Making the Grade (July): Rhea Ripley is golden and Wemby is, too, while Tiffy Time, The Beckhams & Dazzler do their thing

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 ...

MAMI'S HOME ...
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Chrome WWE Gold Refractor Autographs (/50) -- rookie-year auto
The Reason Graded: I picked up this one a few years ago for a pretty modest price -- about the price of a box back then -- and since then Ripley has emerged as the top name among a newer wave of stars who, barring injuries, should be helping redefine women's wrestling for some time. I had this one in my get-graded stacks for a long time as I don't often slab up auto cards -- I don't like surprises -- but I did it on this one and a standard auto earlier this year since they looked quite clean.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine) with 10 auto

Reality Check: As good as it gets and this card is a monster as it is. A raw copy pushed $500 not that long ago and a PSA 9 sold for that much as well earlier this year. A perfect 10 absolutely works for me on this one ... it's the best color here if you ask me, too.

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

GOLDEN PINSTRIPES
The Card: Victor Wembanyama 2023 Topps Now MLB (/48,654)
The Reason Graded: Speaking of perfect Pristine 10s, this one arrived back from grading earlier this year as I opted to slab some of my oddball Wembanyama cards vs. the couple of Hoops cards I landed as those had some slight stock spots where I knew there was a chance I'd get a mark that didn't work for me. I also liked the oddball aspect of this card -- over time it will be different than all those NBA cards to come as well as all the France stuff.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: The overall volume here is pretty high -- and the volume of cards with this mark kind of is, too. The printing and stock here is super clean generally speaking so that doesn't surprise me.

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A DIME ON TIFFY TIME!
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2022 Panini Chronicles WWE One (/99) -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I really should have held this one back for another month apart from the Ripley but this, too, was such a monster return for me I wanted to show it off now. This rarer-tier Chronicles set card is perhaps one of her rarest RCs and it's one that has a slightly different look than some of her other 2022 cards. I waited a bit but found this one for around $35 last year -- and now after her arrival these have sold for more than $400 slabbed and more than $250 raw. I dig that and apparently others are digging Tiffy Time, too. A reminder to buyers -- all those 2023 cards you're bidding big on are not RCs.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: Lone copy graded here isn't that surprising with only 99 copies in general. Stratton has gotten pricey but I think there's a bunch of potential here ... poke around in the archives as I've talked this former gymnast turned wrestler many times between buys and grading.

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CAMEO TIME?
The Card: Dazzler No. 1 (March 1981)
The Reason Graded: There's been a lot of chatter for more than a year that Taylor Swift would be popping up as Dazzler in a cameo in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie -- and them being together in a box at a Chiefs game last year only fueled that chatter. While it's been denied we'll just have to wait and see for the movie. As part of some comics submissions earlier this year, I pulled this copy from deep in my original buys in the early 1990s, got this one pressed and then graded. Why? Just because ... though I think a lot more of the speculator money is going into her debut in a past X-Men issue that came before this mini series debut.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: The volume here has been high for a long time ... but I bet that it's grown over the last year, too. This book is an interesting one in that it was the first comic issued via direct channels to hobby shops instead of newsstand and with its painted cover it was one that carried a distinct look, too. I picked this one up long, long ago and always passed it over as it had minor issues -- but all it took was a pressing to get it close to a top mark. This one came back higher than I expected.

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CASH MONÉ
The Card: Clan Kryze (Simon Kassianides, Katee Sackhoff & Mercedes Varnado) 2022 Topps Star Wars The Mandalorian Chrome Blue Refractor (/99)
The Reason Graded: I pulled the standard version of this one from a pack and with its Varnado cameo (aka WWE's Sasha Banks aka AEW's Mercedes Moné) that got me looking for the Blue parallel as that color just seemed right for this bunch. I landed it long ago -- it's likely in a past Buzz Buys -- and finally worked it into a grading order this year with CGC now doing non-sports for a while now. Why? I just liked this one.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I figured I might get a 9 or a 9.5 here as there's all kinds of texture that can mask flaws but this one came out as the highest of two graded. Works for me.

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CAMEO CENTRAL
The Card: Undertaker & Quinn Ewers (with WWE alum Michelle McCool & ESPN's Molly McGrath) 2023 Panini Instant College Football (/295)
The Reason Graded: There's a lot going on in this one and there were even four more WWE stars who didn't make the crop here as Undertaker presented Texas' QB with a WWE-tied championship belt to go with a conference title. I didn't grab this direct from Panini -- I actually found it for less -- as I'm not a Texas fan at all (better than A&M though) ... but I did grab it due to the WWE crossover and the fact that these are pretty low-volume cards.
The Grade: CGC 9.5

Reality Check: I came up short of a top mark but it's still the best copy ... for now. That'll work for a solid novelty slab.

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CROSS HIM OFF THEN
The Card: Bryce Young 2022 Bowman University Chrome 1952 Bowman
The Reason Bought: I finally just grabbed one of these in a slab just to cross it off my mental want-list after grabbing a copy raw a few times -- only to have nailed the centering but found other flaws that nixed those from slabbing once I had them in hand. This release had a lot of stock issues and this set had a lot of centering flaws, too. Rather than dabble more and submit one, I just grabbed this outright.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: It's pretty clean but it also had a surface indent on the back where I really wouldn't call this one a PSA 9 if I were a grader ... I guess that kind of error can happen with the volume business but since this wasn't super-expensive I can mentally let it go and can cross this one off the list. I might grab a CGC copy if it presents itself at some point with a solid price ... but for now I have even taken this one off my saved daily eBay searches in favor of other stuff.

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ANOTHER SAPPHIRE SPENCER
The Card: Spencer Schwellenbach 2021 Bowman Chrome Draft Sapphire Edition
The Reason Bought: This one was pretty much a speculative buy on my part when he was called up since that pop report is so small and the last time I picked up a cheap Sapphire slab of a Brave named Spencer I did quite well. He was not overwhelming early but it wasn't bad like, say, Jack Leiter so far this year. We'll see how it goes.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: Only a single 10 tops this mark and most check in a notch lower -- that's really the kind of ratio that should appear for a lot of cards but doesn't always seem to be that way with popular brands or names.

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JUAN TO WANT
The Card: Juan Soto 2018 Topps Heritage High Number -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I ripped a lot of Heritage High this year and have a number of the key rookies -- Juan Soto, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani -- and have dabbled with slabbing some with each but not all copies like I should. Why? Centering can be an obvious flaw here but the bottom corners can often be funky due to a combo of the stock and packaging for this kind of stuff around this timeframe. This one looked sharp so I popped it into a submission and I'll probably have more on the way in the coming months as I like Heritage RCs perhaps more than anything for basic baseball right now. With Soto's strong start in New York, it made sense.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: The grading volume here is pretty strong and most check in at a CGC 9 or 10 ... a little top-heavy but I think this card might have generally been cleaner in its spot on the sheet vs. the other key guys. (I had a lot worse luck with corners on the other two guys.) Soto RCs are no-brainers as long as you don't overpay ... that may or may not be a challenge with him in New York.

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HE'S THE MAN
The Card: Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther 2022 UD Marvel Studios Allure Storm parallel (/199)
The Reason Graded: I interviewed Boseman back in the day, so when I saw a few cards of him in this set using his real name and not his characters I knew I wanted to grab and slab one. A black parallel made sense for Black Panther, so I scouted the options and subbed this one via COMC -- not the safest route as there can be surface issues not easily seen but generally I've had good successes there.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: This one came back with the ideal mark ... and I'll probably have more from this set here in the coming months.

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WEATHERING THE NEWSSTAND STORM
The Book: The Uncanny X-Men No. 290 (July 1992) -- newsstand edition
The Reason Graded: This one is another of my newsstand copies I stashed away long, long ago and recently I dug out a few for grading with those UPCs that were once shunned now at times commanding a premium if a grade comes back in elite marks. The top eBay asking price on a direct copy in this grade (no UPC) is around $50, while a 9.8 UPC copy sold for more than $100 (but I'm not exactly sure how much) with few other examples to compare it to.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: I came up short of the top mark but with this being a clean cover of an iconic X-Men character, Storm, within a stretch of stories with new-arriving names and an era of popular artists there's probably still going to be some interest over time.

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CURIOSITY GOT ME ...
The Card: Brendan McKay 2018 Topps Pro Debut Fragments Of The Farm Relics
The Reason Graded: Curiosity got me here when I spotted this on COMC and noticed the edges and corners were all very, very clean unlike many others from this oddity of a set. I picked up one of these raw long ago as backstop net just isn't the normal kind of memorabilia found inside a card and on my copy it sticks out, making the top-loader bulge. I thought this one might have 10 potential with no obvious flaws in those problem spots.
The Grade: CGC 8

Reality Check: I was a little surprised with this return as it looks good ... other than some smaller indentation issues on the back around the memorabilia window. It's not bad ... but it's there.

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AN ICONIC COVER
The Book: The Uncanny X-Men No. 268 (Sept. 1990)
The Reason Graded: I found this copy of this book with an iconic Jim Lee cover in a ratty retail repack decades ago -- one where three or four comics were shrink-wrapped to a piece of cardboard with a hole for hanging on a peg. Many times, these castaway copies would be roughed up just from that packaging approach alone and they'd often take beatings as they sat ... serious buyers woudn't bother with the conditions alone ... and I really didn't either save for finding a couple of memorable books like this one that arrived in the months just before I was a regular buyer back then. That's why I bit here.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: I had this one pressed and was impressed with the results ... but it also came up just short of the 9.8 mark. Had it gotten there, this is the kind of book that has sold for more than $300 at times on eBay and has regularly topped $200. Mine? Around $100 ... still works for me given where I found it.

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EARLY DREW
The Card: Gertie's Goodbye Kiss (Drew Barrymore with E.T.) 1982 Topps E.T. The Extraterrestrial
The Reason Graded: When it comes to slabs, a lot of the non-sports speculators will look for an actor's main character card or first card on the checklist for "Rookie Card" status. Maybe, maybe not ... you decide. For me, I prefer a good character card first but in a lot of instances past sets don't have those. In this case I went for the best iconic "moment" card showing Barrymore in this set -- plus my copy was very clean and nearly perfect on the centering. (That's easier said than reality with old sets.)
The Grade: CGC 9.5

Reality Check: I subbed this one first and might do more over time just for the heck of it here.

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HELLO, WISCONSIN
The Card: Laura Prepon -- Maxim, January 2001
The Reason Bought: That '70s Show is a low-key favorite show for me from the past with a number of newer-generation names who have popped up elsewhere over the years but really haven't popped up on that much cardboard. (Some have, some haven't ... though there wasn't anything made for the hit show.) Prepon isn't in Donna Pinciotti mode here -- that'd be cooler tying it to the show -- but this is one of a smaller number of magazine cover appearances and one that's perhaps a little earlier, too. (TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly would be suspects for possible earlier appearances but I didn't do any deep searches.)
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: This issue popped up cheaper than it probably could have been -- some ungraded copies have strong asking prices, too -- and after a pop report check I bit, figuring I'd be annoyed if I didn't grab it and it vanished on me.

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AN ICONIC DOMINATOR
The Card: Pete Maravich 2007-08 Press Pass Legends Silver parallel (/499)
The Reason Graded: With Caitlin Clark's four-year run to the NCAA scoring title getting Pistol Pete's name back in the headlines -- his record was set in just three seasons, by the way, as freshmen were not eligible to play in his era -- I dug back into the listings and found this card from a classic line that has some classic cards and strong vintage photos that power a lot of them. Does this guy look like the most-dominant scorer in history? Nope, but he was ... and without the three-pointer.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: I knew the stock here could be a little bit of a risk with grading -- gloss-less with spot foil and color that could showcase issues -- but I had it graded and, well, nines are fine.

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PART ONE ...
The Item: Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003) DVD
The Reason Graded: I'm almost at the end of my DVD slabs from a CGC Home Video submission earlier this year -- a small selection of iconic sealed DVDs that I'd like to see in a case. Why? Just for the heck of it, really. This isn't a first-wave DVD or anything like that, but I thought it would be cool graded with its clean and colorful cover.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: There's no pop report yet* that I know of and I'd bet that there are other Tarantino movies graded ... but this works for me. It was clean with no tears or scuffs on the wrap ... so the upper-echelon marks may not be easy. That was really my only surprise.

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FINISHING THE MiLB RUN?
The Card: Bo Bichette 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League
The Reason Bought: If I haven't finished off my run of Bichette in-pack MiLB cards yet, this one gets me closer. I really want to slab all of his MiLB stuff -- and I think I have them all minus rarer parallels -- but prioritizing them vs. other stuff has had me waiting to see if stuff pops yup affordably and already slabbed. I think this pick-up suits that description. This 1968 throwback is one of the cleaner takes for MiLB Heritage -- some really didn't work, many did -- so it was an easy grab.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: People really should not pay a premium on a 10 with those stats ... whew.

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A PSYCHADELIC SENSATION?
The Card: "Good Vibrations" -- 2013 Panini The Beach Boys Honors Artist Proof (/99)
The Reason Graded: I ripped into a lot of this release when the hobby boxes were dirt, dirt, dirt cheap years ago and have a lot of it stashed away somewhere in my boxes and boxes of stuff. Why? Well, I was chasing hits -- autographs here can be pricey -- while the basics included some creative takes on inserts talking about songs and albums of the past. Ironically, this band isn't really in my wheelhouse with even their best albums just not my thing start to finish ... but thanks to a scene in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (spoiler if you intend to see it) toward the end it's memorable to me. After a movie full of twists and turns, it uses the psychedelic song for this card in a masterful way that serviced the surreal story. All that got me to say, "Sure, why not?" and slab up this relatively rare parallel. 
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I was either going to slab something showing all members in their beach portrait days or one noting a key album before this popped up on a search ... but this worked, too, while showing the full lineup. (Random thought: Sheldon Cooper would be proud of the Electro-Theremin in this one.)

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A POSH SOCCER CARD
The Card: Victoria Beckham & David Beckham 2018 Topps On-Demand Royal Wedding (/1,134)
The Reason Graded: Is it a soccer card? Is it a Spice Girls card? Yes and yes? (It's definitely a soccer star's card and a Spice Girl's card ... I know that.) This card comes from a Topps Now styled set from the past where it documented the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the luminaries and sights along the way. Only 1,134 sets were printed -- it was made to order -- so they're not super plentiful (thought not impossible finds). The centering and the subjects here got me to bite and get it graded.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: It's a soccer card, a Spice Girls card and a perfect card. Not bad for about $20 ...

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STAR POWER
The Card: Ashoka Tano (aka Rosario Dawson) 2022 Topps 206 Star Wars
The Reason Bought: When Dawson's Star Wars cards started arriving, I knew I was probably out of the running for autographs -- her ink in general isn't that rare or pricey as she's done a lot of projects with ties to the collecting realm and has done signings, but the Star Wars stuff is in big demand. I pulled some here and there and picked off some of the online releases early on, too, but for whatever reason not much ever made the cut to make it into a grading sub. I had this one among my candidates -- it's still in those stacks -- but instead I just opted to grab this copy already graded.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: It was only $10, so it was an easy pick-up, meanwhile the pop numbers are skewed to the 10 here rather heavily ... though the overall volume is low. Why this one? I liked the photo and the feel of Star Wars applied to early 1900s tobacco cards is a hit here ... some are misses but this one is strong. The top-bottom centering is what's off but that doesn't bug my eye like left-right centering does.

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A RARER ROOKIE PARALLEL
The Card: Walter (aka Gunther now) 2020 Topps WWE Undisputed Blue (/25) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: This German star's name changed once he hit the main WWE roster -- and his look has changed dramatically post-COVID years and him opting for changes in his diet and workout routines, too -- but he's a global veteran of the game who started wrestling in 2005 and arrived in WWE's ranks in 2019. He's also been a dominating retro-style performer and a solid heel in every way ... a guy on the verge of taking over a top spot and staying there any time now. With all that in mind, I looked to this set, a favorite of mine, and perhaps my favorite color of parallel, too, for some slabbing. Why? This thick-stock set can grade very cleanly.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: This one cost me about $11 and then grading -- so less than $25 total -- and I landed a solid mark for a solid card.

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MO' MONEY ...
The Card: Notorious B.I.G. 2012 Platinum League Hip Hop
The Reason Graded: This set is a heck of an anomaly from the past with a mix of big names and a lot of really obscure ones -- and with autographs in that mix I ripped into it, anyway, just like The Beach Boys set. While I pulled some ink -- not of anybody I knew -- when I ripped a couple boxes here back in the day, ultimately most of it ended up thrown into a box somewhere with some good names left in there. I recently re-discovered some of the better names in this one and opted to slab a couple to add to my music stash. It doesn't hurt that some out there are paying well for PSA slabs here ... but I'm not slabbing them to move them.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: Biggie Smalls isn't among the priciest of the better names here, but this one looked cleaner than others among my candidates so I slabbed it. This result works.

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VINTAGE POWER
The Card: Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron & Lee May (National League home run leaders) 1970 Topps
The Reason Graded: I spotted this card with two Hall of Famers and an All-Star slugger of the past and did a triple take at how clean it was. This kind of card is not the norm for vintage even for the cleaner years (printing and cutting got dirtier I think the year after this) and this one just screamed to be slabbed in my eyes. Simple as that.
The Grade: CGC 8

Reality Check: I was admittedly bummed by an eight as I think this absolutely looks stronger than that ... but then I looked at the pop report. Nothing checks in higher and only three others exist ... and they're collectively only eight percent of the slab total, too. That's a nice card ... especially considering I found it for less than $2 raw.

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LOCKED-IN CENTERING ...
The Card: Rickey Henderson 1983 Topps
The Reason Graded: The centering here is as on as it gets and when I spotted this one scrolling COMC I instantly stopped and bit. It, too, looked like a 10 contender but I can see how this one didn't get there with the bottom left corner being a little too fuzzy for higher than this. (Had the scans been a little sharper, it would have been more obvious but the centering here sold me.)
The Grade: CGC 8.5

Reality Check: Those numbers show you how even an 8.5 isn't a bad mark here at all -- and that's the case with a lot of older sets where the centering and other aspects are often a trainwreck wrapped in wax paper. And, if that doesn't get you, ink spots or divots/zits in the card stock itself might. Only 22 cards out of 134 checked in higher here ...

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RETURN OF THE MAC
The Card: Mac Jones 2021 Score 1991 Throwback Rookies
The Reason Bought: Just like last time, 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 9.5 (now 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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AN EARLY STICKER
The Card: Sable 1997 Panini WWF Superstar Stickers
The Reason Bought: This former WWE phenom has a modest amount of cardboard but her earliest stuff comes from before the Fleer and Topps years where there wasn't as much made ... so a cheap slab like this of an international sticker stood out from the pack a bit. (Her in-pack Rookie Card is from the year after this.)
The Grade: CSG 7

Reality Check: Stickers are a different animal with cutting, adhesive/packaging funk and other things commonly presenting themselves to make them often not worth the look if grading. This one? It doesn't look that bad really ... but at the same time it's the worst-graded copy.

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