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 ... and this time it's still a few more past pick-ups than usual as my pre-COVID grading submissions are delayed and still in graders' hands.

GOOD AS GOLD?
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Update Gold #US1 (/2,019) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: This one looked razor-sharp when I pulled it -- and that wasn't always the easiest thing with the corners for cards in this release. While I might want to slab a few key RCs in this one, I wouldn't unless I think that the corners could be decent enough to get a 9.5 or better. Why? Because a lot of people are grading stuff here so you can let them take the chance at stuff coming back surprisingly low. Meanwhile, because of those corner issues (tight wrappers or chippy stock) a high-grade card is seemingly just not easy in this one -- and Gold parallels can be problematic at times, too,  though they were cleaner here than other past years.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: This card checked in where I had hoped but I'm definitely not alone as nearly all of the cards graded checked in as 9.5s. While the grade is a win, the pop report is a bit of a bummer. Long-term that might not matter as the demand will be there if he lives up to the expectations.

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

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If you hadn't noticed, there are a number of boxes with discounted prices right now right here as BlowoutCards.com is in the midst its Black November sales just two days into the new month.

Wave 2 is here and many of the discounts were dramatic enough that Buzz had to sit down and ponder the possibilities in many of the boxes and cases -- and here are five boxes/cases that caught this collector’s eye.

2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition baseball hobby box
Sure, this one's listed as a baseball set with that World Series-dominating guy, David Price, on the box from back when he was fresh off the Vanderbilt field, but this one has a lot of other surprises that makes it one to definitely consider as it celebrates the college game with a number of other inclusions that were helping shape a different card landscape back then that we see a little more familiarly today in a number of directions. Notable ink found here includes Price, Madison Bumgarner, Josh Donaldson, Corey Kluber, Jake Arrieta, Dellin Betances, Jerry Tarkanian, Don Haskins, Rick Majerus, Rollie Massimino, Ara Parseghian, Dale Brown, Dean Smith, Gene Keady, Jim Boeheim, Steve Spurrier, Tom Osborne, Vince Dooley, Jennie Finch, Rebecca Lobo, Brandi Chastain, Bill Walton, Dominique Wilkins, Summer Sanders and a number of other college stars and coaches in a few sports who don't have a lot of cardboard. You get four hits per box here and there are a number of other inserts that can also pack some punch if you land the right names. It's worth a look at its reduced price.

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The Longest Yard, Boogie Nights, The Cannonball Run, Deliverance, Stroker Ace, Hooper.  

Those are just some of the movies that actor Burt Reynolds helped bring to life -- and he had plenty more television roles atop those in a career that began in the late-1950s -- but he'll always be known for one iconic role. He was "The Bandit" in Smokey and The Bandit, a tale of the ultimate beer run led by Bo "Bandit" Danville and his battles with the cast of characters who tried -- but failed -- to chase him down.

That chase will continue on film forever without him, though, as Reynolds died Thursday. He was 82.

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Ara Parseghian is among the legendary names in the history of Notre Dame football -- a program with plenty of legends -- but you wouldn't necessarily know that by looking at trading cards.

You'd think there'd be plenty to collect for the coach who led the Fighting Irish for a decade and went 95-17-4 with two national championships but there really isn't.

“Among his many accomplishments, we will remember him above all as a teacher, leader and mentor who brought out the very best in his players, on and off the field,” Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins told The Associated Press about the coach who died Wednesday at age 94. “Whenever we asked for Ara’s help at Notre Dame, he was there.”

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