BGS Raw Card Review Submission From March 7, 2015 Update Number 4 - 2014 Topps Chrome Yasiel Puig Base Photo Variation

Original pic and thoughts :

2014 Topps Chrome Photo Variation

Another card that I am positive won't earn a 9.5. Like Seager I am still hoping it holds enough to get a mint 9. Just like his I only see one flaw with the card but I don't want to risk a full submission hence the raw review route instead. The lower right corner has a surface "smear" which I know will garner at least a 9 if not 8.5. If all the other sub grades get at least a 9 then that is fine by me. 

Result and thoughts :

When does a card earn a mint 9 result considered perfect and brings a smile to my face? When said card has a visible flaw and crossing my fingers actually worked.

My original thought was that the "smear" would down grade the card to at least a 9 and in my mind the more likelihood of an 8.5. The card indeed come back with an overall 9 which means that either the smear "earned" an 8.5 or another one of the sub grades got a lower than expected grade. But if that was to happen the smear would have earned a 9 so I am going with the thinking that it earned an 8.5 and the others at least a 9 for an overall 9 grade.

I did decide to send this to BGS for slabbing. If it came back an 8.5 I would have kept it as is but I am happy to add another photo variation card to my graded card collection. Even though this is a 9 it is one that I expected and a result I am more than happy with.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

BGS Raw Card Review Submission From March 7, 2015 Update Number 3 - 2014 Topps Dynasty Mike Piazza Autograph w/Relic

With the 2 resubmitted cards done now we get to the cards that went through the BGS grading process for the first time. Piazza is up 1st :

2014 Topps Dynasty

With a card being uncirculated it would seem to me that it should get a gem mint grade as it has not been handled but I have seen plenty of uncirculated cards earn lower grades. Hopefully that does not happen to mine but when I acquired this I did my research and from the pictures and with card in hand I do not see any problems here. Nice crisp signature on what seems to a perfect card. Here's hoping my one and only Dynasty card in my collection will be gem minty. 

Results and thoughts :

UGH !!!

The biggest disappointed of the whole batch. This was second on the submission post which meant I was pretty damn sure that it would grade out to gem mint yet it did not.

What I also found interesting is that the graders did not open the case that it came in. These Dynasty cards come in a sealed case and I never touched the card when I acquired it. I submitted it to BGS in the still sealed case and they did their review without breaking the seal. Interesting to say the least. 

The perfectionist in me is irked that I did not get to add a gem mint Piazza autograph to the collection but the collector in me is happy nonetheless that the card did earn an overall 9 and as expected the autograph grade is a 10 as it is flawless. 

As with all raw grades you never know what the sub grades are so you don't know how close you are to a higher grade or how close you were to earning a lower one. This like most of the cards from the submission went to BGS to get slabbed so in a month we shall see how close I was to gem mint on this one. 

With all that said, we are 3 cards out of 15 in and I am already done with being disappointed. Yes, the other 12 range from satisfactory to downright giddy.

= )

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin 

BGS Raw Card Review Submission From March 7, 2015 Update Number 2 - 2013 Topps Five Star Miguel Cabrera Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel

Original pictures and thoughts :

Ungraded form.

Unlike the Yu card there is nothing wrong with Miguel's autograph but his card here is only .5 from earning a gem mint grade. Now common knowledge is that corners are hard to bump up to another grade on a resubmission but I am going to take that risk. The good thing about this card is if it comes back as a 9 again I will end up selling it and using those funds to buy another Cabrera autograph in gem mint form at no extra charge. 

Of the two resubmitted cards (Yu Darvish being the other) Miguel here is the one I really wanted to get that bump to a higher grade. But it was not meant to be as just like Yu, Miguel came back with the "exact" same grade as it went in with. 

It's probably the same exact grade as unlike when cards get the full submission treatment, raw grading only gives you the final grade not all the sub grades. Either way this card came back with an overall 9 which irks me but at the same time I knew that getting bumps on cards are more miss than hit.  

The question is now, do I sell it or keep it? My original thought was to sell it but I may just keep it and for now that is what I am doing. Unlike most of the other cards I did not send this one back to Dallas to get fully slabbed (again) and it will stay in this form for the time being. 

I probably will never do the resubmit routine again as these were the 1st 2 I ever did and both came back with unwanted results. Of course that could change in the future but as of today this was the 1st and last time I do this. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Raw Card Review Submission From March 7, 2015 Update Number 1 - 2012 Allen and Ginter Yu Darvish Mini Frame Autograph

This past Saturday I submitted 15 cards to BGS to get a raw grade review in the hope that I would send most if not all to their main office to get them fully slabbed. Realistically I knew that all would not make the trip but a man can wish can't he?

For the next 20 days or so I will recap about the results on the cards that I submitted and I will include my original thoughts from the submission post in red. So with all that said today's and tomorrow's post will feature the two cards I resubmitting in the hope I would earn a better grade.

Card ungraded back in the day

The problem I have with this card is not the overall grade which can't be improved but the autograph grade. The reasons that BGS normally downgrades an auto is if it streaks, smears, is faded or runs to the edge of the card. None of that is happening here and I think the grader made a mistake. I am cracking this open and expecting/hoping to bump up the auto grade with someone other than the original grader. A 10 holds a much better value than a 9 (obviously) so if I ever wanted to resell it help. If I don't get my desired grade then I will hold onto it in ungraded form.

Result and thoughts :

We that was a bust.

My 1st time ever doing a resubmit and I end up with the card coming back with the same grade it went in with. 

I still do not understand why the auto grade is earning a 9 as it does not do any of the things (streak, go to the edge, fading) that typically drops the grade from a 10 to a 9. It was my hope that having a different person look at the card would change the grade but I guessed wrong. 

My intention was to sell this card if it did not come back with a 10 auto and that is exactly what I am/did do. With the funds from the sale I will be picking up a nice limited Corey Seager card that I have had my eyes on for quite some time. I am sure I will circle back around some time this year to pick up a Darvish autograph for the collection. With him getting injured this past weekend I suspect the value of his autograph will go down and that is when I will swoop in for a deal.

One down 14 to go.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball

It must be baseball season as it seems I am doing more trades and/or being contacted about potentially doing one. Fellow blogger, Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball recently reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in some unique items. While not technically a trade as Tony did not ask for anything in return as he just wanted the items to go to a loving home I am presently looking at my collection to see if there is anything he might like. While I work on that he sent the items my way and here they are.

Front

Back

This is an advertisement card by US Cellular which features Dodger and baseball legend Jackie Robinson. It's size will make it a bit difficult to find a safe place in my collection but I am sure I will be able to work that out.

Furillo, Snider and Jackie

Erskine, Gil and Pee Wee

Now for the cool part of the "trade". All six of these admission tickets are from the 1984 National aka Sports Collectors Convention. I have gone to one of these, though I forget which one as it was sometime in the 1990's, so seeing these brought back memories of those care free days. The $3 charge for this event shows you how much prices have changed in 3 decades. Seeing all of them adorned with Dodgers just brings a smile to my face and I suspect that is what Tony wanted to hear.

There is no profit to be made with having these as that is not what this trade was about. Just having a little bit of sports card collecting history in hand is good enough for me. Obviously with the Dodger flavor it makes it just that much better.

Thank you again to Tony for contacting me and offering up these unique items. It is much appreciated and soon, I promise, I will find a little something to send your way. Till the next trade.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

15 Cards Submitted to Beckett For Raw Grade Review (RGR) at South Bay Sportscards on March 7, 2015

It's been a few months since I did a BGS submission and even though I knew I was going to do another batch sometime this year it is a bit earlier than I thought I would do it. I'm doing this one a tad differently though as I am only going to get raw grades at this time as I am still holding off some that I will be forgoing the raw grade and just doing the full submission in a few months. When I send those in I will also include those here I want encased depending on their grade but I expect all but one or two will make it into that order.

With that said here are the cards that I have submitted including the one I posted about earlier today. Starting sometime next week and every other day after I will post the results. For long time readers of the blog you know that has become my usual routine. Like in the past I will go from my least confident card to most confident of earning a gem mint grade. Obviously not all we grade out to a 9.5 but in some cases I will be happy with a mint 9.0.

2013 Bowman Chrome Purple Parallel

I am 1000% sure this will not earn a gem mint grade. You can tell just from the picture it is not centered but that seems to be the only flaw I notice. I am trying to acquire the rainbow set for Corey and all I want/need is for them to be mint 9's. 9.5 is a plus but at present the lower grade is fine so using raw grade review is better here than the full submission just in case this comes in at a 8.5. 

2014 Topps Chrome Photo Variation

Another card that I am positive won't earn a 9.5. Like Seager I am still hoping it holds enough to get a mint 9. Just like his I only see one flaw with the card but I don't want to risk a full submission hence the raw review route instead. The lower right corner has a surface "smear" which I know will garner at least a 9 if not 8.5. If all the other sub grades get at least a 9 then that is fine by me. 

2011 Gypsy Queen

Now we get the 6 cards that could go either way. I expect each of them to have at least 2 9.5 sub grades if not 3 but there is one thing or another that might drop that last sub grade to an 8.5. First up is this sweet pick up I showed off earlier in the week. At 1st glance when you look at this card there is hardly a flaw you can see with the naked eye but if you slant it a certain way you can see some surface blemishes on the plastic coating. The question isn't if that sub grade doesn't earn a 9.5 but whether it can hold and earn a 9 so the other 3 can get 9.5's so the overall grade is a 9.5.  

2014 Topps Five Star

Second of the two Kershaw autos in the submission and just like the other I am hoping for the best here. The "issue" with this one is that I can tell one corner is slightly not razor sharp. Question is will that at least earn a 9 so the other sub grades hopefully earn a 9.5 so I can yet have another gem mint Kershaw autograph in my collection? Hope so.

2014 Topps Strata

A beautiful card from an ugly transaction. This was my 1st ever Strata card for my collection and I would love to have it come back in a gold banner case but as with all thick cards it really is the luck of the draw on what the final grade will be. As with the Five Star card the only real thing I see holding this card back from gem mint is a corner so as with that one I am crossing my fingers and hope lady luck is on my side.

2014 Topps Strata

Same story as the Griffey Strata with the added bonus of seeing how BGS treats Pee Wee's autograph. Do they dock it since you can see a little of the "Reese" part of it or do they realize that is how the card was supposed to be made? Hoping I get a reasonable grader for this transaction that will realize that.

2014 Bowman Chrome

The one of the six that I think are border line but the one most likely to pull out a 9.5 overall grade. I picked this up on a trade/purchase with my good friend Jesse with the intention to submitting it and getting a gem mint card of the supposed next Cub's superstar. As I told Jesse there is only one "issue" that I saw with the card but unlike the Five Star and Stratas the one corner in question is not as blatant. Thinking here is that it grades out to a 9.5 but keeping my expectations tempered.

2011 Allen and Ginter Bazooka Mini

Now for the six cards that I just "know" will grade out to a gem mint 9.5. Of course I've said that before and some have come back lower but on the other hand I have thought some cards would crap out on me but they received a 9.5 instead so you just never know.

This Bazooka card is numbered out of 25 and I so love these low numbered cards to earn 9.5's as if you have one chances are they can't all be perfect so you could have one of only a handful. This being Kershaw just wants me to have gold banner even more. 

2011 Gypsy Queen

My new favorite mini in my collection and what would complete my happiness? Why a gem mint grade of course. Only 10 of these cards are in existence and not one has been graded yet by BGS. I would love to have the only one to be a gem mint and I think it has a tremendous chance at that. I see no flaws so we shall see what BGS thinks.

2014 Bowman Chrome Draft Black Parallel

As with Seager I have taken on the project of acquiring the 1st year Bowman Chrome cards of Urias in rainbow form and hopefully have them all in gem mint form. Realistically that probably won't happen and 9's will be fine but with that said I see no flaws on this card other than maybe it is slightly off centered but that shouldn't stop it from a 9.5. 

2014 Bowman Chrome Draft Blue Parallel

Same card, different color. The reason I have more confidence in this blue one than the black one is that this one does not look off centered to me. I still believe both will gem mint but this one I am more sure of. 

2014 Topps Dynasty

With a card being uncirculated it would seem to me that it should get a gem mint grade as it has not been handled but I have seen plenty of uncirculated cards earn lower grades. Hopefully that does not happen to mine but when I acquired this I did my research and from the pictures and with card in hand I do not see any problems here. Nice crisp signature on what seems to a perfect card. Here's hoping my one and only Dynasty card in my collection will be gem minty. 

We come to the last of card of the "traditional" raw grade review cards for this submission. Traditional? More on that in a minute. 

2013 Bowman Chrome Black Parallel

We started this batch with a Seager card and now we end it with a Seager card. 

Unlike the purple parallel I think this black parallel has a decent chance at a pristine grade. Centering is almost 50/50, surface looks clean, corners are extra sharp and the edges look problem free. I have only had one card come back in pristine condition and this would be a great second one but if not I can not see this getting anything less than a strong 9.5. Either way me going this route for a gem mint grade of this card is better (cheaper) than the one I missed out on earlier on eBay. 

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Now for a couple of cards that I will be submitting once again and hoping for a different (higher) grade. I have heard and seen stories of cards that were only .5 from a higher grade getting resubmitted and getting bumped that extra .5. This is where the perfectionist in me comes into play. Some things are subjective and some are not when grading cards. I have a few that only need a .5 bump to get a higher grade but that sub grade happens to be on centering which is not really subjective. Centering is a numbers game and you can't change numbers to get a better grade on that. With these cards it comes down to the other three sub grades. Some people might ask why I would do this and I say because I want that gold banner. At worst if it grades out the same as the 1st time I now have it out of its case and I can sell the card and get a similar one with the funds from that sale to pay for the new one and try again to get another card of the player. Here are the cards that I am resubmitting. Knock on wood and hopefully I get a better result.

First up is Yu Darvish 

Card ungraded back in the day

The problem I have with this card is not the overall grade which can't be improved but the autograph grade. The reasons that BGS normally downgrades an auto is if it streaks, smears, is faded or runs to the edge of the card. None of that is happening here and I think the grader made a mistake. I am cracking this open and expecting/hoping to bump up the auto grade with someone other than the original grader. A 10 holds a much better value than a 9 (obviously) so if I ever wanted to resell it help. If I don't get my desired grade then I will hold onto it in ungraded form.

And the other card is Miguel Cabrera 

Ungraded form.

Unlike the Yu card there is nothing wrong with Miguel's autograph but his card here is only .5 from earning a gem mint grade. Now common knowledge is that corners are hard to bump up to another grade on a resubmission but I am going to take that risk. The good thing about this card is if it comes back as a 9 again I will end up selling it and using those funds to buy another Cabrera autograph in gem mint form at no extra charge. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Chrome : Corey Seager Base Black Refractor Parallel (15/15)

The biggest get on my pursuit for the card rainbow of Seager is finally in my hands.

I will probably never have any of the one of ones but any parallel card that has at least double digit copies I hope to get my hands on and with this black one I have the lowest numbered one so far. There are only 15 copies of this card and I missed out on the one BGS 9.5 that was being offered on eBay as the seller wanted too much in my eyes. It eventually sold for close to $95 which is what he offered to me. Even with comic code sales in hand I felt that was way too much.

That left 14 other copies out there in world to try to search for and acquire but since that BGS sale I have not seen one on eBay other than the one that someone is asking $200 for. Yeah right. On my vacation to Arizona last month I happened to be on eBay while at Camelback and noticed this copy up for sale. A high price was attached to it but there was also a best offer option as well. What the hell, let me send him an offer that was more than 50% lower than his asking price. Not a hour later I received an email that he accepted with no counter. Ah, the best type of offer auction.

By the time I got home the card was waiting for me. I knew from the pictures that it looked to be in good condition and seeing it first hand I believe I have another gem mint card of Seager. We shall find out later today.

15

of

15

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps : Pee Wee Reese Strata Cut Autograph (1/1)

The hunt is over.
To be exact two different pursuits were satisfied with the acquisition of this plain yet beautiful card.

Since I re-entered the hobby in 2013 I have seen and heard about 1/1 cards. While I can stake my claim to various one of one's in the graded world as I have a few gem mint cards that are the only ones in existence that doesn't mean sometime in the future another person might earn that same grade on the same card. What I am talking about is a card that is serialized 1/1. I have never been lucky enough to pull one out of a pack nor did I ever think I would acquire one as they can go for a pretty penny (or at least the ones I am interested in). So time went on and look at what I found . .

I had a signed ball of Pee Wee but like all others it got sold in the ball purge and he was one of the most important autographs to reacquire but the problem was that there are not that many on card autographs as he passed away before that became the norm. Sure there are authenticated cards with his signature which at one time was where I planned to pick up his autograph again. Then there was the photo option but I didn't really want to go that route. Then the option that became my focus, the cut autograph. It was never really a pursuit but with this acquisition I have my first cut autograph as well. These are usually for big name players from the golden era of baseball that are no longer with us so companies find autographs of said players and cut them down to fit into their cards.

I do love me some thick cards and this is now my second strata autograph. The first was one of Ken Griffey Jr. that I acquired on a trade with Caitlin as seen HERE and I fell in love with them. Well I knew this card existed for some time and even saw it on eBay on a BIN auction with a best offer option attached to it. It sat there for months and I never gave it a second thought as the asking price was way too high for my tastes so I just continued to look for a Pee Wee autograph somewhere else. That search bore no fruit and this card was still on my watch list. Well I had enough in my PP account with a lot of recent comic sales so I had some play money to work with and eBay was running a two day promotion where buyers earned 4x as many eBay bucks during that time.. I decided to send the seller an immensely low ball offer that I assumed he would reject. Hell, I assumed it would auto reject but that didn't happen so I just had to wait to see what his answer or counter would be. I thought I might have a chance of working some deal out as the card was on eBay for at least 7 months. A few hours went by and I received an email from eBay about the card. The seller accepted my offer...

Could . . . not . . . believe . . . it

About 7 days later I received the card and opened it to see this 1 of 1 beauty. I finally got Pee Wee back into the collection and better yet I now owned a one of a kind card. I know some people might not like it as it doesn't include his last name "Reese" but that is fine with me. He is and always will be Pee Wee.

Upon further review I will be submitting this card to BGS for raw grading. While I would love a gem mint grade we all know thick cards are tricky but I am thinking it at least earns a mint 9. What will be interesting is the auto grade. If you look closely at the far right you will see part of his last name. Will BGS downgrade the autograph to a 9 or just focus on the name that is in the middle and give it it's deserved 10 grade? We shall see.

One of freaking one

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Clayton Kershaw Bazooka Mini (10/25)

Over the next week or so I will be showing off 7 different cards that I received on a trade from an eBay seller. Earlier this week I showcased the Gypsy Queen purchases and touched upon how we made a trade after that transaction and this is the first of the 7 cards. The reason I am picked this one first is that this Saturday it will be going to BGS for a raw grade review. More on this and other cards in Saturday's post.

The eBay seller and I started talking when we met up for the Kershaw transaction and found out that he is trying to put together a Allen and Ginter Red Ink autograph set. For those that don't know they are mostly numbered to only 10 with some exceptions. I have/had three in my collection, a Trout which is not and will not go anywhere, a Josh Hamilton and Ryan Braun. I do love these red inks but I got to thinking that maybe they are more valuable in my head and if I cut them lose maybe I could get something that was more in tune with my collection. I picked up the Braun and Hamilton at bargain prices as their autograph values have soured in recent years. I agreed to give him those two cards and in turn received 7 in return.

There were two cards that really caught my attention for the trade and this is one of them. I continue to love me some Allen and Ginter minis but what is different than the others I have acquired is that this one is a numbered Bazooka "variant". As with the leather card from earlier in the week I have never owned one of these and again, what better one to be my first than Kershaw? When I 1st saw it on screen I had every intention to have it graded and now that it is in hand nothing has changed my mind. I believe it should earn a gem mint grade and hopefully I am right.

10/25

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2011 Gypsy Queen : Clayton Kershaw Mini Frame Autograph w/Relic (21/25)

Yesterday I showcased the "throw in" or bonus if you like of the Gypsy Queen Kershaw package that I recently acquired. While that "leather" card is nice and I did want to have a unique new card of Kid K this is the card I was after since I first saw it online back in November. Now months later it is finally mine.

I have and always will be partial to black and/or blue bordered cards so when I first laid my eyes on this beauty I knew I had to try to acquire it. Since it is limited to only 25 and if you know how to work around eBay you can track the card's history which is what I did. This is the only copy ever to be on eBay as of today and this seller originally bought it from another seller who received it from Topps via the redemption program. The seller I received it from kept trying to sell it with him lowering and raising the price on a weekly basis with no luck. I found out later that he tried to trade it offline as well but that deal fell through. I kept in contact with him and had the funds pile growing for some time and waited and hoped it wouldn't sell. One day he dropped the price drastically and I jumped all over it. The card was finally mine.

As with all my Kershaw autograph cards I want them to at least grade out to a mint 9 with no autograph issues. On the posted picture online this card looked to be in very good condition with a chance of a gem mint grade. Once the card was in hand I got to examine it closer and while I think it will still get a mint 9 my hopes of gem mint have been diminished a tad. Corners, centering and edges look great. All should grade out well BUT the surface has some minor scratches. If that grade can hold to a 9 then I should be able to earn an overall 9.5 but if not I will have a spiffy 9 and that isn't bad.

Another autograph of Kershaw and couldn't be happier as being told "no" to our deal back in December was the best thing that could have happened for the transaction. Able to acquire Urias autograph at a discount and no money out of pocket and then score the two cards I was really after back then for a deal today. Win win for the Penguin.

21 of 25

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2011 Gypsy Queen : Clayton Kershaw Mini Leather (2/10)

I love firsts especially when it's of my favorite player. I have always enjoyed these mini cards but my focus has usually been on the ones that are found in the Allen and Ginter brand but my gaze was drawn to this one from the inaugural Gypsy Queen which was released back in 2011. What makes it so special? It's made of "leather" of course.

Eagle eye readers of the blog might remember that back in December I was in the process of acquiring a special Kershaw package on eBay. The seller and I couldn't get on the same page so I ended up acquiring a BGS gem mint of Julio Urias instead. Even with that though I kept in contact with the seller to see if we could work something out. After a couple months he and I finally pulled the trigger which also in turn set up a trade between us which I will be posting about in a short while.

While I acquired two cards in the transaction I believe they deserve their own post. Even though this one is more limited (10 vs. 25) than the one I will show off tomorrow that one is the big get for me. This card is labeled as "leather" but it really isn't made of that material as it just has the look and semi feel of it. I have owned my fair share of mini cards but this is my first numbered one and what better player than Kershaw? This card and tomorrow's card are both destined for a BGS in either full submission form or at the very least as a raw grade review. When I saw this card online it looked to be centered nicely, corners sharp "enough" and the seller stated they saw no flaws per se. Once in hand the only thing that "might" hinder a good grade is one corner has a slight fuzziness to it. Other than that I think I am good to go.

In the end I picked up my first "leather" card, of my favorite player, on my favorite team, in the "rookie" issue of a loved card brand. Tomorrow I show off the card I was really after as I consider this mini a bonus.

2 of 10

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Five Star : Clayton Kershaw Base Autograph (4/50)

Well look what combo is back again? Clayton Kershaw and my new favorite go to place for autographs, Topps Five Star.

December brought upon the yearly release of the Five Star brand and within it I had/have at least 10 cards that I want(ed) to acquire with Kershaw being near the top of that heap. I have plenty of Kershaw autographs but man do I love getting more and this is a beautiful copy. I have had my issues with getting Kershaw Five Star autographs to grade high but I think this one might change that. Once this arrived I took a closer look and I come away thinking that it is almost guaranteed to receive a mint grade of 9 with an outside chance of gem mint 9.5. There is one corner that looks like it could be a problem but as along as that comes back a 9 I think the other sub grades get at least a 9.5.

Taking out the grading aspect this is a sweet acquisition. The autograph almost goes from one edge to the other without streaking and has a great pose of the current NL MVP. Five Star never fails to deliver on top quality cards. The only issue comes from the thickness of the cards which causes condition problems from time to time.

Another Kerhsaw autograph for the collection and couldn't be happier.

Four of Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome Draft : Julio Urias Base Blue Refractor Parallel (256/399)

My Urias collection continues to grow and like with Seager I hope there is no end in sight. Now that Kemp is gone my primary Dodgers to collect are Kershaw, Seager and Urias. With Seager and Urias still in the minors and prices still reasonable for the most part they will be the only ones I will try to collect more than just black and blue parallels. With that said, look, its another blue parallel.

Thankfully in the 2014 Bowman Draft there are only a few Dodgers to chase after and since I already had the black version of this card (as shown yesterday) I only needed the blue one. Beckett still has this card listed at $10 and even though it's "basically" a rookie card as it was released during his "rookie" year there have been plenty of chrome cards to chose from so $10 was too high for my liking.

While I had a price in my head that I would be willing to pay but the $1.84 I ended up paying for it was more to my liking as it was below my price ceiling. Considering I lost out on auctions where the card ended up selling for $5 or so I was very happy to acquire this for less than a $2 bill.

Card looks to be in gem mint condition and might (yeah, it's going) be a candidate for BGS grading in the future. We shall see.

256 / 399

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

March Memories

The calendar page flips from the month of love to the month of Spring Training with actual baseball games being played.... but before that the most important event happens on the first day of the new month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful young wife. The world was blessed with her birth on March 1st from a year in the past and as this post goes live we will be in the Coachella Valley (near Palm Springs) in California recuperating from the previous days of live music (Slightly Stoopid, Fishbone, et al) and wine tasting. A great mixture. Today we will be taking in the sights as I will be her photo model as she busts out her camera and does her thing. Yeah, I'll try not to break the camera. Again, happy birthday love and here's to us having a great day on your special day. I am blessed to have you in my life.

I have been to Camelback Ranch three separate years (might be four, lost count) yet I still have yet to attend an actual spring training game. This year was no different as games start this week but I was there on the weekend of February 20-22 for autographs. One of these years I will have to actually go to a game. Maybe next year with some Twitter/Blogger buddies. With that said once those games start in a couple days the countdown to official games gets smaller and smaller as Opening Day will be just a little over a month away. The crack of the bat, the smell of grass and the sound of the crowd is finally back after a long 4+ months in hibernation. Baseball is officially back and I am pumped for the new season. Only thing better than March baseball is April baseball but till then this month will bring back my baseball smile. Go Blue !!!

January and February saw the wife and I watch most of the Oscar nominated films and now that we are in March there is basically only one flick that is on the docket to watch. I know this is a "young adult" movie but after reading the books (since my niece read them and said she wanted to watch the movies) which were better than expected I now have to watch all of the movies. Insurgent is the second of three books in the series and in my opinion the best of the 3 and hopefully the movie does it justice. I also hope the makers of the franchise do not go the route of splitting the 3rd book into two movies. It waters down the material in my eyes.

Other than the celebration of the wife's birthday and the daily updates on the upcoming baseball season the rest of the month there isn't much planned out so it will be a day to day thing and I am okay with that. At the conclusion of this month will be a quarter of the way done with the year. Life seems to move at a faster pace as you get older. Sheesh.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin