March 2017 BGS Submission Result Number THIRTEEN . FIVE of FORTY-TWO - 2013 Bowman Chrome Corey Seager Base Green Refractor Parallel Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

I label this as result 13.5 for the reason that it was not mine in the batch that went to BGS but when I saw that it gemmed I went for it hard and after being persistent and probably irritating my good buddy let me trade him for it.

As most of you know I am trying to complete the rainbow of 2013 Bowman Chrome cards for Corey Seager but the kicker is that they have to all be in gem mint condition. Crazy I know. I submitted my own green for a raw grade review and it came back as a 9. Sigh. I only need to "colors" left which are/were the green and X-fractor. Well when the results came in and I saw that his earned a 9.5 I made it my mission to get this card from him. He was not particularly open to moving it but I kept at it and when I handed him his cards from the batch I made one last ditch effort to acquire the card. Maybe he was feeling sorry for me (ha ha) or it was just the right time on the right day but he said yes. Woo Hoo.

I am now officially one away (sans super) from completing this ridiculous project. I will post the updated group picture shortly. Thank you again to my friend as you made this Dodger fan very happy.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

"Trade" with Instagram Friend Gavino aka gs_dodgercards_17 - 2013 Topps Tribute : Clayton Kershaw Base Autograph (59/99)

It has been nearly 2 years but I have finally acquired another Kershaw autograph from the 2013 Tribute release. As I am trying to achieve my goal of 100 Clayton autographs a byproduct of that pursuit now has me picking up cards of his in various colors. I have a blue parallel from this set and now I have the base version to call my own.

Gavino is a friend from Instagram that I have done business with before so I know he is trustworthy. Last week he reached out to me (others?) about unloading some cards and wanted to know if anything of his perked my interest. Knowing he had just posted about this card on his feed I promptly inquired about its availability and he quickly said it was available. After a little negotiation our "trade" was complete and he put the card in the mail and 2 days later it was in my hands.

Like all Kershaw autographs I hope to get it graded at least a mint 9 by BGS and I can't see that not happening for this one. Maybe a gem? Maybe. Till then thank you again to Gavino for making this card available to me and helping me on my quest to a 100 Kershaw autographs.

Fifty-Nine

of

Ninety-Nine

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Instagram Friend Robert aka Huskys.Sportscards : 2013 Topps Tier One : Sandy Koufax Autograph Copper Rose Ink Parallel (16/25) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

This is the 3rd time I have held this specific card in my hands but this is the 1st time I can claim it as my own as I was finally able to secure it on a trade after it had been handled by many hands.

Frankie was the original owner of this card as he sent it to me to be included in our joint BGS submission batch and I thought it would have a decent chance of earning a 9.5 from Beckett. The only thing that worried me was the autograph but it indeed earned a gold banner and a 10 on auto. When I received it back from Beckett I informed Frankie that if we could ever come to some type of deal I would love to have it, With that I sent it back to Frankie and we had some soft trade talk but before I could acquire it he traded it to Robert. I turned my attention from Frankie to Robert and hoped to trade for it from him. Once it became available he and I completed the trade within a couple of days as I had to wait for funds that were due to me from eBay as I did not want to use any out of pocket money.

While I would have loved this to be a 1 for 1 card trade I knew that I had to include some money to make it happen. In the end I sent Robert over some cash and a card and I finally picked up this limited, gem mint beauty of Koufax. When I first looked into getting a Koufax autograph for my collection I was going to be content with just one great copy but now with this addition my Koufax count is up to 5! I barely have more Trout auto cards than I do Koufax autos and I consider Trout more primary than Sandy. Go figure as you never know how the card world turns.

Thank you again to Frankie for submitting this and letting me know of its existence and to Robert for the trade. This is my first trade completed with Robert but I doubt it will be the last.

Sixteen

of

Twenty-Five

Perfect ten on the autograph

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Instagram Friend CaliBaseballPC - 2013 Bowman Chrome : Corey Seager Base Blue Wave Parallel

I needed help completing a project that was/is so close to completing that I reached out onto social media and asked if anyone had a spare blue wave of Corey Seager from the 2013 Bowman Chrome set. I need(ed) an orange (#/25) parallel and a non numbered version of this blue wave and even though I had seen countless copies of this card on eBay I just didn't want to pay for it. Me being cheap? Maybe, but I just felt why pay for something if I didn't have to if I could just trade for it which is exactly what I did.

I sent out a stock photo of the card on my IG feed and thankfully CaliBaseballPC saw my plea and contacted me stating he had a spare one that he could trade me. I asked what it would take in return for me to acquire the card and he asked about making it a trade/purchase type of transaction as he wanted a Kershaw autograph card. What luck as I had a spare one (was planning to send to BGS but now I can slot this card in its place) and he ended up paying me fair market value for the Kershaw minus the value of this card and sent this beauty a day later. Of course now I had unexpected funds so off to eBay I went to pick up a limited Trout card I had my eyes on. More on that tomorrow. I needed a Seager card for a project and I ended up with that AND a Trout for another mini 2 card project that is now complete. What luck.

Of course needing all my 2013 Seagers in BGS cases with at least a 9 attached to it I inspected this card and if centering can at least earn a 9 then I should be adding a gem mint to the collection as everything else checks out.

Thanks again to CaliBaseballPC for helping me out. Hopefully he loves his Kershaw card as much as I love my Seager one. Go Blue!!!

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger Judson of My Cardboard Habit - 2016 Topps Clayton Kershaw No-Hitter Relic AND 2015 Topps Update Mike Trout Base Snow Camo Parallel (95/99)

Technically this "trade" is not complete as of yet as Judson of My Cardboard Habit has not received a package from me. Why is that? Because Judson, out of the kindness of his heart, sent this 2016 Topps Clayton Kershaw card on the "promise" of something in return down the road which might happen tomorrow, next week or months in the future. He saw the card (among others) from a box he cracked open and took care of a couple Los Angeles bloggers as I saw my buddy Greg of Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle also scored some cards from Judson.

As a non Ranger fan I do not know what I will end up sending Judson as I don't have much that he would find worthy but I am sure we will work something out as we always do. Of course once Judson asked if I wanted the Kershaw card I had to inquire about another that I had tried to land for a month or so that he was trying to sell off.

  

Yup, another limited and numbered Mike Trout card for the collection which is also earmarked for grading as Beckett is coming back to town next week and I received this in hand in time to submit it. This is the snow camo parallel from the 2015 Topps Update set and while not overly valuable I think Judson and I are happy with the transaction. Card looks to have a little better than 50/50 chance of earning a gold banner as the corners look good. The only thing that might hold it down is centering is not perfect and coupled with this being a paper card I think this is either going to be a "weak" 9.5 or a "strong" 9.0. Come on weakness. Ha Ha.

Ninety-Five

of

Ninety-Nine

Thank you again to Judson for reaching out to me and completing this deal and hopefully it will get even better when the Trout card gets a great grade back from BGS.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with a Friend - Franz : 2013 Bowman Inception Corey Seager Base Autograph Red Parallel (9/10)

The handshake

I look at this picture and by no means am I "big" but that Dodger hoodie sure makes me look like I am bigger than I really am. It was a cold December morning when I arrived at Dodger Stadium for a signing event so I decided to wear my thick hoodie. So yeah, that is my explanation on why I look like I have a big ass belly. Now onto the reason of this post, a baseball card of course.

While the Bowman Chrome rainbow project is my main priority when it comes to Corey Seager I am still slowly trying to do the same thing with the Bowman Inception brand but it is a little harder to accomplish as Inceptions are autographs only which means a higher cost to acquire them.

Franz and I have been friends for years but this is our 1st trade for us as our collecting habits are different as I focus more on cards now and he focuses more on IP autographs. One day I noticed that he commented to a IG post and referenced this card which I was still looking to acquire at a good deal. This is the red parallel which has a print run of just 10. A low number like that means a higher dollar amount attached to it. I had only seen 2 on eBay and the 1 that is still active is way too much for my liking but when Franz mentioned he had one I inquired to see of its availability. He wanted to hold onto it but was willing to move it for the "right" price. Woo hoo.

We agreed to a trade/purchase value but I told him if there was anything in my collection that could knock down the out of pocket costs for me please inform me. That started a week of back and forth IG texts as the cards he picked I had already gotten rid of as I changed the direction of my collecting habits. We finally agreed on a Bowman Sterling Seager autograph that he was happy to acquire and with that the trade was final. A Seager autograph and some cash for him and a spiffy red parallel autograph for me.

This red beauty is now ear marked for grading and while I think there is a 50/50 shot it comes back as a 9.5/9 I will be happy with a mint return since the print run is so small and it was a good deal for the both of us. Thank you again to Franz for letting this bad boy go. It's in good hands.

Nine

of

Ten

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Instagram Friend - JMBCards : 2014 Topps Dynasty Clayton Kershaw Autograph (10/10) AND 2014 Topps Five Star Mike Trout Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel (14/25)

I have been in the restructuring mode pertaining to my collecting habits and I am purging my collection of anything that is not Kershaw, Trout, Corey Seager, Vintaage graded or Koufax related with a few exceptions here and there. Well that meant Harper here was not long for my collection but unlike most of the other cards I was debating when to let this one go. Bryce is a very good player and is only 22 and the sky is the limit but I have never warmed to him. I acquired this card in raw form when it was going for a lot less than it is now and it earned a 10 from BGS a few months after that. Now it was time to sell high on him. Yes, the card probably and will go up in the years to come but IF I really want another Harper autograph I will pick it up then. Now it was time to trade this 1 MVP for 2 MVPs

Jeffrey aka JMBCards saw my post about wanting to unload this card among others and inquired about a possible trade. If it would happen it would be yet another high end aka high dollar trade for me in the past month. Jeffrey and I agreed on an amount that this Harper was worth (as I factored in the money it would cost to sell on eBay) and then we had to figure out what he would give me for it. I turned down his Koufax autograph as I just hate silver autographs on gold metal bordered cards. To me it just doesn't look right. Instead of that Koufax card I picked another but more on that later. First up was this bad boy from last year's Topps Dynasty release :

That's right, yet another Kershaw autograph for the collection. I hate the black ink that Topps is going with for the 2015 release which means I won't be picking any of those up but I still have wanted a 2014 one of Kershaw but I could never land one at a decent cost. Well I can finally check this off my want list as this card looks perfect in hand. As everyone knows by now any Kershaw I acquire I intend to send to Beckett to get it graded and this card looks like a lock for a gem mint 9.5. Corners are good and autograph looks great. Hopefully I can add yet another gem to my every growing Kershaw collection.

Ten

of

Ten

Now for the card that I chose over Mr. Koufax which I have no regret doing even though some people might not have done it :

Another autograph in my ever slowly growing Trout collection. It's slow because Mike's cards are higher priced not because I haven't tried. His autograph cards are even more pricey so picking this up now without a penny leaving my pocket is a good thing in my eyes.

Unlike Clayton I have only a handful of Trout autographs and Topps Five Star is one of my favorite brands so this was an easy choice for me. As with Clayton I always intend to send Trout's cards in for grading and this one is no different. Five Star is notorious for conditioning issues and this one I believe has a little better than 50/50 chance of earning a gem mint 9.5. One of the corners is not perfect under the loop but if they hold to a 9 I might just eek out a 9.5 overall. What gives me more concern is the autograph and it will depend on what grader I get that day to what it earns. I have seen worse examples earn a 10 but some graders might say its streaks so it should be a 9. We shall see.

Fourteen

of

Twenty-Five

Thank you again to Jeffrey for reaching out and completing this high end trade in the matter of half a hour. It was easy and smooth and I look forward to our next one.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Instagram Friend - Keegscards : 2014 Topps High Tek : Mike Trout Low Tek Diffractor Autograph (9/15) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Now this is the way to end a week with an acquisition of a card that I ended up following from a website to a social media site and didn't even know it until I decided to alter my collecting habits.

I first found this on eBay while doing one of my searches for graded Trout cards. The price was high but I put it on my watch list to see if the cost would go down. It did a couple of times but not enough for me to pull the trigger. I had already earmarked some cards to sell that would pay for this but the amounts didn't match up so I had to wait. Then one day the auction closed but I searched and saw that it went unsold. Left it on my list to see if it would pop back on but it never did. Though I am not the biggest fan of the High Tek brand I really love this Low Tek inserts. They have signed and unsigned versions and with this signed one being limited to only 15 I wanted to add it to my collection which is sorely lacking in Trout autographs. It being graded as gem mint was the cherry on top. But alas all that didn't matter now because the chance to pick it up had come and gone...or so I thought.

Almost a month passed and I saw an exact copy of this card on a razz site on Instagram and I joined in hoping I could win it at a much lower cost than the going rate was on eBay. The razz never filled so I never had the chance to win it. I contacted the razz runner aka Keegsrazzes to see if he would razz a couple of my own cards. I "sent" him a Urias card and a Jeter card which he promptly put the Jeter up on a razz and it received the expected traffic. While talking to him I found out this Trout card was his in fact his and not someone else's, Upon further back and forth I found out it was the exact same card that was on eBay that I missed out on. I still wanted the card and he approached me about a trade/purchase for it. I wanted to sell the the Urias by razz as that would save me some fees that would have been taken out if I put it up for sale on eBay. So I had a certain value I assigned to it. Of course since I picked it up for nothing as I used eBay bucks back in January to acquire it this was all "house" money in my eyes. We agreed instead of him sending me my share from the Jeter razz that he would keep that and I would send him the Urias and in turn he would send me the Trout. In my eyes this was a no brainer of a trade.

While Urias might turn out to be a stud I am moving away from collecting his cards which made the card I sent Keegs expendable and considering I didn't pay anything for it I really had no emotionally attachment to it. While I liked the Jeter card I was not in love with it and picking up another Trout gem mint autograph trumped both Jeter and Urias. After weeks of first seeing this card I can now finally call it mine with an extremely easy trade. Thank you again Keegs for the trade and may it be the first of many.

Nine of Fifteen

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

"Trade" with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby (2013 Topps Five Star Craig Biggio Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel BGS Graded Mint 9.0 and 2014 Topps Dynasty Craig Biggio 6/10)

After months of no trades with Frankie we completed another transaction just a couple weeks after the last trade. This one though is more of a sale if anything as I plan to trade one of the cards that I acquired from him. Frankie announced on Instagram that he was looking to move a couple of cards as he needed funds for a card he had recently purchased. For me it was time to bring an old friend back home.

Both cards are of Craig Biggio but this BGS Mint 9 from the 2013 Topps Five Star release was originally my card which I traded to Frankie when we did one of our bigger (card wise) trades. After that I ended up picking up another Biggio autograph for my collection as I wanted him represented in it. When Frankie said he was looking to move it I jumped at the opportunity to reacquire this card as I always did love it and hated to see it leave. I promptly sold the replacement one (sold more than I "paid" for it too) which I sent to Frankie for this transaction. Once again I have my preferred Biggio in my possession.

Love my minty nines

... but there's more. Frankie had only use for one Biggio in his collection as he had the one he really wanted so he was looking to part with this other one as well.

2014 Topps Dynasty

Six of Ten

Like Frankie did I really need 2 Biggios for my collection? No I do/did not but I took them off his hands as I had/have another trade lined up for this card. I am not the biggest fan of the 2014 release (I think the 2015 looks tons better) so I hold no special love for this card. If that other trade falls though (guy is wishy washy) I can always flip it on eBay to recoup my costs. Either way I am not worried as it will take care of itself.

Thanks again go out to Frankie for the cards and once again I look forward to our next trade/transaction.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby (2013 Topps Five Star Johnny Bench Base Autograph 11/50)

It's been a little while since Frankie and I have done a trade together and usually it is a high dollar and/or a big stack of cards type of trade that takes some time to get all situated out so we are both happy with what we receive. This time though it was none of that as the trade consisted of 1 card coming to me and 3 cards going to him in a trade that took probably no more than 10-15 minutes to complete.

Frankie had remembered that I wanted this card in a previous trade but that never panned out but he approached me a couple weeks ago to see if I was still interested in it now which I still was. He asked about a Julio Urias autograph which I happen to have 2 of so 1 was expendable. I can't remember what the 2nd card was which means it didn't mean that much to me and then thirdly he asked about a Paul O'Neill card that I was planning to get rid of anyways but he liked it as Paul is a favorite of his.

Those 3 cards for this spiffy 2013 Five Star Bench card. He had been on my want list for years and now I didn't have to spend any money out of pocket. I know this will not grade out to gem mint 9.5 but it might earn a mint 9. I might submit it to BGS for a raw grade review just to test the waters. Either way I am happy to finally have one of best catchers to ever play the game in my collection after all these years.

Another smooth and easy trade with Frankie which once again was a win win for the both us. Thank you again and I look forward to the next one.

Eleven

of

Fifty

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin(

Trade with Twitter Friend Kyle : 2013 Bowman Sterling Julio Urias Base Autograph and 2013 Topps Five Star Jim Palmer Base Autograph (170/333)

It's been awhile since I have done a trade (too long for my tastes) but I was finally able to pull the trigger on one with a Twitter friend who I have done business with before, Kyle.

I had a Bowman Inception Corey Seager autograph that I was not happy with as it came back from BGS with an unsatisfactory grade in my eyes and I promptly put it up on eBay to sell to acquire another card. Kyle happen to see it and asked if I was willing to trade it to him and since we have a past trade history I knew he was trustworthy and I'd rather deal without all the eBay charges. Took it off the site and Kyle offered me 3 cards to choose from. I don't remember what the one I turned down was but these are the two I chose for the Seager.

First up is this 2013 Bowman Sterling Julio Urias autograph. I already have another copy of this card in BGS 9.5 form and decided I would like another one for trade bait or just to hoard. Once in hand the card looks to be in really good condition and I might submit it to BGS at their next raw grading event to see if I could earn yet another gem for the collection.

I think Seager has the higher ceiling than Urias but Julio should still have a very good career and I don't think I can go wrong with extra Julio autographs.

While Julio is the future this card is from the past.

One Seventy

of

Three Thirty Three

Jim Palmer is a hall of fame member who played his whole career for the Baltimore Orioles and has 3 World Series rings to his name. Jim was always on my "to acquire" list and even though I knew he was represented in the Five Star brand I never pulled the trigger on an auction as something was always more pressing. When Kyle offered this one in addition to the Julio I couldn't resist on finally owning a Palmer autograph.

Another easy transaction with Kyle and I thank him once again for reaching out and initiating this trade as I think we both came out of it happy with the results. Till the next one.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Yet Another Trade With Frankie Of My Life In The Sports Card Hobby (2013 Topps Five Star Bryce Harper Base Autograph Rainbow Parallel (22/25)

Another month and another trade with Frankie of My Life In The Sports Card Hobby fame has gotten me my second Bryce Harper autograph for my collection. A few months ago I put to vote on what I should trade my gem mint Kris Bryant card for. Do I go out and add another (would be my 2nd) Koufax to the collection or go the young stud route and pick up a 2nd Harper autograph for my collection or do I stand pat and just keep my one and only Bryant? While all were gem mints I ended up picking up my 2nd Koufax and I believe that it was the right decision. Even with that though I still wanted to add another Harper so I kept my eyes open and then one day Frankie popped up on my radar.

He and I have done a few trades now and then they're are some that we never completed as we couldn't figure out the right pieces for a particular trade. Frankie posted on his IG account about a recent razz win in which he was the lucky winner of a 2013 Topps Five Star autograph card of Bryce Harper. It hardly cost him anything. Lucky guy. He stated that it was available for trade/purchase which got my attention. I contacted Frankie to see what he would take in return but 1st we had to agree on the trade value of the card. He once again asked about my Five Star Miguel Cabrera autograph card which I knew he would but thankfully that card became a tad expendable in recent weeks. More on that in a post in the future.

I knew a 1 for 1 trade of Cabrera for Harper would not happen as the Harper holds more value so after we agreed on trade value for both I sent him over the Cabrera card (plus some extras) and some cash moola to cover the difference and the trade was done. Card quantity wise this is our smallest trade but like usual he and I always deal with higher value cards and this was no different.

As per the norm with cards like this I intended to submit this to BGS for grading and once Harper was in hand I can say that I confident that it will earn at least a mint 9 with a 50/50 chance at gem mint. Also per the norm Frankie threw in some bonus cards with most coming from 2015 Topps. Thank you for those as well.

Twenty-Two

of

Twenty-Five

And with that Frankie and I have completed our latest trade. Thank you again to him for helping me up my Harper autograph count by 1. He also earns another 2 points in my #walletcard contest for the trade.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby

Another successful trade with Frankie which was born from a failed one nets me the return of a favorite and an acquisition of a top prospect plus some bonus cards.

Frankie is the 3rd separate blogger to send me a trade package with their own business card. I really am missing the boat on this. I need to look into doing up some Penguin cards.

Frankie as always send some extra cards in the trade package and this time was no different as he sent me a nice handful. Won't show them all but here are a couple of my favorites.

A Jose Bautista manufactured relic card from Topps. Frankie was nice enough to throw in an autograph of him from our last trade and now I have yet another Jose card to pare it up with.

A Mr. Hu autograph from a way back. I forgot I never had an autograph of his as I was never in search for one. Still not a fan of sticker autographs but being as this is the only one of Hu I have I welcome it into the fold.

Now onto the main 2 cards that this trade was about.

Frankie originally had a 2015 Topps Finest card of Kris Bryant that he pulled in a pack and I wanted that and was trying to work a trade focused around it but we couldn't come to an agreement but Frankie was still interested in my/his old Strata Gwynn card that he traded to me last year. I wanted to have a Gwynn autograph though still in my collection so what did we do? Why I had him trade back my/his Gwynn that I traded him for the Strata. Ha Ha.

Mr. Padre

.5 from gem mint

I think Frankie and I are happier with the Gwynns going back to their original homes. He loves his Strata and I knew for a fact that it would not be gradable by BGS (which I wanted to do) due to it being too thick and I like the fact that this one is already graded by BGS so I can file it away with all the rest of my graded cards. With it back in hand though when Beckett comes back out in October I will be trying to get a bump on this to get a gold banner. You never know.

Along with Mr. Gwynn I will be adding another card to "hope I can get a bump to a gem mint grade" pile which was the other big card of this trade :

also only .5 from gem mint

I have wanted an autograph of Buxton for some time now but the right opportunity hadn't presented itself to me that is until now. Frankie recently received this back from Beckett and even though it is "only" a 9 it's still a great card and I am lucky to finally call it my own. I am hoping lady luck will be on my side when I submit both of these for a re grade.

Another successful completed trade with Frankie is in the books. Thank you again and looking forward to the next one.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Fellow Blogger : Alex Of Chavez Ravining

A chapter in my collecting world is sadly coming to an end with this post. Hopefully in a few years that will change but this will be the last post for the foreseeable future when it comes to trading with Alex of Chavez Ravining. For those that do not know Alex has taken a temporary and possibly permanent leave from the collecting world as he will be concentrating on school and life in general. I also had similar sabbatical (for different reasons) back in 2001 and only came back to the hobby in 2013. Hopefully he will not be gone for over a decade like I was as we had a great trading relationship. 

With that said, Alex had cards he needed to unload and what better chance to do our final trade. He has plans to come down here next month for a Dodger game and he was planning to buy my season tickets for a game but we just switched it to a trade. Some cards for some tickets. The only card I "had" to have back is an Adrian Beltre autograph card that I traded to him back in August of 2013. Even though I since then have reacquired the same card I wanted to have an extra copy. Both are ear marked for BGS grading of course. To even out the trade I told Alex to just throw in whatever he felt like and we would call it even. He sent a couple handfuls of base cards which I won't go over (too many) but he did include more autographs and that is my collection priority so here they are.

Donruss Federowicz

First up is this on card/jersey autograph of former Dodger Tim Federowicz. As Alex knows I am not the biggest fan of non licensed cards but it still is an autograph which is always a good thing. I have a Tim autograph with him in USA colors so this is available for trade if anyone is interested in it.

Bowman Sterling Windle

Next up is an on card autograph of yet another former Dodger, Tom Windle, who is now part of the Phillie organization. I already have a copy of this card but it never hurts to have another for trade purposes so if anyone is interested this one is also available for trade.

Bowman Chrome Billingsley

One of my favorite former Dodgers makes an appearance. Chad is yet another player who is now with the Phillie organization but when he was a Dodger he was always a class act I am sure he still is on the east coast. This is a PSA 9 graded rookie card of his which I did not have as of yet. I am not a fan of PSA nor does the grade matter to me so I cracked it open and put it in my collection as a raw card. Great luck to the Defiant, PA resident unless he is pitching against the Dodgers.

Topps Fan Favorite Sax

166 / 215

Another great card of a former Dodger and this time its Steve Sax. While I have autograph photos of the Saxman I did not own an on card autograph till now. This card was never on any of my eBay searches and thankfully it wasn't as now I received it for "free". 

Topps Retired Lopes

Second to last card and the one I think has the best visual appeal. Love these retired autographs and even though I own an on card autograph of Lopes this one trumps it which makes the other one expendable. These came sealed but like the Billingley card I have opened it up and put it in my own case. 

Upper Deck Beltre

And lastly the card that started the trade off and the one I get to welcome back home after months away, Adrian Beltre in Dodger blue with an on card autograph. 

Thank you again to Alex for all the cards and it is appreciated as always. If this is our last trade then it was a great final one but hopefully in future years we can do another when or if you decide to rejoin the hobby. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Trade with Follower Gavino From Instagram - 2012 Topps Triple Threads : Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Dee Gordon Autograph w/Relics (16/18)

I recently completed my first trade and second overall transaction on Instagram. I think the both of us came out happy.

As long time readers know I am not a fan of sticker autographs and the only one I have left of Kershaw is the one I won from  The Dutch Card Guy as I spent over 8 hours online typing in over 400 comments and then got the luck of the draw and had my choice of cards that he was giving away which of course I took the Kershaw autograph. I earned that and sticker or not I am keeping that bad boy. All the others sticker ones in my collection though I have sold and picked up on card versions to replace them so when Gavino reached out to me about this card I was hesitant to the trade.

Gavino wanted a Joc autograph and I had one that I was not attached to so I was willing to spare it. But of course that would not have been equal as he wanted/needed a Kershaw autograph of some sort back. The only I was willing to depart with was an IP one I picked up a couple years ago and since I personally didn't get in person I was not attached to it. I offered it up to Gavino and he was good with it. So he received an IP autograph of Kershaw and a Bowman Sterling autograph of Joc and I received this nice card.

If there was only Kershaw's autograph on the card I would have taken a pass on it but having two of my favorite past Dodgers on it made it more desirable to me. It being numbered out only of 18 also made it attractive to me. So after I swore off sticker autographs I went out and acquired another one and I am OK with that. I had planned to submit it to BGS in my next batch and once the card was in hand I have not changed my mind about that. There is a slight fraying on one corner which will probably make that sub grade a 9 but I think everything else holds up to make this an overall gem mint card. We shall see in October. Thank you again goes out to Gavino for the trade.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin