BGS Submission Update Four - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Joe Mauer Mini Framed Autograph Now Graded and Slabbed a Gem Mint 9.5

The second to last entry of the BGS submissions and we finally see a gem mint card. This could have gone last for the week considering the career that Joe has had to this point which is far from being done but tomorrow's subject trumps it only because of the upside of the card and the player himself and it helps that he is a Dodger. Joe's card here probably will never see a substantial bump in value but it is a great card to have in any collection.

Literally the long journey of this card has resulted in a gem mint grade. You can read all about it's travels HERE . They say third time's the charm and it applies here. I submitted a Yu Darvish autographed Allen Ginter card and it came back a 9 and then as seen yesterday I submitted a Ryan Braun autographed Allen Ginter card and that also came back as a 9. Now it was Joe's turn and even though I thought it would possibly grade out to a gem mint I had to cross my fingers due to past results. Well lady luck smiled down on me and with 3 sub grades of 9.5 and the remaining one getting a 9.0 I finally have my own submitted gem mint Allen Ginter card. Autograph as expected received the pristine 10 which looks great next to the card's overall gem mint grade of 9.5

Four down with one last card left for the week.

5 Cards Submitted To Beckett Grading Submissions (BGS) At Frank and Sons On June 7, 2014

This past Saturday I went to Frank and Sons and picked up the five cards I dropped off two weeks ago to get graded. Those are being individually discussed in their own posts this week so take a gander if you like. With those five in hand I still had seven more that at some time I wanted to get graded. Well, why not submit five of the seven which gives me a reason to return to Frank and Sons in two weeks. Well here are the five I decided to submit and my thoughts on the chances of them receiving a gem mint grade or not.

First up is this red ink variant of Ryan Braun from the 2012 Allen Ginter set. With only 10 in existence I wanted it encased with hopefully accompanied with gem mint grade. I am being realistic though. With Yu's grade coming back with a mint 9 grade and Braun here being from the same set and I can see that it is a tad off centered I will be happy as long as it gets a mint 9 grade BUT as with Yu's autograph I do not see anything wrong with Braun's here so hopefully I get a 10 on that. There is one corner that seems to round just a tad but still think a mint 9 is within reason. We shall see.

Next up is our very own Dodger, Clayton. This is the one card of the batch that is not really an investment piece nor a rookie card or all that rare. I just for some reason wanted to have it slabbed with hopefully a good grade. Looking over it I expect the very least that it will be a mint 9. The only thing that might hold it back is that on the lower right side the edge frays ever so slightly. Corners are sharp, centered nicely and surface is defect free from what I can see. The signature is also crisp and not separating. Possible gem mint but wouldn't be disappointed with a mint grade.

With my track record with Allen and Ginter cards being graded I must be crazy to not just submit one but two more in this batch. Joe Mauer is one of the best hitting catchers I've seen. He is now a first baseman but the time he put behind the plate was excellent. Unlike the Braun card I do not see any centering issues and the corners are crisper than Braun's with no surface or edge issues to speak of. I really expect a "soft" gem mint grade here but gem mint nonetheless. Let's do this Beckett.

The last two cards are of Dodgers and really came down to preference on which received top billing. Black is more rare than blue but Urias has not performed at the big league level yet as Puig has. Both cards I believe are sure shots to be gem mint with the very small chance of one if not both getting a pristine grade of 10. I have never received a pristine and hopefully one day I will. Why not today? Urias's card is numbered out of 99 and looks to be perfectly centered and not a single flaw to my eye. We shall see what it comes back as. Come on 10.

... and to finish of the submission we have Mr. wild horse himself, Yasiel Puig. His blue card is numbered out of 250 so it is more plentiful than Urias's 99 but Yasiel has proven himself so there is a higher demand for his cards. This card at one time was selling for over $100 and it dipped down quite a lot as I picked it for a little over $30 ( eBay bucks purchase, woo hoo ) but I have seen it selling again close to $100. Thought it was finally time to get this blue beauty graded.

So that is it. 5 cards with my finger crossed for 5 gem mint grades in return. Have to be realistic though. I believe 2 are locks with a 3rd being pretty damn close to that as well. 2 with outside shots. We shall see in a week or so as results will be posted give or take on the 18th with cards back in hand on the 21st. Wish me luck everyone.

Card of the Day - 2011 Allen and Ginter : Joe Mauer Autograph

The card that went around the United States has finally made it into my hands after a long month on the road.

Of the many signed balls I was/am selling off one was of Joe Mauer. The long time Minnesota Twins catcher and now first baseman. Like a few others that ball never saw a blog entry as it was stuck in the que but just like the others before Joe's I still wanted to have his autograph in my collection. The ball was a gem mint 9.5 and I unloaded it outside of eBay so I had more funds than normal since I didn't have the selling fees attached to it. Off I went looking and there are just not that many non stickers ones of Joe. One day I came across this one from Allen and Ginter. A card that books for $200.

The seller had it on a buy it now without a best offer but it was highly reasonable and for an even swap of ball to card I once again had Mr. Mauer's autograph. It's adventure was just beginning.

Card originated out of Arizona, just one state east of me. I watched it via its tracking number and somehow it made it to Baltimore, Maryland. You know, real close to my home. Nice job USPS. After some calls from the seller to USPS and much patience from me, a month after the purchase the card made it to me and surprisingly in great condition. So much that it is a candidate for BGS grading the next time they are in town.

Great player.
Great card.
Great price.

Signed Ball of the Day : Joe Mauer ( ROMLB Sweet Spot PSA Graded 9.5 Gem Mint )

In honor of the USA baseball team winning last night in the WBC to move closer to the next round which they have never done I wanted to touch base on two player's autogaphs that I acquired that are on the team. First up is Joe Mauer and one of the better experiences I have had with submitting a ball for grading.

A couple of years ago I had some extra eBay bucks in my account and I wasn't finding much to my liking on eBay but I had til the end of the month to use it and wasn't about to lose credit. There is a seller out in Arizona that I trust and they always sell PSA authenticated baseballs so I looked into his inventory. I found this Joe Mauer ball and out of pocket after the eBay credit was around $25 so I thought it was a great buy. Joe has excelled the minute he hit the big leagues and will go down as one of the best all around catchers. Decent power but he hits for average and is great with the pitchers. Another thing I like about him was that he signed with the Twins long term and probably and hopefully will retire as a Twin. I love one team players ala Kemp, Mauer, Chipper, etc. At his current pace he will stack up pretty well with other catchers that are inducted in the Hall of Fame and he would rightfully belong there as well.

Received the ball and thought it looked better in person than the pics that I received from the seller and I thought why not see what kind of grade I would get at PSA. Dropped it off and about 3 weeks later I checked online and saw that the ball received a 9.5 aka Gem Mint. Woo Hoo. My first 9.5. Though not a Dodger and will probably never dawn the blue jersey you can't but respect Joe on and off the field. I have Hall of Famers and for sure future Hall of Famers in my collection but none have a grade of 9.5 so this is a gem by itself.