BGS Submission Result Number FOUR - 2013 Topps Five Star : Ernie Banks Base Autograph (24/50) Now Graded Near Mint 8.5

2013 Topps Five Star Ernie Banks Autograph /50

No way no how. That is the chance that this card has in earning a gem mint 9.5 from BGS. 30/70 is the chance in my opinion that it comes back as a 9 as I am looking at a possible 8.5 from Beckett with this great looking Banks card but maybe the hobby Gods will be on my side and give me a 9 which I will be more than happy to receive. This was going to be a raw review card but it got bumped into the full submission stack once the volume got higher and higher. There are two corners that have issues and I am hoping that they are minor enough that they can earn an 8.5 so the card can achieve an overall 9 but there is a possibility they earn an 8 which I am hoping I am wrong.

We come to the 4th and final card of the batch that earned an 8.5 near mint grade and this is the only one that I can accept as going in I pretty much expected this to come back as such. I was right on as the corners did indeed get dinged as they earned an 8.5. Edges also earned that same grade which drove the overall to the 8.5. While this card was out getting graded I decided on a redirection for my collecting habits and I had already ear marked this for selling no matter what grade it earned. Obviously a higher grade would have been nicer but in the end I will be doing to this what I did to the Harper Five Star which is cracking it open and razzing it out on Instagram.

Four cards in and tomorrow we get to start on some mint returns. Sadly though the disappointments have not stopped with this Banks card as there are a few more to showcase which brought a frown to my face.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number ONE - 2013 Topps Five Star : Bryce Harper Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel (22/25) Now Graded Near Mint 8.5

And here we are once again. My biggest submission to BGS for grading is finally in hand and for the next two months I will be posting the results with my thoughts (and irritations) on each card. While the results for the most part were satisfying there are always cards that I assumed would do better which did not but thankfully there were a few pleasant surprises as well. 

As per the norm I will post the most disappointing to, in my eyes, the best results. Yes, like usual there are a few 8.5's to go through and obviously those are up first but thankfully there be some 10's at the end of all of this.  

With that said lets get the disappointments out of the way and up first is the biggest of the batch. Ugh.

2013 Topps Five Star Bryce Harper Autograph /25

I'm hoping with Frankie being in this group submission that his presence will give me good luck on this card but I am not holding my breath. I acquired this from Frankie awhile back with every intention to send it to BGS for grading and once in hand it looks great to me except for one corner. Always the problem with Topps Five Star. Just like the Cabrera if it can hold to a 9 I think everything else will come out to a 9.5 for an overall 9.5 but at the very worst I will getting a mint 9 card back from BGS of this likely 2015 NL MVP.

Well I was right on the corners possible holding on for a 9 but what I didn't expect was an 8 on surface. Even with this in hand now I still can't see the supposed issue with the surface. I learned my lesson with the Urias from the last batch that came back a 4.5. I cleaned this card up and made sure there were no nicks or scratches yet this Harper autograph came back as a disappointing 8.5. A 9 was all I was looking/asking for with a small hope for a 9.5 but this 8.5 is an eye sore to me. I had hoped to add another great looking graded autograph of the probable 2015 NL MVP to my collection but instead that hunt will have to continue into the off season as I will be cracking this open and razzing it out on Instagram.

Eight point freaking five. UGH!

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Gerrit Cole Base Autograph (136/353)

Gerrit has been on my look out list for a couple years now and with 353 copies of this card I have tried multiple times to acquire it on the cheap but prior to now I have always come up short. With the season that he is having I decided it was time to raise my price ceiling a tad before the cost really starts not to feel like a bargain.

The card books for a high of $40 but I was trying to pick it up in the high teens for almost 2 years now but no such luck. I didn't care what product line his autograph would be on but it had to be an on card variety and each time I came back to this Five Star card. Even with the big print run there never seems to be more than a couple on the bay at any given time and more recently they were on BIN auctions so when this one came up on a reasonable traditional auction with a small enough starting price I put it on my watch list and hoped to finally pick up a Cole autograph.

Two bids is all it took and I finally picked up this card after years of trying. I had no intention of getting this graded as the $40 book value is a little on the low side when I consider getting cards slabbed but this came in what appears to be gem mint condition I might do at least a raw card review. We shall see.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

"Trade" with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby (2013 Topps Five Star Craig Biggio Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel BGS Graded Mint 9.0 and 2014 Topps Dynasty Craig Biggio 6/10)

After months of no trades with Frankie we completed another transaction just a couple weeks after the last trade. This one though is more of a sale if anything as I plan to trade one of the cards that I acquired from him. Frankie announced on Instagram that he was looking to move a couple of cards as he needed funds for a card he had recently purchased. For me it was time to bring an old friend back home.

Both cards are of Craig Biggio but this BGS Mint 9 from the 2013 Topps Five Star release was originally my card which I traded to Frankie when we did one of our bigger (card wise) trades. After that I ended up picking up another Biggio autograph for my collection as I wanted him represented in it. When Frankie said he was looking to move it I jumped at the opportunity to reacquire this card as I always did love it and hated to see it leave. I promptly sold the replacement one (sold more than I "paid" for it too) which I sent to Frankie for this transaction. Once again I have my preferred Biggio in my possession.

Love my minty nines

... but there's more. Frankie had only use for one Biggio in his collection as he had the one he really wanted so he was looking to part with this other one as well.

2014 Topps Dynasty

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Like Frankie did I really need 2 Biggios for my collection? No I do/did not but I took them off his hands as I had/have another trade lined up for this card. I am not the biggest fan of the 2014 release (I think the 2015 looks tons better) so I hold no special love for this card. If that other trade falls though (guy is wishy washy) I can always flip it on eBay to recoup my costs. Either way I am not worried as it will take care of itself.

Thanks again go out to Frankie for the cards and once again I look forward to our next trade/transaction.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby (2013 Topps Five Star Johnny Bench Base Autograph 11/50)

It's been a little while since Frankie and I have done a trade together and usually it is a high dollar and/or a big stack of cards type of trade that takes some time to get all situated out so we are both happy with what we receive. This time though it was none of that as the trade consisted of 1 card coming to me and 3 cards going to him in a trade that took probably no more than 10-15 minutes to complete.

Frankie had remembered that I wanted this card in a previous trade but that never panned out but he approached me a couple weeks ago to see if I was still interested in it now which I still was. He asked about a Julio Urias autograph which I happen to have 2 of so 1 was expendable. I can't remember what the 2nd card was which means it didn't mean that much to me and then thirdly he asked about a Paul O'Neill card that I was planning to get rid of anyways but he liked it as Paul is a favorite of his.

Those 3 cards for this spiffy 2013 Five Star Bench card. He had been on my want list for years and now I didn't have to spend any money out of pocket. I know this will not grade out to gem mint 9.5 but it might earn a mint 9. I might submit it to BGS for a raw grade review just to test the waters. Either way I am happy to finally have one of best catchers to ever play the game in my collection after all these years.

Another smooth and easy trade with Frankie which once again was a win win for the both us. Thank you again and I look forward to the next one.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin(

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Ernie Banks Base Autograph (24/50)

Let's play two !

The man that would love to play all day in the form of a doubleheader and frequently did during his career finally makes it into my collection. Mr. Banks has been a very elusive autograph to acquire for me and became moreso when passed away earlier this year as prices jumped as they usually do when a famous person dies.

I missed out the couple of times Ernie was out here in California for a public signing and the few times I found out he was at Dodger Stadium signing for fans I was unfortunately not at the stadium that day. I never had a signed ball of his when I collected autographed balls so this is the 1st time I have owned a Banks auto. The hold up has always been that it had to be an on card autograph on a reasonably attractive card which there just wasn't that many of. I knew of this card but I could never lock one down at a decent price until the day this one popped up on the bay on a BIN auction with a best offer option. After going back and forth for a couple hours on offers the seller and I finally agreed on a price and within the week I had my Banks autograph card. Looks even better in person.

Even though this card has probably seen its peek in value I will probably send it in to BGS for grading even though I know the best it will do is a mint 9 as one of the corners is fraying just a tad which should earn it either a 9 or 8.5. I think it will just look better in a case so the grade isn't overly important to me but I still would like it to be a 9. We shall see.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Twitter Friend Kyle : 2013 Bowman Sterling Julio Urias Base Autograph and 2013 Topps Five Star Jim Palmer Base Autograph (170/333)

It's been awhile since I have done a trade (too long for my tastes) but I was finally able to pull the trigger on one with a Twitter friend who I have done business with before, Kyle.

I had a Bowman Inception Corey Seager autograph that I was not happy with as it came back from BGS with an unsatisfactory grade in my eyes and I promptly put it up on eBay to sell to acquire another card. Kyle happen to see it and asked if I was willing to trade it to him and since we have a past trade history I knew he was trustworthy and I'd rather deal without all the eBay charges. Took it off the site and Kyle offered me 3 cards to choose from. I don't remember what the one I turned down was but these are the two I chose for the Seager.

First up is this 2013 Bowman Sterling Julio Urias autograph. I already have another copy of this card in BGS 9.5 form and decided I would like another one for trade bait or just to hoard. Once in hand the card looks to be in really good condition and I might submit it to BGS at their next raw grading event to see if I could earn yet another gem for the collection.

I think Seager has the higher ceiling than Urias but Julio should still have a very good career and I don't think I can go wrong with extra Julio autographs.

While Julio is the future this card is from the past.

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Jim Palmer is a hall of fame member who played his whole career for the Baltimore Orioles and has 3 World Series rings to his name. Jim was always on my "to acquire" list and even though I knew he was represented in the Five Star brand I never pulled the trigger on an auction as something was always more pressing. When Kyle offered this one in addition to the Julio I couldn't resist on finally owning a Palmer autograph.

Another easy transaction with Kyle and I thank him once again for reaching out and initiating this trade as I think we both came out of it happy with the results. Till the next one.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Yet Another Trade With Frankie Of My Life In The Sports Card Hobby (2013 Topps Five Star Bryce Harper Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel (22/25)

Another month and another trade with Frankie of My Life In The Sports Card Hobby fame has gotten me my second Bryce Harper autograph for my collection. A few months ago I put to vote on what I should trade my gem mint Kris Bryant card for. Do I go out and add another (would be my 2nd) Koufax to the collection or go the young stud route and pick up a 2nd Harper autograph for my collection or do I stand pat and just keep my one and only Bryant? While all were gem mints I ended up picking up my 2nd Koufax and I believe that it was the right decision. Even with that though I still wanted to add another Harper so I kept my eyes open and then one day Frankie popped up on my radar.

He and I have done a few trades now and then they're are some that we never completed as we couldn't figure out the right pieces for a particular trade. Frankie posted on his IG account about a recent razz win in which he was the lucky winner of a 2013 Topps Five Star autograph card of Bryce Harper. It hardly cost him anything. Lucky guy. He stated that it was available for trade/purchase which got my attention. I contacted Frankie to see what he would take in return but 1st we had to agree on the trade value of the card. He once again asked about my Five Star Miguel Cabrera autograph card which I knew he would but thankfully that card became a tad expendable in recent weeks. More on that in a post in the future.

I knew a 1 for 1 trade of Cabrera for Harper would not happen as the Harper holds more value so after we agreed on trade value for both I sent him over the Cabrera card (plus some extras) and some cash moola to cover the difference and the trade was done. Card quantity wise this is our smallest trade but like usual he and I always deal with higher value cards and this was no different.

As per the norm with cards like this I intended to submit this to BGS for grading and once Harper was in hand I can say that I confident that it will earn at least a mint 9 with a 50/50 chance at gem mint. Also per the norm Frankie threw in some bonus cards with most coming from 2015 Topps. Thank you for those as well.

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And with that Frankie and I have completed our latest trade. Thank you again to him for helping me up my Harper autograph count by 1. He also earns another 2 points in my #walletcard contest for the trade.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby

Another successful trade with Frankie which was born from a failed one nets me the return of a favorite and an acquisition of a top prospect plus some bonus cards.

Frankie is the 3rd separate blogger to send me a trade package with their own business card. I really am missing the boat on this. I need to look into doing up some Penguin cards.

Frankie as always send some extra cards in the trade package and this time was no different as he sent me a nice handful. Won't show them all but here are a couple of my favorites.

A Jose Bautista manufactured relic card from Topps. Frankie was nice enough to throw in an autograph of him from our last trade and now I have yet another Jose card to pare it up with.

A Mr. Hu autograph from a way back. I forgot I never had an autograph of his as I was never in search for one. Still not a fan of sticker autographs but being as this is the only one of Hu I have I welcome it into the fold.

Now onto the main 2 cards that this trade was about.

Frankie originally had a 2015 Topps Finest card of Kris Bryant that he pulled in a pack and I wanted that and was trying to work a trade focused around it but we couldn't come to an agreement but Frankie was still interested in my/his old Strata Gwynn card that he traded to me last year. I wanted to have a Gwynn autograph though still in my collection so what did we do? Why I had him trade back my/his Gwynn that I traded him for the Strata. Ha Ha.

Mr. Padre

.5 from gem mint

I think Frankie and I are happier with the Gwynns going back to their original homes. He loves his Strata and I knew for a fact that it would not be gradable by BGS (which I wanted to do) due to it being too thick and I like the fact that this one is already graded by BGS so I can file it away with all the rest of my graded cards. With it back in hand though when Beckett comes back out in October I will be trying to get a bump on this to get a gold banner. You never know.

Along with Mr. Gwynn I will be adding another card to "hope I can get a bump to a gem mint grade" pile which was the other big card of this trade :

also only .5 from gem mint

I have wanted an autograph of Buxton for some time now but the right opportunity hadn't presented itself to me that is until now. Frankie recently received this back from Beckett and even though it is "only" a 9 it's still a great card and I am lucky to finally call it my own. I am hoping lady luck will be on my side when I submit both of these for a re grade.

Another successful completed trade with Frankie is in the books. Thank you again and looking forward to the next one.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Mike Trout Silver Signatures Autograph Blue Parallel (19/25) BGS Graded Mint 9.0

This is my third calendar year back in the hobby and now I have my third autograph of the reigning AL MVP Mike Trout. Each year (2013,2014,2015) I have been able to secure an autograph of this great and still improving superstar. With prices going up every time baseball season comes around it's probably safe to assume that this is probably my one and only autograph I will be acquiring this year of Trout's and I am okay with that.

After Kershaw, Trout is my favorite player to watch but his autograph cards are very pricey and I have to find ways through other sales to get enough funds to acquire another one for the collection. I ended up backing into this transaction as another mint graded Five Star Trout card that the seller and I agreed to in price reneged on when it was time to complete the transaction. In the end it was better for me as I picked up a more limited card, in a better color with the same exact grade. So I guess I should say thank you to the seller that doesn't stand by his word. In fact that card is still up for sale on eBay so I can only assume he is playing hardball with other potential buyers.  

19 of only 25

While the non parallel of this blue card is nice enough you just can't beat a silver autograph on a blue background. It just seems to pop better. After the bad taste from the reneged deal subsided a tad I went back to eBay with funds still in hand for a Trout autograph and found this one on a traditional auction. No BIN and/or best offer available so I would have to play the auction game for 7 days. Don't know how many people were watching this card but when the last day of the auction came there was still no bids on this card. With the knowledge that there are only 25 copies of this card and only 2 have been graded by BGS (other one is an 8.5) I expected more action on it but happy there wasn't.

Only one graded this high

The last hour approached and still not bids. Was starting to think I could really score a great deal on this card but I didn't want to get ahead of myself. 10 seconds left and I put my bid in and waited the remaining time left to see if it would hold. It did as I ended up being the only one to bid on it. Oh Yeah!!!. For 25% less than the agreed price of the reneged deal and a lot less than a raw version of this card I picked up my third Trout autograph and couldn't be happier. Can't wait for 2016 and whatever autograph I can score then.
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Perfect auto

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby

It's been awhile but I was finally able to complete a trade as Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby finished up our second transaction. As with the 1st one this one went smooth with no issues. The trade would have been completed sooner but I was dealing with my grandfather's passing (R.I.P.) so my concentration was a tad lacking. Thank you again to Frankie for being patient and understanding in this matter.

He will probably put up his own post about this trade but what I ended up sending him were these 4 cards :

• Tony Gwynn Five Star autograph BGS 9
• Craig Biggio Five Star autograph BGS 9
• Nolan Ryan Mini Frame autograph BGS 9
• Bo Jackson Five Star autograph BGS 9

The top 3 cards were part of a group of throw ins that Frankie was kind enough to include in the package. I already have the Brigham so that will go into the trade pile or I will pay it forward in another trade with someone else but the Urias and Seager are new additions to the collection so thank you for those.

Corey Seager Bowman Chrome refractor

Another Seager throw in but like with the Brigham I already have this BUT since I am doing the rainbow collection for Seager I am going to put this under the microscope to see if it might grade out to gem mint. Either way, I can't get enough Seager cards.

Brandon Trinkwon Bowman Chrome autograph

The trade for me was centered around 2 autographs with 1 being the more important one but Frankie was nice enough to throw in a couple more. 1st up is this base Bowman Chrome of Trinkwon. I already have this one as well but it's always a good day when you get to add an autograph to the collection.

Jose Bautista Five Star autograph

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Now this card is the best of the throw ins. I have had Jose Bautista's autograph on my to acquire list for quite sometime and even had a different copy of this Five Star on my eBay watch list but I never pulled the trigger on it as my resources went to more pressing "needs". Well, Frankie did me a solid and sent me this beauty. This was a great and unexpected bonus.

Now onto the main event of the trade . . .

Strata autograph of Padre great Tony Gwynn

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This card while very nice was not what I was after when this whole process started. Frankie ended up wanting my BGS 9 of Gwynn but if that was to happen then I would want this one to replace Gwynn. Since Tony has passed on there obviously will be no more on card autographs coming from him. Even when alive there were not that many to chose from as the Five Star the Frankie received was the 1st one that I found acceptable. While they are both on card autographs this one is at least twice the value of my BGS 9 one that I sent so there was the back and forth between us in trying to make sure we both received equal value and were happy with the trade. With that said that is why is was a 4 for 2 swap.

And now for, literally, the big card of the trade . . .

Over sized Bowman purple ice Julio Urias autograph

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You probably can't tell from the photo but this is one massive card of the Dodger's phenom Julio Urias. With only 25 copies in existence I never expected to acquire this card. Other than this copy I have only seen 2 others out there. One from a fellow blogger and another that sold on eBay, I never approached Frankie about this card as I never expected he would let it go since he mentioned he really liked it in one of his posts but it just goes to show you that you never know unless you ask. On top of my rainbow project of Urias I am trying to pick up as many autographs as I can before the prices really get out of control which they border on already. 

So that concludes my 2nd ever trade with Frankie. Some of you might say I overpaid for the two cards I received but that is the beauty of trades, it is what you think is equal and not what others might think. I was able to replace my Gwynn with another, I already have picked up another Biggio autograph so that BGS one was okay to let go and the Bo Jackson and Nolan Ryan while a lot to let go was about equal to the Urias card and value difference between the 2 Gwynn cards. I am happy and I hope Frankie is also happy with our trade. I do feel that he gave me a little more than I sent over in extras so I am already trying to find some other cards to compensate a little. 

In addition both the Gwynn and Urias look to be in great condition and are ear marked for BGS grading. I expect the Urias to come back a gem mint and the Gwynn also has a chance at that grade but a 9 on a thick card like that is fine as well. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Mike Mussina Base Autograph (134/333)

I can basically say now the Five Star brand is my new go to for on card autographs for players that are not rookies as those can usually be found in Bowman Chrome which is still my favorite brand. That is probably more because I grew up with those but man do I love these thick cards.

While there are the occasional rookies included in Five Star (Puig, Trout etc.) the main draw for me is acquiring older players that are in the middle or end of their careers or ones that have been gone for awhile. I grew up liking Mike for some odd reason while he played for the Orioles. I think it's because of his last name (Mussina) I like the look and the sound of it I guess. I never purchased his autograph before but going back through the years to see who I missed the first time around I came across Mike once again. I remembered I wanted his autograph and the first place I looked for it was Five Star.

While Beckett has this valued at a little higher than I think it should I remained on the sidelines till I found the right deal. This bad boy came up for sale one day on the bay and after a week I was the winner of it for less than the cost of a lunch. Not too shabby.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Tom Glavine Base Autograph (115/333)

The pursuit of acquiring one on card autograph from various stars whether current or past continues as I was finally able to secure one of 2014 HOF inductee Tom Glavine at a reasonable price.

Tom was a part of the great Braves teams of the 90's and as I have been searching for an autograph of his it had to show him in a Braves uniform. During his 22 year career he had a brief stay with the New York Mets for 5 years but his glory days were with the Braves and he retired as one in 2008. As the new norm it seems I went searching the database of Topps Five Star cards and found this copy. Beckett has this valued at $50 and I noticed most on eBay sold for north of $30. There was not going to be a great deal it seemed so I just had to work on getting a decent deal.

Lost out on multiple auctions as my price ceiling was not over $30 and each one exceeded that. When this card's auction ended it was for a tad less than $25 and thankfully I was the one with the high bid. Won't be searching for anymore of Tom's autographs but it is nice to finally have him represented in my collection with (this) one.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Fred McGriff Silver Signatures Autograph Blue Parallel (21/25)

The crime dog finally make his first appearance in my collection. As a former Dodger he was always on my wish list for an autographed ball but he was on the list so long that I stopped collecting signed balls and moved to cards and never acquired his autograph. Till now.

Though I wanted to have Mr. McGriff's autograph while he was dressed in Dodger blue I knew that was probably going to be a fruitless endeavor. I did research for that for about a week and nothing ever came up so I shifted my focus to just getting his autograph and with that I turned my eye to my favorite non chrome brand, Five Star.

I love silver signatures and then coupled with a blue background only makes this card better. For some reason this card books at $50 which no way was I going to fork over for but at 80% off of that? Sure, why not? No action on the auction and I was the one and only person to put a bid on this card and had it in my hands within a week.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin