Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Now : Clayton Kershaw May 23, 2016 (#/511)

The 3rd and final card of Kershaw from the month of May this year has finally arrived as it celebrates his 3rd shutout of the month. He had more shutouts than walks in the month. Let that sink in a bit and realize that we are watching a Hall of Fame resume add stats each time he takes the mound. What he is doing is just heads and shoulders above anyone else in the game today and as a Dodger fan I am blessed to "watch" it in my own backyard.

As with the other 2 Clayton Topps Now cards I went to my trusted eBay seller to snag this one at our pre-arranged price and had it in my hands a few weeks later. I am still on the fence if I am going to submit these to Beckett for grading but if I do it will be all 3 and not just the one that looks to be in the best condition.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2013 Bowman Draft : Corey Seager Base Chrome Refractor Parallel BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

And the Draft version of my Seager rainbow project adds another. At the time of this write up Corey is in a slump and what better time to snag a gem mint graded card on the cheap when just a month prior it was twice as much to pick up.

With my base Bowman Chrome project now complete I am now working hard on getting the Draft version done but unlike the base one I am not as much in a hurry as it was always secondary to the main set. This card could be had for north of $40 at the end of March/beginning of April and for that reason is why I hadn't picked it up prior to now as I kept losing out on auctions as I wasn't going to "spend" that much for it. A month later Corey is batting around .250 and the demand for his cards have dipped some. Enter eBay deals. At the end of this card's auction I won it for more than 50% off its eBay high just a month earlier.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY-FOUR - 2013 Topps Heritage : Clayton Kershaw Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (29/64) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2013 Topps Heritage Black Refractor (29/64)

Another black chrome of Clayton from the Heritage brand but unlike the 2014 version I am just a little more confident of this one earning a 9.5 from BGS. 

While both look pretty centered this one is even closer to 50/50 than the 2014 version. While that one has a potential "fraying issue" this one has no such problem hence why I think I should be adding another gold banner to the Kershaw collection with this card. 

Do I love me some black chromes from the Heritage brand. The only thing that I love more is when they come back from Beckett with a gold banner and that is exactly what this one did.

I expected this to come back with a 9.5 above it and that it did even though it was closer that I thought it would be. When I submitted this I thought it would be a solid gem with 4 strong sub grades but BGS thought that the centering was off a tad and gave it a 9. Thankfully that was the only 1 of the 4 to get anything less than a 9.5 as since I already had 1 "bad" black Heritage return I didn't want to have 2. 

This is part of a project to own all the black chromes of Kershaw from the Heritage brand which I am still in search of 2 but a sub project is to have them all in 9.5 cases. A difficult project but one worth pursuing. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Museum : Clayton Kershaw Gold Framed Autograph (11/15) BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

The 2nd of 3 "replacement" autographs of Clayton due to me not being happy with returns from my most recent BGS submission batch. A card I never expected to search for or own but thanks to crappy grades from Beckett and DodgersGirl10 and her post awhile back showcasing all FOUR years worth of these that she owns I finally made the decision to take the plunge and get my own copy.

Once I read the post on her collection of all 4 gold framed autographs I decided at some point I would want to at least own 1. With the print run being only 15 for each year they are hard to come by so I had no idea when I would land one let alone all 4 if I decided to make a project out of it. Well I saw this one on eBay on a BIN auction by a seller I have done business with. When the grades came back from my submission I knew it was time to contact the seller.

Eleven

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His price was reasonable considering it is BGS graded and has strong sub grades but I hoped to lower the cost a bit and since we had done business in the past he was accommodating to me and with the funds from the selling of the cards I no longer wanted I picked up my first of potentially 4 framed Museum autographs of Kershaw. Will I get the other 3 at some point? Maybe, maybe not but either way I am glad I can at least claim one for my collection.

The all important 10 autograph 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY-THREE - 2013 Bowman Chrome : Corey Seager Base Orange Refractor Parallel (2/25) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2013 Bowman Chrome Corey Seager Orange Refractor (2/25)

The only reason I put this card so far "down" on the list is that I want to temper my expectations on this card. 

This was the final piece picked up for the rainbow and with its print run of just 25 I would really like to come back with a gold banner as I do not know if I will ever see another copy as it took me two years to hunt this one down. I believe it should be a solid 9.5 but again I don't want to get my hopes up and be disappointed in its return so I will expect less and be pleasantly surprised if and when it comes back with a 9.5

Tempered expectations were used here and I am happy to report that even though in my heart of hearts this was destined to be a gem mint return I can now officially say it is and it looks great.

I didn't want to get my hopes up on this card's return with a gold banner affixed to it but I really wanted/needed it to as its print run is a scant 25 and I had only seen 2 other copies pop up on eBay and didn't know when I would see another copy. My Bowman Chrome Draft one has a "disappointing" 9 attached to it but this one was more important to earn a 9.5 as the base chrome is considered more desirable. While I have a few non gems in my rainbow collection for Seager those are all non numbered or have a high print run. None of the lower numbered ones have anything less than a 9.5 so I "had" to have this one earn a 9.5. Well now my rainbow collection is complete with this card being the cherry on top. I now am going back to acquire cards that have 9's as their grade in the hope of getting the whole rainbow in gold banners. The search continues.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Heritage : Mike Trout Base Color Swap Variation BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

The Heritage brand is quickly becoming my 3rd favorite (Five Star and Chrome are the others) brand to collect every year as they have such a variety to chase after. Of course with it being printed on paper and not chrome there is a bigger chance of quality issues so I look for graded copies of the cards I want first rather than raw versions. Thankfully this limited card was already in a BGS case as I didn't want to risk acquiring it raw and then Beckett come back and till me its not a gem.

Copies of this card show up every so often on the bay and go for a pretty penny so I have steered away from them and waited for a graded copy to show up at the right time (aka when I had spare funds) and finally this one did on a BIN auction. 

The seller's original asking price was almost reasonable considering past graded sales but I still sent him a best offer to see if I could get him to lower his price. As expected he rejected it but countered with an amount a raw version had just sold for a couple days earlier. Anytime you can get a "high" dollar item in graded form for the same price as a raw version that is a win in my book. Clicked, paid, waited and love the card now that it is in hand. Not a numbered variation/parallel but nice nonetheless.

Gold, gold and more gold

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY-TWO - 2015 Topps High Tek : Clayton Kershaw Low Diffractor Autograph (3/25) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps High Tek Clayton Kershaw Low Diffractor Autograph (3/25)

... and now the brother to the previous Kershaw card with the one difference, a spiffy autograph.

Like the other one there is only one minor issue and that is that one of the corners is every so slightly dinged but with everything looking to pan out I still believe that this beauty earns a gold banner.

Even though I have been mostly irritated with the returns on my Kershaw autographs in this batch thankfully this one came back in a gold banner case. While I would have preferred the non auto and this one to be matching it was more important that this one graded out to gem mint to brother up with another card.

I was confident (but of course so was I on the non auto version) that this would gem but crossed my fingers nonetheless but thankfully it did earn a 9.5. With this now in hand I have my two favorite (Kershaw, Trout) from this very limited (25 copies) autograph collection in gem mint grades. They absolutely look great side by side and I am  glad I own a copy of each. On Instagram I will post both together to show off how nice in person they really are.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps High Tek : Mike Trout Base Black and White Parallel (14/15)

A small but important little project is complete with this card's acquisition and considering the print run is only 15 I am very surprised that I was able to complete it this quickly.

At the beginning of the year I was able to land a Koufax black and white parallel from the 2014 Topps High Tek set for a steal and I turned it into a BGS gem mint 9.5 card. With that in hand I decided I wanted to also acquire the Kershaw and Trout versions and I thought it would take some time to do that since the print run was so small and the demand for Trout is always high. I ended up getting the Kershaw on a surprisingly low priced eBay auction which left me with only Trout here to complete my trio of black and white parallels.

I saw one that was already graded a PSA 9 which I did not want so that left me 1 of 14 copies that I could try to find. 1 of those was on a BIN eBay auction for $150. Scratch that off the list which meant I was down to 13. Saw that another sold on eBay awhile back before I started this project and that knocked my attainable copies to 12. Enter this card. It popped up on eBay with a price a little over the triple digit threshold. Reasonable but still too much for my liking. I had my own auctions ending so I had the funds to acquire it but I decided to haggle and after a few days I was able to get the price down to a much more likable point for me. I had the card in hand a few days later and think it is a prime candidate for a gold banner from BGS.

Fourteen

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Fifteen

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps Now : Clayton Kershaw May 12, 2016 (#/694)

My 2nd Topps Now card of Clayton Kershaw has finally arrived from my new trusted eBay seller and like the 1st one it made it to me in great shape.

This is the 1st Kershaw card to be produced in Topps new brand and has a higher print run of 694 compared to the 2nd card's 421. Clayton had one hell of a May this year and Topps made sure to produce cards marking his dominance. Mr. Kershaw was mowing down the opposition and this card was produced the day after yet another shutout for the best pitcher in baseball.

A no hassle BIN w/best offer option auction (seller and I have an agreed amount for any card I pick up from him) was used once again for this card's purchase. Love these types of auctions.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY-ONE - 2011 Panini : Alyssa Milano Autograph Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2011 Panini Alyssa Milano Autograph

Well hello there pretty lady.

My only non baseball card per se as Miss Milano is on a card that features her and her love for the Los Angeles Kings. I always wanted an autographed card of Alyssa in Dodger blue of some sort but she has never had one produced hence why I picked this one up as it is an on card autograph of my 2nd favorite sports team.

Just like the Podres card I just want the card slabbed and don't really care about the grade as it is not going anywhere from my collection. That aside I think it has a 50/50 shot at a mint 9.

Hello once again pretty lady.

And we now come to the only non baseball card of the batch and for that matter the only none male subject in the group as well. Though I associate Ms. Milano with the Dodgers she is featured on this card as a Los Angeles Kings fan which is fine by me as I support that team as well. 

There were 3 "cards" that I did not care or expect a certain grade as I just wanted them in a case. The 1953 Topps Podres card actually came in on the higher end of my expected spectrum (BVG 3) and now Alyssa topped that one with a gem mint gold banner return on her card.

This card is going nowhere from my collection but having it in a 9.5 grade makes it easier to unload if God forbid I actually had to. That said not only did this card come back with a perfect autograph, as expected btw, but the surface grade also earned a 10. At the end of the day Ms. Milano and her autograph card is now a certified gem mint and is tucked away in my collection with a smile on my face.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2012 Topps Archives : Clayton Kershaw Mini Frame Autograph (11/25)

To say I am happy that I have this card in my collection is an understatement as I never thought I would get the chance to acquire it but lady luck looked down upon me and sent me an Instagram follower towards my page and presented me an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

Up till 3 months ago I didn't even know this card existed but a lot of that can be attributed to its scant print run of just 25 copies. One evening I saw a different copy show up on eBay and fell in love with the baseball stitch border and wanted the card. The seller had a high BIN but had a best offer option so I sent mine in and went to sleep. I woke up the next morning and received an email that the card sold to another person that put in an offer which the seller took. Sigh. As I have never seen it before I was resigned to the fact that I might never see another copy but one day IG friend "Kazscards" reached out via DM and asked if I had any interest in a Kershaw autograph card he had and low and behold it was the one I fell in love with months ago. I couldn't believe my luck. Of course I said yes and after we came to an agreement on price I had to make a decision to either do the transaction via Paypal direct or as an eBay auction which would be "rigged" so I would be the only one to get it. I chose the latter as I had eBay gift cards and a few auctions ending that would pay for this card. Also by buying it on the auction site I would earn more eBucks for this quarter which is always a good thing.

I sent over the payment and a week later I finally had this beauty in my hands and true to Kaz's word it looks to be in great condition and I think it has more than a 50% chance of earning a 9.5 from Beckett. Thank you again to Kaz for reaching out to me and offering me the chance to own this card. It is a fine addition to my Kershaw autograph collection and one of my favorite looking ones of Clayton to date.

Eleven

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FIFTY - 2014 Allen Ginter : Mike Trout Base Mini Parallel EXT Variant Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2014 Allen Ginter Mike Trout Mini EXT Variant

A lot of people have shared with me the one reason they do not like A/G is that they experience quality issues when they buy packs and the card's condition is not up to their standards. I guess I should consider myself very lucky that I have had very minimal issues when it comes to that and once again I think this Trout EXT rarity should grade out quite well.

Even I was surprised when I received this from an eBay auction and noticed nothing wrong with it. The only thing I can see that might be an issue is that from top to bottom it is slightly off centered but other than that nothing else looks out of place.

Another gem Ginter of Trout is officially now in hand even though it was a lot closer than I thought it would be.

I expected centering to possibly be an issue but it was not as it earned a 9.5 but it was the surfaces that gave me a slight scare as they checked in as a 9. Thankfully the other 2 sub grades also earned a 9.5 like centering to give this card an overall gem mint grade. EXT variants are not easy to come by especially of Mr. Trout so it's nice that I don't have to find another one if this had scored less than a 9.5.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Topps : Mike Trout Base Photo Variation BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

Photo variations of base Topps cards really are becoming my 2nd favorite type (autographs 1st always) of cardboard to chase after and any that have Mike Trout as the subject matter are hard to come by and usually with a high price tag attached to them. To take it one step further if it is in a BGS case with a 9.5 attached to it then it just got pricier. Well since I am really roping in my collecting tendencies I can save up and just get the cards I really want when I have enough instead of worrying about every color from every set Topps release. With all that said I finally landed this year's variation of Trout from Topps flagship set.

The main reason I waited for months to pick this up was to make sure I acquired it in a BGS case as this set has been condition sensitive for me and a lot of collectors so I did not want to pick up a raw version of this card and have it come back to me in a grade I was not happy with. The next problem was that there are not that many graded copies of this card (at the time of this write up only 5 exist in 9.5 form) and I had already seen 1 on eBay sell. Well I just kept selling comic codes and a few cards that I had no interest in anymore till I felt I had enough to pick this up when one appeared again on the bay. One finally did and after 18 bids and a last minute one by me I finally claimed 1 of the 5 in the world that has been certified gem mint by BGS.

Sets would be more visually attractive if Topps would use photos like these in their main releases instead of short printed photo variations but then I wouldn't have as much fun trying to hunt one down so I guess keep on doing what you are doing Topps.

Minty !

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FORTY-NINE - 2016 Topps Heritage : Clayton Kershaw Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (55/67) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2016 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw Black Chrome Refractor (55/67)

Another Kershaw card that sadly falls into the borderline pile of 9.0 or 9.5 when it comes to what grade BGS will give this.

Last year I bought my one and only Heritage black of Clayton and sent it to BGS and it came back with a nice gold banner across the top of the slab. While I was confident that card would earn a 9.5 I am not that sure on this one. Centering, surface and edges look to be good to me but there is a corner flaw on the backside of the card. While I hope it can hold to a 9 past history lends to the fact it might receive an 8.5 on that sub grade. We shall see if I will be hunting for another copy in the future to get a 9.5 but hopefully it won't come to that.

A sigh of relief could be heard coming from me when I learned of this card's grade as I now no longer have the thought that I might have to go find another copy to insure I have a gem mint in my collection.

The 3 sub grades that I thought would have no issues indeed had none with even surfaces earning a 10. The 1 issue I thought might arise did to a point. A corner on the backside gave me pause but in the end it wasn't bad enough in Beckett's eyes as it earned a 9 and in turn the card earned an overall gem mint 9.5 grade. The black chromes from Heritage are always a popular parallel and I didn't want to have to find another one and now I officially can say I won't have to.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 1965 Topps : Sandy Koufax Base BVG Graded Excellent 5.0

12 years, 12 cards and with this 1965 beauty of Koufax in hand now I can make the claim I am 3/4 of the way to finishing my vintage Sandy project.

1955 through 1966 were the playing years of the immortal Sandy and I set out to get a card from each of those years in BVG cases and this is card number 9 of 12 for the set. I now have all the 60's cards and just need 1956,1957 and 1958. It might be awhile till I can complete this project as those almost 60 year old cards are not easy to come by in graded form.

I had only seen a handful of these 1965 cards in graded cases on eBay so when this one popped up I made it my week's mission to pick it up. Thankfully all it took was 2 bids and I was declared the winner. Looking back at all the pictures and design of these cards this is probably my least favorite but the project would not be complete without it.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2015 Topps Update : Clayton Kershaw Base Black Parallel (1/64)

I wasn't even looking for a copy of this for my collection as there are too many other black parallels of Kershaw that I am looking for but when I was approached on Instagram about picking this up I couldn't pass up on such a good deal.

It's getting around I guess on social media that I love me some black parallels and a follower of mine DM'ed me asking if I might be interested in this. I looked up the book value (a high of $25) and since his asking price was way below that I said sure why not and had it in hand a few short days later. The only complaint I had was that it came in a PWE (plain white envelope) with nothing other than a top loader for protection. Maybe I am being a little too picky but when I send out a card in a PWE (which is not very often) I put it in a top loader AND wrapped it in card board to give it a little more support during transport. Just food for thought for anyone that does the PWE shipping.

First of Sixty-Four

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FORTY-EIGHT - 2015 Topps Finest : Mike Trout Base Gold Parallel (22/50) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps Finest Mike Trout Gold (22/50)

Gold parallel

Gold banner

Golden day

Adding a gem mint Trout card to any collection is a cause for celebration but when I can add a limited (50 print run) one that is even better. This card will look great with the matching colors of banner and card.

Another "known" grade return but unlike a couple of the others this one is a "stronger" gem mint rather than a "weak" one.

No matter what the grade would have been this card is still a steal as when I acquired it it was on an under explained eBay auction which meant less traffic towards it. I ended up picking it up in this raw graded form for less than what raw copies had been going for. Now with it in slab form I have learned that it even has a 10 in the sub grades. Another great gold/gold card added to the collection.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Autograph Gold Parallel (8/25) and Quarterly eBay Bucks Purchase Number TWO

... and now for the 2nd of 2 eBay eBucks "purchases" and how can you go wrong when you get to pick up a Clayton Kershaw autograph for free? Yeah, you can't.

When I decided to use my eBucks for a Kershaw card I knew it had to either be a rare graded one or an autograph so I can add to my quest of having a 100 signatures from the Dodger great. Didn't find a graded card to my liking so I turned my attention to the newly released Stadium Club as I knew there was an autograph of Kershaw that I wanted to get my hands on at some point and what better time than now when it would be "free" to me.

The 2015 release of Stadium Club has an autograph of Kershaw that celebrates his no hitter and I am still waiting to receive that from Topps as I acquired it in redemption form. Other bloggers have stated it might be a very long wait as the black parallel hasn't been produced yet and that is the one I am waiting for. Well this year's release again celebrates that special moment but from a different view and I knew I wanted this card as it was NOT in redemption form and is live and ready to purchase. A few copies have popped up here and there but I could see that their were chipping problems on some corners. This one popped up on the bay one day on a BIN for $200 but thankfully with a best offer option. The seller and I went back and forth for a couple of hours but at the end of the day I snagged it for 35% less than what he originally wanted for it.

Now that it is in hand I can say it will probably earn a 9 from BGS when I submit it. The autograph is flawless but there is a corner issue but even though it is minor I think that sub grade earns a 9. There is always an outside chance of a gem mint return but I'll shoot low and hope for a high.

Eight

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Twenty-Five

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FORTY-SEVEN - 2011 Topps Heritage : Clayton Kershaw Base Chrome Black Refractor Parallel (21/62) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2011 Topps Heritage Clayton Kershaw Black Chrome (21/62)

... and now we reach the best part of this any other batch that you can submit. The guaranteed gem mint grade which this and the next 3 cards will receive. The only question is will it be a weak or strong gem as I will not know the sub grades till they are graded. With that said I am going to say this Kershaw Heritage card will come back as a weak 9.5 as I can tell that centering is off too much which is what I think the one 9 sub grade will be on this card. Even with that its still a gem. = )

When I submitted this to BGS for a raw review I "knew" that centering would be the issue and I hoped that it would earn a 9 as I believed everything else would grade out as 9.5's. The card came back as a 9.5 from the review which I then sent to BGS for the full slab treatment. When you do a raw review you do not know what the sub grades will be until you receive it back from Dallas. Again, I "knew" what it would be in my gut. Low and behold look what sub grade indeed earned a 9? Yup, good old centering. And as expected the overall 9.5 is a "weak" gem mint but it is still a gem mint and that is all that matters. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2016 Stadium Club : Clayton Kershaw Base Photo Variation and Quarterly eBay Bucks Purchase Number ONE

The only thing that is same this time around is that this most recent quarter is finished which means more eBay eBucks for me to pursue a card or two. Recently I had been focusing on Mike Trout cards every quarter as his are pricier but this time around I acquired not 1 but 2 Clayton Kershaw cards which is another difference as the last few quarters it has only been 1 card that I have acquired. Another difference is that I did not have a card lined up and agreed to acquire prior the eBucks becoming available as I couldn't find anything I really wanted. This card and Thursday's were both "purchased" within 72 hours of their release which should give you a hint on what Thursday's subject matter is.

First up though is this beautiful photo variation of Clayton which was the 1st one to hit eBay. Nowadays I normally wait a week or so to see where the market takes a new product but with eBucks in hand and a reasonable asking BIN price I had to pull the trigger. To this day this "purchase" is the lowest cost one that has sold on eBay so not only did I get a deal I also picked it up for free. Always a plus.

I was halfway expecting some condition issue with this card but other than 1 corner on the back that has a tad flaking issue there is no problem. I believe this will receive a 9.5 from Beckett and I will put that to the test in 2 months when they are back in town.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

BGS Submission Result Number FORTY-SIX - 2015 Topps Chrome : Mike Trout Base Green Refractor Parallel (93/99) Now BGS Graded Gem Mint 9.5

2015 Topps Chrome Mike Trout Green Refractor (93/99)

Like most of the chrome cards in this batch I expect those and this green Trout to receive a 9.5 or better. The reason this is higher on the list is because of the the print run being so low (99) if it were to gem or possibly pristine then the value of it would get a nice bump. Again, I'm not looking to move it but if I ever had to it's nice to know that I could get a nice figure for it in return.

Well I expected a gem and would have been more than content with that return I was kind of surprised that it earned a strong 9.5.

I thought this would be a better than average gem but did itself better as 2 sub grades came back with 10's and the only "blemish" was centering which earned a 9. That 9 can't take away my smile as I just love when a serialized parallel of less than 100 comes back with a gold banner attached to it. Another hit for my Trout collection.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Allen Ginter : Sandy Koufax Base TTM (Through the Mail) On Card Autograph

I went and did something that I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't do again due to unsavory people on the internet but 2 things made me change my mind for this one time, Koufax and a money back guarantee.

I love Koufax autographs and they are a pricey endeavor as other collectors know. On card versions from Topps can range from a couple hundred to well over $1000 while trying to get him in person is a hard process in itself. So when I first saw this card up on eBay I didn't really thing twice about is but a few days later I saw it again and decided to click on the auction. His asking price was $40 OBO but what caught my eye was that he guaranteed it was/is authentic as he received it from the man himself AND IF the buyer would send it to a 3rd party authenticator i.e. PSA/JSA and it didn't pass he would refund the whole cost. Hmmm.... now I'm interested but of course only if if could be had at a deal. What happened now I really didn't expect.

I sent over an offer of $30 and if he accepted great if not I wasn't interested in negotiating. He declined my offer by taking someone else's which I found out was $35. Well he contacted me a day later and said that the buyer backed out and if I still wanted it I could send him an offer. Well I wasn't changing my offer so I sent him the same $30 one and he rejected that AND INSTEAD sent me a counter of $25. What? He messaged me and said he should have taken the original one from me and felt "bad" so he wanted to sell it to me for the lower amount. Well with the money back guarantee still in place I took his offer and will now get it authenticated by JSA.

So either I just picked up a great Koufax autograph for $25 which I think is a steal or I am just loaning him $25 as if it comes back from JSA as not real I will get my money right back. To me either way is a win win situation but I am for sure hoping for the former and not the latter.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin