March 2017 BGS Submission Result Number NINE of FORTY-TWO - 2016 Topps Five Star Julio Urias Base Autograph Gold Parallel (24/50) Now BGS Graded Mint 9

This is the 1st card of the batch that I have no intention of selling or getting rid of and it only took to the 9th result to get to that point. = (

I love the 5 star brand but I know that with them being thick cards they are more susceptible to condition issues and this one was no different even though I hoped it would squeak by. I knew there was a slight issue on a corner and hoped it would earn a 9 and all the other sub grades would earn a 9.5. Well the latter happened but the former did not so I am left with a mint 9 card that is only .5 from gem mint territory. I might try to get this bumped in the future but for now this is a nice addition to my growing Urias autograph collection.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

March 2017 BGS Submission Result Number SIX of FORTY-TWO - 2016 Topps Five Star Corey Seager Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel (16/25) Now BGS Graded Near Mint Mint Plus 8.5

Post 6 of 42 and thankfully the final non mint/gem mint of the batch but even with that comment still an irritating return on this card.

With 5 Star notoriously known for condition issues I guess it shouldn't be all that big of surprise that the corners were the culprit here as everything else had at least a 9 in their category. If this would have earned an overall 9 I would have kept it but instead it became another member of the crack and resell group as it left my hands and went onto eBay and into another person's collection.

The reason I do this with Corey and not Kershaw is just like on the field Clayton is an exception to the rule as he is going to go down as an all time great and possibly the best ever in some categories while Corey is still starting his young career. Years down the road my practice my change when it comes to Seager autographs but today it's crack and resell.

Oh look, corners with a crappy grade

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Clayton Kershaw Silver Signatures Autograph Purple Parallel (10/25)

I got a steal on this card when I acquired in redemption form awhile back but the shine of that transaction has dulled a tad with the actual card now in hand.

A Kershaw autograph is a Kershaw autograph and now that I am not getting rid of any that don't reach at least a BGS 9 there is no way this card is leaving my collection. That said it will be a stretch for this card to earn a 9. There is a corner that the paper is coming off the cardboard. I tried my best to fix it but there is no way it won't be seen by the grader. No matter though as I will be submitting this as a RCR and if it does indeed end up less than a 9 then I will just submit it for slabbing so I can store it easier.

I had high hopes for this card but even with that issue it still is a beautiful piece as the silver autograph really looks good against a purple backdrop. Another rung on the ladder to 100 Kershaw autographs.

Ten

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Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Corey Seager Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel (23/25)

Unlike Clayton Kershaw I knew Corey would fulfill his redemption cards in a prompt manner and I was not disappointed.

When I acquired the place holder for this card I found out when it was in route that Mr. Seager had already signed the actual cards so I knew the minute I put the code in that I would have the real card show up pretty quickly and that it did.

The turnaround from acquisition to inputting the code to Topps sending me this card was probably about 3 weeks. That is a good time frame and wish more players put that much effort into their commitments. I am hoping this gems when I submit it to BGS and my feeling is that it has a 50/50 chance as a couple of the corners are "soft". Hopefully not too much to hurt the overall grade.

Twenty-Three

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Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Clayton Kershaw Silver Signatures Autograph Purple Parallel (#/25)

Well this card's acquisition was a surprise. Not because I got it but that I picked it up right after Clayton's dominate performance in the NLCS.

I had a number in mind that this would go for which was in the $70-85ish realm and similar purple parallels in fact sold for that much after this one but thankfully I was under the $70 barrier and as always I couldn't be happier.

The only downer is that after I received my last Kershaw redemption from Topps a couple months ago I was down to l last one that I was waiting on. With this card's purchase I am now back up to 4 as I now have this along with the Scully and Urias Five Star (since arrived) cards that I have to wait for. Hopefully now that Scully is retired and Urias and Kershaw are on a forced vacation they will sit down and sign the cards and I can have them in hand before BGS is back in town in March.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Corey Seager Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel (#/25)

Five Star
Corey Seager
Autograph
Yeah, that will do.

Every single year I wait for the new Five Star release as it is one of my favorite sets to collect. Previous years there have always been Kershaws and Trouts to chase after and the 2016 set is no different in that aspect. What makes the 2016 even sweeter is that Seager and Urias have now popped up (on top of Vin freaking Scully also being included) and going forward will be 2 more players I will be going after. Well I already have the Urias in hand and have been holding out to pick up the Seager. Obviously with this being popular it has been a pain to land a card even though it is of the redemption variety. I kept losing out on numerous auctions but hoped with it being the off season (it's mid December as I write this up) that demand might be down a tad (price as well I hoped) and low and behold this parallel version showed up on a BIN auction for a great price. No second thoughts and within a week I had this faux card in hand and entered the code into Topps website. Now I patiently wait for the physical card to come in.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Julio Urias Base Autograph Gold Parallel (24/50)

When I send in redemptions to Topps it seems to always take a long time to receive the actual card (way over a year) or super fast like this Urias card which was fulfilled 2 days after I entered the code in their system.

Five Star continues to be one of my favorite releases of the year and the 2016 version is no different. Kind of funny that all the cards I will be chasing in this set are in redemption form. Thankfully this one and the Scully (looked it up and its on its way) have had quick turn arounds from Topps to me. Considering this is a thick card and they are always subject to dinging of the corners I was pleasantly surprised that this one looks pretty clean to me. The centering is a tad off as well but this still might sneak in with a 9.5 attached to it when I send it in to Beckett for grading. Either way this is a beautiful card and thank you Julio for promptly signing for us fans. It is appreciated.

Twenty-Four

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Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Vin Scully Base Autograph Gold Parallel (26/50)

Merry Christmas indeed for me.

The final Friday before the holiday weekend and I just received the actual card of the immortal Vin Scully from the redemption I sent into Topps just a little time ago. Honestly I expected this to show up sometime next year as I looked at Mr. Scully's age and even though he is retired I didn't think he would pump these out so quickly. Once again this shows Vin's on top of his game as he signed the cards pretty damn quick and now I have this beautiful replacement autograph for my collection.

Vin was the last signed ball I had in my possession after the ball purge and though it hurt to part with it I knew it was the right decision and it was confirmed with this now officially in hand. As with most of my cards I will be submitting this to BGS in a couple months for grading but I will go the raw grade review route as if it does not earn a 9.5 then I will just have it encased without a grade attached to it. 9.5, 9 whatever it earns it will not be leaving my possession as this is a prized piece and I can't see me ever letting it go unless for some reason I "upgrade" to another Vin autograph.

Thank you again to Vin for getting these signed so quickly and Merry Christmas to all and may you have a very Happy New Year as well.

Twenty-Six

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Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Julio Urias Base Autograph Gold Parallel (#/50)

As most of you know I love the Five Star brand and wait for it's release with baited breath every year and this go around is no different other than the fact that the first card I have acquired from this year's set is not Mr. Kershaw but of the young ace in training Julio Urias.

I decided to get back into the Julio game and this is my 2nd autograph and 2nd overall card since I made that decision and for some reason his cards are really cheap to acquire right now but I expect next year that won't be the case. 

Even though this is a redemption card I have a funny feeling that it won't be too long (i.e. over a year) till I have the real McCoy in my hands. I expect this will be the 1st of many Urias cards I pick up this off season as unlike Trout/Seager/Kershaw I don't think high prices will be on his cards other than the super limited which I won't be going after anyways. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Five Star : Vin Scully Base Autograph Gold Parallel (#/50)

Let's see how many of you will call me crazy for doing this even though I have proven I will take risks to "better" my collection as I see fit. I know most of you probably wouldn't do this but it had to be done in my eyes and in the end I will be happier.

As most of you know I sold off my whole collection of signed balls when I decided to get back into card collecting. The toning of more than a handful of balls irritated me and using the funds from the sales made it easy to move back into the card hobby. Every single ball was sold/traded except for one, Mr. Vin Scully. I scored that ball years ago and was the only one to survive the ball purge but that changed back in Sept. I dragged it out of storage to take a picture to share it on Instagram and though still beautiful I saw the start of a toning spot and noticed that the auto was starting to bleed. UGH. Well I know that Vin had signed a Topps contract and was going to have on card signatures in 2016 products and even though I wasn't interested in Topps Mint when I heard he was going to be in the Five Star brand that made my mind up for me. Yup, I would sell the last signed ball I owned and would acquire an on card autograph in its place.

As expected the ball sold with ease and all I had to do is lock down one of these redemption cards for the Five Star card which was pretty easy as this was on a BIN auction and once I lost out on 2 other auctions I came back to this one and claimed it. Now I wait for Vin to have time to sign the cards. I am sure it will be one of my favorite pieces in my collection when it does arrive.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin