September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-TWO - 2015 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw Base Action Pose Variation Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw Action Pose Variation

As I go through my batch of cards to do these write ups I wonder why I put this card in the group as I think it is almost certain to earn a 9 instead of a 9.5.

There are 2 corners that have slight issues which might be overlooked and still earn an overall 9.5 but the centering on the front is not 50/50 and if Beckett decides its 56/44 or more than there is no way this card earns a 9.5. I get caught up sometimes in getting a batch going. Oh well.

Well it looks like the graders indeed did overlook the 2 corners with what I thought were very small issues. Of course I could have over estimated the "damage" but whoever did the grading I am happy with their thinking as the card ended up being a quad 9.5 gem. 

I have learned that I seem to be a harder grader than some of the professional graders as I have a lot of good "surprises" when I get my results. Remember kids, it's always better to have low expectations and great results than high expectations and massive disappointments. Ha Ha.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY - 2015 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw Base Color Swap Variant Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw Color Swap Variant

Another minor addition to my collection which I hope I can turn into a gem mint return from BGS. 

The cost was minimal for this card and I hope that the slight edge issue is minimal as well as that is the only thing I can see that might hold this back from earning a 9.5 from Beckett. 

Minimal purchase with minimal expectations resulted in maximum happiness. 

I remember bargaining down the eBay seller of this card to a price lower than low book and when it arrived I crossed my fingers that it would gem and in the end I didn't need to worry about that as it gemmed going away. The edge "problem" wasn't an issue and every sub grade earned at least a 9.5 and I have yet another strong gem Kershaw for the collection. Woo hoo.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Clayton Kershaw Base Color Swap Variant

A forgotten chase has finally been finished as I acquired the Trout version from the 2015 Heritage set awhile ago and picked up the 2016 Kershaw as well but I forgot to nab the 2015 Heritage of Kid K. Problem fixed.

With the 2015 Trout card already in a beautiful BGS gem mint case I wanted to couple it with a gem of Kershaw but I could not find one anywhere that was already in graded form so the hunt for a raw version that would "probably" grade out to a 9.5 was on. Not too many of these copies were to found on eBay but this was one of the few that looked to be in great shape so I sent over an offer to the seller who promptly countered. We went back and forth for a few days until I stated that a previous sold for a certain amount and that I wouldn't pay more than that. They finally took my offer and I had the card in hand shortly.

It's journey now will go to Dallas to hopefully be fitted into a gold banner case. I think it will but you just never know with paper cards.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Mike Trout Base Color Swap Variation BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

The Heritage brand is quickly becoming my 3rd favorite (Five Star and Chrome are the others) brand to collect every year as they have such a variety to chase after. Of course with it being printed on paper and not chrome there is a bigger chance of quality issues so I look for graded copies of the cards I want first rather than raw versions. Thankfully this limited card was already in a BGS case as I didn't want to risk acquiring it raw and then Beckett come back and till me its not a gem.

Copies of this card show up every so often on the bay and go for a pretty penny so I have steered away from them and waited for a graded copy to show up at the right time (aka when I had spare funds) and finally this one did on a BIN auction. 

The seller's original asking price was almost reasonable considering past graded sales but I still sent him a best offer to see if I could get him to lower his price. As expected he rejected it but countered with an amount a raw version had just sold for a couple days earlier. Anytime you can get a "high" dollar item in graded form for the same price as a raw version that is a win in my book. Clicked, paid, waited and love the card now that it is in hand. Not a numbered variation/parallel but nice nonetheless.

Gold, gold and more gold

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Clayton Kershaw Real One Autograph Red Ink Variant (60/66) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

For the longest time I have wanted a certain Kershaw autograph and even though I have plenty of other Clayton autographs in my collection this particular kind has eluded me for years until a beautiful day this past January. I'm finally able to claim a red ink autograph variant for my collection.

Kershaw (among other players) have red ink variants in various products such as Allen Ginter and Topps Heritage. They are always more limited as the Ginters have a print run of just 10 (rare occasions there are a little more) and Heritage usually has a print run of the year they are emulating as this one is limited to just 66 copies as the card is a 1966 Topps design. Obviously more limited means more money is needed to obtain hence why I have never been able to pick one up till now.

Gem baby, yeah...

I actually acquired a Heritage card last year of Kershaw but the minute it came in I sold it as the condition was less than what I wanted for something as limited and beautiful as a red ink card is. So the search continued. At the time of this write up there are 2 BGS graded gem mints of this card and both have hit eBay. The 1st one came and went before I could even really negotiate a price with the seller as my offer was never countered and he sold it to someone else. This one popped up on eBay a few weeks later and I sent over a well under book value offer for it and as expected he declined it but he was more than willing to negotiate.

I really wanted this card and I had funds to finance it but I still wasn't going to overpay and with that the seller and I went back and forth for a few Saturday hours till we came to a middle ground that was good for the both of us. I finally had a red ink autograph to call my own and even though this is not the most valuable one in my collection it is one of my favorites.

Sixty

of

Sixty-Six

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Mike Trout Base Action Variant SP BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Trout
Camera
ACTION !!!

I am slowly becoming a bigger fan of the Heritage brand and landing this sweet looking SP card of Trout was a great acquisition.

Heritage pictures are always of the portrait variety but every year they put in photo variations of certain players in "action" and big names like Trout are always in that group. Mike has had a few throughout the years but those are much pricier than this 2015 version. I still plan to lock down previous years cards but multiple copies of this card came up for sale on the same day and ended on the same day as well so I held out hope that with plenty to choose from it would dilute the market a little and that it did.

Book has this at a high of $80 in raw form but snagging this bad boy that has been certified by BGS as gem mint for just a little over half of $80 was a coup in my opinion.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-FOUR - 2015 Topps Heritage : Yasiel Puig Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (48/66) Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps Heritage Yasiel Puig Black Refractor /66

The first of two black refractors from this year's Topps Heritage brand. Though this one is ever so slightly better centered than the other the reason Puig is up first is because the other one is Trout. Puig is good (when healthy) but Trout is great and even when hurt is still better than Puig when healthy. That said I still think Puig can and will have a very good career and I believe this is a gem mint card ready to happen and would love a gold banner atop Puig's smiling face.

Though Puig is nowhere near as hot as he was back in 2013 it would have been nice to add my second pristine 10 card of his with this black beauty but I missed that by just half a point, I was pretty confident that this would gem but I didn't think it would be that close to a 10. I might even resubmit this at the next BGS raw card review to see if I could get a bump. Value of this card is probably at its lowest right now but I still believe he will have a rebound in 2016. Of course the question is will that be with the Dodgers or another team as I think he is a candidate for a trade. We shall see.

Oh so close to pristine

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-THREE - 2015 Topps Heritage : Mike Trout Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (3/66) Now Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps Heritage Mike Trout Black Refractor /66

Another Trout card for the submission and one of the ones that I think has a better than not chance earning a gem mint grade. I picked this up "basically" for free and would love to turn it into yet another gold banner Trout card for my collection. Being numbered out of only 66 and highly sought after makes this the only real chance I have at that grade as I won't be looking to replace it if it comes back with a mint 9. With that said I don't really see an issue other than it's not 50/50 on the front but in my opinion not bad enough to knock down the overall grade.

Only thing that would have made this card look even better is if it came back a black label pristine 10 which none of my other cards have ever earned. Someday, maybe, hopefully.

I was confident that this would come back as a 9.5 with only centering giving me any type of pause but those worries were unfounded as BGS said it was pretty spot on as they gave that and every sub grade a 9.5.

This is the only Heritage black refractor Trout that I own but I hope to acquire the others that Topps has released in previous years to finish off a small project. Probably won't finish it anytime soon but this is a nice little start.

Everywhere I look I see 9.5

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Hanley Ramirez Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (19/66)

... and I come to what possibly could be the final Hanley card I will ever acquire for my collection as he no longer plays for the Dodgers and I have my fill of autographs of the man.

With the acquisition of this card I also finally finish my 2015 Heritage project as this was the final one I needed for my black chrome collection. I had all the big names already but Hanley remained elusive as I was never willing to pay a premium for a card that books for $25, as it seemed everyone else did, even if it meant my project remained incomplete by 1.

This one popped up on the bay with a BIN of $20 with a best offer option. Last time I saw one it was the exact same thing and after I sent in my offer someone swooped in and purchased it at the seller's asking price. Once again I sent in an offer which most would consider a low ball total but a few hours later I was informed I won and the project was finally complete.

I now add the final Hanley piece to the collection. It was a great couple of years but with Seager here now I think the Dodgers will do just fine at shortstop for the next 10 years. Good luck in Boston Hanley as you patrol ... left field/first base? Ha Ha.

Nineteen

of

Sixty-Six

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

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

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

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Adrian Gonzalez Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (21/66)

Another irritating to acquire card has been finally been snatched up.

This Heritage Adrian card is to what the Ethier framed parallel is in the Topps brand. I have only seen a few of each and with the book value low comparable to other players (Trout, Kershaw) I expected to acquire both much sooner than now. While Ethier is still on out there for me to find Adrian is not.

Adrian is still quite popular in the L.A. area and the hobby in general but I didn't think it would take this long considering book as this valued at $25 but every time is has come up for sale I got out bid as I couldn't rationalize the selling price. At the time this card was due to end though I had sold some comics at a higher than expected price so I had a few more bucks to use towards this card and thankfully I did as my bid put the final sale price at that exact amount. Not the best of deals but considering what they have been going for on the bay it was reasonable enough.

Only Hanley and Trout left and both have been going for high dollars. Might be a long wait till I complete my checklist.

21 of 66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Kenley Jansen Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (51/66)

I do so love me some black chrome but man can they be a real bitch to get your hands on as most years they are one of the more limited parallels in sets and this year's Heritage brand is no different.

Unless the player is a scrub it is really hard to score deals on these babies as there are only 66 copies so multiple people are looking for multiple cards which dives up the cost. Supply and demand at its best. Beckett has Jansen here pegged at $25 which is high as usual. eBay sales have been in the $12-$17 range which I still felt was too high. Not surprisingly I lost out on more than a handful of Jansens as I refused to go over my limit. I am still on the lookout for a Trout black chrome which is more important to me than this card so I only allocated a certain amount for the non "big names". Thankfully one day my limit held as I came out the winner of this copy and checked off another box on my list for this year's Heritage.

51 / 66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Zack Greinke Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (25/66)

Look at that smirk...
What does he know that we don't?
I do know that I finally was able to pick up Zack's card after many failed pursuits of other copies as they kept getting gobbled up far above my comfort level.

It has been awhile but I acquired this card on a best offer auction after about 30 minutes of negotiating between the seller and I. Book has this at $25 which I think is at least $10 too high but what the seller was asking for was reasonable. Of course since he attached a best offer option I wanted to see if I could shave off a few dollars.

I found this card on eBay about 15 minutes after it went live so that might have worked in my favor as I sent him an offer which he promptly countered. Still reasonable and the price was going lower but I sent him another counter at the midway point and told him I would pay him ASAP. Not a minute later I received the eBay email that he accepted and as promised I hit the "pay now" button and sent over the funds. Literally 3 days later from across the country the card was in my hands. One of the fastest transactions from beginning to end in recent memory for me. I am down to 3 black refractors left to acquire.

25

/

66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Mike Trout Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (3/66)

As stated in yesterday's Koufax post (and if you missed it HERE YOU GO) I still had left over funds from the Bryant sale and I wanted to pick up one last big card that would cost me nothing out of pocket. I threw a line out and caught a big fish, Mr. Trout.

This limited (66) card from this year's Heritage set was always on my list to acquire but the cost was always too high and the timing was never right when one of the few ever to make it to eBay for me to even consider purchasing it. Well I timed it right as when I decided to sell off the Bryant card this one popped up on the bay with a high starting price. I hoped to myself that with that price it would scare off other potential buyers. Last day of the auction and no bids had been put on it but there were 7 watchers so it was still on people's radar. I was not going to spend more than what I had from the Bryant sale so in other words nothing out of pocket so I would put one bid in and hope that it would stick. Per the norm I waited till the last minute and entered my bid and crossed my fingers that no one else would bid and seconds later I was rewarded with a congratulations email from eBay stating I won the card. Woo Hoo.

Card has a Beckett value from $100-$250 and I thankfully paid exactly ZERO for it. Not...too...shabby. In the end I had a Bryant rookie card and turned it into a Koufax autograph and a limited Trout card. I think I made the right decision.

If interested tomorrow I will be posting about the journey of a trade to grading and in the end these last two cards (among other things) and how I am at times able to acquire higher priced cards. Of course only if you are interested.

And finally, this lovely Trout looks great in person and other than the ever so slight corner ding on the lower right which can only be seen underneath a loop this looks to be a gem mint card and I will find out in a couple months when I do another BGS submission.

3

of

66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Matt Kemp Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (4/66)

The acquisitions of new Kemp cards is quickly reaching its end and this is probably one of the last as of right now there are only two others I am currently looking for. Though I still enjoy watching him play I can not make myself care enough to pursue his cards with him in a Padres uniform. With baseball season in full swing those cards will be coming more and more commonplace and these with him in Dodger blue will become less frequent.  Sad but a fact of life in the hobby.

With only 66 copies of each black chrome there are/were only so many chances to get my hands on one and the few that I lost out on had the final total reaching $15 and in a couple cases near or over $20. Too rich for my blood so I had to just cross my fingers and hope that one would come down to my price and thankfully this one did. The card to me seems to be in perfect condition and would be a candidate for grading if that value was higher. Maybe someday down the road but till then it's just a great card of a former Dodger in my collection.

Four

of

Sixty Six

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Dee Gordon Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (64/66)

Like with my Matt Kemp collection going forward this year, the pursuit of Dee cards is reaching its end and with this card's acquisition it might already be here.

While Dee is featured in the Heritage set he was not in the in the 1st series of Topps cards which means he will be in series two but by that time he will/should be in Marlin colors and not Dodger blue so I won't be getting that card. Kemp may pop up in an issue or two in blue before the switch over to Padre colors but I don't see the same thing happening with Dee. If this is really my last Dee card then I couldn't ask for a nicer one as this is a great, limited and black chrome from this year's Heritage set.

There are only 66 copies but I had already lost out on 5 of them. This one popped up one morning on a 24 hour auction with no reserve and by the next day the high price was $5 with a hour or so left in the auction. 60 minutes and a few bids later I won it for a reasonable price as the card books for $25.

You were always a class act on and off the field Dee and the few times that I met you, you always went out of your way to make sure everyone was happy around you and accommodated all autograph and picture requests . You will be missed out here in Los Angeles. Good luck in Miami.

64 of 66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Yasiel Puig Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (48/66)

Another wild horse has been corralled and added to the collection.

With Kershaw in the fold there was only Puig and Trout left for me to acquire when it came to the big names I was hunting down to complete my Heritage checklist. Trout is still swimming in some stream as I haven't been able to lock down a copy but I was able to nab Puig at the last second on an auction that did not go as high as I expected.

There have been numerous copies previously sold on eBay with most going for over $60 and my ceiling was not that high even though Beckett has this valued at $100.

One fine Sunday night this copy was about to end around 7 at night and the price was well below the highs of the $60 sales so at the last possible second I put in a bid that was lower than what I have been putting in for the other auctions and was pleasantly surprised that I came out on top. Woo Hoo.

Card arrived a week later and as in the picture in hand this card looks primed for a good return grade from BGS which it has been now earmarked for. Now to harness that Trout.

48

of

66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Clayton Kershaw Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (31/66)

With Ryu in the fold I had my eyes on this Kershaw which was up for sale on the bay at the same time as Ryu's card. Kershaw, Puig and Trout are the big names that are on my list to acquire from this black parallel set and with only 66 copies of each I had to get my hands on them quickly but at the same time for a reasonable cost.

While Puig also demands a high price, Kershaw is and will be my main focus on all things Dodger going forward. Won't pass up on great deals but Kershaw is first and when acquiring any newer cards I am looking for top quality as the only ones I will be hunting for will be numbered and/or limited and I plan to submit most if not all to BGS in the future. So when I saw this copy that same day as Ryu's I knew I wanted it as in the picture the card looks perfect with only the slightest off centering that I can see.

I could have played the auction game but I contacted the seller and asked if he would end the auction and sell it to my at a price I thought was reasonable. He said sure but at a slightly higher price than I stated. It wasn't too far off so I said yes and within a couple days I had my Kershaw copy. Card looks clean and now I can concentrate on getting Puig's and Trouts's chrome as this card is now in my BGS pile.

31 / 66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Hyun-Jin Ryu Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (60/66)

If collecting the new silver frame parallels of the flagship Topps brand wasn't enough they went and produced black chrome parallels from their recently released Heritage set. I wasn't planning on collecting Heritage cards but I can not resist me some black parallels so here we are again with another handful of cards I will be hunting down.

With only 66 copies of each card I knew going in that they would dry up semi fast with the big names (Trout, Kershaw, et al) going for bigger bucks. While I hunt those down I still need to get the lesser names and our favorite Korean is the 1st I was able to lock down.

When these cards came out there were no book values assigned to them so once again I had to shoot from the hip on acquiring them. Prices came out two days after I won this card and Beckett had this pegged at $25. With my purchase of it for more than half off of that I can only smile knowing that I picked it up at a decent price. One Dodger down many more to go.

60/66

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin