BGS Submission Update Four - 2013 Topps Five Star : Frank Thomas Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel ( 2 / 25 ) Now Graded and Slabbed a Gem Mint 9.5

Second to last post and there are two reasons why this is not number one for the week. More on that tomorrow.

The big hurt. I loved watching this man play ball. He seemed to just crush every ball that his bat made contact with. I had a signed ball of his but when I sold it off I had to reacquire his autograph in some card form. Finally settled in on this beauty from Topps Five Star and when it came in I knew I would be sending it in for grading. Unlike Bryce's and tomorrow's subject this was not an investment piece per se. With his career over I don't expect much movement on Frank's cards but having this very limited ( 25 copies ) one in gem mint could never hurt. I did my homework on this card and prior to me acquiring it I believed it would grade out to gem mint and when it did reach my house there was nothing that made me change my mind.

Five Star is notorious for corner issues but I had great luck with my Koufax submission that you can see HERE and Frank's card looked like there shouldn't be any issues. As expected the autograph grade came back a pristine 10 so now the question was what the overall grade would be for the card. Surprisingly the corners came in at a 9 which meant I needed the other three sub grades to earn a 9.5 so the overall would be gem mint. Thankfully that is what happened.

I am now the proud owner of the only gem mint ( only one graded period so far ) of Frank Thomas's rainbow parallel autograph from 2013 Five Star. A great looking card of this hall of famer just got better with it being encased with a gem mint grade.

1 of 1 in the world as of today

= )

Just me here

5 Cards Submitted To Beckett Grading Submissions (BGS) At Frank and Sons On May 24, 2014

As stated yesterday in my Frank and Sons purchase post I swung by there on my way to the Bernie Nicholls signing at Dr. Lui's office I decided to submit 5 cards for grading by BGS. I have/had a stack of over 10 cards that I was going to hold onto until Beckett held another raw grading event at South Bay Sportscards later in the year. Well since I was in the area and I have to go back in 2 weeks to pick up my glasses at Dr. Liu's I thought why not submit the 5 cards that I was pretty sure and/or really wanted graded. Well here are the 5 that I dropped off from the least optimistic to the pretty damn sure it will grade out to a gem mint.

Yu Darvish autograph from the 2012 Allen and Ginter set. The autograph is crisp and centering looks great. My worries are the corners which I think will get a 9 and the surface. Hoping for a 9.5 but would not be surprised at 9. Crossing my fingers here.

Corey Seager autograph from 2013 Bowman Inception which is numbered to 25. The main worry for this card is the autograph as it seems to separate just a tad which I hope won't be docked too bad. The corners are always a concern but I think everything else will compensate for a possible 9 on those.

Frank Thomas autograph from 2013 Topps Five Star. I wanted this one graded due to the fact that it is a low numbered card from a premium brand of a new inductee to the Hall of Fame. Everything looks great but as with my past Koufax from Five Star I am always worried about corners but I am pretty confident as I was with Koufax that this one will be fine.

The second to last one is Bryce Harper from the 2011 Bowman Chrome set. He is second only because he is not a Dodger and the first one is. I think both will grade out to a gem mint with my only really worries on this one is that the centering may be just a tad off. Other than that, everything is clear and crisp.

And the final submission is Hyun-Jin Ryu from the 2013 Bowman Chrome set in it's blue parallel form. I acquired this at a massive deal and once it arrived I looked at it and said, hello future gem mint autograph rookie card. I personally don't see anything wrong with this card but again I am not a "professional".

So those are the 5 cards I submitted and I expect at least 4 of them to come back gem mint with an outside chance of all 5 coming back that way. With the drop off on the 24th I should have the results by June 6th with pick up being the next day. Hopefully June will start off well as I will post the results one by one starting on the 9th. Wish me luck everyone.

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Five Star : Frank Thomas Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel ( 2 / 25 )

Another in the long line of autographs to reacquire has been checked off my want list. Newly inducted hall of famer, Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas, is the subject on this entry.

I grew up watching Frank from his rookie year to his last year. Frank and Ken Griffey Jr were the two bigger boppers that people fought over who was the best. Ken's game in my opinion was the most well rounded but Frank had the most heart stopping home runs. He was and is still a big boy and just could put a hurting (pun intended) on a ball at any given time.

I actually sold the PSA authenticated ball I had of his a long time ago before the ball purge of 2014 but he was always on my list to get some type of representation back into my collection. Along game 2013 Five Star brand which seems to be my go to set lately and Frank was included in a 50 SP print run and this 25 rainbow parallel run. I really didn't care which one I got my hands on but just to get the best deal. After a few misses on eBay auctions I finally ended up in the winner's circle on this card. Card came in and looks to be in a condition that might possibly grade out to a gem mint 9.5. Welcome back to the collection and into the pile of future to be graded subjects as I wait for Beckett to come out again to do a raw grading event.

Number 2 of 25

Card of the Day - 2013 Heritage : Matt Kemp SP Action Variant . . . Plus Some Random Bonus Cards

So the second package comes of the day comes in and in it is the Matt Kemp High Numbered SP from this years Topps Heritage Set. But considering Heritage's numerous variations I am on the hunt for each one and this is the "Action" variant.

I picked this up for just $2 on eBay. The buyer didn't send the card out for a few days after the end of the auction and sent me an email to tell me he was sorry so he threw in some bonus cards. They are from PRIZM and for me the are nothing special as there are no Dodgers and the cards are not licensed by MLB but just the players association. I'm not a fan of cards with no team logos on them. Just my thing. If anyone is interested in them I am willing to trade. All of them are stars.

Matt Kemp SP Action Variation

Josh Hamilton, James Loney, Frank Thomas, Adrian Beltre and Curtis Granderson

All from PRIZM. All available for trade.