Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals is to rip a little less 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.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ...

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THE FORCE WAS STRONG ... 
The Item: Daisy Ridley autographed Star Wars: The Force Awakens IMAX 3D ticket (/500) -- BAS Authenticated
The Price: Less than a couple Chrome boxes
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: The next Star Wars film is in pre-production -- Star Wars: New Jedi Order coming in 2026 -- and it apparently pushes forward more than a decade from the last film with Rey Skywalker its main character. Hearing that much alone got me thinking I should really track down a Ridley auto now vs. later -- she has signed a lot but prices are perhaps softer now than they may have been in the past. Well, at least in theory ... she's seemingly always been expensive. So here we are. I had a few rules for looking here -- I wanted a full-name sig for sure, an on-card auto and a decent presence/feel for the item ... whether it be an item, an oversized photo or something else that might display a little better than merely a card. I wanted something clean and unique but also safe for a price that I'd stretch a little to get to since she's pricey. I opted for a seemingly Fanatics-adjacent seller where a number of big-ticket items reside without the massive prices that can come with those names and opted for this oversized commemorative ticket for an IMAX showing in Chicago -- only 500 numbered tickets made for each week of the promotion per location in late 2015 and early 2016 during its first run. I don't do a lot of tickets, but I liked the promotional twist and serial-numbered volume here (albeit it's only limited to 500 per venue) and then it being signed and encased gives it a nice feel in an oversized slab. This was substantially discounted by a third or maybe half of a typical price (they have a few) so I bit. Unsigned, it's not a pricey item but this felt cooler to me for its price than a lot of pricier certified auto cards.
Grab a box right here: Star Wars boxes at BlowoutCards.com

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Buzz buys and busts a lot of boxes right here for Buzz Breaks, but one of my goals is to rip a little less 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.

So, with all that said, here are a few Buzz Buys ... 

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HER TIME IS NOW ... 
The Cards: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Transcendent WWE (/50) -- Rookie Card
The Price: Less than some of your new boxes out there
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This one is more of a long-term buying project for me as I think Ripley has the potential to be an all-time great in the WWE's women's ranks. She's only 26 and has literally been wrestling half of her life, already has held WWE gold and this is her premium-brand Rookie Card (gaming cards don't count in my world) that has an iconic pose and is limited to only 50 copies. This one also is easily among the priciest of the unsigned cards in this pricey set that was made to be broken up. Only three of these are new additions for me but I had to take a pic of all five together as a bit of a brag -- I don't do that a lot and I don't like to give the prices when I spend big on stuff -- but this is a card I like ... and I'm definitely not done yet. She has other Rookie Cards (with logos ... this set didn't use them) from 2020 but this one will always be the best in my book and we know exactly how many exist and that it cost plenty for somebody else to land one. She's got another WrestleMania match against an all-time great, Charlotte Flair, here soon and I don't know exactly how that might go ... but I do know she's definitely worthy of a long and dominating title reign and a smackdown of a great would solidify her place. I think her time is now.
Grab a box right here: WWE boxes can be found here

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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 ...

WILD THING!
The Card: Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) 2014 Topps Archives Major League 
The Reason Graded: As you can tell by the green label, this one is an older submission of mine ... but since spring training will be upon us soon I figured I'd lead off with an oddball classic and a card that has been pretty pricey in recent years despite being from a set where they showed up one per blaster box (if I remember correctly). The challenge here? Now even finding blasters is not easy ... they got ripped. Why? There weren't just basic inserts for some of the stars of Major League who got carded ... they signed, too. (Roughly one auto per hobby case.)
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: This one was clean so I knew I wanted to slab it -- the backs here have black borders that can be an issue -- and as it turns out this is the only 10 of a small bunch graded. That's a win for me.

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

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