Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Draft : Corey Seager Base Purple Ice Parallel (2/10) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

The card that is welcomed into my household by husband AND wife. Why you ask? Well for me its yet another limited and numbered parallel card of Corey Seager. For the wife its even simplier than that, its purple. = )

The wife loves purple and she has put her claim on any purple card that I have added to the collection. Corey actually is one of the few players she has met in person and thinks he is pretty nice "kid". I on the other hand love me some rainbow colored/graded cards/limited/parallel/Seager and this one fit all those categories and then some.

While most of my focus for my Seager rainbow project is Bowman Chrome based I always saw this one on eBay as a BIN auction with no best offer. It never sold and rolled over each month for another 30 days. The Bowman Draft rainbow is simpler as there are only 4 obtainable colors (there is a 5th, black, which is a 1 of 1 so I don't count that one) and this purple has the second lowest print run of 10. This is the only copy I have ever seen (graded or not) but I wasn't going to pull the trigger at his continuing asking price. That finally changed.

With my rearranging of my collection I had some extra funds to pick up other cards and this one was about to do another month roll over but as it did this time he lowered the price $25. Now I was really interested. eBay was doing another eBucks promotion but I wanted just a little more of a discount. I contacted the seller and asked if he would drop his price another $10 which he did within a few minutes of the email. I quickly clicked the BIN button and earned 4x as many eBucks and locked in yet another limited Seager gem mint card.

While I do love Bowman Chrome more this purple card does look better in person than on the computer screen. Of course now with this 1 in hand I have to hunt down the other 3 colors. Damn, another project. Ha Ha.

Gem mint with a dash of 10

Two

of

Ten

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Contest #7 Results : Paco Rodriguez In Person Autograph Bowman Card

The results are in and we have a winner.

Jesse wins another Penguin contest. He had the 3rd most entries but came out on top. He actually rolled 5x into the top stop and was 1st on the 11th roll and I thought that he would be knocked out. He was not to be denied though. Thank you all once again for entering. I will have the next contest up tomorrow and like Alex over at Chavez Ravining  it will be from the same set. Good luck to all.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Silver Ice, State and Hometown Haul

It was time to head back to the 2013 Bowman set and fill out some holes in my silver ice and state and hometown parallel set that I still needed to complete. Found my seller that I have been buying a lot of this year's cards from and he once again had a lot that I could chose from so I busted out my list and just picked what I still needed. They were all buy it now's with a best offer option and since I have bought from him before he always seems to accept my offers so I ended up with these 8 cards that I needed for a little over a dollar a card delivered to the door. Still have work to finish the set but getting these at this price is just a great deal consider the Silver Ice Ryu alone books for $9. A good day on eBay indeed.

State and Hometown of Hanley Ramirez, Josh Beckett, Paco Rodriguez, Zach Bird and Jeremy Moore

Silver Ice of Paco Rodriguez, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Hyun-Jin Ryu

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Corey Seager Top 100 Insert Die Cut Variant ( 43 / 99 )

Finally.... another project is done from this year's Bowman set.

I have been collecting the Top 100 Insert set of the Dodgers which are included in the Bowman series and have had all of them for awhile but I still needed the die cut variants where there are only 99 of each player produced. Puig, check, Ryu, check, Pederson, check and then there was Corey Seager. I just couldn't get my hands on one at any reasonable price until now and then it was a steal for me.

There have not been many die cuts available on eBay and most have been going for over $10 for a card that books at $15. I just couldn't pull the trigger once it double digits so I just had to remain patient and finally it paid off. One day there were two different cards being sold by two different sellers so I was going to be in on both. The first one was ending and I put my bid in and low and behold someone over bid me with the auction closing at over $11. Ugh. Again. Next up was this card and it ended sometime around 9:30 PST so that might have been the deciding factor for me as I won it for a paltry $4 delivered to my house. Not going to complain and just going to be happy that I finally have completed another small project at a great cost. Look forward to seeing Corey up with our team sometime in the near future.

43 / 99 and man it seems like I saw at least 30 of these pass through my hands on eBay.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Joc Pederson Top 100 Insert

Now this is the complete opposite of the BGS card I bought of Joc and showcased in a previous entry. While that one was high in price this one was acquired for pennies.

I am almost done with the Top 100 insert set from this year's Bowman issue and have acquired all the higher priced cards so I am just cleaning up the left overs and I still needed Joc's non die cut version. Seller had this with a starting bid of one penny with no shipping charge. I knew it wouldn't take much to acquire the card but when I won it for just .85 cents delivered that just makes the transaction all that much sweeter. Card does not hold all that much book value but for less than a dollar it is still a bargain. Almost done with the set.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Yasiel Puig Mini Refractor Insert Blue Wave Variant NOW Graded 9.5

As with yesterday's Puig post this card as well graded out to a great gem mint 9.5. Unlike the Top 100 Insert this one was a better purchase for me even though it cost me $10 more out of pocket. While the Top 100 card was only $10 out of pocket the value was minimized due to it being "bought" at $150 while it booked for a little more at that time. This one though I bought for $20 out of pocket seen HERE but it books for $300 raw. A better "return" if I decided to sell it.

Unlike the Top 100 Insert card that I have up on eBay for sale to acquire an on card autograph of Yasiel I am keeping this one even though it is not as rare as the other one. My opinion, which is also shared with fellow bloggers, is that this is the nicer looking card. It's blue and the picture is better. Of course you  might defer on that opinion. Anyways, I sent this card on the same day as the Top 100 one and it also came back graded gem mint 9.5. As with the other one there is no sub grade under a 9.5 and also includes a 10 grade. The only difference is that on this card the 10 is on surface while the other one had its 10 on edges. Either way they both score a solid 9.5 and I'm ecstatic that I can still eye a card on eBay to what condition it probably is.

Damn pretty Dodger blue card of Yasiel.

9.5 with a 10. Nice !

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Yasiel Puig Top 100 Insert Die Cut Variant NOW Graded BGS 9.5

My eyes are still good even at my age. I purchased 2 Puig cards from this year's Bowman set awhile ago on eBay with the intention to have them graded and hopefully acquire a gem mint grade of 9.5. To do this I had to be diligent and look over the card on just a computer screen. I sent in both and received them back this past Saturday. I couldn't be happier with the results.

The first one is the more limited one number-wise Top 100 Insert Die Cut Variant which there are only 99 in existence and that I acquired HERE from a seller on eBay. It cost me only $10 out of pocket and the card currently books for $350 in Beckett. Even if it didn't grade a 9.5 that would have been a great deal nonetheless. But damn if I still have the touch at times. Sent the card in and it came back a gem mint 9.5 with no grade being less than 9.5 and even including a 10 on edges.

Normally I would just call it a day and be ecstatic with the grade and file it away but since I got the other card that I submitted in great shape as well ( see tomorrow's post ) I looked into acquiring an on card autograph of Yasiel in this year's Bowman Inception set. Those normally sell for a little north of $400 and I thought I could just do an even swap on eBay of this graded card for the Inception card. Well, the graded one is up and running on the bay and the other one is on its way home.

Oh... Pretty

Centering, Corners and Surface with 9.5's and Edges with a 10. Damn Nice.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Joc Pederson Top 100 Die Cut Variant ( 94 / 99 )

Now that I got my Puig and Ryu die cut variants of this insert set in this year's Bowman set I can concentrate on getting the other ones to complete the Dodger set.

There are two left to get and I haven't seen many Seager cards up for purchase but Joc has been around here and there but I hadn't been able to get my hands on it due to the high closing cost on the auctions. Found this auction ending at an odd time on an odd day with little action going on. Book value has this card at $12 so if I can acquire any card at no more than 50% then that is a win in my book. On this card I got close to that. Ended up winning the card at $6.50. So a little more than 50% but I was able to get one card closer to finishing the set. Now that I have the die cut I can now work on the regular non die cut. For some reason I never purchased that one as of yet. Need to fix that.

Another nice limited refractor. 94 / 99

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Hyun-Jin Ryu Top 100 Insert

Awhile back I acquired the die cut version of Ryu's Top 100 Insert card but I technically was still on the lookout for the normal non variant but it wasn't getting my full attention at the time. It was time to fix that.

Didn't expect too much hassle on getting this card as it books for only $6 and with Yasiel Puig now taking all the rookie headlines in Los Angeles I figured it would lessen the demand for Ryu's card. Ryu has quietly put up very good numbers so far this year and if it continues he should head to the All-Star game. We shall see. Found an auction that started at just 99 cents and with a day left put my bid in for a buck fifty and won it at that exact price. Nothing wrong with picking up a card for a dollar and some pocket change. Welcome once more to my collection Ryu.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Joc Pederson Blue Wave Mini Refractor Insert Variant ( 63 / 250 )

Finally.... the hunt is over for the last blue wave mini variant that I needed to complete the Dodger set from this year's Bowman series. Not Puig, not Ryu and not even Seager has given problems on acquiring their cards like Joc has. I've had the whole set for a good month now but can never get Joc's card as every single auction has been going over book which is only $6. Just not going to overpay for a card that isn't even a rookie card. Adding to my frustration daily.

Found a buy it now auction for $6 and said hell with it. Actually paid book for it just to be done with it. There are only 250 copies of the card which means there technically is a finite number of auctions I could bid on but at the same time didn't think it would be that hard to acquire but I was tired of searching for that last card to finish the set so I just pulled the trigger on this one. Great looking card and glad to finally be done with hunting it down.

Blue Joc. 63 out of 250

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Joc Pederson Mini Refractor Insert

That elusive last card of a set you are trying to complete can be so frustrating that it becomes annoying yet still exciting as you are on that quest to finish the set. I finally finished one and now need the variant of another. Funny how it is of the same person, Joc Pederson.

This is not the first year for Joc's cards so I thought this would be easier than it has been. Book is sitting at just $2 yet every auction I bidded on ended up at over $3 and sometimes as high as $5. Ugh. So as always I kept bidding and on one auction after another til finally I won one at $1.99 delivered. Finally got Joc to complete the mini refractor set. Now I just have one last blue wave variant of the same set to acquire and not surprising it is also of Joc. Book on that one is $6 and I haven't been able to land one at under that so this search might take awhile. But til then I will enjoy the fact that I did complete at least one of my sets for this year. Now let's see if Joc ever will see Dodger Stadium in a blue uniform or will he be traded for some hole we need filled.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Hyun-Jin Ryu Blue Bordered Variant ( 362 / 500 )

Still trying to get my blue bordered variant set completed and was able to knock off another one off the list.

This is the first copy of the blue bordered variant of Ryu's rookie card to make it to my door but something just tells me to get a few extras if need be for trade or otherwise. Found this particular card on the bay for a measly $5 delivered. Book has it at $10 so for 50% I was able to add this to my collection. Not a day later another buyer had it up for grabs at a low cost of just $3. Do I need two copies of this card on purpose? Probably not but for that second one's low price I wasn't going to pass it up. So with the second one in the mail I have now put this first one in my master set of this year's Bowman set. A fine addition by a very good "rookie" pitcher.

Ryu in Blue Form. 362 out of 500.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Hyun-Jin Ryu Gold Bordered Variant / State and Home Variant

Potential rookie of the year Ryu has multiple variants within this year's Bowman set and I aim to get them all or at least the non very rare ones.

I was still missing out on the gold and the state and home variants and for the most part I have only seen them selling by themselves and hadn't seen a price I was willing to pay. Book has the gold at $6 with state and home coming in at $8. I found this auction that had both cards with a starting bid of just .99 cents and hoped that I could kill two birds with one stone and avoid shipping on two different auctions as this seller offered free shipping. Put my bid in a day prior to the end of the auction and luckily won it at just pennies over $8. So basically it came out to me paying for the state and home at book with the gold being thrown in for free. A nice little hit for the day and one step forward to completing my Ryu set.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Jesmuel Valentin All America Under Armour Autograph 81 / 225

Timing is everything in sports as it is in card collecting. I was going through the checklist for this year's Bowman set and I had forgotten to look for the Jesmuel Valentin autographed card. The two main reasons I missed him was because one, the list I was using didn't have him under the Dodgers section and two, it is an unnumbered card so it didn't fall into any sequence. Oops. I found my error and went out to fix that and acquire yet another autograph.

Book value has this card at $25 but if you look on eBay they range from anywhere between $4 to $13  at the time of my search, but none reaching anywhere close to book. Look back a little further in sold history and I see that a month prior there were more at the higher end price. Most of the low amount auctions I missed out on so I had to figure what I was willing to pay and in the end after missing out on two different auctions and on my third try I ended up winning my copy at just $7 delivered to my door. While not as low as $4 it is far from book and what other people have paid. A nice addition and my only Dodger signed card that does not depict the player in Dodger blue.

81 / 225

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Zach Lee Mini Refractor Insert Blue Variant

Getting closer to completing my set with only Joc Pederson and Zach Lee left. Zach I thought would be the easiest as the other 4 in the set have taken over all the headlines with Zach while still a good talent isn't in the same class with the others in terms of collectability for this insert set. Went to find my copy and buy it and I was right.

There were plenty of auctions to chose from so I just looked for one that had a low staring bid with minimal shipping. This is one card I wasn't going to overpay for and didn't according to book. Auction started at .99 cents with shipping less than $2 and I ended being the one and only bidder. So for a couple of dollars and some change I was one step closer to finishing the blue set. Joc is the only one left now.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Corey Seager Mini Refractor Insert Blue Variant Plus More

Still been trying to complete my blue variant set for this year's Bowman mini refractor insert set of the Dodgers and yet surprisingly enough Cory has been very elusive for me to acquire. Part of the reason I'm sure is because I just refuse to pay a premium due to it being the blue variant. I've been capping myself at roughly $3-4 as book value is at $6 and I think my range is reasonable. Well everyone on eBay doesn't think they same way so I keep losing out to people willing to pay $5 and sometimes over book. Elusive indeed.

Along came this auction which during normal circumstances I wouldn't pay too much attention to but it had the blue card I needed. Seller set up this auction with 2 blue variants which I thought I could use one in reserve for a possible future trade for something else. But wait there's more... = )
The seller also included 14 of the regular mini refractors of which I already had my one that I needed. To say the least, overkill for my tastes. Well he had the starting bid at just a penny so I said what the hell and put my bid in just over $8. So basically $4 a piece for the blues with the regulars just extra. Didn't think nothing of it til the last day I received an email stating I was the winning bidder. So, I can't buy just one Seager but I can win 16? Go figure. Well I got my blue and then some. So one step closer to completing the mini collection. Anybody need a blue Seager or a mini? I have plenty/

Blue Seager his twin brother and 14 cousins.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Yasiel Puig Top 100 Insert Die Cut

THE card right now that you can get of super phenom Puig. Yes, you can get the redemption card for a future card that is signed by him but this card is the one that actually has him depicted in Dodger blue at this moment. This card just keeps getting better day by day as yesterday he won Player of Week in his first week in the majors. Until the autograph cards come out these is the card to acquire.

Yesterday I showed the non die cut version that I picked up for $5 but this is the card that I really wanted and I had been trying to get it for a month but was never going to spend over $60. That was a mistake on my part. The day of his call up this card started to shoot up and I actually lost two auctions. This one had a buy it now for $150 with best offer available. I put my offer in by noticed that 27 other people did the same. That is a lot of action on an auction. I had some spare inventory that I put up to sell which came up to $140. I said screw it and just purchased the card for the asking price of $150. Only $10 out of my pocket. Days later this card is now way over $225 and climbing. While that was pricey for a card I didn't really spend much for it as I had auctions to offset.

The card is numbered out of only 99. That meant very few chances for me to try to win this card before it really skyrocketed. I made the plunge and though I didn't want to pay that much but I think in the long run I think it is a decent investment. It looks great in person and I am going to get this one graded. Hopefully it will grade out a 9.5 We shall see how it turns out on both fronts.

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Yasiel Puig Top 100 Insert

I've been going through my cards as I have gotten them through the mail so I have a lot of cards in the que but with the hysteria of Yasiel Puig I have bumped up the two cards I have gotten in the last week. In two previous posts I showed off the blue wave mini refractor that I got for $20 which now sells for over $150. A nice investment. The non blue one I got for $5 and regularly sells for over $30. No intention to sell or trade but nice to know the value.

Well this card I needed to complete the Dodger collection of the set. Right before his call up I looked for the card and saw a seller had some other cards I wanted ( will be in another post ) but I saw this one in one of his auctions. He had it a buy it now of $5. You know I picked that up right then and there. A great addition to the collection as the card now goes for $40 plus just a week after I got it.

Card(s) of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Silver Ice / Gold and Blue Bordered Variants / Chrome / State and Home

Took a day off from really roaming eBay so I thought I visit one of new favorite seller's store on eBay to fill out some holes in my 2013 Bowman set. Still looking to finish off all the variant sets and he usually has new ones put up week in and week out.

Nothing spectacular but was able to cross off some needs on the sets while getting them in my mind a good deal. A total of 8 cards for a total of 8 dollars. I think when you get any card for a dollar or less that is a decent deal and more so when it is part of variant and/or insert sets. So in the end a nice small haul to help finish off some sets which I think I'm about half way through.

Jeremy Moore Prospect Chrome

Adrian Gonzalez State and Home Variant

Adrian Gonzalez Gold Bordered Variant

Hanley Ramirez Gold Bordered Variant

Paco Rodriguez Gold Bordered Variant

Clayton Kershaw Gold Bordered Variant

Hanley Ramirez Silver Ice Variant

Josh Beckett Blue Bordered Variant 290 / 500

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman : Yasiel Puig Blue Wave Mini Refractor Variant ( 245 / 250 )

Another blue sparkly card strikes again and this is one of the main ones I wanted to acquire this year.

Bowman this year included super phenom Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers in a couple of insert sets. I am still trying to acquire the Die Cut Top 100 version which is now $100 according to Beckett. I already acquired the base mini refractor for just $5 earlier in the month but I was still looking for the blue wave variant and it was always north of $30 and some going as high as $50. Wasn't going to pay that price but I kept looking.

I missed out on multiple auctions as I refused to pay a high amount and am always bargain shopping. One day I kept refreshing the browser and a seller had just put one up for just $20 on a buy it now. Jumped on it and locked it in. Beckett just came out with pricing and has this card set at a high of $50 so even though I have no intention of selling it is nice knowing I got a good buy here. I'm still trying to complete my blue wave Dodger variant set ( there are five ) but I now have the two major ones in Ryu and Puig.

Depending on how well he does I might even get this one graded as it looks great with no smears or fingerprints and is almost perfectly centered.

Cuban Phenom in Blue Form and Numbered 245 / 250