Card(s) of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : The Full Set

I have various projects that are more than likely to be completed at some point in the future but I am now undertaking one that will either take my whole life to finish or never will as it has 500 cards in it.

I have moved away from acquiring autographs on baseballs as most of you know and have moved over to cards and pictures but watching more and more people getting full sets signed seemed like a huge task but a fun one at the time. I have a handful of friends that love to do IP (in person) and TTM (through the mail) for sets like these and I am finally going to join them. I wanted a set that contained mostly people that could be tracked down at some point in the future and cards that would easily handle a blue sharpie. With most sets now with some type of gloss that could affect the pen I steered myself to Topps Heritage for a couple of reasons. One, it does not have the thick gloss on the cards, two a lot of people do this set so hopefully I can trade with some of you out there and we can help each other out.

As you can see from the center card feature Joc Pederson there are quite a few that have two players (even some with 3) which makes this set even harder to complete. Will I ever get close to acquiring all the autographs on the 500 cards? To be honest probably not but I sure as hell am going to try and if I can get 300 I would be highly impressed with myself and consider it an accomplishment.

So with that I start a journey/project that will take years to "complete" and if you have any cards or tips for me with TTM please reach out and contact me. Maybe we can scratch each other's back.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps : Kenley Jansen Base Framed Parallel (14/20)

Series 2 of Topps was released back in June and unlike the 1st series I was stalking eBay a day prior to release to land me these framed parallels the minute they hit the aftermarket. Series 1 has been a hassle to complete and with only 20 copies of each card they are far and few between. I am still looking for 2 cards to complete my series 1 checklist. I decided to be aggressive for series 2.

Thankfully there are only 4 cards in series 2 that I was/am after and Kenley would be the cheapest to acquire I assumed as the others are Kershaw (2) and Trout. Framed parallels started to pop up on eBay on the morning of its release and I continuously hit refresh as I wanted to lock these in fast. Kenley finally showed up in the afternoon on a BIN auction but thankfully it also had a best offer option. I shot over an offer to the seller who promptly (30 seconds) countered. I also promptly sent him back a counter between our two original offers and he agreed to it. A few days later the first of a planned 4 card project was in my hands. This was the cheapest of all the 2015 framed parallels I have acquired.

14 of 20

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Twitter Friend Kyle : 2013 Bowman Sterling Julio Urias Base Autograph and 2013 Topps Five Star Jim Palmer Base Autograph (170/333)

It's been awhile since I have done a trade (too long for my tastes) but I was finally able to pull the trigger on one with a Twitter friend who I have done business with before, Kyle.

I had a Bowman Inception Corey Seager autograph that I was not happy with as it came back from BGS with an unsatisfactory grade in my eyes and I promptly put it up on eBay to sell to acquire another card. Kyle happen to see it and asked if I was willing to trade it to him and since we have a past trade history I knew he was trustworthy and I'd rather deal without all the eBay charges. Took it off the site and Kyle offered me 3 cards to choose from. I don't remember what the one I turned down was but these are the two I chose for the Seager.

First up is this 2013 Bowman Sterling Julio Urias autograph. I already have another copy of this card in BGS 9.5 form and decided I would like another one for trade bait or just to hoard. Once in hand the card looks to be in really good condition and I might submit it to BGS at their next raw grading event to see if I could earn yet another gem for the collection.

I think Seager has the higher ceiling than Urias but Julio should still have a very good career and I don't think I can go wrong with extra Julio autographs.

While Julio is the future this card is from the past.

One Seventy

of

Three Thirty Three

Jim Palmer is a hall of fame member who played his whole career for the Baltimore Orioles and has 3 World Series rings to his name. Jim was always on my "to acquire" list and even though I knew he was represented in the Five Star brand I never pulled the trigger on an auction as something was always more pressing. When Kyle offered this one in addition to the Julio I couldn't resist on finally owning a Palmer autograph.

Another easy transaction with Kyle and I thank him once again for reaching out and initiating this trade as I think we both came out of it happy with the results. Till the next one.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Bowman : Jose De Leon Base Chrome Blue Twitter Refractor Parallel (8/10)

At 1st glance this looks like your basic run of the mill blue refractor parallel that Topps/Bowman puts out every year in their products but you would be wrong if you thought that.

This is the special Bowman blue Twitter parallel that on the front you can only tell the difference from the "normal" blue parallels by the slight lighter blue hue. For those that don't know Twitter ran contests on their account and gave away these cards to the lucky winners. They came in clear packs and each card is numbered to only 10. Much rarer than than most parallels which means harder to acquire. I was never lucky enough to win a pack but I knew they would pop up on eBay once people received them from Bowman. I totally forgot about these as there are 4 Dodgers (De Leon, Urias, Verdugo and Schebler) in the set and I had written them down for me to acquire but for some reason I never searched for them. That is until one day I was looking for a De Leon autograph and came across this copy.

At the time this was the 3rd of the 10 to hit the bay as the two previous ones sold and this was the only one that was live. I used the closing costs of the other two to figure what my ceiling would be and hoped I could score this beauty. Of the 4 Dodgers this one is actually the most important one for me to pick up as the other 3 already have had their rookie cards released but this is Jose's first year so I gave myself a little more leeway price wise. Thankfully I can say that after 7 days I was the winner for a little under my cap.

Once in hand I promptly put it in my next BGS submission stack as only the centering gives me a slight pause towards a gem mint grade but I still think it earns it.

8

of only

10

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Topps Archives : Delino DeShields Fan Favorites Autograph

I am going to pretend here that since Delino is shown in an Expos jersey that he never ever played for any other team in baseball, especially the Dodgers.

Sigh... but my brain is too smart for that and I know that Delino played for the team in blue in the WORST trade, or at least in my opinion, that the Dodgers have done since I became a fan in 1981. While Delino was not a terrible player by any means, what we traded (mortgaged) to acquire him is still hard to fathom but that is what happens when you have the short sightedness of one Tommy Lasorda maneuvering the deal.

Nonetheless, Delino is another pick up for my collection due to me reading Up, Up and Away. While I would have preferred to have Delino in a Dodgers jersey it is fitting that I now have my one and only autograph of his depicting him in Expos colors. Plus with the measly $2 I paid for the card on eBay how am I going to complain about it?

Welcome to the autograph collection Delino.
Delino > Pedro ?
Sigh...

Thank you for ready and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Bowman : Alex Verdugo Base Chrome Blue Refractor Parallel (22/150)

It has been awhile since I had a nice simple and cheap auction win so on a slow day I decided to look at my need list from this year's Bowman release to see if there as something easy to acquire. I zeroed in on two cards and this was the one I won.

Thankfully there aren't many cards left to acquire but the ones I do need are limited blue parallels but since Verdugo has 2014 cards I assumed the 2015 versions would be cheaper to acquire. Off to eBay I went and found this one and only blue copy on a traditional 7 day auction with a starting price of a penny. Two bids is all this card drew but mine was the top one at a nice little total of $2.50. Not much of a bidding war and no hassle and within a few days I added another Verdugo to the collection. I wish all cards were this easy to acquire.

Well with that out of the way it's time to get back to the bigger fish once again.

22

of

150

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Five Star : Chris Sale Base Autograph (284/399)

I have been searching for a Chris Sale autograph for my collection for the better part of a year. Since it is not meant to be an investment piece I was not willing to get into a bidding war on any particular card but it still had to be in good condition and look good. Time and time again I lost out on cards as my ceiling was set and I was not going to go over it. After all this time I finally was able to lock one down.

The Five Star brand is my current go to for autographs and Chris was featured in the 2013 and 2014 issue. Even with all the copies (he was not one of the short printed players) I could never land one at my price. It took months and months but this one finally was had at my price. Even though he has a very simplistic signature (though I do like it) I am very happy to finally add him to the collection as he is a great young picture on a team that has a reasonable chance to go deep in the playoffs this year. (edit : not so much now)

284

of

399

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Jared Walker Base Blue Refractor Parallel (124/399)

Another blue beauty of a Dodger unknown, or unknown to me at least.

When it comes to these type of players the price ceiling for me is very low as I will not overspend on someone that may or may not make an impact within the organization. Jared happens to be one of two (Brigham being the other) that I was unaware of who they were prior to the 2014 Bowman Chrome release. A little research yielded that he projects to be a decent enough player if not an impact one. We shall just have to wait and see how his career progresses.

With no autograph of Jared in the set there are only two cards I am/was after, the blue and black refractors. Blue being by far the more plentiful I just had to wait till the right auction came around and this happened to be the one. Starting price of $1 and an ending sell price of just a $1 and me as the winner of the card. One down, one to go.

124 of 399

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Bowman : Jose De Leon Base Chrome Blue Refractor Parallel (70/150)

Even though autographs are my primary focus these blue chrome parallels are still on all my wish lists and just a hour after I won Jose's autograph refractor parallel I was able to lock down this blue bad boy.

Just like the other one there obviously was no price guide to reference so I had to go with my gut on this one as well. With only 150 copies out there I put a little higher than normal cap to my limit as I didn't know where the market was going with this card. I ended up getting it for a little more than $7 delivered which I think is a great price for this young star. Was that a good deal or no? I will find out in a couple of weeks when the prices are released but using past track records of "big" named prospects in the Dodger farm system I feel that there is no way this card come in any lower than $10 with a possible high of $15. (edit : it came in at $10)

Unlike the autograph I have of Jose I think this one is a great candidate to earn a BGS 9.5 but is it too early to have stuff graded of this kid? Hmm...

70 / 150

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps : Carlos Gonzalez Strata Autograph (10/25)

Right card, right time at the right price.

I have been on the hunt for well over a year to get my hands on an on card autograph of Venezuelan and Colorado Rockie star Carlos. While there have been a few options he was not a priority to the fact that he is not a Dodger and not the biggest of stars but I still wanted his autograph when I could land the perfect deal and it finally happened.

Couple years ago he was smoking the ball and one of the biggest rising stars in baseball but he has been injured and hasn't really done much this year so his prices have come down. Still not enough for me but I have noticed the downward trend. My two favorite brands for autographs are Five Star and Strata as I love these thick cards so they are always on my search list. One night I did my daily search and this one popped up on eBay for a BIN price of $23. I did a double take as these book for a high of $80 and a low of $30 with completed sales in the $40-$50 range. I did a quick examination of the card on the computer screen and it looked OK so I decided to acquire the card but kept my expectations in check on condition as the price seemed to good to be true. Card arrived a week later and not only does this card look good in person it looks like it might graded out to a gem mint grade even though I wasn't planning to send it in I might now.

Card, timing and price all were aligned perfectly for me and I couldn't be happier.

10 of 25

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : John Smoltz Archival Autograph (38/99)

Took quite a few years but I was finally able to add the final and 3rd (Maddux, Glavine) pitcher from the dominant staff of the Atlanta Braves from the 1990's. As with the other two I had to have John here in Atlanta garb even though he played on other teams after his long stint with the team. Unlike Maddux I have never owned a Smoltz autograph as I could never find one in suitable condition when I was getting all my autos on baseballs. Now that my collecting habits have shifted to cards it opened up more options.

My 1st choice was to get him on a nice thick Five Star card but most seem to have corner issues or the sellers wanted too much in eyes for the card. Since John wasn't a priority I could just wait till something fell into my lap and this was the one to do just that. This card has a book value high of $60 with a low of $25. The low would be a nice deal for a newly inducted member of the Hall of Fame but I continued to hold out for a better deal. This popped up on the bay on a BIN auction with an asking price of $25 but it also had a best offer option. I sent over an amount under $20 which he countered and in turn I countered again with an amount between our two offers and within minutes he accepted that one.

Low book is $25 and I paid under that. Can't beat that and I am glad to finally add this piece to my collection. The paring of his blue autograph to his blue jersey coupled with the blue accent of the card makes it a very appealing card.

38

of

99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Julio Urias Base Blue Wave Parallel BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Another hit on the Urias rainbow train and thankfully this one I didn't have to send in to get graded as it already had been and happens to gem mint. Woo Hoo.

This card only books for $10 and that is due to the fact that even though it is part of the "rainbow" it is not a numbered parallel like most of the rest of the colors. So I had choose what avenue I would pursue when picking this card up. I could acquire it "raw" for a few bucks or I could go the graded route if I paid a small premium. This card was on a traditional auction and I had not seen a graded copy up for sale in months so this might be my only chance for awhile if I wanted it already graded.

I decided to give it a go as long as the price did not get out of control. On the last day there were no bids but with a hour to go someone put one in. I decided I wouldn't get into a bidding war and with 2 seconds left I put what I felt comfortable with and I ended up as the high bid. Again, a slight premium was paid to get this slabbed copy but I am happy I did it.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Craig Biggio Archival Autograph (10/99)

Wasn't expecting to ever acquire another Biggio autograph but when I traded out my one copy I was immediately on the hunt for a replacement for my collection. While I love the Topps Five Star brand as that is the one I had I wanted to go in a different direction this time.

The Five Star one I had was a BGS mint 9 but I did a trade with Frankie who runs the My Life In The Sports Card Hobby blog weeks ago. I didn't want to part with it but to get something you need to give something so off went Biggio but before I even completed that trade I was already on eBay looking for another copy. I remembered that Craig had an autograph in this years Topps Museum brand so that is where my focus went. They are only numbered to 99 but there seemed to be a fair share of them to chose from so I put a few of them on my watch list. Book has this valued at a high of $40 and a low of $15. Most of the sales seemed to be closing over $20 so I decided that was going to be my cap. Lost out on a few but when this card's auction was ending there were 2 other within a minute of each other also about to end. I hitched my wagon to this one and hoped that the others would get the attention. Even with a last second bid by another buyer I ended up with the top bid for a click under my $20 cap. Not too shabby. Welcome back to the collection Mr. Biggio.

10 of 99

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Bowman : Jose De Leon Base Chrome Autograph Refractor Parallel (266/499)

With my Topps Museum checklist filled by my personal deadline I was able to start my next project with a clean slate. The  2015 Bowman issue was released on April 29th and on the 30th I was lucky enough to pick up my 1st card off my wish list.

With adjustments to my collecting habits this year there actually isn't that many cards that I want to acquire from this year's Bowman set. Only 4 players are on my list and they all happen to be Dodger prospects with the exception of Joc Pederson who is a rookie. Jose here is the biggest name of the group as he is tearing up the competition in Single A ball and probably will be in Double A sooner rather than later (edit : he was0. Of course with this just being released I had to purchase/acquire this from a gut feeling and not a book value reference.

With 499 copies there were plenty to chose from on eBay so I just had to find the right one at the right price and I ended up zeroing in on this one from a trusted seller as I have bought from them before. Multiple copies were ending around the same time so I hoped that my high bid would hold and thankfully it did. I expect this card to have a $30-$40 amount attached to it when book prices come out and if it indeed is that amount than I will be very happy as I wouldn't have even paid 50% of that amount.

266

of

499

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number Seventeen - 2015 Topps Tribute : Joc Pederson Black Printing Plate Autograph (1/1) Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps Tribute Autograph Printing Plate Pederson

Halfway through the batch and we have arrived at the card I REALLY want/need to get at least a 9.5. This is a 1 of 1 autographed printing plate from the 2015 Tribute release which was recalled by Topps due to quality problems. This card was pulled and put on eBay the 2nd day of the set's release and I was lucky enough to grab it. Printing plates have a notorious history of not so minty grades. When this card made it into my hands I could see no flaws. Everything looks great including the autograph. To be quite honest if this, or should I say when, grades out to a 9.5 I will probably flip it on eBay. Sell high, buy low. Joc's autograph cards have skyrocketed and if I was to have a gem mint 1 of 1 from a product that is basically not on the market anymore it should sell for a pretty penny. Fingers crossing and here's to hoping for that gold banner.

We have arrived to the final card of my most recent BGS submission batch and it is yet another Holy Grail for my collection. While I have been trying to catch up on my Joc Pederson autograph portion of my collection what I don't have in quantity I sure as hell have in quality and it just got better.

When I showed this off and told people that I was submitting it to BGS they kept say, "don't get your hopes up", "its a plate, you will be lucky to get a 9 if that", or rolling their eyes. I held firm in my belief that this card would grade out well. When I was lucky enough to acquire it (great timing) and the day it came in I could see no wrong in this card so it was immediately ear marked for grading and put into the stack.

ONE of FREAKING ONE !!!

Joc's autograph is notoriously hard to get a 10 from Beckett but that as well looked great to me. On top of all that this is a one of one (1/1) from a recalled product because of quality issues. So having a gem mint card from a very limited product that has issues would make this card even a bigger score. The grade came in and not only was it a gem mint it had quad sub grades of 9.5 plus the 10 on autograph. Printing plates are hard to get 9.5's but this one not only received it, it was a strong one with no 9's to be seen.

This truly is my Joc jewel but by the time this post goes live I may or may not have the card anymore. Why you ask? Sell high buy low is why. It is on eBay now for a ridiculous asking price with a best offer option. If someone will overpay for this card I will let it go but if not this is the most recent prized acquisition for my collection. A win either way for me.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number Sixteen - 2013 Bowman Chrome : Corey Seager Base Yellow Refractor Parallel (2/10) Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2013 Bowman Chrome Yellow Refractor Seager

I did my research when acquiring this card and I hope that I don't disappoint myself as this would be a real big feather in my Seager hat. This is the last Seager of the batch and the one that I am most confident of at least earning a gem mint grade. Corners crisp, surface clean, edges nice and centering looks to be spot on. At one point I even thought that it should be a pristine card but I don't want to be greedy. I'll only be happy with a plain old 9.5 here and would be really bummed if it didn't come back that way.

In almost any other batch this card would be the top return but for this one it only earns 2nd place as the top card was just plain perfect timing and with a little luck on my side. More on that in 2 days.

I had been searching for this card for quite some time and people on Instagram have been trying to get it from me as well once I showed it off there. There are only 10 copies of this parallel and the only one I saw on eBay for months. I still haven't seen one since the time I acquired this one. At the time of submission there was only 1 other card that was graded by BGS and that came back a 9 and it popped up on eBay and sold for north of $120. I hoped mine would be the 1st to earn a gem mint 9.5 as the only colors with a lower print run that this yellow are red with 5 and then the superfractors. As I never see myself acquiring one of those this will be my crown jewel of non autograph Seager cards and I had to have it come back a 9.5. As I did my research on it and pre graded it when it was in my hands I could not see anyway that this would come back anything less than a 9.5 but what would Beckett say? Why they agreed with me as it earned quad 9.5's for a solid gem mint grade. Hot damn! I believe if I was to put this card up on eBay and ask for $250-$350 I would have no problem getting that but this card will be staying in my collection for a long while.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Draft : Julio Urias Base Chrome Orange Refractor Parallel (12/25) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Urias
Seager
Urias

Back and forth I go trying to acquire the rainbow of Bowman Chrome cards of the Dodgers two super prospects. Depending on the day either one is more expensive than the other so the trick is to acquire any said card on the right day at the right time. Today it happens to be Urias's turn.

As stated in Kris Bryant BGS blog entry from a couple days ago there was another card that I was really after and this is the one. I luckily did this transaction before Urias was named the number one left handed prospect in all of baseball and prior to Spring Training. I think it would have "costed" more if I cam across the card at that time. Even with that there were 10 watchers on this BIN auction so I had to move quickly.

Thankfully I was planning to buy the two cards from the seller so he was little more lenient with the best offers. Not too much mind you but considering the two prospects I was looking to pick up reasonable enough. Card books for $40 in raw form so picking it up in gem mint graded form for less than that is a win win in my eyes. 

12 / 25

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number Fifteen - 2014 Bowman : Julio Urias Oversized Purple Ice Autograph (6/25) Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2014 Bowman Oversized Purple Ice Urias

You can't tell by the picture here but this is one big a$$ card. I picked this up on a trade with Frankie as it was my big get from the trade and when it arrived I knew it would be heading to BGS to hopefully earning a gold banner which would sit nicely next to my other gem mint Urias autographs. For a big card it surprisingly looks void of any problems. With only 25 in existence I sure would love to be one of only a couple to have a 9.5.

A past trade with Frankie pays off some more as this Urias becomes the newest gem mint autograph in the collection of the young phenom.

"Big" gold banner

This was/is my 1st bigger than "normal" card in my collection and even though I wanted it in a gold banner case I would have "accepted" it if came back as a plain old mint 9 just so I could store it better as it just doesn't fit anywhere without worrying about bending it. Well now its in a case and better yet Beckett gave it a solid gem mint 9.5 as all the sub grades earned that grade and the auto of course came back as a 10. 

"Coining" the card or is that "carding" the card to show off its size.

I now have 4 autograph cards of Julio and each one is a gem mint and I couldn't be happier. Thank you again to Frankie for parting with it. It is in a happy home and won't be leaving anytime soon. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number Fourteen - 2006 Allen and Ginter : John Wooden Mini Frame Autograph (#/200) Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2006 Allen and Ginter Wooden

It's a very tense time when I submit an autograph of a person that will probably be my only one for my collection so its basically my only shot at a gem mint grade and once again this all hold true here. I would have put this great looking Wooden card near that top of the list as I see no issues whatsoever but with my history of totally hitting it or totally missing it I will leave it here. Seems like I get gem mints or near mints returns and totally bypassing the mint bench marker. With only a handful of these out there I really hope this card earns the former and not the former. I am confident just not too much.

13 posts down and 4 left as we have arrived to the biggies that if I received anything less than a gem mint grade I would be highly disappointed. The late great Wooden is up 1st as even though it is "numbered" (no actual number on card) to 200 it is the biggest print run of the 4 left.

This was probably my last and best chance to acquire this card at a reasonable "price" as the seller had multiples and she had sold them all and this was the last one. There are a couple more on eBay but at BIN with high prices attached to them. Her and I went back and forth and she said this was one of her best if not best copies that she had and thought it would grade out to a 9.5 if submitted which of course was my intention. I have had a real hit and miss history with A and G and was hoping this would fall under the hit category. Beckett agreed with me and gave it a 9.5 overall and a perfect autograph 10 grade. That's what I'm talking about. My one and only Wooden autograph in my collection has been certified as gem minty. Woo hoo.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Draft : Kris Bryant Base Blue Refractor Parallel (338/399) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Though I searched out a Kris Bryant autograph and was able to acquire a copy for my collection I am not really into pursuing many prospects that are not Dodgers. Kris is the number one rated prospect in baseball and has been anointed as a can't miss player. We shall see about that. His card prices reflect that belief which is another reason why I wasn't going after any of his cards, of course when a bargain presents itself it would be foolish not to at least look into it and that is what I did and came away with this beauty.

I was looking for another card (which I will show off shortly) and found it and was about to purchase it but then I decided to look at what else the seller had for sale. Not much caught my eye except for this card. Raw this card books at $50 and with my "addiction" to BGS gem mints I was drawn to this card. The seller was asking for less than what it books for but still had a best offer attached to the auction. With me locked into the other card I was looking to score a deal on this one to save him money on shipping.

After 2 days of negotiating (longer than usual with sellers from my past experiences) he finally accepted an offer that was agreeable to him. Though I would have liked to shaved off a few more dollars off the transaction I can't really complain as I picked this card up at more than 20% off of what it books for raw and I got two great cards in the transaction. More on that other card shortly.

Another gold banner for the collection

338/399

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number Thirteen - 2015 Topps Heritage : Clayton Kershaw Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (31/66) Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Heritage Black Refractor Kershaw

I'm done with autographs of Kershaw for the batch but not of his cards in general and here is the first. This is a great looking black bordered card that at first glance looks to be in tip top shape but I can see it's off centered which will probably cause that sub grade to drop to a 9. For some reason I have a bad feeling that it will earn an overall 9 even though my research says it should still be gem mint. Hopefully its just me and not the card. We shall see. Fingers crossed.

Sometimes I jink myself into a bad grade and then sometimes I jinx myself in reverse and this one happens to be the latter and not the former.

I could tell the centering was just a tad off and Beckett agreed as they gave it a 9. I thought the other 3 sub grades should earn 9.5's but for some reason when I submitted it I had a funny feeling that one of them would come back a 9. Well my worries were unjustified as each of the other 3 earned a 9.5 which made the card on overall gem mint 9.5. That makes it the 1st of its kind for this year as this is the only one that has been submitted.

Nothing like a limited, numbered and BGS graded gem mint Kershaw being added to the collection. Many more to come I hope.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin