BGS Submission Result Number FIVE - 2013 Allen and Ginter : Josh Hamilton Mini Frame Autograph Red Ink Variant (9/10) Now Graded Mint 9.0

2013 Allen Ginter Josh Hamilton Mini Frame Autograph Red /10

Normally I would never put an Allen Ginter card this close to the top of the stack on an expected gem mint return from BGS BUT since I actually owned this card once before and submitted to Beckett and it came back from them with a 9.5 I am expecting it once again. Yes, this is the same card I submitted once before but I traded it and that person cracked it open but kept it in its sleeve so it was never handled so I am expecting another 9.5. To say I would be disappointed if it didn't come back with that would be an understatement.

Are...you...kidding...me??? I had this second to the top on expected gem mint returns. Why so high? Because I had this exact same card before and submitted it to BGS and it came back as a gem and to add insult to injury they now say that the autograph is a 9 instead of a 10! My friend Frankie had some issues with his cards in this batch as well and maybe we both got the same grader on a day where he was in a terrible mood. How does centering go down from a 9.5 to a 9. I didn't magically change it. I am irritated more with this return than any of the 8.5's just for the fact what this card used to be. Not sure what I am going to do with this card as I was planning to flip it in a gem mint case but now do I crack it yet again and try to sell it raw or possibly do a re grade when BGS is back in town and hopefully get a grader that is not PMS'ing?

First week of the BGS returns is officially over and for the most part I was underwhelmed with the less than expected returns. Next week is better but that's not saying much.

This card make see red and not in a good way.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Allen and Ginter : Josh Hamilton Mini Frame Autograph Red Variant Parallel (9/10)

Long time readers of the blog might actual recognize this exact card as I have gone and done another 1st in my collecting history and reacquired the exact same card after I got rid of it which I did with this one in a trade with an eBay seller.

How do I know it's the same card? Why because it is numbered 9/10 and I acquired it back from the same person I traded it to a couple months ago. I first acquired this card back in March of 2014 as seen HERE . After I had it in hand I thought it would be a good candidate to earn a gem mint grade from BGS with the possible exception of a potential mark next to the 9/10 on the front of the card. It came back a strong 9.5 with no down grade for the autograph and that is recapped HERE . I had my Josh Hamilton autograph for my collection and I was done...or so I thought. I ended up doing a trade with this eBay seller where I had to let go of this and a Ryan Braun red ink autograph to pick up some Koufax and Kershaw cards which I thought was a real boon for me and my collection. With it I put Josh back on my to reacquire list as he was on there once before when I was transitioning from signed balls to cards. The eBay seller was trying to complete a red ink master set so I never expected to see this card again but I found out after another transaction with him that he was changing his focus for his collection and that he would probably get rid of a lot of his red ink cards. Within a week or so I noticed that he indeed did put up some of his red inks and Josh here was one of them. He attached a higher price than I was willing to spend but after a few weeks he lowered the price to a point that it was lower than what I originally paid for the it. Once again, I was looking to buy Josh at a low point and hoped to do it again. Typical 7 day auction and at the last minute I put in the one and only bid and with it I once again reacquired Josh's autograph for the collection.

You probably notice that this card is raw and not in its BGS holder that it was in when I did the trade and that is because the eBay seller had no interest in graded cards and just wanted them for his collection so he cracks them all out of their cases. I looked it over and it looks like he did a great job of not messing it up and once again I will be submitting Josh to BGS for a gem mint grade and this time I expect no problems but as always I am knocking on wood.

Nine

of

Ten

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Update Nine - 2013 Allen and Ginter : Josh Hamilton Mini Frame Autograph Red Variant ( 9 / 10 ) Now Graded and Slabbed a Gem Mint 9.5

Original Submission Post
Beckett Book Value : $100 ish ( no hard amount due to rarity )

The surprising results continue with this very limited Josh card.

I didn't know what to expect from BGS on this card. It is centered, the edges are clean and the autograph looks to be perfect. My problem or potential issue with BGS about it was that if you look near the hand written number 9/10 there appears to be a smudge mark. I assumed it was done by Josh's finger when he signed the card. My thinking was how would this affect the grade. Does it hurt the autograph grade? Does it hurt the surface grade since it "alters" it? This was the one card I was really interested in what they thought. Grades came back and they were :

10
9.5
9.5
9.5
10

Well OK then.
Autograph came out a perfect 10 so the smudge didn't affect that. The other sub grade, surface, that I thought could be affected came back a 9.5 coupled with 2 more 9.5's and a 10 made this a very strong gem mint card. I don't know everything and it shows here as I was sure the card would be docked for the smudge. Instead I now own the only gem mint red variant of Josh.

Smudge? What smudge?

13 Cards Submitted To Beckett Grading Submissions (BGS) At Frank and Sons On August 20, 2014

My stack of cards that I wanted to get graded was piling up and I knew it would soon be time to submit them to get slabbed. As always I have the option to drop them off at Frank and Sons and wait two weeks to get the full grade treatment but I found out that South Bay Sports Cards is holding yet another in store BGS raw grade event at the end of September. What to do? With a few more cards coming in the mail from eBay auctions and Topps in the next couple of weeks I decided to submit 3/4 of my stack to Frank and Sons and the rest I will hold off till the raw grading event. Now I had to decide which cards I wanted to submit first. I went with my gut and research on which ones I think might possibly grade out gem mint and all my Kershaw autograph cards even though I know only one has a possibility to earn gem mint status. The ones I held off for the raw grade event are of less importance and ones I think might only grade out to mint 9.0's. I will have results in hand on September 4th and cards in hand on the 6th when I go back and pick them up and meet Joc Pederson for his autograph appearance. With that said here are the cards in the order of the possibility of earning a gem mint grade (if applicable) Any and all well wishes are appreciated as always.

2009 Topps T-206

I have decided to get all my autograph and SP ( photo variations / limited parallels ) Kershaw cards graded as even though I want a high grade I really just want them in a nice case for storage. I expect all the cards I submitted to at least earn a mint grade and this one is no exception. While the centering is good as I can tell it is off centered a tad and the corners while sharp are not gem mint crisp. I think it will earn a mint grade and I am OK with that.

2014 Bowman Inception Blue Parallel

Up next is the young man many are deeming the next "Fernando". That's a lot to put on a young man but from what I have seen in person and in the box scores he is capable of doing something special when he does make the big leagues. This blue parallel while not my prize piece of Urias cards ( that one is in route to me via Topps ) was one I wanted to get graded at some point and even though the odds of it earning gem mint status is minimal I believe mint is well within reach.

2009 Topps

The least favorite of all my Kershaw autograph cards. Design is not visually appealing to me and the autograph is of the sticker variety. The fun thing about going back through your cards is to see if their value went up or down. When I acquired this card back in 2013 as seen HERE I only spent $13 for it and the book value was $30. How times have changed. It now books for $80 and eBay sales have for the most part been north of $50. I am almost 100% sure this will not get a 9.5 but I think a mint 9 is well within reason.

2012 Bowman Sterling

The Dodgers future at SS/3B and even though he is only 20 he might be up to the big league team as a September call up next year. I have been trying to acquire as many Seager autographs before that happens and with him no longer on the Quakes team IP autographs won't be happening anytime soon. I picked this up and a twin in an eBay auction and while they both look at least NM this one looks to be a mint or at least in my eyes. Everything looks good other than the corners as they seem just a tad less than pointy sharp. I see mint in its future with an outside chance of gem mint if the other 3 sub grades come back 9.5.

2012 Allen and Ginter

Back and forth we go with Kershaw autographs. I picked this up on a steal of a deal a few weeks ago and that is probably because it is off centered. Everything else looks good but with my history with Allen and Ginter cards I don't expect anything more than a mint 9 grade for this card and I would be more than happy with that result. This card will look great in a BGS case.

2013 Allen and Ginter Red Ink Variant

Trying my luck with another red ink variant from the Allen and Ginter brand. This is my second submission (Ryan Braun was the first) and I am hoping for a better result but I am not sure how this will fare as there is "blemish" on the surface per se. Centering is good and the corners are crisp but next to the 9/10 there is a small red blotch that is probably from Josh's finger. Not sure how this will affect the overall grade of the card. I am hoping for a 9 on surface and 9.5 on everything else but would not be surprised nor overly disappointed in a mint 9 overall grade.

