Showing posts with label Kris Bryant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kris Bryant. Show all posts

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Draft : Kris Bryant Base Blue Refractor Parallel (338/399) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5


Though I searched out a Kris Bryant autograph and was able to acquire a copy for my collection I am not really into pursuing many prospects that are not Dodgers. Kris is the number one rated prospect in baseball and has been anointed as a can't miss player. We shall see about that. His card prices reflect that belief which is another reason why I wasn't going after any of his cards, of course when a bargain presents itself it would be foolish not to at least look into it and that is what I did and came away with this beauty.

I was looking for another card (which I will show off shortly) and found it and was about to purchase it but then I decided to look at what else the seller had for sale. Not much caught my eye except for this card. Raw this card books at $50 and with my "addiction" to BGS gem mints I was drawn to this card. The seller was asking for less than what it books for but still had a best offer attached to the auction. With me locked into the other card I was looking to score a deal on this one to save him money on shipping.

After 2 days of negotiating (longer than usual with sellers from my past experiences) he finally accepted an offer that was agreeable to him. Though I would have liked to shaved off a few more dollars off the transaction I can't really complain as I picked this card up at more than 20% off of what it books for raw and I got two great cards in the transaction. More on that other card shortly.


Another gold banner for the collection


338/399

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Journey From Trade To Grading To Selling To Buying To Selling Again and Finally Acquiring Cards That Are Staying In The Collection

I post a lot about of when I acquire cards and at times the cost of said cards but sometimes it seems to me that I put it out there that I might have an endless amount of funds but that couldn't be further from the truth and I thought I would show how I acquire a high dollar card at minimal or no cost. Some people have also asked me on this subject as well so I thought I would put it down in writing. Most times it's all about timing and at the same time you have to have a little luck on your side as well which is what I had when it came to this journey's recap and how only a little purchase/trade at the end of last year turned into a handful of great cards that will not be leaving my collection anytime soon.


2014 Bowman Chrome Base Autograph

This all started back in December of 2014 when my good buddy Jesse informed me (and others) that he was going to put this bad boy up on eBay as he pulled it out of a box that his wife bought for him. Great wife BTW. It was a simple trade/purchase as we agreed that I would send him some cards in addition to $150. It was Christmas time and I had to account for presents so Jesse was kind enough to allow me to send him payments over the course of several weeks but soon enough it was paid for and I had it in hand. Now with the card in front of my eyes I thought it was beautiful that had a very good chance of grading out to a gem mint 9.5. I am not a prospector of non Dodger players so I only wanted one of Bryant's autographs in my collection and this was going to be that one. Mind you this was before Spring Training and his status blew up big time due to his performance.

BGS came to town in early March and I submitted the card (along with many others) and I "expected" Bryant to come back as a gem mint. Well it didn't . . .


. . . it came back as a PRISTINE 10. Holy crap!!! At the time of me submitting this for further grading which included slabbing the card the going price on eBay for these were $900+ with some touching $1000. The other hope was that it would come back with a black label 10 (that's when all the sub grades are a 10) which unfortunately it did not but still it did look quite spiffy in this case.


This was to be my 4th pristine return in my collection but I debated if I should sell high and get something more that fits into my collection. I only wanted a 9.5 but now I had a potential money making card in my hand. What to do? I went to Twitter to consult with my friends aka Jesse, Derek, Alex and Austin and they all confirmed my belief that I should move this as a 10 is nice but it is an unnumbered card. So I made a plan and went about to set it in motion as I noticed that sales of this card were starting to dip. Time to move it.

I had my eyes set on two cards with the leftover money to take my wife out to a nice dinner. Win win all around in my eyes. But first I had to make sure I sold this 10 for at least $900 which thankfully it did as the bottom has fallen out of it with a current sale (May 30th) at the rock bottom price of $485 and that is before factoring in eBay, shipping and Paypal costs. That is a $415 swing so I made the right call at the right time.

In return I picked up two cards.


I still wanted a Bryant card for my collection and again with advice from my Twitter friends I/we figured that a numbered (#/500) refractor gem mint 9.5 is a much better piece to have than an unnumbered pristine 10. This card ended up "costing" me $500 which to me was very reasonable considering what I sold the pristine at and what they are worth now. I was still on the look out for one more card that would really go well with my collection. I found this gem.


2015 Topps Tribute Joc autograph printing plate

This might end up being one of my better acquisitions from eBay as the years go on if Joc becomes a big star. For those that don't know this is a 2015 Topps Tribute printing plate. It is numbered ONE of ONE. It is the only one in existence. Also what makes this a potentially great card in the long run is that Topps recalled this product due to quality issues so only a limited amount of cards made it to the aftermarket. Also plates have a notorious history for scuffs and high grades are hard to come by. Then you have to factor in the Joc autograph aspect as his autographs tend to be streaky. All of that and this card seems to be void of it all. No scuffs, auto is crisp and clean and I think it will grade out to a 9.5 but again I will and still have my fingers crossed.

With that I believed I was done but then I got to thinking as I was searching for deals on eBay. While I do want a Bryant card in my collection we are in season now and prices are still inflated. Could I sell off the refractor now for a decent price, pick up another card or two and then pursue a Bryant autograph in the off season when prices cool down a bit? Back to the Twitter group for some brainstorming and I came away with yet another game plan and soon put it into motion and came up with these:


2014 Topps Finest Koufax autograph

If I was to let go of the Bryant I was determined to get a great card and that is what I ended up getting. I swapped out a 23 year old prospect autograph card for a Dodger great and Hall of Fame member's gem mint autograph, the immortal Sandy Koufax. I sold the Bryant for $500 which meant I lost zero dollars on it as that is what I acquired it for and snagged this Koufax on a buy it now for $340 after a eBay coupon was factored into it. Black, blue, graded and Koufax. A great combination and I am glad I pulled the trigger and can't believe it took me that long to do so. I still had a little more than $100 left over from the Bryant sale so I was still looking to max out my bang for my buck and finally settled on this card.


2015 Topps Heritage Trout black refractor

If I wasn't going to acquire an autograph card of Bryce in my Bryant sale then I would get the next best thing for my collection, a limited and numbered parallel of Mike Trout. And just like with the Koufax card I spent zero out of pocket at the time of acquisition.

Now this is just one particular example on how I acquire some higher valued cards at a bare minimum. The great thing about card collecting is that it is always in flux and your wants and needs can and will change as long as you are in the hobby. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose when it comes to the cost of a card purchase but I look at this particular example like this as I originally spent $150 on a raw card which I turned into :

  • A 1 of 1 autograph printing plate of a Dodger prospect which might possibly grade out to gem mint 9.5 which will make it even more valuable.
  • A BGS graded gem mint card autograph of a Dodger legend
  • A limited (#/66) parallel of probably the best everyday player in baseball in the form of one Mike Trout.
  • With the "purchases" of the Koufax, Joc and Trout card I also earned eBay bucks which I can use come July 1st for yet another card at no cost
  • and most importantly a paid night out with the wife  
So would you pluck down $150 for these three cards? Of course you would. Could they have been acquired with out of pocket funds while keeping the Bryant? Yes but why would I do that if I wouldn't have been happy in the end doing it that way. So basically I purchased 3 cards (4 including the one I'll end up getting in July with the eBay bucks I earned by acquiring these 3 cards) that have a combined value of $750 give or take (depending on the grades that the Joc and Trout card get) and a date night with the wife for $150.

In the end this and other transactions are all about timing with a bit of luck added in. If Jesse wasn't willing to part with the Bryant card or if I didn't luck out on it grading out to a pristine 10 or if I would have waited an extra week to sell it which would have been at a lower sale price none of this would have been possible. If my little insight on these cards acquisitions bored you I am sorry but I thought I would share my experiences with everyone on card buying. Thank you again to Jesse for selling me the card in the 1st place.

Thank you and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Friday, May 29, 2015

Which Card Would You Want In Your Collection aka Should I Swap Out One Of Mine For Another ???

Daily readers know that I have recently acquired a 2014 Bowman Chrome refractor autograph, which also has been graded gem mint, of Cubs star Kris Bryant. While nice and sparkly I question if I really need it in my collection or am I just in awe of the current performance of another young star or the constant love of a past Dodger great? I have decided to ask you which one you would want to have in your collection if you could only have one and only one?

First off here is the Bryant that I currently own :


A very nice card and numbered as well. He is only 23 and could have a great career and even if he doesn't achieve hall of fame statistics I am sure he will have a good career at worst. He is "already" 23 while this next player is "only" 22 and won't turn 23 till the end of the 2015 season.


Bryce has been in the league for a few years now but this is his first one that he is really starting to show off his potential and at 22 the sky is the limit. Is this year a flash in the pan or the start of something great? If neither of those are your cup of tea how about a Dodger legend?


Sandy F'ing Koufax. Nuff said.

All of these are great cards and while I would love to have them all I think one is manageable at this time. So I as you, which one would you pick to keep or acquire? Kris is hot right now in the card market and if he performs on the field his Bowman Chrome will be the card to have which I already do. Or do I go with Bryce who I already have an autograph of but would love to add another to the collection. And then finally do I get my 2nd Koufax autograph?

So in final, I have a Koufax, I have a Bryce so the acquisition of either would mean I have two and none of Kris which I only have the one at this time? Sell high? Stay in a holding pattern and just figure another way to get my grubby little hands on the other two beauties? One last note, acquiring either Bryce or Harper with the sale of Kris would net me some extra dinero for another card as well.

What...would... you... do?

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Kris Bryant Base Autograph Refractor Parallel (446/500) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5


To acquire or not to acquire this card. That was the question. To help me out I went to Twitter and asked my go to friends when it comes to matters like this, With the assistance from Alex, Aus, Derek and Jesse I decided to pick this card up. Money out of pocket? Zip, Zero, Nothing.

So why did I need to seek out their advice? Because I already owned a Bowman Chrome autograph of Kris and I only needed one so I thought I was done, Of course I sent in for grading by BGS and low and behold it came back a PRISTINE 10. Well that is a base autograph aka non-refractor and non numbered. If Kris was a Dodger I wouldn't have had this discussion but being a Cub I looked at what was best for my collection. Do I keep a 10 or "downgrade" to a 9.5? I leaned towards the 9.5 but wanted to see what my fellow collectors had to say and they all thought I should go the 9.5 route.

At the time of this writing there are 46 pristine base autographs and 357 gem mints. Those also are not numbered so there can and will probably be countless more in the near future. On the numbered refractors there are "only" 156 gem mint 9.5's in existence. There will probably be more but there can only be so many more since they are numbered to 500.

With the decision made I was determined to turn the pristine card into 2 cards? How so? Well at the time of this acquisition the 10 card was selling on eBay in the $600-$700 range and probably will go up shortly. The 9.5 one was selling in the high $400 to low $500. That would mean if I could sell my 10 for let's say $650 I could pick up a refractor 9.5 Bryant for my collection and then another card with what I would have left over from the sale. Of course the 2nd card would depend on what I had to fork over for the refractor. Thankfully I picked it up for less than I thought I would be able to.

So with that I turned a pristine base autograph of Bryant into this nice numbered refractor in a gem mint grade and a little left over to pick up another great autograph card. More on that tomorrow. Till then, woo hoo on this transaction.


Never get tired of seeing gold.


446
of
500

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

BGS Result Update Number Eighteen - 2014 Bowman Chrome : Kris Bryant Base Autograph Now Graded PRISTINE 10

Original pic and thoughts :



2014 Bowman Chrome

The one of the six that I think are border line but the one most likely to pull out a 9.5 overall grade. I picked this up on a trade/purchase with my good friend Jesse with the intention of submitting it and getting a gem mint card of the supposed next Cub's superstar. As I told Jesse there is only one "issue" that I saw with the card but unlike the Five Star and Stratas the one corner in question is not as blatant. Thinking here is that it grades out to a 9.5 but keeping my expectations tempered.

Result and thoughts :


BAM !!!

A pristine 10 of a super prospect. You just can't ask for more. 

As stated up above I picked this up on a trade/purchase with my friend Jesse back in Dec./Jan. as I wanted an autograph card of this Cubs prospect. When in hand I expected it to grade out to a gem mint as I saw one corner under the magnifier that gave me a slight pause to anything higher. Well BGS says here that there is no flaw and gave it a perfect 10 with the same grade on the autograph (which I wasn't really worried about). 

Sales of this card have gone over $600 and my wife who calls these 10's minty fresh or winter fresh wants me to sell it. Guess she wants a new purse. Lol. I have no intention at this moment to unload this even though it is tempting with that 10 attached to it but I am going to roll with it and see how he does when/if he gets called up this year. There is not a shortage of these as this one will be at least number 62 in the pristine club but the demand is big enough to continue to drive this card's price higher and higher. Now if this comes back a black label pristine 10 then I might really have to think about selling it but I shall see when and if that time comes.

Final Submission Result and Thoughts :


The 3rd and final pristine from my most recent submission batch and my last chance to acquire my 1st black label from BGS. It was not meant to be so I will have to wait and try again the next time I submit cards. Still having a BGS 10 of the hottest prospect in baseball is nothing to sneeze at and I will take it any day of the week.

Even though there are 55 that have been graded this high it has not squelched the demand which is still higher than supply. Well I decided to sell this beauty off and by the time this post goes live it will have been long gone. I actually went and bought/acquired two cards (which I will showcase in the next two days) from the anticipated funds of this card's sale. Though I love having 10's I decided to sell this when the market was at it's highest. I made the mistake of holding onto a Kemp card when he was scorching hot and that wasn't going to do that again. 

The card sold promptly as expected and even more than I thought it would. If Kris makes it big this card's value will skyrocket even more but since he is not a Dodger I will not feel bad that I let it go as tomorrow's post will show that I found a nice replacement for it. 


18 cards and 17 satisfactory results with some being greater than expected. I already have another batch that is up to 20 cards and will be submitting those once BGS is back in my area for a raw card review event. It's an addiction. 
= )

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Friday, March 27, 2015

BGS Raw Card Review Submission From March 7, 2015 Update Number 15 - 2014 Bowman Chrome Kris Bryant Base Autograph

Original pic and thoughts :


2014 Bowman Chrome

The one of the six that I think are border line but the one most likely to pull out a 9.5 overall grade. I picked this up on a trade/purchase with my good friend Jesse with the intention of submitting it and getting a gem mint card of the supposed next Cub's superstar. As I told Jesse there is only one "issue" that I saw with the card but unlike the Five Star and Stratas the one corner in question is not as blatant. Thinking here is that it grades out to a 9.5 but keeping my expectations tempered.

Result and thoughts :


BAM !!!

A pristine 10 of a super prospect. You just can't ask for more. 

As stated up above I picked this up on a trade/purchase with my friend Jesse back in Dec./Jan. as I wanted an autograph card of this Cubs prospect. When in hand I expected it to grade out to a gem mint as I saw one corner under the magnifier that gave me a slight pause to anything higher. Well BGS says here that there is no flaw and gave it a perfect 10 with the same grade on the autograph (which I wasn't really worried about). 

Sales of this card have gone over $600 and my wife who calls these 10's minty fresh or winter fresh wants me to sell it. Guess she wants a new purse. Lol. I have no intention at this moment to unload this even though it is tempting with that 10 attached to it but I am going to roll with it and see how he does when/if he gets called up this year. There is not a shortage of these as this one will be at least number 62 in the pristine club but the demand is big enough to continue to drive this card's price higher and higher. Now if this comes back a black label pristine 10 then I might really have to think about selling it but I shall see when and if that time comes.

Well, that's it of the submission batch and starting sometime next month I will be posting the final update on each card that got shipped to BGS for slabbing. I already have at least 15 more cards ready for the next raw grading event and can't wait. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Saturday, March 7, 2015

15 Cards Submitted to Beckett For Raw Grade Review (RGR) at South Bay Sportscards on March 7, 2015

It's been a few months since I did a BGS submission and even though I knew I was going to do another batch sometime this year it is a bit earlier than I thought I would do it. I'm doing this one a tad differently though as I am only going to get raw grades at this time as I am still holding off some that I will be forgoing the raw grade and just doing the full submission in a few months. When I send those in I will also include those here I want encased depending on their grade but I expect all but one or two will make it into that order.

With that said here are the cards that I have submitted including the one I posted about earlier today. Starting sometime next week and every other day after I will post the results. For long time readers of the blog you know that has become my usual routine. Like in the past I will go from my least confident card to most confident of earning a gem mint grade. Obviously not all we grade out to a 9.5 but in some cases I will be happy with a mint 9.0.


2013 Bowman Chrome Purple Parallel

I am 1000% sure this will not earn a gem mint grade. You can tell just from the picture it is not centered but that seems to be the only flaw I notice. I am trying to acquire the rainbow set for Corey and all I want/need is for them to be mint 9's. 9.5 is a plus but at present the lower grade is fine so using raw grade review is better here than the full submission just in case this comes in at a 8.5. 


2014 Topps Chrome Photo Variation

Another card that I am positive won't earn a 9.5. Like Seager I am still hoping it holds enough to get a mint 9. Just like his I only see one flaw with the card but I don't want to risk a full submission hence the raw review route instead. The lower right corner has a surface "smear" which I know will garner at least a 9 if not 8.5. If all the other sub grades get at least a 9 then that is fine by me. 


2011 Gypsy Queen

Now we get the 6 cards that could go either way. I expect each of them to have at least 2 9.5 sub grades if not 3 but there is one thing or another that might drop that last sub grade to an 8.5. First up is this sweet pick up I showed off earlier in the week. At 1st glance when you look at this card there is hardly a flaw you can see with the naked eye but if you slant it a certain way you can see some surface blemishes on the plastic coating. The question isn't if that sub grade doesn't earn a 9.5 but whether it can hold and earn a 9 so the other 3 can get 9.5's so the overall grade is a 9.5.  


2014 Topps Five Star

Second of the two Kershaw autos in the submission and just like the other I am hoping for the best here. The "issue" with this one is that I can tell one corner is slightly not razor sharp. Question is will that at least earn a 9 so the other sub grades hopefully earn a 9.5 so I can yet have another gem mint Kershaw autograph in my collection? Hope so.


2014 Topps Strata

A beautiful card from an ugly transaction. This was my 1st ever Strata card for my collection and I would love to have it come back in a gold banner case but as with all thick cards it really is the luck of the draw on what the final grade will be. As with the Five Star card the only real thing I see holding this card back from gem mint is a corner so as with that one I am crossing my fingers and hope lady luck is on my side.


2014 Topps Strata

Same story as the Griffey Strata with the added bonus of seeing how BGS treats Pee Wee's autograph. Do they dock it since you can see a little of the "Reese" part of it or do they realize that is how the card was supposed to be made? Hoping I get a reasonable grader for this transaction that will realize that.


2014 Bowman Chrome

The one of the six that I think are border line but the one most likely to pull out a 9.5 overall grade. I picked this up on a trade/purchase with my good friend Jesse with the intention to submitting it and getting a gem mint card of the supposed next Cub's superstar. As I told Jesse there is only one "issue" that I saw with the card but unlike the Five Star and Stratas the one corner in question is not as blatant. Thinking here is that it grades out to a 9.5 but keeping my expectations tempered.


2011 Allen and Ginter Bazooka Mini

Now for the six cards that I just "know" will grade out to a gem mint 9.5. Of course I've said that before and some have come back lower but on the other hand I have thought some cards would crap out on me but they received a 9.5 instead so you just never know.

This Bazooka card is numbered out of 25 and I so love these low numbered cards to earn 9.5's as if you have one chances are they can't all be perfect so you could have one of only a handful. This being Kershaw just wants me to have gold banner even more. 


2011 Gypsy Queen

My new favorite mini in my collection and what would complete my happiness? Why a gem mint grade of course. Only 10 of these cards are in existence and not one has been graded yet by BGS. I would love to have the only one to be a gem mint and I think it has a tremendous chance at that. I see no flaws so we shall see what BGS thinks.


2014 Bowman Chrome Draft Black Parallel

As with Seager I have taken on the project of acquiring the 1st year Bowman Chrome cards of Urias in rainbow form and hopefully have them all in gem mint form. Realistically that probably won't happen and 9's will be fine but with that said I see no flaws on this card other than maybe it is slightly off centered but that shouldn't stop it from a 9.5. 


2014 Bowman Chrome Draft Blue Parallel

Same card, different color. The reason I have more confidence in this blue one than the black one is that this one does not look off centered to me. I still believe both will gem mint but this one I am more sure of. 


2014 Topps Dynasty

With a card being uncirculated it would seem to me that it should get a gem mint grade as it has not been handled but I have seen plenty of uncirculated cards earn lower grades. Hopefully that does not happen to mine but when I acquired this I did my research and from the pictures and with card in hand I do not see any problems here. Nice crisp signature on what seems to a perfect card. Here's hoping my one and only Dynasty card in my collection will be gem minty. 


We come to the last of card of the "traditional" raw grade review cards for this submission. Traditional? More on that in a minute. 


2013 Bowman Chrome Black Parallel

We started this batch with a Seager card and now we end it with a Seager card. 

Unlike the purple parallel I think this black parallel has a decent chance at a pristine grade. Centering is almost 50/50, surface looks clean, corners are extra sharp and the edges look problem free. I have only had one card come back in pristine condition and this would be a great second one but if not I can not see this getting anything less than a strong 9.5. Either way me going this route for a gem mint grade of this card is better (cheaper) than the one I missed out on earlier on eBay. 

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Now for a couple of cards that I will be submitting once again and hoping for a different (higher) grade. I have heard and seen stories of cards that were only .5 from a higher grade getting resubmitted and getting bumped that extra .5. This is where the perfectionist in me comes into play. Some things are subjective and some are not when grading cards. I have a few that only need a .5 bump to get a higher grade but that sub grade happens to be on centering which is not really subjective. Centering is a numbers game and you can't change numbers to get a better grade on that. With these cards it comes down to the other three sub grades. Some people might ask why I would do this and I say because I want that gold banner. At worst if it grades out the same as the 1st time I now have it out of its case and I can sell the card and get a similar one with the funds from that sale to pay for the new one and try again to get another card of the player. Here are the cards that I am resubmitting. Knock on wood and hopefully I get a better result.

First up is Yu Darvish 


Card ungraded back in the day



The problem I have with this card is not the overall grade which can't be improved but the autograph grade. The reasons that BGS normally downgrades an auto is if it streaks, smears, is faded or runs to the edge of the card. None of that is happening here and I think the grader made a mistake. I am cracking this open and expecting/hoping to bump up the auto grade with someone other than the original grader. A 10 holds a much better value than a 9 (obviously) so if I ever wanted to resell it help. If I don't get my desired grade then I will hold onto it in ungraded form.

And the other card is Miguel Cabrera 


Ungraded form.


Unlike the Yu card there is nothing wrong with Miguel's autograph but his card here is only .5 from earning a gem mint grade. Now common knowledge is that corners are hard to bump up to another grade on a resubmission but I am going to take that risk. The good thing about this card is if it comes back as a 9 again I will end up selling it and using those funds to buy another Cabrera autograph in gem mint form at no extra charge. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Jesse of Section 117 @ Banner Island Ballpark - 2014 Bowman Chrome Kris Bryant Base Autograph


Jesse and I have known each other since we first met on the last weekend of the 2013 baseball season at Dodger Stadium. I have done 11 contests and he has won at least 3 if not 4 of them. I am too lazy to go back and check fact so we will go with that. This though will be our first trade. I say will as it's technically not done yet. Jesse can found on Twitter or seen posting baseball topics at his blog Section 117 BIB which is where I found this card.

His wife and mine both bought us a box of 2014 Bowman Chrome recently. While mine did not yield a "great" card his luck was definitely better than mine. Shout out to the wives again for investing in our habit, I mean hobby. Ha Ha.

I soon found out and saw that he put this card up for sale on eBay. Kris is a super prospect of the Cubs and he has a chance to break camp next year with the big league team. Though not a Dodger I did/do want an autograph of his and what better brand than the rookie haven better known as Bowman Chrome. So with my wanting the card and Jesse with having the card I approached him to see if we could work something out.

With no bids on the card as of yet he took it off eBay and said we could do something. He was looking for more $$$ than cards so this now became a trade of a few cards and more $$$ but to his credit he was kind enough and trustworthy enough to send me the card before payment has been paid in full. I sent him a few cards to offset a little of the cost but I am in the process of selling digital comic codes and to send the proceeds of the sales his way. A couple of payments have been made with more to come.

Once the card was in hand I figured it is almost guaranteed to earn a mint 9 from BGS with an outside chance of a gem mint 9.5. A corner gives me pause so we shall see. It has been almost 15 months since our first meeting and finally our first trade is done (almost). Thank you again and hopefully this isn't the last trade we do.