Card of the Day - 2014 Allen Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Base Mini Parallel Red Back Variant (8/25)

Second to last card from my transaction from The Dutch Card Guy and what a surprise, it's another Ginter mini.

When I knew I wouldn't be acquiring more autographs for this transaction I zeroed in on 2 Ginters that I had to have and thankfully I was the 1st to ask about/for them so he kindly earmarked them for me. Ginter produced 2 years worth of red backs with identical print runs of just 25 copies. Obviously they have been hard to come by as I have been searching for them for a couple years and had yet to find one. Now with this simple transaction I have both as he had them (which I already knew) but now was parting with them and I was lucky enough to snag them.

As with the 2013 Ginter version this 2014 one looks to be a sure thing for a gold banner from BGS and hopefully I can have twin gold Kershaw brothers when I submit them to Beckett.

Eight

of

Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen Ginter : Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel Red Border Variant (32/33)

It's always nice to snag a card that you never thought you would get even though the demand isn't overly high for it.

I have the 2015 Ginter red version of Trout and wanted at some point to pare it up with the 2014 version. The 2015 has a print run of 40 which was hard enough to acquire (thankfully that gemmed by Beckett) but this 2014 only has a print run of 33. Even less copies to go after. I have only seen a few on eBay and one day I happened to see a different copy going for close to $50. Even with a book value of $30-60 I felt that was too high. Upon further review of my search I saw that this was on a BIN but not in my original search location. Go figure. This card's price was more up my alley and was a no brainer to acquire. Clicked the button and had it in hand a week later.

With my 2015 version as a 9.5 I hoped that this 2014 one would be in great condition as well and it looks like it is. It is now ear marked for the grading treatment in March when Beckett is back in town.

Thirty-Two

of

Thirty-Three

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY-NINE - 2014 Allen Ginter : Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel Flag Variant (17/25) Now BGS Graded Pristine 10

2014 Allen Ginter Mike Trout Flag Back Mini (17/25)

Only a possible 25 chances of earning a gem mint return on this card as that is the print run for it so hopefully BGS agrees with me and says its a gem as I can not see anything wrong with it as corners, surface, edges and centering all look pretty damn good to me. 

With the final card of my biggest submission ever we have one of the smaller cards as this is a mini parallel from the 2014 Allen Ginter set and not only did it earn a gold banner it earned a pristine 10 to go along with it.

I scored this on a deal on eBay and like it states in the above paragraph I saw nothing wrong with this card and hoped that this would join its 2015 flag brother as a gold banner duo. Well Beckett agreed with me and said this card was pretty damn perfect as the only thing they saw wrong was the centering was ever so off and gave it a 9.5 while everything else checked in with a 10. Another pristine Trout for my collection. Man I love saying another when it comes to BGS 10's. 

My goal for this and the 2015 flag variant of Trout were to come back as gems so I didn't have to search for a replacement which would have been difficult as they both have a print run of only 25. Well I can put that worry to rest as both look pretty damn nice to each other.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY - 2014 Allen Ginter : Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel EXT Variant Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2014 Allen Ginter Mike Trout Mini EXT Variant

A lot of people have shared with me the one reason they do not like A/G is that they experience quality issues when they buy packs and the card's condition is not up to their standards. I guess I should consider myself very lucky that I have had very minimal issues when it comes to that and once again I think this Trout EXT rarity should grade out quite well.

Even I was surprised when I received this from an eBay auction and noticed nothing wrong with it. The only thing I can see that might be an issue is that from top to bottom it is slightly off centered but other than that nothing else looks out of place.

Another gem Ginter of Trout is officially now in hand even though it was a lot closer than I thought it would be.

I expected centering to possibly be an issue but it was not as it earned a 9.5 but it was the surfaces that gave me a slight scare as they checked in as a 9. Thankfully the other 2 sub grades also earned a 9.5 like centering to give this card an overall gem mint grade. EXT variants are not easy to come by especially of Mr. Trout so it's nice that I don't have to find another one if this had scored less than a 9.5.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen Ginter : Sandy Koufax Base TTM (Through the Mail) On Card Autograph

I went and did something that I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't do again due to unsavory people on the internet but 2 things made me change my mind for this one time, Koufax and a money back guarantee.

I love Koufax autographs and they are a pricey endeavor as other collectors know. On card versions from Topps can range from a couple hundred to well over $1000 while trying to get him in person is a hard process in itself. So when I first saw this card up on eBay I didn't really thing twice about is but a few days later I saw it again and decided to click on the auction. His asking price was $40 OBO but what caught my eye was that he guaranteed it was/is authentic as he received it from the man himself AND IF the buyer would send it to a 3rd party authenticator i.e. PSA/JSA and it didn't pass he would refund the whole cost. Hmmm.... now I'm interested but of course only if if could be had at a deal. What happened now I really didn't expect.

I sent over an offer of $30 and if he accepted great if not I wasn't interested in negotiating. He declined my offer by taking someone else's which I found out was $35. Well he contacted me a day later and said that the buyer backed out and if I still wanted it I could send him an offer. Well I wasn't changing my offer so I sent him the same $30 one and he rejected that AND INSTEAD sent me a counter of $25. What? He messaged me and said he should have taken the original one from me and felt "bad" so he wanted to sell it to me for the lower amount. Well with the money back guarantee still in place I took his offer and will now get it authenticated by JSA.

So either I just picked up a great Koufax autograph for $25 which I think is a steal or I am just loaning him $25 as if it comes back from JSA as not real I will get my money right back. To me either way is a win win situation but I am for sure hoping for the former and not the latter.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number THIRTY-TWO - 2014 Allen Ginter : Sandy Koufax Base Mini Parallel Red Border Variant (24/33) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2014 Allen Ginter Sandy Koufax Mini Red (24/33)

Another Ginter for the this big batch of cards and another one that I hope and expected will return to me with a gold label affixed to it.

Still working on the quantity for my Koufax collection as the quality is for sure there and my thinking is this will come back with a minimum of a 9.5 as I could not see anything wrong with it. This is definitely the strongest Ginter of the batch and anything less then a gem mint return will be considered a disappointment. 

My comment of this being the strongest Ginter of the batch was far off but more on that a down the road. Even though this was not the strongest it still earned the coveted gold banner even if there was a 9 sub grade.

When I acquired this centering looked almost 50/50 under the loop and BGS agreed as it handed it a 9.5. Surface did it one better with a 10. The only grade that suffered were the corners as they came in last with the aforementioned 9. No worries though as overall it still is a 9.5 and that is all that matters at the end of the day.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen Ginter : Sandy Koufax Base Mini Parallel Red Border Variant (24/33)

Of the 4 PC players that I hunt down Koufax is far and away the least represented in my overall collection. That is because I am only after numbered parallels and Sandy is just not in many modern sets that have the option so when I come across one I make sure I get my hands on it as long as it is had at a good deal.

I was searching for Ginter cards in general 1 day and came across this red parallel beauty of the Dodger great on a BIN for less than low book which sits at $25. Couldn't believe it as with a print run of just 33 they don't show up very often for sale. I still haven't found a copy of Kershaw or Trout from the same year so finding Koufax was nice. There was no best offer option but with such a nice low price I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and a few days later it came in. I hoped it would be in gradable condition and I wasn't disappointed as to me it looks like a future gem mint card to me. Submitted to and waiting for an answer from BGS on what they think.

Twenty-Four

of

Thirty-Three

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen Ginter : Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel Flag Back Variant (17/25)

Oh how I love when items on eBay are mislabeled. Though it wasn't that big of an "error" on this card's auction it still might have helped me land it after months of trying as the seller did not want to budge on asking price.

This is a 2014 Ginter flag back variant but the seller had it labeled as a 2015 version. While small it might have not received as much attention as when people did their searches it didn't pull up. Their loss is my gain. The 2015 version has a book value of $25-60 while this 2014 one has none. That means at worst it is valued the same as the 2015 and more likely actually a little more as there have not been many transactions. The seller had this on a BIN auction with no best offer option and it sat on eBay for the better part of half a year. I kept pestering him for a lower selling price but he kept saying no. As he said no his asking price lowered as it wasn't selling but each time he lowered his price my asking price also got lower. Finally one day I guess he gave up or got tired of me asking and he finally met my price and a week later I finally was the owner of this limited beauty.

For a Ginter card it appears to be in tip top condition and I will put that to a test as BGS is back in town. Hoping to add another 9.5 or better to my Trout collection.

Seventeen

of

Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen Ginter : Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel EXT Variant

Patience, desire and good timing finally landed me this "rare" Mike Trout card.

It hails from the 2014 Ginter set but it is the EXT variant which can only be found in rip cards and not all those cards are torn open so who knows how many of these are actually on the open market. Book has this valued from $30-80 which on the high end is too much for my tastes but the low end is reasonable if it was nothing out of pocket.

This bad boy popped up on eBay one day on a BIN auction from a newish seller and had a best offer attached to it. I sent him an offer and he promptly countered at only a few bucks from his asking price. To say the least I declined and moved on but kept it on my watch list as I was curious to see what it would sell for. A few days later he messaged me and said if I would pay right then and there he would sell it to me for $5 less than my offer price. What? Well OK then. I accepted his "offer" and sent over the funds. I half expected this card to come in with some small flaw but under the magnifying glass I see nothing wrong with this card. Well you know where this card is going, BGS. Hoping for another Trout gem.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number THIRTY - 2014 Allen Ginter : Yasiel Puig Base Mini Parallel Metal Variant Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2014 Allen Ginter Yasiel Puig Mini Metal /10?

Here is another card that could go either way and one that was going to go the raw review route first before I changed my mind. Metal cards have a history of having surface issues which obviously affect grades from BGS and since I haven't seen any of these Ginter cards in person other than this one I have none to reference when it comes to the surface. I think there is nothing wrong with it nor anything else on the card for that matter but I am not going to hold my breath. I think it could and should be a gem mint card but at the same time BGS can come back and say no and slap an 8.5 on it. Well here's hoping for the former and not the latter.

The biggest jump of the batch comes from yet another Ginter for the week which also closes the 6th and final "full" week of BGS results as next week there are only 3 to show off.

I had this Puig card pegged 2nd to last in the hopes of earning a gem mint grade but this mini did just that and I have added yet another great looking card of the Dodger who's career is at a crossroads. I really thought this card would come back as a 9 at most with my thoughts already looking downwards to a near mint 8.5. Metal cards have a history of having surface issues and with a brushstroke looking design on this card I had no idea if that would affect the grade. Well in the end surface did indeed have the lowest grade of the 4 but thankfully it was a 9 and coupled with 3 9.5's it earned on overall 9.5 grade. Not too shabby for a card I had little hopes of doing well.

I have moved on from Puig cards as of this write up so if this card is not gone by the time this post goes live it is available for purchase if anyone is interested.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Battle of the Graded Kershaws aka Which Would You Prefer In Your Collection

Let's get ready to rumble.....

2012 Allen Ginter

Card Grade : Mint 9.0

Autograph Grade : Gem Mint 10

VS.

2014 Allen Ginter

Card Grade : Gem Mint 9.5

Autograph Grade : 9.0

I am lucky to say that both of these cards reside in my collection. The 2012 was "purchased" on eBay in graded form while the 2014 one was also "purchased" on eBay albeit in raw form and then submitted by me to BGS for its grade. While both great they both are irritating in their own small way and that is why I am doing this post as I am curious to which you the reader would prefer in your collection if you had to have only one. The year does not come into play at all here but the grade is the matter at hand.

As most of you know by now I am a stickler for gem mint returns on my card submissions so while the 2012 is not gem mint is it "better" than the 2014 which is docked by the auto grade of 9 even though the card is an overall gem mint 9.5? For those that don't the reason the autograph received a 9 instead of a 10 it is because the autograph goes to the edge of the card. Yeah, I think that is a stupid reason for docking a card. The other reason an autograph can earn a lesser grade is if there is streaking which I can understand and support but the "edging" of an autograph I just don't see nor like.

I have talked to a few people that rather have the autograph to be a 10 and the card grade to be lower than the other way around as they think the autograph is the most important part of the card. I agree when it comes to the streaking issue but what of this 2014 with an edged autograph? I really want my cards to be gem mint but in the case of the autograph being part of the card it really is an eye sore seeing that 9.5 tainted by that 9 next to it. I am leaning more and more into the camp of I rather see a 9/10 than a 9.5/9. Which would you rather have? Curious minds would like to know.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number TWO - 2014 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Base Mini Parallel EXT Variant Now Graded Near Mint 8.5

2014 Allen Ginter EXT Mini

Another Ginter, another Kershaw and another expected return of the bare minimum of mint 9 but if push came to shove I would say this is border line gem mint. I see nothing wrong with surfaces and edges so they should earn 9.5's but the corners and centering might just be a tad off on both that they both earn a 9 which would make it an overall 9. Hoping one if not both can garner a 9.5 so I can have another gem mint mini Kershaw in my collection.

Well once again I was right about the corners as I was with the Harper card and just like that one this one also earned an 8.5 on that sub grade. What I didn't expect was that the edges would also earn an 8.5 which drove the overall grade of this card to an 8.5. I want/need to have all my limited Kershaw cards to be at least a 9 and this addition irks me. I could crack it open and resell it but as this is the off season it would not be the optimal time to do that. I might even just end up keeping it and just chalk it up as a "loss". Of course it is only .5 from a mint so I could always go the re grading route but I don't think that this card is worth it. Oh well.

Yet another irritating 8.5 in the batch.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card(s) of the Day - 2010 Allen and Ginger : Max Scherzer Mini Frame Autograph Plus Some Relic Cards

I've been wanting and searching for an autograph of Tiger (edit: now he is a National, shows you how long ago I wrote this up) pitcher Max Scherzer to add to the collection and I narrowed my focus to two brands, Allen and Ginter and Five Star. Never could find the right card at the right price till now and not only did I score the autograph but received some bonus relic cards as well.

Though I am no longer looking for relic/patch cards (exception being if there is an autograph on the card as well) I will acquire them with open arms if they are free or throw ins. That basically was the case with this transaction.

I finally found a card that was in my price range. Looking further into the auction I noticed that there were 3 relic cards also included in the package. The title of the auction was a tad mislabeled so that might have been a reason why there wasn't much traffic on it so with that I thought I would have a pretty good chance at the cards. A week later I did indeed win the card I really wanted and then some spares. All for a fraction of book "value". The autograph card is mine but all the relics are available for trade.

2014 Allen and Ginter Green Relic

Twins from 2013 Allen and Ginter

Have a great and blessed day and thank you for reading.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen and Ginter : Yasiel Puig Mini Metal Parallel

Another unique and hard to acquire card is now my possession. Even though I knew of these metal minis when they were released last year I had forgotten to look for one for my collection as they were and can still be very high priced. Well thanks to a previous trade and a different purchase with an eBay seller I kept an eye out on any new cards he put up on the bay and found this one to my liking.

I passed on this card for our trade as I wanted the gem mint Kershaw more but I knew he was going to put this up for sale on eBay within a few days on a traditional auction. He had it up various times on BIN auctions but he never received a bite on it so he went this way and with it I knew I would be watching it closely with the hope it could be had at a reasonable price.

Since these are not numbered no one really knows (other than Topps) how many copies there are. Some people put it in the 5-10 range while others say it's a little more. Either way, there are not many and I already saw one sell on eBay so I didn't know how many chances I would have to pick this card up. Once again I was armed with comic sale funds and I had a higher than usual ceiling on what I was willing to spend. With seconds left I put my bid in and even though 2 more people bid on it after me, my bid ended up winning the card.

Met up with the seller in person and talked shop and when he handed over the card I knew just like the others on I received from him on early transactions that this was being earmarked for BGS grading. He keeps his cards in tip top shape and would love to see this come back in 9.5 form but if it came back a 9 I would not be surprised or disappointed as these metal cards at times have edge issues.

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 Submission Update Ten - 2014 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Mini Frame Autograph Now Graded and Slabbed a Gem Mint 9.5

Original Submission Post
Beckett Book Value : $150

We come to the last of three annoying BGS gem mint grades and dammit if it isn't one of the Kershaw cards.

I submitted 3 different Allen Ginter Kershaw cards and this was the most disappointing one. I knew going in that I might not like the return grade but there was no way I wasn't going to submit it. The condition of the card looked great and even though I have had issues with my A&G submissions in the past I was confident that this would come back to me with a gem mint grade. I was rewarded with that confidence as it did indeed earn an overall gem mint grade. Now the autograph grade.

ARGH !!!

That damn 9 showed up again. I know why it happened but I just hate BGS's thinking when it comes to this issue. I might not like it but I can understand and accept a streaky autograph but if said autograph is perfect but just happens to go to the edge of the card why must it be docked? There is nothing I can do about it but live with it but at the end of the day I don't think it should be a strike against an otherwise perfect card. Nonetheless I add yet another gem mint autograph card of Kershaw to the collection so it can't be all that bad.
= )

Hey, look at that spiffy gem mint grade

Hey look at the irritating autograph grade

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen and Ginter : Dr. James Andrews Mini Frame Autograph

I don't acquire many non baseball autographs but when I do I turn to the Allen and Ginter brand to get my fix as they always have a huge variety of non baseball subjects each year. I already picked up Felicia Day's autograph and while still on the hunt for a few others I was finally able to lock down one from my list.

Anyone that follows sports in general knows the name of Dr. James Andrews. He is a world renowned sports medicine doctor that has worked on a who's who list of athletes from Bo Jackson, Roger Clemens, Albert Pujols and many more. I would never track down the good doctor for an autograph as I wouldn't know what to get signed if I ever did meet him but once I saw that he was included in this year's A & G release I put this card on my hit list.

Book value is $40 and when the card first hit the street eBay transactions at times neared that amount but I was never going to pay that much so I just had to sitt on the sidelines for a few months till the cost dropped to an acceptable level for me. It finally did and I pulled the trigger and acquired me another non baseball autograph.

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen and Ginter : Felicia Day Mini Frame Autograph

Stupid mobile game.

That is the only reason why I acquired this autograph because of the Family Guy: Quest for Free Stuff mobile game that I have been playing for the better of 7 months. As the game updates and gets new objectives to beat, new characters are introduced into the game. Well, they did a 40 day quest that revolved around Comic-Con and for you non geeks out there that is the event to end all events for all things comics, movies, tv etc that is held in San Diego every July. Well as they game neared day 25 give or take, Felicia was introduced into the game. I haven't really followed her career even though I know of her and remember her from the tv show, The Dollhouse (highly underrated in my opinion).

Well, dammit if not seeing her every day on my little phone screen didn't want me to acquire her autograph, but that is only because I knew she was in the Allen and Ginter release from this year. If she wasn't in it I wouldn't have pursued the autograph but since she was I wanted it.

Book value is set at $25 and even at 40-50% off that would be too much for me on this particular autograph and with closed sales over $15 I did not expect to complete a transaction anytime soon. Low and behold one day for some reason this particular card hadn't received much action and the high bid was hovering around $7 delivered. Few seconds left and I put my bid in and won my own Felicia Day autograph card.

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen and Ginter : Bill Buckner Mini Framed Autograph

New set
New autograph
Why not?

Allen and Ginter is one of the sets that I collected last year but this year I will not be pursuing the base cards or their multiple parallels. But autographs are always an exception to the rule in my collection.

The design of this year's set is not overly appealing but it's not terrible. There are not that many autograph subjects within the this year's set that I would like to acquire and Bill was actually not on my need list but if the price was right I would consider it.

Prior to this year I didn't have any Buckner autographs in my collection and now I have a few. I love the picture on this card but when the set was released most auctions were going for over $10 and I had no intention of paying anywhere near that amount for a card that is not a set or pc need. I kept bidding on various auctions with a little less than $5 bid and every single one I was out bid on ( not surprisingly ) but I kept placing that same bid in case I ever won it for that amount and I would consider it a nice little win. Well one day I ended up winning an auction with that bid as for some reason there was no action on said auction.

Card came in and looks nice in person. Another Dodger autograph is welcomed into the collection.

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Mini Frame Autograph

As stated in yesterday's post pertaining to my new focus and collecting habits this card becomes the first to benefit from it.

I want an autograph of each Allen Ginter mini frame autograph card that Kershaw has done and including this one that total is 4. I have the 2012 version and now I have the 2014 one. 2 more to go. Unlike the 2012 one I think this is a great candidate to receive a gem mint grade when I eventually submit it to BGS for grading.

I put all of my relics on eBay and various other cards which was able to compensate for the total cost of this Kershaw beauty. When it first came out the gate the price was near $200 but I knew it would drop to a more acceptable cost. Book came out and listed it at $150 which was better but still I waited. One day the seller of this card put a sale on and dropped his asking price 25% and also had a best offer attached to it. I sent in my eBay allocated 3 offers and each one was an automatically rejected. I debating on just buying it outright at the price he was asking for it as for a day and half I watched the auction as other potential buyers put in their offer and each one was also rejected.

Went to sleep and the next morning it still sat there asking me to acquire it. So I did. A week later it came in a nice acrylic case and has been added to my ever growing Kershaw autograph collection. A great first card moving forward in my new direction of card collecting and hopefully soon (hopefully) to be a gem mint graded one at that.