March 2017 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-THREE of FORTY-TWO - 2016 Gypsy Queen Corey Seager Base Autograph Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

For a card I didn't even really want I am very happy that Beckett and their grading department gave it a gem mint banner.

This card was part of a transaction that included the 2016 Topps Chrome Orange of Seager which will pop up later but the "seller" wanted to include this card as well. I want Seager autographs but I have had some bad history with GQ when it comes to condition. After a day or so I finally agreed to take this card as well. With the 9.5 now attached to it I am happy I was convinced to take it as it was acquired on a deal and now it has been turned into gold. On top of that my concerns about condition issues is no where to be found on this card as each sub grade received at least a 9.5 with edges even earning a perfect 10.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Corey Seager Base Autograph

A card popped up on Instagram one day (more on that Thursday) that I really wanted as it was made available by the owner. I approached him about snagging it and inquired about the value he put on it. It was reasonable but at the same time he had this autograph he also wanted to unload. I want(ed) to add to my Seager autograph collection but I didn't want this one at this time. Glad I was "convinced" to take it.

While any Corey autograph is nice to have I know GQ has quality issues but after I decided to take both cards I was pleasantly surprised of the condition of this beauty. I actually think it might earn a 9.5 from Beckett but even if it doesn't at the very worst I believe it back with as a 9. 2 great cards acquired in 1 transaction and I am glad I got them while I could.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-SEVEN - 2016 Gypsy Queen Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel Gold Variant (1/50) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2016 Gypsy Queen Mike Trout Gold Mini Parallel (1/50)

While a gold banner on a gold parallel is the optimal result of said parallel I am really stretching it here and thinking this returns with a 9.5 attached to it.

While centering and surface looks good there are 2 corners that have issues. I have seen worse on other gem mint cards so it will come down to which grader I get for this card. Hoping for gold but halfway expecting silver. 

Once again I guess I was lucky to get the grader who was in a good mood the day this card hit his/her desk. I saw 2 corners with issues and as expected they did not receive a 9.5 but thankfully they did earn a 9 as the other 3 categories earned the needed 9.5's to make this an overall 9.5 card. Surprisingly I have had great luck with GQ in this batch while in previous batches they have never gone my way. Guess every Penguin has a good day once in awhile.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-SIX - 2016 Gypsy Queen Corey Seager Base Mini Parallel Gold Variant (46/50) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2016 Gypsy Queen Corey Seager Gold Mini Parallel (46/50)

Just like the Trout and Kershaw ones I am holding my breath in the hopes of this gold parallel earning a gold banner to make the case color coordinated. Unlike the Trout one though this Seager card only seems to have 1 bad corner so it has a chance at a gold return but still not banking on it.

A pleasant surprise awaited me for this card when I received its result from Beckett. During my inspection I suspected that 1 corner might be an issue when it came to get the card graded but BGS thought not and gave that and the other 3 sub categories 9.5's. Very happy with that considering I truly hate gold parallels with silver banners. They just look ugly to me with that color combination but thankfully this one is not be one of them.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-FIVE - 2016 Gypsy Queen Corey Seager Base Photo Variation Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2016 Gypsy Queen Corey Seager Photo Variation

Out of the 3 paper products I collect (Ginter, Heritage and GQ) the Gypsy Queen brand is a distant third in wanting and quality as unlike Ginter and Heritage I usually receive good returns. I am hoping this time I get a different result with the few GQ I have in the batch.

Out of all of them I would say this is in the best condition and that is with its 1 frayed corner. It's not terrible but it isn't minor so hopefully I get a grader in a good mood when this shows up on his desk.

Guess I indeed got the grader who was in a good mood when sat down with this card.

Frayed corner in my eyes meant nothing in his/her eyes as that sub along with all the other 3 scored at least a 9.5 and this card became yet another solid return from this batch. While there were some disappointments in the beginning a lot of these gems mints are not of the cheap variety aka no 9's among the sub grades. While this is not a big money card I do love the way it looks in its new BGS case. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-ONE - 2016 Gypsy Queen Clayton Kershaw Base Mini Parallel Gold Variant (16/50) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2016 Gypsy Queen Clayton Kershaw Gold Mini Parallel (16/50)

Different player yet same parallel and issues.

Kershaw's card here is just like the Trout gold mini as I am expecting silver but holding out that it might squeak by and earn a gold return. Clayton's card just like Trout's has 2 corners with slight fraying issues so it all depends on the grader's mood that day.

Squeak goes a mouse just like this mini Kershaw has done by earning a gold banner to make sure it stays color coordinated with it being a gold parallel and all.

I knew that 2 corners had some fraying issues and hoped that they could hold and earn a 9 with everything else picking up a 9.5 and in the end that plan worked out to perfection. 3 9.5's and 1 expected 9 on corners earned me another gem mint Kershaw card. I really expected this to come back as a silver 9 but very happy I was wrong.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Sandy Koufax Base Mini Parallel Gold Variant (18/50)

Glad I was able to negotiate a good deal on this card on eBay as once it hit my hands I can see at best it would grade out to a 9 from Beckett if I chose to send it in for slabbing. Gold parallels with silver banners are annoying to me as they are not color coordinated.

I have been trying to up my Koufax collection with numbered parallels so when one does show up on eBay I put a little extra focus on acquiring it. This card has a book value of $8-20 and from past sales I have seen it sell from $4-$15. The owner of this card had an original asking price north of $15 which I wanted nothing to do with. After it didn't sell he lowered it a tad on a relisting and added a best offer option. After a couple days of going back and forth we agreed to a price of a little over $8 which I felt was more than reasonable.

On the computer screen the card looked well centered and corners looked good but once in hand and under a loop I can see that 3 corners have slight chipping which would mean an 8.5 or 9 on that sub grade. Guess I don't NEED to slab all my cards right? Ha Ha.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Clayton Kershaw Mini Framed Autograph (19/25) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Only 25 copies of this card exist and considering it is from a new and very popular product line (Gypsy Queen) as well as a handful already popping up on eBay and selling I was very shocked I picked this one up so fast and at a steal of a price considering it is the only graded one as of this write up (Apr. 22). Edit : as of today this is still the only one graded.

I had hoped to score a deal of this card in raw form and actually had an agreement locked in with an eBay seller but I told him that I needed a few days for my own eBay auctions to end so I cn pick it up. He said fine but a fellow Kershaw lover swooped in and scooped it up at a slightly higher price. Can't blame the seller as I would want the highest price too. So I was back on the hunt for another copy and not 2 days later I found this on eBay.

I was willing to pick this up in raw form and try my luck with BGS but if I could get it already in gem mint condition that would be way better. The seller had this on a BIN auction with no best offer and the asking price was way too much for my taste. So I decided to send him an email and told him if he ever wanted to move it at a price I was comfortable with then I would be here waiting for him. I expected he would let it sit on eBay for awhile before entertaining my offer. I was wrong. A day later he sent me an email stating he was willing to meet my price as long as we did the transaction off eBay as a direct pay through Paypal. Uh, yeah. I didn't wait an extra minute as I didn't want him to change his mind and within a week I had this beauty in my hands and I only "spent" $20 more than I would have on my agreed amount for the raw card that I lost out to on a fellow Kershaw collector. I couldn't be happier.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Clayton Kershaw Base Photo Variation

The 2nd of 3 photo variations from this year's Gypsy Queen set has been acquired and now the only one left will be the "hardest" one as Mike Trout cards are always the trickiest in price to get the best deal.

I love me some Kershaw cards but the "best" copies are the ones where they show him on the offense side of the ball. He is the best pitcher on the planet but he can handle the bat well for a flamethrower. The base card has him in a pitching motion as per the norm but this photo variation has him at the plate. I only have a few of him not on a mound so it's always nice to add one of these to the collection and it being a short printed photo variation makes it all the better. I probably will have this encased for filing purposes even though it will add very little to it's value. With that said this is a cool looking card to me and glad I picked it up on an eBay bargain.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel Gold Variant (1/50)

With Seager in hand the only high priced gold mini to get from this year's Gypsy Queen was Mike Trout and I was finally able to lock one down for the collection.

No surprise here as Trout still commands a high dollar amount for any numbered parallel from a newly released product and this of course was no different. I have learned some patience in the past year or so and unless the card is a 1 of 1 or its print run is is no more than 10 I bide my time to wait for prices to come down and once again that thinking has paid off. 

50 copies of card is not that much in this day and age but I still held out hope that I could score a deal and after a few of these sold and the newness of the set wore off a little I was able to swoop in and secure this on an eBay steal. I held out hope that I might be able to turn this into a gold banner grade from Beckett but I think it will come back as a 9 if I do send it in for grading. 

First

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Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Corey Seager Base Mini Parallel Gold Variant (46/50)

And the final Seager card off of my 2016 Gypsy Queen checklist which was acquired from a trusted seller on a BIN auction. As usual he had a best offer option and thankfully once again he took my offer after we discussed what we both thought it was worth and we came to a happy medium.

As with the other Seager cards I picked up I acquired this one without an assigned book value to go by so the seller and I went with past eBay sales and as a long time buyer I was able to score it at an amount that was lower than the other sales on eBay.

Considering I like to grade all my low serialized cards I held out hope this would come to me in great condition and other than 1 corner with a slight fraying issue it looks to be in great condition. Now hopefully that 1 issue can earn a 9 and everything else props it up.

Forty-Six

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Corey Seager Base Photo Variation

The 2nd of 3 Seager cards that I won on the same day during a buying binge during a couple hours on a slow eBay day.

This actually is also part of another project stemming from this year's Gypsy Queen set. I no longer collect base cards but I continue to chase after the photo variations of base cards and Seager along with Trout and Kershaw all have these in the 2016 Gypsy Queen release. Since it was a Seager day Corey is the 1st of the 3 to make it into my hands. Just like the Heritage photo variation I plan to send this to BGS for grading and hopefully it will come back with a gold banner as there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the card.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Corey Seager Base Mini Parallel Purple Variant (114/250)

I needed 3 Seager cards from this year's Gypsy Queen release and I picked them up in back to back to back transactions within a 3 hour window. They all came in on the same day but this was the 1st of the batch that I won.

All 3 were acquired with no book value to reference to but I trusted the seller as we had done business numerous times in the past and even though he had this on a BIN auction with a best offer option I knew he wouldn't be "offended" by my offer no matter how low it might seem. I sent him one that was reasonable in my eyes and thankfully he thought the same thing so with no counter I had picked up the 1st of 3 Seager cards of the day.

Print run is "high" but I do love these minis.

One Hundred and Fourteen

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Gypsy Queen : Clayton Kershaw Base Mini Parallel Gold Variant (16/50)

This year has been refreshing as I have refocused my collecting habits to just 3 current players. Makes my checklist so much smaller and more possible to complete and actually collecting more fulfilling as it's not just collecting anything and everything Dodger related. So when this year's Gypsy Queen's checklist was released I noticed I needed less than 10 cards and this is the 1st one I was able to acquire.

With only 50 copies of this Kershaw card I knew that the window was somewhat small to pick up a copy for myself but even with that mentality I didn't expect too high of a cost nor an auction war. A couple sold prior to this one popping up on eBay as a BIN auction and thankfully with a best offer option attached to it. Didn't feel like playing the auction game so I sent over a low offer which he promptly declined with mention of the closed sales of the other 2. I said I understood and countered with something closer to those which we both agreed was acceptable.

I hoped to get this in a BGS case with a gold banner but it might be destined for silver. With the naked eye it looks OK but under a loop you can see 2 corners with small white tips. If they can somehow hold onto a 9 sub grade then I might squeak out a gem mint return. We shall see.

Sixteen

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin