -- newsstand edition
The Reason Graded: This clean and iconic cover is from my original run of buying copies for this title and others back in the day -- via newsstand -- and it's that UPC code that makes this one key in elite conditions. The eBay asking prices for this one are $100 or less for graded direct copies -- and there are plenty -- while zero copies of this one slabbed with the UPC are even out there on eBay as I prep this ... asking or sold.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: I came up short of the top mark, which was a bummer, but I also didn't press this, so there's a chance I missed it for some small reason. No biggie. I just liked some of the simple stuff around this time with Storm, Bishop and others in the mix -- and some of the more-popular issues from around this time are heavily graded so I figured I'd try some more-obscure options over stuff I may be able find with so many more copies slabbed. Just under 300 total graded is a pretty low number and I bet the newsstand copies are a very small part of that.

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TELL 'EM, PAUL ...
The Mag: The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) The Wrestler, January 1992
The Reason Bought: I picked up a copy of this one raw in the last couple of years with an absolute plan of slabbing it, but that copy probably needs pressing and that adds time/money to the process. When this one presented itself with an affordable price, I grabbed it with little hesitation after looking at the pop report. Why? I like this photo as it is close to one used for one of their better early in-pack card appearances from a couple years earlier.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: The highest (tied) of only two copies graded ... what a rush.

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PART TWO ...
The Movie: Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
The Reason Graded: My finale (for now) with graded DVDs/VHS is the second half of a duo I knew I wanted to slab just for the heck of it -- a pair that carries iconic covers for a pair of films I like. Is this some big-money item? Nah ... I'm just dabbling in the realm and after a first submission I do like the feel of slabbed DVDs a bit more than VHS.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: There's no pop report yet* that I have seen, but I know this one goes along with my copy of the first movie just fine and I got matching 9.4s, too.

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A RETRO PICK-UP THAT PAID OFF ...
The Book: The Amazing Spider-Man No. 265 (1985) -- newsstand edition
The Reason Graded: Top-grade copies of this one have topped the $200 mark for direct versions on eBay in recent months -- I'm not exactly sure why but this one is the first appearance of the Silver Sable character -- and when I dug out my issues from the past I noticed that this was somewhat clean by my standards (it was not an issue I bought when it first arrived, though, I bought it at a comics shop a few years later) and, more importantly, that it was a newsstand copy. This one was in a batch I sent that needed pressing so I knew I wasn't going to be a 9.8 contender but I figured it might do OK.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: This one did better than I had thought, actually, and even in this grade a UPC copy can sell pretty well. A 9.4 recently sold on eBay for about $110 total (international shipping included) while a 9.0 went for $85. I probably paid $1 or less for it back in the day.

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PERFECT ACTION
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2019 Topps Heritage Action variation
The Reason Graded: Acuña's newest injury is a reason I have not graded any of his cards more recently than this and his past injury also is why I didn't do more in the past ... but I am casually dabbling in doing some Heritage slabs. This variation came out of one of my few boxes early on here, so I had it tucked away for a while but when I was revisiting stuff I noticed that it looked really, really clean and it made it unto a sub.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: It's not heavily graded but it looks like most copies come in cleaner than not ... and mine is the best of the bunch. Again, that works for me. I really need to find a standard version to go with it.

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FISTS OF FURY
The Card: Bruce Lee 1974 Yamakatsu Enter The Dragon (winner stamp)
The Reason Graded: When I spotted this card raw and modestly priced over on COMC I knew I was grading it. Why? That photo is just cool. Lee has a lot of cards from back in the day -- a lot -- but few have photos that are as strong as this. I don't really intend to start a Lee collection but I will look at times as the raw prices are nice and the slab asking prices are substantially higher at times. Plenty of supply is always a good thing when looking for clean copies to grade.
The Grade: CGC 5

Reality Check: Only two graded and my CGC 5 is the highest -- and not even high enough to make the chart. The other is a CGC 4. I knew this was not going to land an elite grade with some issues but with vintage I think anything 7-8 is a big-time win and stuff in the 5-6 range can be a lot more impressive than some might think.

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COLORFUL FISHER CAT
The Card: Bo Bichette 2019 Topps Pro Debut Green parallel (/99)
The Reason Graded: My run of Bichette MiLB cards continues with this colorful parallel that just jumped out at me more than the regular one. Why? All that color and it looked very clean -- slab-worthy for sure. While this design has not aged well for me and I didn't like it to start with, the color part actually does help.
The Grade: CGC 9.5

Reality Check: Two graded and they check in at the same spot. I can live with that.

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RETRO PERFECTION
The Card: Barry Sanders 1990 Pro Set (Rookie Of The Year)
The Reason Bought: I'm not sure I 100-percent buy the grade here with the bottom corners having some light specs, but I did buy the card and I know I have seen worse-looking stuff straight out of packs -- stuff only touched by me after it left the factory all those years ago. I have pondered slabbing one of these for years if not decades now, so it was an easy grab. Why? It's a near perfect card to me -- that photo, that design, that color -- and I'd like to own an elite-graded copy as this brand is easily one that I have opened more packs of than perhaps anything else ever made. (It was fun ... you had to be there.) The stock here is soft, and the back-side edges are chippy ... and if you happen to find one that's clean from a pack you can simply destroy it all by using a penny sleeve ... even if you're careful.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: I actually didn't check the pop report before grabbing this and was shocked to see this being a lone copy checking in above a nine and a majority of the cards checking in at an 8.5 or lower with such a heavy volume. Those are all reasons why I want a 10 here. I can fret about this card a little less after landing this one -- seeing the stats makes me not sweat those corners here as much -- but I still want to sub an elite one myself. (* -- After prepping this, I noticed another 9.5 on eBay and there is a second listing for this card in the CGC pop report with what looks like some kind of signed icon ... but that other one wasn't signed.)

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AN IMPRESSIVE DIECUT
The Card: Tua Tagovailoa 2022 Panini Select Club Level Red & Blue Prizm diecut parallel
The Reason Graded: It's not a Rookie Card but it's a scenario where a die-cut design and an image seem to play off of each other quite well -- and it's a player who will always have a place in my collection due to school ties. It wasn't a pricey card so I slabbed it up ... that's how much I like the look of this one.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: What was the flaw here? I'm not sure ... maybe some back edge issue relating to the cutting. Nines are fine to me, though.

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A THROWBACK
The Card: Paige VanZant 2015 Topps UFC Chronicles -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: Flipping through boxes of past rips, I found some stuff from this previously cheap UFC release where I opened two or three boxes just for the heck of it back in the day for prices that probably wouldn't land me a single box these days. The stuff inside is still the same -- and I definitely don't care more now to pay substantially more -- but this RC did look pretty clean for a name who has been in UFC, AEW and elsewhere to stay on the radar.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I wasn't expecting a 10 with the paper stock here not being the friendliest, but it turns out it was clean enough to check in at a high mark. It's not expensive -- parallels aren't really, either, unless they're the really rare colors -- but landing a good grade here makes this a win.

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A UNIQUE PROMO CARD?
The Card: Jennifer Connelly ("Lab mishap") 2003 The Hulk Film & Comic Cards promo card
The Reason Graded: I didn't remember this set's arrival way back then -- I was more focused on football cards and perhaps maybe even some NASCAR based on where I lived -- but one thing I noticed on a recent deep dive of some film names was how few times that Connelly appeared in this release. This is a promo card, while I spotted just one other card of her in this set ... which seemed odd as she's one of the biggest names of that cast. (It's not her first card or anything ... I just also liked this since it was a promo.)
The Grade: CGC 8

Reality Check: This card wasn't going to be an easy grade and I knew that going in here as I own a different copy that seems legit-worthy of a top mark save for a spec of white where some of the light foil stamping mets the border and weakened the cardboard. It might be a common problem spot. This copy didn't have that issue but what I did miss was some corner funk on the back. There wasn't any white showing but some lift and very minor scrunch from when the paper stock was cut. No biggie ... I'll survive with an eight and I think it might be somewhat tough to top.

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A CHEAP ADDITION
The Card: Steve Austin 1999 Good Humor Ice Cream WWF Perforated
The Reason Bought: This was a cheaper grab simply for the heck of it. Why? It's a food issue release -- this card pulled off of an ice cream package -- and stuff like this can be tough to find here and there in any shape, let alone high-grade or graded. (Plus some asking prices for Austin oddballs is really high -- way higher than what I paid here -- so I did it.) I don't know if these are that tough to find but a couple of quick searches didn't show any of these just sitting around out there.
The Grade: PSA 4

Reality Check: I was a little surprised to see only two slabbed -- and that the other wasn't much better -- so that also makes me think this might not be the easiest thing to land in any form. It's one of 12 cards in the set and almost all of them are big names in WWE history.

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AN UNDERPRICED LEGEND?
The Card: Roy Campanella 2020 Topps Tribute Gold Relic (/25)
The Reason Bought: This rarer memorabilia card popped up already graded and cheaper than it should have been -- even for an 8 -- so it was an easy addition. There are retail packs out there that cost more than this slab did.
The Grade: CGC 8

Reality Check: The bottom left edge and maybe some corner spots were the "bigger" flaws here -- but some of that is perhaps enhanced in the photo here by the foil stock that's used for the card. This is a nice card of a perhaps-overlooked Dodgers legend and his memorabilia is cheaper than it should be considering his playing days ended in the 1950s.

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ALL HAIL THE GREAT CORNHOLIO!
The Card: Cornholio (Beavis from Beavis and Butt-Head) 1995 Fleer Ultra MTV Animation
The Reason Graded: There are a couple sets for this dynamic duo from the past, but few cards showcase Beavis' alter ego The Great Cornholio who, well, just brought extra energy to the world in episodes and also in the films. This card is from an MTV Animation set that offers up some looks at these two as well as other shows way back in the day and I landed it via COMC. (*An error when it was sent to grading listed it in the standard Beavis and Butt-Head Ultra set so the label here is incorrect.)
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I did this one as a pure novelty slab -- something to laugh at -- but landing a 10 from these skinny-stock heavy gloss years isn't always easy. I was surprised but I'll take it.

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PERHAPS WHY I DON'T SLAB A LOT OF POPULAR ROOKIES ...
The Card: Corbin Carroll 2023 Topps Allen & Ginter X -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: His season hasn't been strong -- I'd say it's been downright forgettable by his previous standards -- and that's a reason why I don't heavily slab a lot of obvious baseball names. They're popular ... until they're not. And when they're not,  the heavier volume of slabbed cards will remain with some holders far less attached to them ... so they can get cheaper. I did pull this one from a pair of Ginter X boxes and it looked cleaner than a lot of stuff -- the corners are the problem spots since it's cardboard covered in black ink -- and figured I needed a slab for the Rookie Of The Year.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I wasn't expecting a 10 here -- there's always something -- but it's the highest of two slabbed and I'll take it. I suspect the other grading companies might have higher pop reports.

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THE PERFECT PARALLEL COLOR?
The Card: Barbara Ella 2023 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Intergoolactic Mayhem Booger Green parallel
The Reason Graded: This set surprised me when I ripped into an affordable box -- there are a ton of movie and TV references in this one and I dig that kind of stuff in the GPK realm -- and when I spotted this parallel with a color scheme that makes the artwork here even more multi-dimensional this nod to Jane Fonda's 1968 science fiction film Barbarella got me. (It also didn't hurt that a franchise reboot is coming with Sydney Sweeney next year -- but this isn't a speculative kind of buy.)
The Grade: CGC 9.5

Reality Check: I wasn't surprised to see this was the only copy graded ... but a 9.5 did surprise me as the stock here is dangerously skinny and the edges/centering can sometimes be a bit dirty, too.

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BEFORE THE MERCEDES ...
The Card: Sasha Banks 2015 Topps Heritage WWE -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: She's now known as Mercedes Moné in AEW and already holds a pair of championships -- a strong start as there should be for a wrestling veteran -- and even before that I had been looking for her stuff a little more than in the past when I collected her stuff a little more heavily until they got pricier (for autos at least). Now, with time away from WWE, she's a little more affordable across the board and I grabbed this slab on the cheap since this set isn't the most-friendly one when it comes to grading.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: The stock here is chippy on edges and soft at times on corners ... and then there's that 1985 Topps MLB design. It's a rigid one that easily showcases centering if it's off perhaps more than it might if it was a more-symmetrical, modern look. (Alas it's Heritage.) This one was cheap so I dipped down and I might chase more from this set.

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FILLER TIME
The Card: Mac Jones 2021 Score '91 Throwback Rookies
The Reason Bought: Some déjà vu to end this month ... with another copy of a card you saw last time. Just like then, this one comes from a cheap lot of Jones slabs -- all costing well under what it would to grade even on a bulk deal -- and that's fine by me as they're just some simple Crimson Tide fillers in my school ties part of my stash.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: Also just like last time, the volume here on this lesser early season insert card shows how there probably were flippers slabbing a lot of stuff for names like Jones for a time, though it's definitely not an obscene volume of cards. It's just high for what it is. Now that he's a reserve (for now ... one way or another) many are bailing and I don't mind a bargain pick-up as, well, he's not in my collection for NFL reasons or any future potential.

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