2007 Bowman Sterling Refractor

Long time readers might recognize this card as I was the lucky winner of a contest that was held by fellow blogger The Dutch Card Guy . A quick recap on that. I had to put a comment on every single blog entry he had published (400+) and then I had to be lucky enough to be randomized as the top pick out of a group of 4 that posted comments. Thank you again for holding the contest. This card has only gone up in value since I won it and I knew I would submit it someday. I don't know what grade to expect so I will be happy with a mint 9. I say that because clearly to me it is off centered on the front but I have seen the same card slabbed and graded by BGS with the same "issue" and the sub grade for centering was a gem mint. Everything else looks fine to me so it will be interesting to see what it earns.

2013 Topps Five Star Rainbow Parallel

Well hopefully Bo knows gem mint. These final 6 cards starting with Bo here I expect to grade out to a gem mint 9.5. Bo though is the only one I am worried about as one corner seems a little rounded but everything else looks perfect so I still think it grades out to a 9.5 overall. Knocking on wood and hoping I can keep my Five Star luck going.

2014 Topps Museum

A beautiful card with my lucky marriage number (7) attached to it. A card that doesn't need to be encased in a BGS holder but one I think will look even better in one. This is my favorite and most limited Adrian autograph and to me it looks gem mint. No streaks in the autograph, well centered, corners are perfect. We shall see but anything less than a gem mint grade will be disappointing.

2013 Bowman Chrome Mini Black Parallel

The second and last Seager in the batch and other than my autographs of Corey this is my favorite card of his. I love Bowman Chrome, I love minis, I love black and when you combine all that you come out with this great looking card. Another great steal for me on eBay for this card as it wasn't described in the auction with the other cards in the auction. Woo Hoo. The card is ever so off centered but everything else is perfect and I wouldn't be surprised if all sub grades come back 9.5. Only 25 in existence and this would be the second gem mint. Hoping and wishing.

2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Blue Parallel

With no luck on the blue parallel of Puig from the regular issue of Bowman Chrome I am not trying my luck with this blue beauty from the Draft Pick set. It is more limited (99 to 250) than its base twin so if and when this comes back as gem mint it will help me swallow the bitter pill I took when I forgot to look on the back of the other blue one and didn't see that it was so off centered that it dragged the grade from a 9.5 to a 9. This card looks to be void of any major defects and I expect it to come back as a gem mint.

2013 Topps Five Star Rainbow Parallel

Second to last submission and we have a sure hall of famer in the form of Miguel Cabrera. When I laid my eyes on this card and as it looked perfect on the computer screen it looks even better in person and I knew I had to have it. Had to replace my Cabrera autograph baseball and this was the perfect card to do that. I knew when it came in I would eventually submit to BGS and now was the time. Anything less than a gem mint grade will be a major disappointment. Don't make me sad Beckett.

2013 Topps Tribute

And I finish off the biggest submission ever with the best pitcher on the planet. Clayton makes his 5th appearance in this batch with what I believe to be his best conditioned card. Though not as visually appealing as the Allen and Ginter card it is a very nice on card autograph of the Dodger great. When I bought it on the low end price-wise last year I thought it had a very good chance to grade out to gem mint and that belief still holds. Hopefully that comes true at the end of next week.

Well that does it. 13 cards with at least 6 with a very good chance to acquire a golden banner grade. I will still be doing the Beckett raw grade event at the end of September but with those I am not as confident of them earning a gem mint grade but I am still curious on what grade they do earn.

Thank you all for taking your time to read this if you gotten to the end of this long post. Have a good one.

Card of the Day - 2013 Allen and Ginter : Josh Hamilton Mini Framed Autograph Red Ink Variant ( 9 / 10 )

Time again to reacquire another autograph of a player that I once had an autograph ball of. I was on the lookout for a Josh card and finally locked into this rare beauty.

I love these red ink variants that Allen and Ginter comes out with but with the rarity they are hard to get your hands on unless your budget is limitless. Of course with that said this is now my second one in my collection as I picked up the Ryan Braun a couple weeks ago. Just like Ryan I am buying low here with Josh. Both players at one time were on top of the hobby world but both have fallen for the time being. Perfect chance to pounce on this rare card at a lower than normal price.

There is no book on these so I went with my gut feeling on it and set myself a limit. The auction came no where near that limit and the card only cost $10 more than what I sold his autographed ball for. Another nice swap in my eyes and for my collection.

I rather have had an autograph card of Josh in his Texas days but the red ink really goes well with his Angels uniform here. A great looking card for the collection.

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.