Card of the Day - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Chris Sale Mini Frame Autograph

Whoops . . .

I am sure this has happened to many of you but this is the first time it has happened to me as I try to keep all my lists up to date but obviously this one fell through the cracks.

Sale is a great young pitcher and I wanted an autograph of his in my collection which was accomplished when I acquired a 2014 Topps Five Star copy. I only needed one of Chris so I was done. Well I forgot to update my to acquire list and still had this Ginter mini frame on my watch list on eBay and when the final day came around the cost was still well below book ($20) so obviously I was going to try to purchase it at a deal. I put my bid in which happened to be the new high and a few minutes later I ended up being the winner as no one else bid after me. A steal of a deal but when it came in and I was going to file it away I noticed my other Sale autograph. D'oh! At least I only spent the cost of a lunch for this card so it wasn't that big of a mistake.

Great card but I only really have need for one Sale autograph in my collection so if anyone is interested in this one (I prefer the Five Star for me) I am more than willing to part with it in some trade.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Result Update Number Sixteen - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Mini Bazooka Parallel (10/25) Now Graded PRISTINE 10

Original pic and thoughts :

2011 Allen and Ginter Bazooka Mini

Now for the six cards that I just "know" will grade out to a gem mint 9.5. Of course I've said that before and some have come back lower but on the other hand I have thought some cards would crap out on me but they received a 9.5 instead so you just never know.

This Bazooka card is numbered out of 25 and I so love these low numbered cards to earn 9.5's as if you have one chances are they can't all be perfect so you could have one of only a handful. This being Kershaw just wants me to have gold banner even more. 

Result and thoughts :

I wanted a gold banner for this card and basically expected it. It earning a 10 though was not on my mind but I am not gonna turn it down.

With this card being numbered to only 25 I made the decision to include it into this batch as I usually want all my numbered Kershaws to be graded. As with yesterday's Urias card I am more than happy that it came back with a perfect 10 and now the only question is did it earn a black label 10 or an old plain 10? Either way it doesn't matter to me (yes I would prefer black label) as anytime you can add a 10 to your collection, especially one that you didn't expect, it is a good day. 

Final Submission Result and Thoughts :

Post sixteen and I have 3 left to showcase. They are all pristine 10's so the only question is would one of them get the even harder to acquire new black label from BGS? Pristine means at least 3 of the sub grades are a 10 with the other being 9.5. Nothing more, nothing less. A black label is where all the sub grades are 10's but with raw grades just giving you the final grade you don't know if it earned a black label or not. Even if none of them earned a black label I am more than ecstatic to add 3 more Pristines to my collection as prior to these I had only one to call my own.

The other Pristine I have in my collection is of Yasiel Puig and whether it was now or later I always wanted to have a Kershaw in that club as well. While there are other Kershaws that I would have loved to get an overall 10 I can't hate on the fact that this limited and numbered out of 25 and is now my 1st pristine Kershaw. 

The sub grades were posted and sad to say it was the old "boring" non black label pristine that this card earned. Ha Ha. Nonetheless a great addition to my collection.

10 of 25

but

1 of 1 graded gem mint

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card(s) of the Day - 2011,13,14 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw / Sandy Koufax Ext Minis

2011 Ext Mini

Part two of the eBay trade I started sharing about a few weeks ago. The Bazooka was showcased earlier prior to these and the next 2 days worth of cards due to it being included in the BGS submission from last month but now I can get back to the trade and finish off the posts.

As stated I traded away a couple of autograph Ginters and in turn picked up 7 cards and they are all Kershaw and Koufaxs. Not a bad duo don't you think? 

2013 Ext Mini

Prior to now I have never owned any Ext minis from the Ginter due to them only coming in rip cards which go for a ridiculous amount on the aftermarket. If ripped and in turn these are sold on eBay or wherever where most sellers are looking for at least $20 a pop for them with book being as high as $50. Since there are more pressing cards for me to acquire I never searched these out. 

2013 Ext Mini

Considering each would cost me $20 each that would mean these would cost me give or take $80 depending on any given day. So getting these all in one swoop is a score for me. My Koufax collection is severely lacking and it's nice to own another one of his.

