Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Tribute : Hank Aaron Mystery Redemption Autographs (12/25) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

This is part two of back to back day posts of the cards I acquired for the 1 of 1 Joc Pederson plate card that is above this paragraph. I debated on which card I would showcase first as the Seager from yesterday is limited to just 5 in the world and there are only 2 graded as gem mint and I am now the owner of one of them. Well the reason I got rid of the Joc card is 1) of the 3 Dodger hot prospects (Seager, Urias and him) I believe he has the lowest ceiling and is 3rd on my favorite list and 2) Joc is an unproven commodity just like Seager is, so Corey was up first as the main prize in my sale/swap is definitely a proven producer, the immortal Hank Aaron.

I have been after a Hank Aaron autograph for years upon years and not till now have I been in position to pick one up. I wanted a ball when I collected balls but every single one was over my set limit and/or the ball was not in good condition. When I moved over to collecting cards again I put Hank high up on my list but knowing that it would a long time coming till I could get one as his autograph cards are price prohibitive. 

Gold banner day

It was now or never to finally pick up an Aaron autograph. I had funds in hand and was specifically looking for a Hank card. It had to be on card obviously, but more importantly it had to be a BGS 9.5 as this was going to be my one and only of his autographs. This card popped up on eBay a couple days prior to the sale of the Joc card and I wanted to click the BIN button then but I held off till I knew I had funds to cover it. What made this card even better was that it commemorates his 714th home run which surpassed Babe Ruth for the all time record at the time (some say it still is but that is another argument for another day) which he hit against ... the Dodgers. Does that notion of 714th add value to the card? No not really but for this Dodger fan it adds a little more coolness to it. 

Once the Joc funds were in hand I went straight to the Hank auction and saw that the watch list had grown to 11. I hit the purchase button and within the week after all these years I had my very own Hank Aaron autograph to call my own. Woo hoo.

A closer look at the autograph

Hank's John Hancock has been getting worse and worse with age

Happens to all of us

So I ended up trading/selling the 1 of 1 card of "unproven" Joc Pederson for a #/5 gem mint of Seager (who is my favorite Dodger "prospect") and a great looking Hank Aaron autograph. I might even do an update on my timeline with the addition of these cards as the "funds" for these and other cards came from a purchase/trade from friend Jesse. Question to you guys and gals out there, would you have swapped out the Joc for Seager and Hank? Just curious is all as I am totally satisfied with the transaction and don't regret it but would love your opinion.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin