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

--

TWO OF BLACKHEARTS
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2025 Panini Instant MLW Autographs Water parallel (/10)
The Price: $39.99 each via Panini
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This former WWE star is taking over a prominent spot in indy wrestling with appearances downright everywhere these days but with only a handful of card appearances to show for it (at least for now). Panini's newer foray into cardboard for Major League Wrestling has so far spawned a trio of base cards with parallels and some with autographed versions. I've been lucky enough to be plugged in and online to land ink for a couple of those drop days and in this case landed a pair of these autos where only eight others exist. Generally speaking, I'm not that big of a fan of the elemental parallels used in Instant these days, but they are an upgrade over the previous year's parallels that merely colored in one of the stripes in a design similar to this instead of the border as it is here. Either way, this one I'm a fan of as she's arguably my top collecting target these days as WWE stuff has gotten too pricey to comfortably dabble/rip boxes and have fun with the typical returns. In this case, the only angst is battling bots -- cards like these vanish in seconds and end up on eBay with prices three (or more) times higher. At least when I plunk down the money for these I know what I'm getting. (For those curious, the auto stickers here are older when she was signing in higher volumes for WWE releases -- her auto is back to an every-letter sig now.)
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this ... but wrestling cards are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

Continue reading →

What: 2022 Topps Spotlight 70 II baseball cards
Arrives: Now via Topps.com
Box basics: Nine cards per pack (70 cards per set)
Checklist: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: This artist-fueled release returns with a world of watercolor baseball cards and this time the checklist includes stars of today as well as the past -- and with autographs dropping roughly one in five packs.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

Continue reading →

What: 2021 Topps x Spotlight 70 featuring Andy Friedman baseball cards
Arrives: Now via Topps.com
Box basics: 10 cards per pack (70 cards per set)
Checklist: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Imagine a Project70 run all done by one artist in watercolor and with every card in a 70-card set found in pack form with some other chasers. That's this one -- and the pieces appear to emulate the cards of the past rather than re-create them.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

Continue reading →