2014 Ext Mini

Of course the main reason I wanted these were because of Kershaw. Though I don't collect many non refractors when the opportunity presented itself to me to pick these up at nothing out of pocket I couldn't pass it up.

While at least 2 of the 4 probably would grade out to a gem mint 9.5 I will not be submitting them to BGS for that unless in the future the price really jumps on these (which I don't think they will).

Great looking cards with the purchase price of free.
= )

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Raw Card Review Submission From March 7, 2015 Update Number 14 - 2011 Allen and Ginter Clayton Kershaw Bazooka Mini

Original pic and thoughts :

2011 Allen and Ginter Bazooka Mini

Now for the six cards that I just "know" will grade out to a gem mint 9.5. Of course I've said that before and some have come back lower but on the other hand I have thought some cards would crap out on me but they received a 9.5 instead so you just never know.

This Bazooka card is numbered out of 25 and I so love these low numbered cards to earn 9.5's as if you have one chances are they can't all be perfect so you could have one of only a handful. This being Kershaw just wants me to have gold banner even more. 

Result and thoughts :

I wanted a gold banner for this card and basically expected it. It earning a 10 though was not on my mind but I am not gonna turn it down.

With this card being numbered to only 25 I made the decision to include it into this batch as I usually want all my numbered Kershaws to be graded. As with yesterday's Urias card I am more than happy that it came back with a perfect 10 and now the only question is did it earn a black label 10 or an old plain 10? Either way it doesn't matter to me (yes I would prefer black label) as anytime you can add a 10 to your collection, especially one that you didn't expect, it is a good day. 

So with this being number 14 in the 15 card batch what possibly could keep a Kershaw card from the top spot? Check in tomorrow.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Bazooka Mini (10/25)

Over the next week or so I will be showing off 7 different cards that I received on a trade from an eBay seller. Earlier this week I showcased the Gypsy Queen purchases and touched upon how we made a trade after that transaction and this is the first of the 7 cards. The reason I am picked this one first is that this Saturday it will be going to BGS for a raw grade review. More on this and other cards in Saturday's post.

The eBay seller and I started talking when we met up for the Kershaw transaction and found out that he is trying to put together a Allen and Ginter Red Ink autograph set. For those that don't know they are mostly numbered to only 10 with some exceptions. I have/had three in my collection, a Trout which is not and will not go anywhere, a Josh Hamilton and Ryan Braun. I do love these red inks but I got to thinking that maybe they are more valuable in my head and if I cut them lose maybe I could get something that was more in tune with my collection. I picked up the Braun and Hamilton at bargain prices as their autograph values have soured in recent years. I agreed to give him those two cards and in turn received 7 in return.

There were two cards that really caught my attention for the trade and this is one of them. I continue to love me some Allen and Ginter minis but what is different than the others I have acquired is that this one is a numbered Bazooka "variant". As with the leather card from earlier in the week I have never owned one of these and again, what better one to be my first than Kershaw? When I 1st saw it on screen I had every intention to have it graded and now that it is in hand nothing has changed my mind. I believe it should earn a gem mint grade and hopefully I am right.

10/25

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

BGS Submission Update Four - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Joe Mauer Mini Framed Autograph Now Graded and Slabbed a Gem Mint 9.5

The second to last entry of the BGS submissions and we finally see a gem mint card. This could have gone last for the week considering the career that Joe has had to this point which is far from being done but tomorrow's subject trumps it only because of the upside of the card and the player himself and it helps that he is a Dodger. Joe's card here probably will never see a substantial bump in value but it is a great card to have in any collection.

Literally the long journey of this card has resulted in a gem mint grade. You can read all about it's travels HERE . They say third time's the charm and it applies here. I submitted a Yu Darvish autographed Allen Ginter card and it came back a 9 and then as seen yesterday I submitted a Ryan Braun autographed Allen Ginter card and that also came back as a 9. Now it was Joe's turn and even though I thought it would possibly grade out to a gem mint I had to cross my fingers due to past results. Well lady luck smiled down on me and with 3 sub grades of 9.5 and the remaining one getting a 9.0 I finally have my own submitted gem mint Allen Ginter card. Autograph as expected received the pristine 10 which looks great next to the card's overall gem mint grade of 9.5

Four down with one last card left for the week.

5 Cards Submitted To Beckett Grading Submissions (BGS) At Frank and Sons On June 7, 2014

This past Saturday I went to Frank and Sons and picked up the five cards I dropped off two weeks ago to get graded. Those are being individually discussed in their own posts this week so take a gander if you like. With those five in hand I still had seven more that at some time I wanted to get graded. Well, why not submit five of the seven which gives me a reason to return to Frank and Sons in two weeks. Well here are the five I decided to submit and my thoughts on the chances of them receiving a gem mint grade or not.

First up is this red ink variant of Ryan Braun from the 2012 Allen Ginter set. With only 10 in existence I wanted it encased with hopefully accompanied with gem mint grade. I am being realistic though. With Yu's grade coming back with a mint 9 grade and Braun here being from the same set and I can see that it is a tad off centered I will be happy as long as it gets a mint 9 grade BUT as with Yu's autograph I do not see anything wrong with Braun's here so hopefully I get a 10 on that. There is one corner that seems to round just a tad but still think a mint 9 is within reason. We shall see.

Next up is our very own Dodger, Clayton. This is the one card of the batch that is not really an investment piece nor a rookie card or all that rare. I just for some reason wanted to have it slabbed with hopefully a good grade. Looking over it I expect the very least that it will be a mint 9. The only thing that might hold it back is that on the lower right side the edge frays ever so slightly. Corners are sharp, centered nicely and surface is defect free from what I can see. The signature is also crisp and not separating. Possible gem mint but wouldn't be disappointed with a mint grade.

With my track record with Allen and Ginter cards being graded I must be crazy to not just submit one but two more in this batch. Joe Mauer is one of the best hitting catchers I've seen. He is now a first baseman but the time he put behind the plate was excellent. Unlike the Braun card I do not see any centering issues and the corners are crisper than Braun's with no surface or edge issues to speak of. I really expect a "soft" gem mint grade here but gem mint nonetheless. Let's do this Beckett.

The last two cards are of Dodgers and really came down to preference on which received top billing. Black is more rare than blue but Urias has not performed at the big league level yet as Puig has. Both cards I believe are sure shots to be gem mint with the very small chance of one if not both getting a pristine grade of 10. I have never received a pristine and hopefully one day I will. Why not today? Urias's card is numbered out of 99 and looks to be perfectly centered and not a single flaw to my eye. We shall see what it comes back as. Come on 10.

... and to finish of the submission we have Mr. wild horse himself, Yasiel Puig. His blue card is numbered out of 250 so it is more plentiful than Urias's 99 but Yasiel has proven himself so there is a higher demand for his cards. This card at one time was selling for over $100 and it dipped down quite a lot as I picked it for a little over $30 ( eBay bucks purchase, woo hoo ) but I have seen it selling again close to $100. Thought it was finally time to get this blue beauty graded.

So that is it. 5 cards with my finger crossed for 5 gem mint grades in return. Have to be realistic though. I believe 2 are locks with a 3rd being pretty damn close to that as well. 2 with outside shots. We shall see in a week or so as results will be posted give or take on the 18th with cards back in hand on the 21st. Wish me luck everyone.

Card of the Day - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Joe Mauer Autograph

The card that went around the United States has finally made it into my hands after a long month on the road.

Of the many signed balls I was/am selling off one was of Joe Mauer. The long time Minnesota Twins catcher and now first baseman. Like a few others that ball never saw a blog entry as it was stuck in the que but just like the others before Joe's I still wanted to have his autograph in my collection. The ball was a gem mint 9.5 and I unloaded it outside of eBay so I had more funds than normal since I didn't have the selling fees attached to it. Off I went looking and there are just not that many non stickers ones of Joe. One day I came across this one from Allen and Ginter. A card that books for $200.

The seller had it on a buy it now without a best offer but it was highly reasonable and for an even swap of ball to card I once again had Mr. Mauer's autograph. It's adventure was just beginning.

Card originated out of Arizona, just one state east of me. I watched it via its tracking number and somehow it made it to Baltimore, Maryland. You know, real close to my home. Nice job USPS. After some calls from the seller to USPS and much patience from me, a month after the purchase the card made it to me and surprisingly in great condition. So much that it is a candidate for BGS grading the next time they are in town.

Great player.
Great card.
Great price.