Here's this month's roundup of items that have recently caught my eye as a buyer ...

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BOOK IT, BARRYMORE!
The Card: Drew Barrymore 2024 Leaf History Book Pop Culture Edition Chapter 1 A-List Magazine Purple Autographs (/10)
The Price: A lot less than some others have paid for her booklets
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: I'm not a big fan of how her abbreviated autograph looks on a sticker -- but since she has a long name I understand why she signs that way -- but I do casually collect some of her stuff, mostly 1990s-on (like in this photo), when it presents itself. Why? Just for something different ... so that's why we're here. Until Leaf's recent signing sessions with her, she's never had a certified autograph despite a lifetime on film and on cardboard since the early 1980s starting with Topps' E.T. set. Rather than obsess about her ink, I waited out a good price on this booklet and crossed it off the list. It's an unusual design -- not the typical kind of book -- but prices on her signed stuff have been steep with a lot of them being lower-volume cards. Many of her autos -- even solo ones -- can sell for $100 and up and combo booklets can be even steeper. I found this for less than that ... so it was a win for me.
Grab a box right here: Non-sports cards are here.

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On Draft Day he was "Mr. Irrelevant" -- the last guy that mattered and a bit of a punchline -- but today he's perhaps the NFL's new star on cardboard.

He's San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy and after his first career playoff game -- a 41-23 rout of the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday -- he's on the collecting radar even more. He's the lowest-drafted rookie QB to start a playoff game, win one -- something only three rookie non-first-rounders have done -- and that unlikely win is propelling interest in his already popular and relatively scarce overall volume of cards.

Why do we say that? While first-round quarterback Kenny Pickett appears on more than 3,600 different football cards so far, Purdy is at around 400 unique cards from Panini America, Wild Card, Leaf Trading Cards and others in 2022 packed out releases and online-exclusive singles releases. The good news? Almost 300 of those cards are the type that matter most to collectors -- autographs.

It's this overall scarcity that could propel his best cards into the stratosphere if the 49ers make a run this year but also help their values in the future if they come up short -- there's simply far less for collectors to grab vs. other high-profile rookies in 2022 releases. On Friday, the 2022 Panini Certified Mirror Gold Black autograph you see above sold as a PSA 10 on eBay for $22,500 -- and it's not alone being an in-demand card with potential.

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What: 2022 Panini Spectra football cards
Arrives: Jan. 18, 2023
Box basics: Four autos and four memorabilia cards per four-pack box (eight boxes per case)
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Spectra drops for another go with all of the color and flash of past years but with some new chase sets and all of the new NFL rookies in their pro gear and plenty more.

Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.

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