8 Cards Submitted to Beckett For Raw Grade Review at South Bay Sportscards on October 3rd, 2015

Well here I go again.

Last time Beckett was in my neighborhood I submitted 2 cards looking to get a bump in the grades from a mint 9 to gem mint 9.5. I never discussed my results as I struck out on both of them. Those two though I cracked out of their BGS cases and submitted them like it was the 1st time I ever sent them in. They both came back with the same grade they had in the case. I was not happy with that so I sold them both and ended up acquiring some other cards I wanted. One is actually in the next batch which is in tomorrow's post. That post is a full submission recap without a raw review prior to them going to Beckett. This post is only about the reviews.

This time I am going to submit them while still in the case. I have heard stories and theories from both sides of the tape on which was is better. Since I struck out the other way I decided to do it this way this time. Let's see if the results are any different. Since they are all graded I can't really say which ones I expected will be gem mints and which will remain mints so I will post them in the order of more importance (at least to me) on them acquiring a gem mint grade. Obviously I would like all of them to receive the bump but I am realistic that will not happen. So here they are with results in a day or two.

2014 Bowman Chrome Julio Urias Green Wave

I just showcased this card last week in a post and already I am trying to get it to higher grade. While I would love all my Urias cards in the rainbow project to have gold banners I was always content in plain ole mints for them. With that said I would love a bump here. I need either surface or edges to earn an extra .5. When it comes to the 4 sub grades I think and have heard that those 2 are the "easiest" to get a bump. We shall see.

2014 Topps Tribute Clayton Kershaw 

Another card that was just showcased last week. I scored this on a major bargain and I am always "content" for the most part on non ultra limited Kershaw autographs receiving a 9 grade but it never hurts a card's value if you can get that gold banner. This one needs either surface or centering to get an extra .5. I've always wondered how centering can change from a 9 to a 9.5 but I guess it all comes down to the inspector's perception. Hopefully this swings my way.

2010 Allen Ginter Andrew McCutchen

The only card in the batch that only 1 sub grade can help get the bump. There are already 3 9.5's that this Andrew card earned with corners being the only "bad" grade with an 8.5. Corners is another subjective view when it comes to grading. I have looked under a loop and can't see why this card earned an 8.5 so I am hoping that another pair of eyes agrees with me and gives it a bump to a 9.

2014 Stadium Club Clayton Kershaw

Another Kerhsaw another autograph another card that just needs a .5 to make this a great gold banner card. This one needs edges or corners to get that bump and though I can see the corners earning the 9 the edges look good to me so lets see if I can get another 9.5 Kershaw for the collection here.

2013 Bowman Inception Corey Seager

Alright. Now we get to the 4 cards that if they earn a bump in grade they also will earn a nice bump in resale price if I chose to sell them down the road. This gold Seager also was just showcased last week and with it being an Inception card I am really crossing my fingers here as they have a notorious past in quality issues. I need edges or the corners to earn a bump and knowing how Inceptions can grade out I am pinning my hopes on the edges as the corners are always a problem. Nice little investment piece here on a bargain "purchase"

2012 Bowman Sterling Corey Seager

The only card that is already graded as gem mint in the this 8 card batch. So why am I submitting it again for a review? That annoying 9 you see that the autograph earned. This is a limited refractor of Corey and would receive a nice $$$ bump if I can get that grade switched to a 10. It earned a 9 due to the fact that the original grader thinks it streaks. Does it? Yes, it does, but just a tad. With that said I have seen a lot worse and they have earned 10's so I am hoping I can get a sympathetic eye this go around to get my 10 grade.

2013 Bowman Chrome Corey Seager

Unlike Urias I strive to get gem mint returns on my Seager rainbow project and this orange beauty is one of the few that do not already have a gold banner. I picked up this graded card on the cheap back in May when Seager's cards were still in a holding pattern. That's not the case anymore and if I can get a bump on this card it would add a nice $$$ total to the it's value. Centering and corners are the 9's on this card and with the naked eye you can see centering is not going to get the bump so I have to hold out hope on corners. There is no fraying so I have to cross my fingers that the grader thinks it deserves the bump.

2009 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw

... and we arrive to the final card of this batch and surprise surprise Mr. Clayton Kershaw makes yet another appearance. Tomorrow's full submission post has him all over the place there too so lots of Claytons that I want to earn a gold banner. I picked this up during this past off season when demand was lower and was even surprised myself on how cheap I got it for. Centering and corners are the grades that can go up and while corners are still subjective I think if there is going to be any bump it will be on centering as it looks pretty spot on to me. Here's hoping I can add another gem mint Kershaw autograph to the collection.

And with that we are done with the 1st batch that I submitted to BGS this past Saturday. I will post the results in the next day or so. God forbid but if each one comes back with the same grade they are still great pieces in my collection. Here's hoping that I can get at least a few if not half to earn a bump.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Result Update Number Five - 2010 Allen and Ginter : Andrew McCutchen Mini Frame Autograph Now Graded Mint 9.0

2010 Allen and Ginter McCutchen Mini Frame Autograph

Well with the iffy card of the batch out of the way we come to the couple that are borderline in the thinking of gem mint status but leaning more than not. This will probably be my one and only McCutchen autograph in my collection so it would be nice if it would come back with a gold banner. I don't see anything wrong with it other than one corner slightly not sharper but its not bent so my thinking is if anything the corner sub grade gets a 9.

Full Submission Result and Thoughts :

Going in I knew that this might not grade out to a gem mint even though I still held out hope it would. I knew that one corner seemed a tad damaged but I crossed my fingers that it would come back with 9 and everything else came in with a 9.5. Well the results came in and though the latter happened the former did not.

The card did indeed earn 3 9.5's which I had hope/thought it would but the corner sub grade came in at an 8.5 which drove the overall grade down to a plain old overall mint 9. I may or may not try a re grade on this to see if I could get that corner to bump up that extra .5 but with my past history on that technique I definitely will only do it with the card still in the case and not by cracking it open and resubmitting. It's still a great looking card, gem mint or not.

Not a gem but still a nice 9

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

6 More Cards In Addition To All Of The Raw Reviewed Cards Submitted To BGS On March 7th, 2015

The past 3 weeks I have posted my results from the raw grading event that was held in my area on March 7th. Monday through Friday for 15 days those results were posted but on the weekends between those days you may have noticed I blogged about 6 other cards. Well the reason I did those at that time was because I included them in the submission batch that went to Beckett with all the raw graded cards. The only difference was that I bypassed the raw grade and went straight for the full grade review. So this post is a recap of those 6 and per the norm my thoughts on which will grade out to gem mint from least to best chance.

2013 Topps Museum Dual Autograph of Al Kaline / Prince Fielder

In hindsight I probably shouldn't have submitted this for grading since it was such a bargain I couldn't resist considering the "rarity" of the card. I think Prince is going to have bonce back year and this is a great card with a Tiger HOF as well. Even with that I look back and think that I know the corners are not the best and probably won't get better than a 9. Hopefully everything holds up enough to get an overall 9 but the idea of another limited numbered gem mint card for the collection is pretty much gone.

2010 Allen and Ginter McCutchen Mini Frame Autograph

Well with the iffy card of the batch out of the way we come to the couple that are borderline in the thinking of gem mint status but leaning more than not. This will probably be my one and only McCutchen autograph in my collection so it would be nice if it would come back with a gold banner. I don't see anything wrong with it other than one corner slightly not sharper but its not bent so my thinking is if anything the corner sub grade gets a 9.

2009 Allen and Ginter Kershaw Mini Frame Autograph

Now I am just being down right greedy. I already have one of these Kershaws in a gem mint grade so why submit another? Why because 2 is better than 1. Ha Ha. Unlike the McCutchen mini this one seems to be devoid of corner issues so I hope to earn my 2nd gem mint 2009 A/G mini of Kershaw for the collection. Nothing like a little trade bait for the future as well.

2015 Topps Silver Frame Kershaw

It is hard to see how any metal framed cards get anything less than a gem mint grade but I have seen them. I (knock on wood this one won't be the case) have not had that issue and hope it does not start here even though I don't think it will. The card is clean and edges and corners are "sharp" so a nice limited Kershaw gem mint card would be nice here.

2013 Bowman Chrome Corey Seager Green Parallel

Yeah, so now we come to the "uh, duh" cards of the batch which are also the last of said batch. These were acquired pre-graded as gem mint and so that is what I expect back (the uh, duh comment once again) and the pursuit of mint/gem mint rookie cards of Seager continues.

2014 Topps High Tek Puig Autograph

Just like Seager, uh duh.

So that is it. 6 more cards were added to the BGS submission pile and when I get the results later this week and the actual cards back next week it will be interesting to see the sub grades from all the cards that either gem minted or pristined.  

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2010 Allen and Ginter : Andrew McCutchen Mini Frame Autograph

Jealousy is a bitch but I was finally able to nip it the bud a bit with me finally acquiring this card.

Andrew falls under the reacquired autograph banner as well as I had a signed ball from him but sold it in last year's purge so for that whole time he was on my radar to pick up once again. I kept getting salt poured into my autograph wound as I saw this particular card showcased on various blogs as their writers had acquired it. I was green with envy as I wanted my own copy but never could pick it up at a decent price. Beckett has it valued at $50 and most sales have been in the high 30's and some over $43. That's what happens when you are a former MVP. I continued to hold out and if finally paid off.

Every time I saw this card for sale on eBay it either had a BIN for over $40 or at the end of a traditional auction it exceeded my price ceiling so when I saw this one night on a BIN for a tad over $30 and with comic code money in hand I jumped all over it and within a week had my very own mini frame autograph of McCutchen to call my own. It was a long time coming but the wait is finally over. Card is in great condition and I may or may not get it graded but if I do it will only happen if I have a big stack to submit.

Thank you for reading and may you have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Signed Ball of the Day : Andrew McCutchen ( ROMLB Sweet Spot )

I had attended the Dodger game the prior day and had no intention of going to Sunday's game. It was a day game, already dragged the wife to two games that week and we have two more coming this upcoming week and my wallet needed a rest, etc. Enough reasons to stay home. But as posted in my attended game 4.7.2013 entry I ended up going to the game.

I went in hope of getting Russell Martin's autograph to complete a years old project that only needs his John Hancock. I even paid extra for seats right next to the Pirates dugout and stood in line after the game and to my disappointment I left empty handed in that quest.

Two things that I did get though that were good and great. I have never sat in the Prime Ticket Club seats since they remodeled into All You Can Eat a few years ago as the prices skyrocketed. So I got to take in the restaurant food and to my amazement they actually had some really good food. I made sure I got my moneys worth and I did end up going home bloated and happy on that front.

The other thing that was great was that since I was on the Pirate side of the field there was less people around. On the 3rd base side there are always more people for Kemp and Ethier potential signatures. Having the Pirates in town meant not much real demand per se as they only real star they have is Andrew McCutchen and even though I have my supplies always ready to go I wasn't holding my breath.

Andrew was doing his pre game stretches and after he was done he started to come towards the 1st base wall barrier and at least for me surprising started to sign for people. I saw him and had ball and pen in hand but wasn't going to move til I knew for sure he was going to sign but as he came closer I ran over and with only 4 other people around me there wasn't much commotion. I handed him a ball with a pen and he signed it on the sweet spot. I said thank you and went about my way. He wasn't very talkative as he didn't respond to me or a couple other people but he was kind enough to take the time to sign for Dodger fans and that was a cool thing. Thank you Andrew for the great looking autograph.