Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Clayton Kershaw Gold Framed Autograph (11/15) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

The 2nd of 3 "replacement" autographs of Clayton due to me not being happy with returns from my most recent BGS submission batch. A card I never expected to search for or own but thanks to crappy grades from Beckett and DodgersGirl10 and her post awhile back showcasing all FOUR years worth of these that she owns I finally made the decision to take the plunge and get my own copy.

Once I read the post on her collection of all 4 gold framed autographs I decided at some point I would want to at least own 1. With the print run being only 15 for each year they are hard to come by so I had no idea when I would land one let alone all 4 if I decided to make a project out of it. Well I saw this one on eBay on a BIN auction by a seller I have done business with. When the grades came back from my submission I knew it was time to contact the seller.

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His price was reasonable considering it is BGS graded and has strong sub grades but I hoped to lower the cost a bit and since we had done business in the past he was accommodating to me and with the funds from the selling of the cards I no longer wanted I picked up my first of potentially 4 framed Museum autographs of Kershaw. Will I get the other 3 at some point? Maybe, maybe not but either way I am glad I can at least claim one for my collection.

The all important 10 autograph 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number THIRTY-ONE - 2015 Topps Museum : Mike Trout Base Blue Parallel (80/99) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Eighty of Ninety-Nine

Well as you can tell by the non red paragraph that there was no previous write in my BGS submission post. That's because I forgot to do one up. I knew my count was off when I was double checking the cards being submitted.

From the hip I knew what I would have said considering it is from a paper brand (non Chrome). I would have expected all the sub grades other than the corners should come back as a 9.5 at the very least and hopefully the corners could hold at a 9 which would give me another gem mint Trout card. Well if I would have said that then I would now say that I hit it right on the mark as that is exactly what happened. I knew the corners weren't ultra sharp but they weren't fraying either. Beckett gave them a 9 but everything else earned a 9.5 so another gem has been added to the collection.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Clayton Kershaw Archival Autograph (55/99) BGS Graded Mint 9.0

With this year's release right around the corner (at the time of this write up) I was finally able to land an acceptable copy of Kershaw's Archival autograph from last year's set. I say acceptable as I owned a different copy of this same card but once it came back from BGS with an 8.5 attached to it I cracked it open and resold it as I can only have 9's in my collection when it comes to Clayton autographs.

This card sat on eBay for a good month on a BIN auction with the asking price in the triple digits which I was not going to have anything to do with. No best offer was available so I just let it sit on my watch list as I wanted to see what it would eventually go for as I knew that it would never sell for what the seller was asking for.

Finally the seller made some adjustments to his auction. He lowered the price by $25 but I still wasn't interested. Then a few days later he lowered it again and also added a best offer option. Now it had my attention and I sent over an offer which he quickly declined. The seller paid hard ball for a few days as we went back and forth but finally we settled on a reasonable price to both our liking. With that I added yet another Clayton Kershaw autograph to the collection.

The question now is will I hit my 2016 goal of 40 Kershaw autographs for my collection or possibly be closer to 50? I think I will unless I get overly picky.

Fifty-Five

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Ninety-Nine

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Joc Pederson Archival Autograph (278/299) BGS Graded Mint 9.0

Being addicted to these graded cards is what prompted me to go after this one and in the end acquire another copy of this card of Joc.

I already have/had this card of Joc in raw form but as long time readers know I love me some BGS cards and the raw one I had I could tell would never grade out to gem mint and might still need some help earning just a mint grade. Watching the eBay market I had an idea what my raw card would sell for so when I saw this graded version I decided to see if I could win it for the amount that the raw card would potentially sell for.

.5 from gem mint

Some people are turned off by the silver banner as all they want are gold gem mints so they steer away from cards like these. With that thinking I hoped to score a deal on this one. The auction ended up having 12 separate bids but mine stood tall at the end of the day as I won the card for a little under $40. Now to sell my raw card to off set the cost of this card. I put it on the bay as a traditional auction with a BIN option and within a day I was contacted by a buyer who offered me a little less than what I paid for the graded card. I accepted his offer and in the end I spent around $4-5 out of pocket to pick up this mint card.

278 of 299

10 Autograph

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Ozzie Smith Archival Autograph (48/59)

For years I have been trying to acquire an autograph of Ozzie Smith whether it be on a ball or on a card but till now he has been elusive just as he was at times on the field. When all was said and done I picked this up on what I perceive as a steal.

When I collected signed balls I could/would never pull the trigger on an auction as the prices were out of my comfort zone and the couple of times I saw that he was doing an in person signing the promoters were asking too much. Now that I moved over to collecting cards I thought it would be easier to get Mr. Smith's autograph. Not so much as I had been going on two years and still no Ozzie. As with the balls most cards I felt were too pricey but as more and more brands came out with Ozzie in them the prices started to drop.

Since I didn't care if the card was graded that opened up my options and this newly released Museum card was my target as book has it in the range of $20-50 and most sales I saw were on the low end of the spectrum. A few lost auctions led me to this particular card and with minimal effort I finally won me my very own Ozzie autograph. He tormented my Dodgers at times and I would have preferred to have him in a Padre uniform rather than the hated Cardinal colors but nonetheless I am happy to finally have him in my collection.

Forty Eight

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Fifty Nine

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : John Smoltz Archival Autograph (38/99)

Took quite a few years but I was finally able to add the final and 3rd (Maddux, Glavine) pitcher from the dominant staff of the Atlanta Braves from the 1990's. As with the other two I had to have John here in Atlanta garb even though he played on other teams after his long stint with the team. Unlike Maddux I have never owned a Smoltz autograph as I could never find one in suitable condition when I was getting all my autos on baseballs. Now that my collecting habits have shifted to cards it opened up more options.

My 1st choice was to get him on a nice thick Five Star card but most seem to have corner issues or the sellers wanted too much in eyes for the card. Since John wasn't a priority I could just wait till something fell into my lap and this was the one to do just that. This card has a book value high of $60 with a low of $25. The low would be a nice deal for a newly inducted member of the Hall of Fame but I continued to hold out for a better deal. This popped up on the bay on a BIN auction with an asking price of $25 but it also had a best offer option. I sent over an amount under $20 which he countered and in turn I countered again with an amount between our two offers and within minutes he accepted that one.

Low book is $25 and I paid under that. Can't beat that and I am glad to finally add this piece to my collection. The paring of his blue autograph to his blue jersey coupled with the blue accent of the card makes it a very appealing card.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Craig Biggio Archival Autograph (10/99)

Wasn't expecting to ever acquire another Biggio autograph but when I traded out my one copy I was immediately on the hunt for a replacement for my collection. While I love the Topps Five Star brand as that is the one I had I wanted to go in a different direction this time.

The Five Star one I had was a BGS mint 9 but I did a trade with Frankie who runs the My Life In The Sports Card Hobby blog weeks ago. I didn't want to part with it but to get something you need to give something so off went Biggio but before I even completed that trade I was already on eBay looking for another copy. I remembered that Craig had an autograph in this years Topps Museum brand so that is where my focus went. They are only numbered to 99 but there seemed to be a fair share of them to chose from so I put a few of them on my watch list. Book has this valued at a high of $40 and a low of $15. Most of the sales seemed to be closing over $20 so I decided that was going to be my cap. Lost out on a few but when this card's auction was ending there were 2 other within a minute of each other also about to end. I hitched my wagon to this one and hoped that the others would get the attention. Even with a last second bid by another buyer I ended up with the top bid for a click under my $20 cap. Not too shabby. Welcome back to the collection Mr. Biggio.

10 of 99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Jackie Robinson Base Blue Parallel (35/99)

Ah.... the feeling of finally finishing off a project even if it was a small one compared to others is a great feeling and with Jackie's acquisition here my 2015 Topps Museum checklist has been fulfilled and on time as well.

When this post sees the light of day it will be way past April 29th but that was my self imposed deadline to complete this project as I wanted to shift my focus to the new Bowman release. I only had Jackie left and even with 99 copies there were not that many to chose from on the bay. This card's auction was due to end on the 28th and I zeroed in on it as it was going to be my last chance to beat my deadline. Traditional auction with a 99 cent starting bid with no BIN option. Had to wait it out but when I put my bid in at the very end it was the one and only and I had acquired my last piece of the Museum puzzle. Woo Hoo.

Card was in hand within a week and it looks great. Jackie is a Dodger great but more importantly a baseball great and even though he doesn't have many new cards each year when he does I seek them out. Now, onto Bowman.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Joc Pederson Base Blue Parallel (96/99)

This card is one of the rare times that I believe Beckett has it undervalued and eBay sales can supported that thinking.

Beckett states this card has a high value of $15. (edit : it's now up to $30 as of today) Yeah, good luck trying to find one at the amount at the time of this writing. I missed the couple of BIN's where the price was in the single digits so I was forced to play the bidding game. I had only two cards left to acquire for the Museum issue and Joc was the big one and with him doing well on the field his card values have gone up. Wanting to finish now and move on from this brand I put in a higher than normal bid to hopefully secure Joc finally. Thankfully I did as a last minute bid drove up the end sale price to my limit but not over. I might not have scored a great deal but I did get a good one.

A day left in my personal deadline and I am now down to one last card from this year's Topps Museum issue.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number Four - 2015 Topps Museum : Clayton Kershaw Archival Autograph (29/99) Now Graded Near Mint 8.5

2015 Topps Museum Blue Archival Autograph Kershaw

A submission batch wouldn't be complete without a Kershaw autograph in it would it? Of course not and here is the one and only I included of him this time. I love the look of this card and as long time readers know I want a gem mint autograph of Kershaw from every year that there is an autograph released by Topps of him. So far this is my only 2015 of his and I hope it can earn a gem mint grade but since it is way down here on the list (15 of 18) I have reservations about it. Everything looks good but the lower right hand corner has some chipping. I am praying that is earns a 9 and the other sub grades bump it up but I am being realistic and know there is a better chance than not it will grade out to an 8.5 sub and 9 overall.

My one Kershaw autograph in the batch and it's a disappointment at the end of the day. As with the Seager Inception cards from the past few days I knew going in that this card had a corner issue as seen in my original post up top but I didn't think it would turn out like this.

I expected the corners to come back a 8.5 but instead BGS deemed them an 8 which caused the overall grade to come down to a near mint 8.5. The reason this card is ahead of the Seagers even though the subs aren't as strong is that it's still freaking Kershaw man. Unlike the Seagers though I knew right away I would be selling this off and trying my luck on another 2015 autograph of Mr. Kershaw and that is what I did. I already picked up another one (more on that in a future post) and this one is covering that purchase price. Can't win them all.

At least the auto grade was nice

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Mike Trout Base Blue Parallel (80/99)

I am still within my window of finishing my Museum needs for the year as I finally hooked my last big "name" from my list.

I still have/had till the 29th of April (actually acquired not posted) circled as my deadline to finish off this set and still had a few more cards left but Trout was the one that continued to elude me time and time again. Auction after auction I kept losing out as I kept getting out bid. This one popped up one day as a BIN with a very reasonable price as Beckett has its value at $30. The only issue was that there were two other copies that were ending within a day and they were on traditional auctions. What to do? Play the bidding war game or just buy it now? I went with the former with the latter as a plan B.

I watched the other two auctions and the minute they both went over the cost of this BIN one (again I do not understand why people bid higher on something they can acquire cheaper) I went back to this auction and clicked the button. A week later, Trout was in hand and I am now down to 2 last cards needed to finish my Museum needs. Woo Hoo.

Eighty

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Ninety-Nine

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Sandy Koufax Base Blue Parallel (18/99)

My personal deadline for this year's Topps Museum issue is nearing and with April 29th (Bowman's release date) just a couple days away (at the time of post write up) I am still trying to securing all my Museum needs. One more has been acquired with Koufax now in hand.

Even though he hasn't thrown off a MLB mound in almost 4 decades Sandy still commands some decent coin when it comes to his cards especially autographs and parallels. I had lost out on a few of these as it's book value finally came out which pegged it at $20. Love me some Koufax but that amount is too high in my eyes. eBay sales have been anywhere between $7-10 so that was going to be my ballpark with the hope of me acquiring one at the lower end of the spectrum,

I happened to be on the road when this card's auction was due to end so I had to put my bid in earlier than planned but thankfully when the auction ended my bid held up. At the very last second someone put their own bid in that pushed the end total to my max but not over. One more Museum off the checklist with a few biggies left.

18 of 99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Yasiel Puig Base Blue Parallel (23/99)

Getting close.
Still trying to get all these blue parallels by April 29th (Bowman release date) and put this set behind me.

I picked up the Gonzalez blue for 99 cents as the card books for $8. A great deal indeed and surprisingly I was the only one to bid on it. A day later this Puig's eBay auction was due to end and the starting bid was 99 cents as well. Unlike the Adrian someone had already put a bid on it but with a hour left it was still at 99 cents. The card books for $15 and I expected it to go anywhere from $6-9 based on other auctions. Guess people once again were asleep (though it was the afternoon when this ended) or didn't care for this card. I put my bid in with a few seconds left which raised the price to a mere $1.25. Five quarters for a limited (99) card? Yes and more please.

Now with this card in hand I have 4 more to acquire, Joc, Koufax, Jackie and Trout. Can I do it? Here's to hoping so.

23

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99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Adrian Gonzalez Base Blue Parallel (85/99)

I am determined to complete my checklist of wanted cards (minus the autos) from this year's Museum set before Bowman drops next week. This post is being written up on the 23rd of April so we shall see if I can do it or not. It would be much easier if I could acquire them like I did this one.

At the time of this acquisition the prices for Museum had not been released. As I write this post they have since the purchase date and this card clocks in with a high of $8 and a low of $3. Personally $2 would probably be the most I would fork over for this card. I haven't seen too many copies on eBay but this one popped up and it was right at my sweet spot of a price of .99 cents with no additional shipping costs. Nice. Traditional 7 day auction and on the last day there hadn't been a bid put on it. Seconds left and I put mine in and low and behold I was the only one to bid. 99 cent purchases are the best.

I expected the card to come in a PWE but was pleasantly surprised that it traveled to me in a bubble mailer. It ended up costing the seller money to sell this card. Ouch for him and good for me. Now to make my goal of acquiring all these blue beauties before Bowman is released. The hunt continues.

85 of 99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Clayton Kershaw Base Blue Parallel (73/99)

Chipping away at my wishlist as I was finally able to get my hands on the elusive Kershaw. Hard to get as I didn't want to spend much. Lost out on quite a few copies as the cost was prohibitive to me so I just had to wait it out.

There were a few auctions where this was included in a batch of other card but I didn't need or want those and those auction closing sale price was way more than I was going to spend so those were never really an option. A couple I just plan ignored as shipping was unreasonable. $4? Really? Finally found this one which was coupled with the base version which I have no need for as I don't collect those.  Typical 7 day auction with acceptable shipping cost. Kind of surprised I won the lot as I successfully sniped it at the last minute with a low ball bid. I did not expect to win it but happy that I did.

A great deal for sure and glad that the Kershaw pursuit is over. Only big name (higher expected price) left is Trout and I expect to lock him up soon as the prices have dipped in recent weeks. Once again the base card is available if anyone would like it.

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Base which is available for trade

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Joc Pederson Archival Autograph (87/299)

I am still trying to catch up to others when it comes to having more than one Joc autograph in their collection and with this one now in the fold I am starting to gain some steam in that project.

While not as limited as the Kershaw (299 vs 99) this Joc autograph has been getting some decent attention on eBay as prices have been anywhere from $27 to $40 ish but just like the Kershaw their was no book value released at the time of "purchase" so once again I had to pursue it with my gut.

This particular card was on a BIN auction and had been on my watch list for a few days as I monitored other copies that were on traditional auctions and as I saw those continue to sell for higher than this one I finally pulled the trigger and hit the button. Once in hand I am kind of disappointed as I know for sure it wont grade out to gem mint as I would have liked to but it still has a chance at mint if I chose to submit it to BGS. Either way I am happy to add another Joc autograph to the collection.

87 / 299

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Hyun-Jin Ryu Base Blue Parallel (77/99)

I was determined to make a dent and/or finish off my own personal checklist from this year's Museum release as I knew other releases were on the horizon and I wanted to be done with this as soon as possible. Of course since I am only looking for the blue parallels and they are numbered to 99 this might be easier said than done. Thankfully this one was on the easier side.

While I have bigger names to hunt after (Kershaw, Trout, etc.) Ryu while popular amongst Dodger fans his cardboard value is not that high and for that I am thankfully as I was able to land this blue parallel for some pocket change.

Two bids is all it took to acquire it and for the grand total of $1.25 it was mine. Nothing like a blue parallel as the backdrop of a Dodger player dressed in blue. One down, many more to go.

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99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Clayton Kershaw Archival Autograph (29/99)

Though is not my first acquisition from the newly released Topps Museum issue it is the first one that gets its own post and that is due to yesterdays terrible BGS return on an Allen and Ginter mini frame autograph of Mr. Kershaw. If you missed it you can read it HERE

As stated in that post I was highly disappointed in its return grade and decided right then and there to crack it open and sell it raw as I would get more in the transaction than I would if I sold it in the BGS case. With those funds in hand and knowing what I had to work with I went about in search of another Kershaw autograph. If I am going to sell one I am going to get one to replace it. No subtracting here.

As I've stated in previous Kershaw autograph posts I will be searching each card year (2013, 2014, 2015 etc.) for a Kershaw autograph released in that year. I want/need one represented for each year he has had one released and now that we are in 2015 I have renewed my search for this year's card and unlike the previous two years I have already landed one early in the year.

I first had my eye on a 2015 Strata but that got very pricey very fast so when I saw the checklist for Museum and saw that he was represented in it I knew this was another chance to get my 2015 copy. Only 99 copies of this card exist and when I acquired it the Museum issue had only been on the market for a week or so. Two other copies had sold near the $100 mark which was too much for me. This one though happened to have it's auction end at 5 in the morning Pacific time which meant I was asleep. I have scored many of deals with these odd ending time auctions and I can now add another to the list as I came out the winner for a "mere" $66. Of course with the Allen Ginter sale it meant I paid ZIP for this blue beauty. Now I will try my luck once again as this has been ear marked for BGS.

Prices haven't been released by Beckett yet but I think it will be safe to say that this card will "book" for at least $100 if not $125-$150 which makes this another steal for me.

Edit : Prices have just been released and this has a book of $120. Score !!!

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin