September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number FIVE - 1957 Topps Sandy Koufax Base Now BGS Graded Excellent 5.0

1957 Topps Koufax

The one card where I do not care what grade is attached to it as I just want it slabbed to add it to my vintage Koufax collection. With that said I think it will earn somewhere between a 3 to 4.5 which is
good enough for me.

I am finishing off the 1st week of my BGS returns with a card that received the lowest grade of the batch and yet I under conditioned prior to submitting it as I thought it would come back no higher than a 4.5 and instead it checked in as a 5.

My 1955-1966 Koufax project is now just 1 card away (1956) from completion and this was the last one that wasn't encased by BGS/BVG yet and no matter what the grade came back as I was going to be happy. It being a 5 probably helps a little in resale value if I ever needed to move it but I have no intention of doing that and hope it never comes to it.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 1957 Topps : Sandy Koufax Base

Just....two....more
So very close and yet still a big hurdle to get over.

As many of you know I have been working very hard to acquire a card from each year that Sandy Koufax played in the majors which was 1955 through 1966. A total of 12 cards for my project and with this 1957 addition I now sit just 2 away from completing said project. 1956 and 1958 are still needed and since they hail from loved sets from the 1950's they are hard to come by at a bargain just like this 1957 was.

I had not seen many copies of this 1957 card for sale prior to seeing this copy and around the same day this one popped up a BVG graded one also came up for sale. I preferred to have that one but the seller was unwilling to move off his high amount so I turned my attention to this one. While this one is not graded (yet) the asking price was close to the graded version but the auction had a best offer option so began my quest to get the price down.

My 1st 2 offers were automatically rejected so I only had 1 last chance to snag it and I was not in the mood to negotiate between offers so I waited a couple days till I had some comic sales complete and sent over my firm and final offer which was over 35% off the seller's asking price. Expecting a reject email I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email stating that the seller accepted my offer with no counter.

Now with this in hand I await Beckett to come to town so I may submit it to get slabbed and even though I do not care what grade it receives I believe it will be somewhere between 3 and 4.5. Now to find those 1956 and 1958 copies to complete my vintage Koufax collection.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 1957 Topps : Don Drysdale Base BVG Graded Very Good-Excellent+ 4.5

Sandy Koufax's partner in pitching crime Mr. Don Drysdale.

With me wanting at least one card of former Dodger stars from the 50's (some 60's as well) at some point I was going to get my hands on a Drysdale card and that time was now.

There are plenty of Don cards to pick from but I decided that if I was only going to have one of him I would make it from his rookie season of 1957. Of course it being his 1st card meant that it would be costlier than any other card which meant I had to chose wisely and with not that many graded copies up for sale I also had to have good timing.

I had this card on my watch list as it was on a BIN auction and thought I might pick it up at some point using eBucks but I didn't have to wait as one day the seller dropped the price 40% which meant it now could be had for more than 50% off of book. No time like the now for this card to be added to my collection and I now have my one and only Drysdale card and it's a beauty.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 1957 Topps : Carl Furillo BVG Graded Excellent Plus 5.5

Small or not a hit is a hit and I am glad I was able to add this Furillo card to the collection at such a low cost.

While Carl might not have the same name recognition as Koufax, Snider, Drysdale et al he is a 2x World Series champion and played his entire career for the Dodgers organization and amassed almost 2000 hits.

While my focus on vintage cards are mainly the bigger names I am not ignoring the players that didn't routinely make the bigger headlines. On a routine Dodger search I came upon this BVG card of Carl and the asking price was highly reasonable considering the age of the card (59 years) the player and grade that I promptly hit the BIN button and had my newest addition to my expanding graded vintage collection.

While I probably will never add another Furillo card to my collection I am very happy I was able to pick up this great looking card of a past Dodger great.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 1957 Topps : Pee Wee Reese Base BVG Graded Near Mint 7.0

Pee Wee... the little man that could
Pee Wee... Jackie's friend and teammate
Pee Wee... Dodger great and Hall of Fame member
Pee Wee ... Part of the Penguin's graded vintage collection...finally

I have always admired Pee Wee and his career so much so that even with my liquidation of non core four players that I collect now I decided to keep my 1 of 1 Pee Wee autograph. That piece of history is a prized part of my collection and I don't see it ever leaving my possession (knock on wood). I knew at some point with my new focus on vintage graded cards I would land a Mr. Reese card and I finally did and at a bargain IMO and with the 7 grade attached to it this card is now my highest graded vintage card to date.

When I 1st came across this card on the bay I put it on my watch list but wasn't holding my breath on actually winning the card at anything that I was comfortable with. Surprisingly on the last day there was only 1 bid on it. Unsurprisingly 6 more bids were put on it in the final hour and once again surprisingly I ended up with the top bid and with it I now have this nice vintage Pee Wee in Brooklyn gear to pare up with my Pee Wee autograph.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin