Making the Grade (Dec.): Big Dumper, PCA, Kobe, Shotzi, vintage stars, Rhea Ripley and more of my usual suspects

Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

MY EARLY INK FOR A BREAK-OUT STAR
The Card: Pete Crow-Armstrong 2018 Panini Elite Extra Edition 18U National Team Signatures Red (from 2019 USA Baseball Stars & Stripes rack sets)(/100)
The Reason Graded: I landed this ink for the Chicago Cubs star in a rack set -- that's a set and then some bonus cards in pack form direct from USA Baseball back in the day -- and he was one of a number of good names I found there for a low price. They all sat with my stuff for a few years before his breakout 2024 season got this one put into a grading order. Why? So I could get some ink in a slab and cross him off my list of key names needed. Crow-Armstrong joined the 30-30 Club this season, won his first Gold Glove and was an All-Star, too. The cool part? I added his ink from a two-auto set for just $9.99. (Other colors of this card are in standard EEE boxes ... the Reds are only in the sets I bought.)
The Grade: CGC 9.5 (10 auto)

Reality Check: The stock on these is the standard Donruss cardboard that can't decide if its chippy or soft -- it's generally pretty clean but a bottom corner could be soft here on the card backs where there's some color to make fuzz really obvious. This one was cleaner than other grading-worthy names but I'll likely slab others I found over time as more than a few here are in MLB now. He was the highest-profile name who needed to be graded now.

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

PERFECT DUMPER
The Card: Cal Raleigh 2022 Topps Allen & Ginter 2006 Rookie Design Variation Minis -- RC insert
The Reason Graded: Big Dumper's monster year -- one where he broke several MLB and Mariners records and finished second in the American League MVP race -- got me digging back into wherever I put all my 2022 cards from Buzz Breaks and this one surfaced quickly. After a glance, I knew this one needed to be in a slab -- it looked clean -- and Ginter minis have been a thing for me since 2006 with a number of them slabbed in my collection. I liked this set more than the standard minis -- they are pretty busy for the 2022 design -- but this uses the original 1880s Ginter design just like Topps did in 2006.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: I checked in with a grade that's as good as it gets and that works for me -- Raleigh's run from seemingly out of nowhere along with his team's success was a highlight of 2025 for me for cards and this slab (one of three for him for me this year) will be an iconic card in my stash. That's nothing against the MVP -- we expect big things out of Aaron Judge with that big contract and plenty of pricey cardboard.

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ALWAYS TIME FOR RIPLEY
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps WWE NXT Roster Autographs Blue parallel (/50) -- RC-year auto
The Reason Graded: I'll say what I said here for a regular card a couple months ago ... I've ripped a boatload of these boxes in the past (back when they were cheap) and even a few cases (yep, because they were that cheap) as well. These days? Not so much with this first-year Ripley auto being a big find along with a solid crop of names who are among the top WWE ranks and doing well there or elsewhere.
The Grade: CGC 9 (10 auto)

Reality Check: Just like I said for my recently graded standard version, I've slabbed six copies of this card across three versions and most have checked in at a 9.5. (Both Blues here on the pop report are mine.) Given the on-card autos, sharp-tipped pens and skinny stock, anything nine or higher is solid ... no matter who it is. I'm fine with a nine on this one as she's already an all-time great and one of the biggest stars in WWE today. Period.

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HIGH-GRADE HERITAGE
The Card: Adley Rutschman 2023 Topps Heritage -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: My thing for high-grade Heritage RCs continues with this pick-up being one where, well, that perfect 10 was worth it vs. slabbing with no guarantees of even a 10 possible. Why? Heritage stock can be a beast that puts up a fight when grading in recent years. This set isn't as rough as others but it's still not a given to get a good mark so I grabbed it outright.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: This one must be on a clean part of a sheet as those numbers do skew toward the better-grading side for this particular card -- though I suspect that volume might have had a speculative bulk slabber in there where cards may have gotten scrutinized well before grading, too. All good.

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CLASSIC KOBE
The Card: Kobe Bryant 1997-98 Fleer Ultra
The Reason Graded: I pulled this card from a pack long, long ago -- likely that year -- and tucked it away in an album where it sat for years. Why? A solid photo for a brand I liked perhaps the most for NBA (I bought a lot of it for a couple years) and it's a key name of that time, though it's not a Rookie Card. Since the NBA season is upon us, I worked this one into a sub as it looked to be free from many of the common issues with Ultra ... funky gloss or soft corners from the stock and packaging. The embossed foil on the names can offer up some occasional funk, too, and I suspect cards that sat in packs for years might have potential issues from some of these variables as the cards aged stacked together.
The Grade: CGC 9.5

Reality Check: I figured this was clean enough to send and it turns out this is one of less than 10 percent of these cards graded to check in with this highest mark. There's nothing ahead of it and plenty below it. These are the kinds of numbers that should spark a premium for a card like this.

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EXTRA COLORFUL
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2023 Panini Select WWE Ringside Action Signatures Tie-Dye parallel (/25)
The Reason Graded: This brand was my most-ripped during the Panini WWE years and once the cheaper-format boxes got harder to land I opted to pick off some singles of stars I like. The Tie-dye parallels have been on my radar, especially for this colorful star who is ultimately my top collecting target these days for a number of reasons, despite her WWE days being over (for now). I picked off two years of this one -- 2023 and 2024 -- and subbed them together only to, oddly, have them both* end up slabbed as a 2023 card despite looking totally different. (The set name and even the card numbers were, however, identical, so that's likely one reason it happened. This is the correct one.)
The Grade: CGC 9 (10 auto)

Reality Check: The pop report for this shows a pair of cards but, like I said, the other one is mine and not from this year. Errors happen and really the only place this is an inconvenient issue for me is on the registry as it reflects what's on the pop report. I'll survive though some of that tank-driving Beetlejuice rage seen here did apply when I first saw the error on the other card.

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PERFECT PAIRING
The Card: Bo Bichette & Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2021 Topps Throwback Thursday 1968 Topps Superstars (/1,060)
The Reason Bought: I love some high-grade Heritage and this was as close as it gets to that -- except it's from the discontinued #TBT set and not Heritage. Despite that, the perfect 10 got me to bite for a good price -- and this was well before their World Series run. Why? It's one for my Bichette stash.
The Grade: CGC 10 (pristine)

Reality Check: The perfect grade got me to bite, but it's not reflected in the pop report,* while five cards are slabbed and noted there to be the image variation. There isn't a Pristine 10 in the stats and this isn't the variation ... so I suspect that perhaps none of them are and this one just didn't get added to that number for some reason. (Bichette happens.)

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OLD NAME, SOLID CARD
The Card: Aoife Valkyrie (aka Lyra Valkyria) 2022 Panini Immaculate Collection WWE Shadowbox Signatures (/99) -- RC-year auto
The Reason Graded: I picked up this inked card early last year when she was flying to new heights in NXT and was primed to arrive on the main WWE roster ... and that she did. I also grabbed this since that's her first NXT name and it's since been changed -- and the sig did, too. I like the appeal of early cards with ink that isn't likely to appear on cards later. I landed this on-card auto from a premium brand for about what a standard blaster box of WWE retail would have cost (if it still existed), so that made this a solid find. It was clean enough I knew I wanted this one graded, too, so it went into a sub this year.
The Grade: CGC 9 (10 auto)

Reality Check: The pop report is consistent -- my card and one other checked in at the same mark. Works for me. Nines are fine.

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A REPRINT THROWBACK
The Card: Hank Aaron 2000 Topps Limited Edition (Tiffany) Hank Aaron Reprints (announced /4,000 for all cards in factory set)
The Reason Graded: The standard 2000 Topps release included reprints of Hank Aaron's cards as inserts and this glossier version sold as a factory set (essentially Tiffany but a new name) came with a number of the insert sets included along with the base set with everything carrying a "Limited Edition" stamp as you can see. I pick off some new Aaron cards a few times a year and this one caught my eye as a cheaper slabbing option so I grabbed and slabbed.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: Nines are fine with the gloss here and centering/surface always having potential issues. Only two* copies have been graded, though there's a pop report glitch where mine isn't showing.

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PICKING THEM OFF
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps Chrome Pink Refractor -- RC parallel
The Reason Bought: I found this already graded for just under $11 and that's good enough for me to add it to my slabs stash for Bichette. Simple as that.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: Looking at that pop report, there really shouldn't be much of a premium for 10s ... nearly everything graded is one here. That holds true for the base version, too, with around 14,164 slabbed and 11,925 of then checking in at a 10 when I prepped this. Supply and demand will be in play here ... and, ultimately, it already is.

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OLD LABEL, BIG SAVINGS
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Finest WWE Refractor -- RC parallel
The Reason Bought: I ponied up a little bit to buy this card already slabbed -- about the suggested retail price of a 2025 Chrome blaster -- and that was a bit of a steal as another copy of the same card in the same grade (updated to the new CGC scale) had a simultaneous price of double that plus some ... for, again, the same card on the same site. Graded base cards can sell for more than what I paid for this Refractor, too.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: The volume graded here is remarkably low -- Refractors were in every pack -- especially for a key Rookie Card. This one was a win on multiple fronts.

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YOU DON'T OWN ME
The Card: Harley Quinn 2023 Kayou DC Glory of the Universe Collection
The Reason Graded: I paid about $1 for this base card. What is it? It's from a Chinese card-maker and everything is on really nice stock and impressive with scenes from notables actors/characters. Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and The Joker were ones I previously picked off -- and really the only aspects that aren't top-notch are the corners at times. This kind of stuff is totally on my grading radar with from big-name actors in movies ... not for the cash but as a collector and since you won't find cards like this in your typical card shop.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: Nines are fine ... especially when they are the only one.

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MY FINAL FRON THE FOURSOME
The Book: X-Men No. 1 (1991) -- Magneto (newsstand edition)
The Reason Graded: My final chapter in this monthly grading saga is another newsstand copy for this iconic issue. Why grade these issues? They are easily found, but I suspect elite marks on newsstand copies will not be as plentiful and there would be a premium if I were a seller. I only wanted to have top-grade copies as these are iconic but readily available issues.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: I was glad to see a top mark here. As you can see on the numbers even 9.8s aren't rare ... but I bet the newsstand 9.8s might be. The numbers here rise every month, too. Just compare this set to last month's piece in this series.

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CRISP VINTAGE
The Card: Mike Schmidt 1978 Topps
The Reason Bought: This fifth-year vintage card of the Hall of Famer is crisp and clean and, to me, really looks better than its mark ... and that's precisely why I grabbed it. There simply isn't a ton of big stuff wrong here beyond centering and even that's not that dramatic.
The Grade: CSG 7.5

Reality Check: Look at how few cards check in above an eight ... less than two percent. Most cards are found a notch above this one with a number of them checking in below ... that's vintage for you.

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A BANKS BUMMER ... ERR, NO MONÉ MADE HERE
The Card: Koska Reeves (aka AEW's Mercedes Mone aka WWE's Sasha Banks aka Mercedes Varnado) 2023 Topps Star Wars Green parallel (/25)
The Reason Graded: My Star Wars box buying has pretty much ground to a halt in recent years with the odds on hits getting funky at retail -- where I'd be more likely to dabble -- and then the influx of TV series to cards that don't really do that much for me. (There's too much and I don't care to need encyclopedic knowledge to know what references what when watching TV.) I did pick off this rarity of the wrestling star since it's rare and was at a decent price ... and I figured it would be worth a slab.
The Grade: CGC 7

Reality Check: The paper stock here is foilboard and the front is clean for the most part ... but multiple corners on the back have spotting and it's got black ink so it's obvious in-person. I grabbed and slabbed this off COMC so they probably didn't stand out as much as they could have ... but I like the card. I just wish it checked in a lot higher.

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HAD A SOLID SEASON
The Card: C.J. Abrams 2019 Bowman Draft Prospects
The Reason Bought: Abrams had a pretty decent 2025 season as a member of the Washington Nationals, hitting .257 with 19 homers, 92 runs and 31 stolen bases in 144 games and when I spotted this first Bowman card in a top mark for a cheap price I bit. Why? The unfamiliar team colors vs. the here and now ... and that cheap price.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: A good number of these check in at this spot but with nothing above and nothing a half-grade lower, showing that the skinny stock here and dark colors everywhere aren't a total given for the top spots with grading. Chrome stuff here and RCs later will almost always win in terms of more value, but you can find good names at good prices among the heavily graded Bowman releases. It's a solid little niche you can explore on the cheap after the fact. (Current-year debut demand is why a lot of these get graded ... to flip.)

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MULTI-PLAYER VINTAGE
The Card: AFC Rushing Leaders (Floyd Little, Larry Csonka & Mark Hubbard) 1972 Topps
The Reason Bought: Another niche to consider is vintage and among those multi-player cards like this can be cheap ways to collect good names. Two names here are Hall of Famers and also College Football Hall of Famers who were teammates at Syracuse -- though their basic cards can also be cheap -- while Hubbard is a Super Bowl winner. Atop that, this one does present pretty well for the numeric grade -- most of that is from the centering if you ask me.
The Grade: CSG 6

Reality Check: This card opens the 1972 set and, interestingly the highest mark of a small volume here is only a 7.5. (I'm betting that centering is consistently rough ... but that's just a guess.)

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ANOTHER REMINDER
The Card: Michael Ynoa 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospect Autographs (uncorrected error "Inoa")
The Reason Bought: I've picked off a few cards of this past can't-miss name who absolutely missed and this, I think, is the last of them. Poke around in Buzz Buys in recent months and you'll see a full spiel on Ynoa and the hype that wasn't fulfilled, despite him being a top name and a money guy when he hit cardboard. I picked this off for less than $8 for an elite mark and as a reminder that nearly all prospects are whiffs, not Hall of Famers, in the long term.
The Grade: BGS 9.5 (10 auto)

Reality Check: Only three copies check in higher. I wouldn't mind finding one of those if they are as cheap as this one ... they should be.

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A SMALLER ROOKIE
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini -- RC parallel
The Reason Bought: Checking off another key card (to me) from my player's rookie season for less than $8? A no-brainer move for a card that's already slabbed. Why so cheap? The seller likely felt it was a "miss" and most cards do check in at a 10 ... so that's where pretty much all the action is.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: Surprisingly, the volume graded here via PSA isn't higher but that's perhaps a sign that minis (only one per pack most of the time) aren't as easily amassed in bulk ... and Ginter isn't perhaps as popular as other brands these days, especially with grading.

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TALK TO THE HAND
The Card: Maryse Ouellet 2021 Topps WWE Living Set (announced /1,592)
The Reason Bought: There are a lot of names I like in this set, though not that many pieces of the artwork in the series were appealing enough to me to grab a few and then grade. Atop that, the stock can be finicky at times for grading along with the centering. In this case, I think I did do a five-pack of this former champ but I never graded any of my copies. Instead, this one presented itself on the cheaper side of things with a top grade ... so I called it good.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I was surprised to see how many copies of this one were graded but that worked out for me. I'm betting most would check in at 10s and then those that are more off-centered like a lot of the ones I landed checked in at nines. My other thought here? I wonder if that was a single buyer's 10-pack buy that went straight to grading?

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FEELING BLUE
The Card: "Like Father, Like Son" (Cavan Biggio & Bo Bichette) 2020 Topps Complete Set (Walmart) Blue parallel (/299)
The Reason Bought: Yep, another Bichette rookie-year card -- but this time it's one that comes with some trivia and a price anecdote. Despite its top grade, I landed this numbered parallel featuring the sons of two big-leaguers for less than $10. The trivia part? I always liked this image not because of the ties to the past but because if you crop in on the Bichette part of the photo, well, that's the image used on his Living Set card.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: The volume here is low because it's more of a niche parallel, but that just makes this bargain buy even better.

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WE WANT MINA!
The Card: Mina Shirakawa 2019 BBM True Heart -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: She's now a star in AEW and recently a champ in Ring of Honor ... and she's come a long way since this cardboard debut a few years ago in Japan. BBM cards are traditionally razor sharp and cleanly crafted and the front here is ... but some back-corner fuzz led this one to fall down a little lower than I had hoped. (Though I knew it wasn't perfect and I didn't pull it from a pack.) After I picked up a pair of these, I knew I wanted one, if not both copies, slabbed.
The Grade: CGC 8.5

Reality Check: The pop report didn't show* mine on there, but it did show others and, well, this one checking in lower than I expected means I might not actually sub my other copy. Why? This one seemed to be cleaner. The lack of 10s here shows this card, for whatever reason, might have some common flaws that prevent those elite marks. All good for me ... she's a star and I'll dabble more when she gets more American cardboard.

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GOING OLDSCHOOL
The Card: Floyd Little 1972 Topps
The Reason Bought: I landed this 1972 among some vintage lots where, like the one you saw previously, there were some top names included in terms of Hall of Famer status in perfectly respectable grades for the era for good prices (for a buyer).
The Grade: CSG 7

Reality Check: This actually checked in toward the bottom of the small lineup -- yet at the same time a vintage seven is impressive.

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THUNDER ... THUNDER
The Cards: Thunder Rosa 2022 AEW Metal Universe (high-number SP) Precious Metal Gems Red (/100) & Purple Spectrum (/199)
The Reason Graded: Her three cards like this in Red and Purple have been on my grading radar and I have all three in Red to show for it in slabs ... but grading here is not easy with etched foil, those black edges and skinny stock. Despite that, I've still gone there for all but one in the six-card lineup. Why? I'm a fan of the Thunder, a self-made indy veteran who has had flashes of top-tier success in AEW.
The Grade: CGC 8.5 & CGC 9

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Reality Check: The Red checking in low was a bummer and is a mystery to me beyond perhaps two needle-tip size spots in the foil. Nines are fine and the Purples weren't as pricey ... so I'm not sweating that one that much.

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TIFFY TIME
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2025 Topps Now WWE (announced /2,903)
The Reason Bought: I picked off this CGC slab earlier this year only to have BGS Black 10s pop up on WWE Shop not long after ... atop my buying a 10-pack of raw cards with an eye on grading. Go figure. I never slabbed anything raw as I couldn't decide on centering (I graded my rarer other finds instead) and the issues on raw copies weren't all that enticing to try and grade more. As a result, my Now buying has ground to a near halt -- and even buy slab buying there is winding down, too. Why? If there will be readily available self-subbed cards popping up on WWE Shop with discounts at times ... well, I can just play the waiting game.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: WWE Shop went BGS for this one for their e-commerce listings, so this pop is a smidge lower than a lot of cards that followed this one. Works for me. High pop numbers are a second reason one can wait for prices to drop, though volumes for WWE Now are not as big as they might be elsewhere. (They still might be high for the general/casual WWE card audience, though.)

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AN AFFORDABLE 10
The Card: Stacey Abrams 2020 Leaf Decision Direct Holiday Factory
The Reason Bought: Almost 60 cards have been graded from this smaller boxed set that included some bonus cards each time and this is one of two cards for this former office-holder who has popped up in pop culture in places such as Star Trek: Discovery and even has the cardboard there to prove it.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: I spotted this slab at $6 and grabbed it just for something different among the slabs since it's a top mark and she doesn't have a boatload of cards like many found in the Decision sets. Out of 57 cards graded from this release, only nine have checked in with a PSA 10 ... that is an interesting twist, too, for this bargain buy.

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