Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Corey Seager Base Home Run Derby Black Parallel (37/65) PSA Graded Gem Mint 10

Look what Beckett and BGS made me do! Went out and acquired one of their competitors graded cards because they low balled me on a different copy of this black parallel that I sent into them for grading. Of course now I will have to get this raw graded to see if it qualifies as a gem mint 9.5 in Beckett's eyes.

I had no intention of doing this project per as when I submitted the 3 black parallels of Seager from this set I thought only 1 would gem. Well when they came back 2 of the 3 gemmed with this HRD version the only 1 not to earn a 9.5. And the story of that is that the sub grades were 9.5, 9.5, 9.5 and a 3.5 for surface. WTH? Well now that I had 2 in gold banners I obviously wanted the other so it would be a complete 3 card set. Of course with only 65 copies of each black parallel they don't come up for sale very often.

I was going to try the raw route again and hope for the best with Beckett but one hadn't shown up in awhile and then this bad boy popped up. At the time it was the only one graded as a gem mint 10 by PSA and since I had the other card I knew I could sell that to help "pay" for this one. Tons of bids on this card and I barely won as someone tried to snipe me at the end of the auction but my bid held on by the narrowest of margins. Now to get this in a BGS case and then I will have all 4 (1 from series 1) possible black parallels of Corey Seager from his rookie year. Nice...

Thirty-Seven

of

Sixty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Corey Seager Fire Autograph (10/25)

It's so nice when you expect something promptly and then the player and Topps cooperates with your mentality and delivers a redemption in less than 2 weeks after submitting for it.

I knew this 2016 autograph of Corey was already "live" and didn't expect to have to wait that long for the real thing and that became a fact when this showed up on my doorstep just 2 weeks after I scored a deal for the redemption card online. I am happy people can be impatient as that allows me to lock in on some great deals and this might have just gotten better as under the loop I do not see any major problems that should stop this from earning a 9.5 from Beckett. Another great on card autograph of Mr. Seager for the collection.

Ten

of

Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Corey Seager Fire Autograph (#/25)

After weeks of trying to acquire the actual card of this redemption from a seller on eBay I went ahead and went this route as he was not budging an inch on his price.

Knowing that this card exists already made the decision easier to acquire this redemption as I know it will be in hand shortly. There have been a few on eBay and a seller had his on a BIN with a best offer option but his counter literally was $3 lower than his asking price. Ass... I understand it's your card but don't offer to negotiate if you really aren't going to.

This card wasn't overly important to have but when this redemption popped up for sale at over $50 less than what that other seller was trying to get I crossed my fingers I could get this on the cheap considering people are impatient and might not want to wait an extra 2 weeks for their card. The plan worked as I won this with the 1 and only bid on the auction. Now I wait for the physical card which should be coming to me shortly.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

March 2017 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-NINE of FORTY-TWO - 2016 Topps Update Corey Seager Base Rookie Debut Black Parallel (53/65) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

... and now for the 3rd and final black parallel of Corey from the 2016 Topps Update set and just like the last post I was right about the corners.

The two black parallels (of the 3) I submitted that received a gem mint 9.5 grade had the exact same sub grades and that is what I expected. Every category earned a 9.5 except for corners coming in with a 9 which I believed would considering under the magnifier I could see fuzziness.

Now that I have 2 of the 3 in gem mint form I need to find a replacement for the one that earned a 4.5 so I can have a complete set of the 3. Nice little acquisitions got a little better with their spiffy new gold banner.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

March 2017 BGS Submission Result Number TWENTY-EIGHT of FORTY-TWO - 2016 Topps Update Corey Seager Base All Star Black Parallel (64/65) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

The second of 3 black parallels of Corey Seager from the 2016 Topps Update set and the 1st that garnered a gold label.

I was hesitant to include all 3 of the cards in the batch as I had an "odd" feeling about what they would earn considering 2 of them had corner issues in my opinion. Well the 1st black really crapped the bed with a 4.5 return and this All Star one had corner issues in my eyes. Well the grader at Beckett also saw it that way but thankfully still gave them a 9 to go along with 3 9.5's and now I have yet another limited black parallel of Corey from his rookie year. Now if he can have the career that Trout has then this card would be crazy nice.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

March 2017 BGS Submission Result Number ONE of FORTY-TWO - 2016 Topps Update Corey Seager HRD Black Parallel (3/65) Now BGS Graded Very Good-Excellent Plus 4.5

Well the results are in and overall I was/am pleased with the 42 card batch that I submitted but there are a handful of b.s. results that irk me beyond belief but thankfully I have eBay as an outlet to fix said issues.

9.5, 9.5, 8.5 (expected) and . . . 3.5? What the hell? I know I might miss something here or there but no way would I miss something like this. I also put this under the magnifying glass once again and I still see no issues on the surface that the "experts" at BGS think are there. The corners I knew were going to be iffy and I was holding out hope for a 9 on that sub grade but expected an 8.5 and that is what they earned. Well no way am I keeping this in my collection and I already cracked it open and sold it back on eBay for the cost of the grading process and the original acquisition cost of this card. This was an odd batch for many reasons and this is just the tip of the iceberg but thankfully out of the 42 cards 31 of them received a gem mint grade. So only 11 that were non gold banners and not all were terrible... but this one was.

4.5 my ass

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Clayton Kershaw Base Black Parallel (43/65)

Even though I love black parallels and I hunted down all 3 of Corey Seager I wasn't planning (at this moment at least) to snag the Kershaw one but when this one popped up for a bargain price I couldn't not pick it up.

For some reason this books with a range of $20-50 which even as a Clayton fan I know is way too much. The highest I think I saw this go for was in the high teens and that was when it first came out. Prices have dropped since then even with only 65 copies out there. Well one night I was doing my random Kershaw searches and this along with a gold parallel (which is available if anyone wants it) popped up on eBay on a BIN auction at less than $8. Just the black one for that amount would have been a coup but with the gold also included it made the deal sweeter. Now with Seager and Kershaw acquired I guess I need to get that Trout to finish off my needs from this release.

Forty-Three

of

Sixty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Julio Urias Base Photo Variation

Yesterday's black and white parallel of Julio was a great deal in my eyes but then I snagged this from the same seller on eBay for even a bigger bargain.

This card books for $4-10 which makes it not an investment piece but I do love me some photo variations of various Dodgers and after I talked down the seller for the black and white one I turned my attention to this one that he was selling. He had an asking price of $6 which was mid book which was higher than most copies were going for. I sent him an offer of $1.50 and sold him on the fact that he would save on shipping as he could combine it with the other card I won from him. He didn't even put up a fight as he accepted my offer. Not a bad card for 6 quarters.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Julio Urias Base Black and White Photo Negative Parallel

Well I guess I am full on into Urias cards once again. Yes, I decided to collect him again but I was only going to focus on autographs of the young star. Well the deals keep presenting themselves so how can I say no to them when they are just basically calling to me to snag them.

Well this black and white parallel that has a book range of $8-20 was not really on my radar till I was bored and decided to give the seller of this card on eBay a low ball offer that was below low book. He rejected that offer but with his counter it was still reasonable and showed he was willing to negotiate with me. After all was said and done I acquired it for less than low book AND on top of that snagged another great deal better than this one. More on that tomorrow.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Julio Chrome Base Chrome Gold Parallel (38/50)

Gold is King and Urias looks to take the pitching crown at some point in the future and I believe this rookie card will be a key piece to anyone's collection.

Gold parallels always have a low print run and this one is no different with only 50 copies in existence. I have not had the best luck in 2016 products condition wise when it has come to Julio cards and this one is no different but unlike others I am holding my breath that this might still squeek by with a 9.5 from BGS.

What makes these different though is that they were not available in regular packs but instead in holiday mega boxes that were sold through only a couple of retail stores. I knew sooner or later they would pop up on eBay and that they did and this happened to be the 2nd one to be sold on the auction site. Unlike the 1st though this was on a BIN auction with opitional best offer attached to it. After a couple of days of back and forth the buyer and I came to an agreement and I had my gold rookie of the young phenom. I might end up picking up another copy to hedge my bets on a gold return from Beckett but till then this is a fine addition to my restarted Julio collection.

Thirty-Eight

of

Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Corey Seager Base Rookie Debut Black Parallel (53/65)

Well that wasn't too painful but of course off season shopping usually is a lot less stressful than during regular season.

When Topps Update came out I noticed that Corey had 3 cards in it and that meant he had 3 black parallels with a print run of just 65 for me to chase after. Well with this card's acquisition my small but important project is over as I snagged all 3 within a 2 week period and all at less than low book ($20).

I have the Topps Series 1 black parallel (his TRUE rookie card of the year) in BGS 9.5 form and hope to get all 3 of these to earn the same grade as that one. To be honest I would be happy with 2 as each one has their own small flaw. Maybe they all earn a gold banner but I am being realistic but we shall see.

Fifty-Three

of

Sixty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Corey Seager Home Run Derby Base Black Parallel (3/65)

See card
See BIN button
Click button
Receive card

Another simple transaction landed me the 2nd of 3 planned black parallels of Corey Seager in the 2016 Topps Update release. A lot of times a "hard" (no starting bid but just one price) BIN on eBay seem to have a high asking price but this was not the case. Just like the 1st black parallel I picked up this one has a book value range of $20-50 but I "won" this for less than low book. Off season purchases are usually good deals and this one was no different. The question now is can it earn a 9.5 from Beckett in March? I put it at 50/50 but hoping for the best. We shall see.

Three

of

Sixty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Update : Corey Seager Base All Star Black Parallel (64/65)

I knew at some point I circle around to the 2016 Topps Update release as I was waiting for just the right time aka when the market was low to pick some Seager cards.

With only the black parallels holding my interest there are/were only a handful of cards I wanted but Corey had the most as he checks in with 3 separate entries in the set. The black parallels have a print run of only 65 and have a book range of $20-50. When these first popped up on eBay they sold nearer the high range which was too much for me but now that there were more copies on the market to be had the price dropped. I didn't expect it but when this copy showed up on eBay on a BIN  with an asking price of less than low book I didn't hesitate and clicked the button and officially picked up the 1st of 3 planned black parallels of Corey.

While I always hold out hope that all my cards can earn 9.5's from BGS I think this card has a 40% at most of earning that as there is 2 corners that have issues. Everything else looks fine but I don't think that they will hold to a 9 but instead earn an 8.5 which cause the overall to be a plain old 9. We shall see.

Sixty-Four

of

Sixty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin