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 ...

THERE WERE NO GUARANTEES ... BUT I'LL TAKE IT
The Card: Joe Namath 1973 Topps
The Reason Graded: It's almost Super Bowl time and while I don't really collect any of the names who are going to be in this year's big game, I do collect names who helped make the big game in the past ... and this freshly graded card is a big one in my eyes. It's Namath's final card made by Topps during his career and I found it raw on COMC with is razor-sharp everything -- especially compared to other copies out there -- and decided it was not only grab-worthy, it was also slab-worthy with centering and only one corner with lightness and color immensely minor spotting on the front being the only issues. This one looked very strong for a vintage card so I submitted it for immediate grading directly via COMC, too.
The Grade: CGC 7

Reality Check: I had visions of a higher grade, but the card backs here have dark ink and corners on the backs can be spotty ... and I think that's a reason this one graded lower than I had hoped. But, at the same time, it's a pop-six card with only five CGC 8s grading higher -- and nothing above that. That actually puts this card among the elite for graded copies of this one ... and that's not a bad thing with my total cost here under $30. (The slight spot on the bottom left corner of the card bugged me ... until I realized it's some funk on the surface of the plastic slab, not the card or inside the slab. That's something I hadn't run into with CGC's generally crystal clear and clean slabs.)

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

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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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ONLY 40 MORE OUT THERE ... 
The Cards: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Transcendent WWE (/50) -- Rookie Card
The Price: More than I'll admit
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Not all 10 of these are totally new pick-ups -- I showed off five of them awhile back right here in this series -- but with this run of super-premium RCs I wanted to show them off all together. It's not often that I have been able to track down 20 percent of a print run -- especially in a brand that carried such a massive price tag -- or, well, really even tried except for maybe my PC player. But, last year I made an effort to start amassing them and I'm not done yet. How many more might I grab? Depends on availability and price -- I can think of four I have missed on recently but things could slow here as I'm not going to overpay more than I did to get this far. If you don't know, Ripley is the new Smackdown women's champ after a classic win over Charlotte Flair at Mania and could be the title-holder on both shows at some point ... and since she's young she's got plenty of time to do even more in WWE barring any injuries. Her 2020 Rookie Cards and autographs should be worth a look ... raw or slabbed.
Grab a box right here: BlowoutCards.com for other WWE cards

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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 ... and this time around it's a mix of really recent pick-ups as well as stuff found over the last year.

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A NEW CLASSIC ... 
The Cards: Roger Maris 2022 Topps Living Set five-pack (/5,722)
The Price: Bundle price via Topps
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Maris' name was in the headlines quite a bit with Aaron Judge's run toward his American League record 61 home runs -- also the New York Yankees' franchise record -- and Topps responded with a new Living Set card for this legend. The Jared Kelley piece includes some Easter eggs with the obvious one being a "61" on his bat and when I saw it I knew it was an instant buy. I grabbed a five pack with an eye on grading at least one, maybe two copies. (One is on its way to CSG as I type this and depending on how that goes a second might go there, too.) I haven't bought too many Living Set cards this year with lighter stock and centering issues straight from Topps happening too often even in my limited experience, but I think my one I sent in here should do well.
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but MLB boxes are here.

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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 ... and this time around it's a bit heavy on autographs I've picked up over, say, the last year.

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TURTLE POWER!
The Card: Kevin Eastman 2019 Topps The Art of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Green Artist Autographs (/99)
The Price: Around $30
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is an autograph from one of the original creators of the TMNT franchise that has been seen in countless comic books, video games, movies and other stuff out there in the world for years now -- a franchise among franchises. I'm not sure how rare his autograph is out there in the comic book world -- typically, artists do signings somewhat regularly -- but for trading cards he signed about 30 different options in this release that included one artist auto and one sketch card along with a very nice premium-style set ... and I think that is it for his cards. Poke around here on The Buzz and you'll see how these sets look and how I did pretty well opening a couple of them in the past. Why? The prices dipped rather dramatically in the year or so after they arrived but they have picked back up price-wise and aren't the cheapest of ripping options now -- but the sketches can be nice enough to pay for it all sometimes. I figured this auto was a key one in the long run, so I added this to go with my others. And, if you want to add some more pop culture trivia here, Eastman was the editor and publisher of Heavy Metal magazine as well as married to Julie Strain, a model and "The Queen of B-movies" who has appeared in BenchWarmer sets and helped create other card sets herself.
Grab a box right here: 2019 Topps The Art of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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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SOMETHING SIMPLE ... 
The Card: Shaun Alexander 2000 EX NFL Debut Postmarks
The Price: $7.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a throwback leading off because I have a simple question to present with it ... have we seen anything like this recently? As you can see, this card has a stamp affixed to a card with a postmark applied on the day of his NFL debut, which was in Miami. It's a simple kind of non-traditional card -- I don't think I'd call it a hit -- but something like this could mix things up a bit. Sure, there's a little extra work involved here but ... something different in packs that can be done for pocket change wouldn't hurt, right?
Grab a box right here: Nothing for this one ... but NFL boxes are here 

Keep reading for more interesting items ...

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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 ... and this time around it's a super-sized edition with buys from last year as well as some from recent weeks.

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THE RAMS & PRIME TIME
The Card: Joe Namath & Sam Bradford 2011 Panini Certified Fabric of the Game Combos Prime (/25)
The Price: $27.75
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is one of only a few Joe Namath memorabilia cards from his career-capping 1977 season with the Los Angeles Rams -- and it's on the rarer side of things as a prime patch card along with another notable past QB for the team who people had tapped for Super Bowl stardom. I figured I'd have this one lead off this time as the Rams are in the Super Bowl on Sunday and, to me, this is a Super Bowl-caliber card on the cheaper side of things. It's a part of my school ties part of my stash ... Namath Rams jersey cards are always worth the look in my book.
Grab a box right here: 2011 Panini Certified NFL

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It's a TV show opening scene that seems simple enough, but it spawned a lot of Internet and TV chatter with millions (and millions) amused.

(Click for a closer view.)

Hot takes arrived left and right on entertainment sites and political pundits had their thoughts, too. (Left and right, I'm sure.) It was something simple and something planned that generated some buzz and even some high-profile tweets that went out to some 20 million people. (Meanwhile, the episode itself had just 588,000 people watching per Nielsen. Go figure.)

What is it? It's the opening-credits scene for the fifth season of Ballers and it had player-turned-agent-turned-businessman Spencer Strasmore (aka Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) reading a copy of Elizabeth Warren's 2017 book This Fight is Our Fight as he sat on the beach in the first episode. It all takes place quickly and Strasmore's down-time is interrupted first by his girlfriend (Arielle Kebbel) asking him why he never goes into the ocean -- then that's interrupted by a phone call from Bossman (aka the Ballers-world owner of the Dallas Cowboys) before he walks off down the shoreline to chat. The scene isn't about a paperback with tattered edges at all, really -- it's about the mystery of the water, what Strasmore might be hiding -- but that's how the book's brief on-screen life comes to an end.

Meanwhile, that actual copy of the book? Well, it's still alive and well.

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The Walking Dead returns on Sunday with the midseason premiere and Entertainment Weekly is capitalizing on the demand for the hit show with six covers for all of the zombie-loving collectors to eat up.

There's a twist though with how somebody can collect them all.

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