September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY-ONE - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Autograph Gold Parallel (8/25) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2016 Stadium Club Clayton Kershaw Autograph Gold Parallel (8/25)

Another Kershaw autograph but one that I will be happy if it holds at a 9. 

If this wasn't an autographed card I probably wouldn't have submitted it but since it is it goes for the grading. There are 2 corners that have a slight fraying issue and from past experience that "should" only dock that sub grade down to an 8.5 which should mean the overall grade should hold at a 9. Of course if I get a blind grader then it will come back gem mint. Ha Ha.

Well, well, well.... it looks like I got the blind grader when this card went in for its grading treatment. There were/are 2 corners that had damage and I just hoped they would hold at an 8.5 and not down to a 8 but no kind of 8's were to be had as they "earned" a 9. Very surprised as I have seen worse cards in my collection get 8.5's but not this one. With that being the only problem I surprisingly add another gem mint card to my Kershaw autograph collection. 

The card depicts a golden moment for Clayton and I am glad that it is in a gold banner case as that seems appropriate.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-NINE - 2016 Stadium Club Clayton Kershaw Base Photo Variation Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2016 Stadium Club Clayton Kershaw Photo Variation

This Stadium Club Kershaw card is just like the other one in the batch as it also has a slight fraying issue on 2 corners BUT in this card's case it is very minimal and I think that sub grade will hold at a 9 and hopefully the other 3 subs will earn a 9.5. 

As expected this card came back as a gem mint 9.5 with the corners coming at a 9 which also was expected. 

I surprisingly have had decent luck in this batch with Stadium Club (Mike Trout withstanding) but I am/was very uneasy when submitting these cards. I might end up acquiring this brand from others once they are graded as I feel I am taking a risk. That said I am glad I know what to look for when I submit cards but wish Topps would make these in better quality to minimize condition issues.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Black and White Parallel

Man I am so glad I landed yet another great gold parallel of .... hold on, that doesn't look gold to me. Did I post the wrong card? Yeah... no. Man do I love eBay auctions where the seller mislabels his cards and/or doesn't know what he has in his hands and this is yet another example of me swooping in and grabbing a deal.

I was not interested in the gold parallel in the 2016 Stadium Club set but as always I love me some black and white versions whether they are numbered or not (these are not). The gold ones book from $2.50-6 while the black and whites check in from $12-30. This particular card came up on one of my generic searches and I saw that the seller labeled and described this as the gold parallel which it's not. I crossed my fingers hoping that people would be misled and just move on and not look at the picture which clearly showed the black and white parallel. On the final day of the auction the current high price was a tad over $2 and looking to be a steal for me if I could snipe it at the very end. My bid with 2 seconds left my high bid and the winning one to boot at less than a lunch at Del Taco. Yup, a handful of dollars less than low book is what this card cost me. Next I hope it would come in good enough condition to send to BGS for grading and in hand it looks to qualify. Thank you again Mr. eBay seller for mismanaging your auction.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

September 2016 BGS Submission Result Number THREE - 2016 Stadium Club Mike Trout Base Photo Variation Now BGS Graded Near Mint/Mint 8.5

2016 Stadium Club Mike Trout Photo Variation

I love me my Trout photo variations but I do not love anything less than a 9.5 but I am taking a chance on this one as it will return with a strong 9 or weak 9.5 and hopefully it will be the latter and not the former.

There is 1 corner that has fuzziness around it which is connected 1 edge which doesn't look "that" bad but we shall see what BGS thinks about it. This card would irritate me even more so if it comes back as a silver label since I "overpaid" for it.

3 cards in and terrible results for 3 Trout cards is the count so far. The only good thing to say about this one is that it is the last disappointing return of the whole batch which happens to be 56 cards large. So I am trying to look on the bright side. 

Unlike the other 2 the corners were not an issue as they came in at a 9 which I hoped for but it was the surface sub grade that earned an 8. What did I miss? Maybe I scanned it too fast and didn't see a blemish. I will be cracking and selling this back on eBay as all of my photo variations of Trout so far have been gems and this 8.5 is not acceptable.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Corey Seager Base Photo Variation

The trifecta is finished and in record time.

My three PC players all had photo variations in this year's Stadium Club release and with Trout and Kershaw in the fold the only one I needed was Seager and there seemed to be plenty to chose from.

I had heard the pull rate for these variations were 3-4 to a case which seemed semi rare to me but it seems like the market was/is flooded with them. I had hope to snag a Corey for a deal and I felt I did at the time of its acquisition but after a couple weeks went by it seems I had made a slight overpay for the transaction. What made it a little more irritating is that while the card is in good condition it is not in gem mint form. It will probably score a mint 9 from BGS so it is what it is.

With all that said I am still happy I have this card in my collection.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Mike Trout Base Photo Variation

As always if there is a Kershaw photo variation there probably is a Trout one that also exists and to no one's shock that is the case with this year's Stadium Club release. On top of that I also have Corey Seager to go after so in total I need 3 photo variations. I snagged the Kershaw one for "free" with my eBay eBucks so thankfully when I "overpaid" for this one I didn't feel as bad.

With the Kershaw one in hand I wanted to get the Trout one at a nice low price as well and I found this one a day after it was released on a BIN with a best offer option. I sent in what I believed to be a ridiculous low offer. It sat there unattended to for almost 2 days until I received an email stating the seller accepted it. At that time I was happy I won it for such a "good" amount. Of course as a week or so went by I kept seeing other copies sell for a lower cost. So while I scored a deal on the Kershaw copy this Trout one not so much.

Saving grace though is that like the Clayton one the Trout looks to be in great condition as well and hopefully BGS slaps a gold banner on it shortly.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Autograph Gold Parallel (8/25) and Quarterly eBay Bucks Purchase Number TWO

... and now for the 2nd of 2 eBay eBucks "purchases" and how can you go wrong when you get to pick up a Clayton Kershaw autograph for free? Yeah, you can't.

When I decided to use my eBucks for a Kershaw card I knew it had to either be a rare graded one or an autograph so I can add to my quest of having a 100 signatures from the Dodger great. Didn't find a graded card to my liking so I turned my attention to the newly released Stadium Club as I knew there was an autograph of Kershaw that I wanted to get my hands on at some point and what better time than now when it would be "free" to me.

The 2015 release of Stadium Club has an autograph of Kershaw that celebrates his no hitter and I am still waiting to receive that from Topps as I acquired it in redemption form. Other bloggers have stated it might be a very long wait as the black parallel hasn't been produced yet and that is the one I am waiting for. Well this year's release again celebrates that special moment but from a different view and I knew I wanted this card as it was NOT in redemption form and is live and ready to purchase. A few copies have popped up here and there but I could see that their were chipping problems on some corners. This one popped up on the bay one day on a BIN for $200 but thankfully with a best offer option. The seller and I went back and forth for a couple of hours but at the end of the day I snagged it for 35% less than what he originally wanted for it.

Now that it is in hand I can say it will probably earn a 9 from BGS when I submit it. The autograph is flawless but there is a corner issue but even though it is minor I think that sub grade earns a 9. There is always an outside chance of a gem mint return but I'll shoot low and hope for a high.

Eight

of

Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Photo Variation and Quarterly eBay Bucks Purchase Number ONE

The only thing that is same this time around is that this most recent quarter is finished which means more eBay eBucks for me to pursue a card or two. Recently I had been focusing on Mike Trout cards every quarter as his are pricier but this time around I acquired not 1 but 2 Clayton Kershaw cards which is another difference as the last few quarters it has only been 1 card that I have acquired. Another difference is that I did not have a card lined up and agreed to acquire prior the eBucks becoming available as I couldn't find anything I really wanted. This card and Thursday's were both "purchased" within 72 hours of their release which should give you a hint on what Thursday's subject matter is.

First up though is this beautiful photo variation of Clayton which was the 1st one to hit eBay. Nowadays I normally wait a week or so to see where the market takes a new product but with eBucks in hand and a reasonable asking BIN price I had to pull the trigger. To this day this "purchase" is the lowest cost one that has sold on eBay so not only did I get a deal I also picked it up for free. Always a plus.

I was halfway expecting some condition issue with this card but other than 1 corner on the back that has a tad flaking issue there is no problem. I believe this will receive a 9.5 from Beckett and I will put that to the test in 2 months when they are back in town.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin