A Trade With Dodger Penguin

This is post is coming up about a month late, but better late than never! It's difficult to count the number of trades Matthew and I have made, but last month, I sent the Pigeon over my Chipper Jones autograph, and in return... Hm, maybe that's the wrong trade. Since Matthew wasn't happy with the grade, he decided to razz it at a (in my opinion) very fair price. Since I liked the card so much, I took the chance, and gave myself a 60% chance of winning the card. It wouldn't have been fun if I had lost, of course, but I ended up winning this awesome card:

Ernie Banks 2013 topps five star autograph /50 BGS 8.5/10! As long as the grade is an 8.5 or above, I'm usually fine with it. The autograph is very clean, and this card is definitely an upgrade from my BGS 6.5 tribute autograph! 

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The Future Is Also Bright In The Queens

While the Yankees have stockpiled an assortment of young prospects, the Mets already have their future. Syndergaard, deGrom, Matz, Wheeler... But you can't forget about Michael Conforto, the young outfielder for the Mets. During the regular season, he hit .270 with 9 home runs, and in the World Series, he hit .333 with 2 home runs. And he's only 22! The young lefty will most likely take over the other Michael in 2016. Michael Cuddyer never lived up to his contract in 2015, which will most likely lead to Michael Conforto taking over his role. And why not? At only 22 years old, and coming off a great 2015 season, only good things can happen from there.

2014 Bowman chrome autograph, BGS 9/10! The centering was the one sub grade that really hurt the overall grade. I'm thinking about sending it in for a bump, but I'm not too sure the centering could go from an 8.5 to a 9. I'm not too sure how the autograph got a 10 either... Oh well, still an awesome card of the Mets future outfielder!

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Pre-Turkey Day Mail!

A few weeks ago, I worked on selling a variety of items, such as legos, cards, and a few other things. I made quite a bit from selling items that I no longer wanted, so why not go on a little spree? I won the following card for $38, which I was very happy with. Could the player have been a little better? Sure, but at 23 years old, Archie Bradley still has time to prove himself.

One thing that Panini does, that Topps doesn't, is put out unique cards, such as cleats, gloves, and other one of a kind pieces. 2015 Immaculate was FULL of awesome cards! I have never owned one of these cards until now, and they're awesome looking. The card itself is about as thick as my iPhone, which makes it hard to store, and I'll probably have to get the largest size magnetic for it. Even though I'm not a huge fan of Bradley, I will most likely be holding onto this card, just for it's uniqueness! Who knows, maybe Archie Bradley will show off his first round pick potential next year! 

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Instead Of Going Out And Shopping, I Waited For The Mailman To Come To Me...

I knew I had a crazy amount of packages coming in, so why go black friday shopping when the mailman can do the hard work for you? I had a few packages come in prior to Thanksgiving, and a few more come in today. 

I purchased this card for $6 from someone on blowout cards forums, and even though it's from panini, I still decided to spend a few dollars on this card. While I think Panini puts out many awful products, I love the design of this card, and I think Panini did a great job on 2015 immaculate. Now that Nolan Arenado is a superstar, and hits 40+ home runs, I'm hoping he has an autograph in a future Topps product.

I spent exactly $1 on this card. A refractor from 2015 Topps chrome! I'm hoping to pick up some more Arenado cards over the next few months, so I've added quite a few cards to my cart on sports lots. 

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I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Ripken From The BGS Submission

Most of the cards that I got at The National, I sent to BGS. If you've been keeping up with my blog, you know the results that came back, weren't as expected. Here's the Cal Ripken 2007 UD Black autograph /10, which I also got at The National. I'm not necessarily disappointed with an 8.5, but I definitely would've liked it a 9. I may send this in for a bump, since it's 0.5 away. Who knows.

The card is beautiful looking, and it looks even better slabbed. I've been really limiting what I buy as of late, and i'm trying to stick to either Hall Of Fame, or Nolan Arenado. For the most part it's worked... For the most part. If I don't post tomorrow, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting Higher!

The last time I submitted cards to BGS, I received only one 8.5, and the other 15 cards or so were 9 or higher. This time, I received only two 9.5's, a few 9's, and the rest 8.5 or below. In this post, i'll be, "showing off," the two 8's that I got. 

I definitely didn't expect this card to get an 8/10, but one bad sub grade will kill the overall grade. In this case, it wasn't the corners, but the surface that helped dropped the grade a few points.  Like the other lower grades from this submission, I'll probably be looking to sell this, and pick up a better Urias autograph. Oh well.

Another sweet spot autograph, so I didn't expect much. I'm surprised that it did better than the Smoltz and Banks, but 8 still isn't pretty. I already sold this card, to put towards a better Gwynn! The grades can only get better from here, so next up is the 8.5's.

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The 7/10 Bo From The BGS Submssion

The only 7/10 I got back from BGS, was the Bo Jackson 2007 sweet spot autograph /125 I bought at The National. Sweet spot has always been known to have corner damage, so this grade isn't too surprising, unlike the two from my post yesterday. The card is still really nice, and I wouldn't mind keeping it, but would prefer to sell it, and put the money towards another Bo Jackson autograph, that would great better.

BGS 7/10

The corners and edges killed the card, even though they don't look too bad. The grader definitely wasn't the best, or maybe he was just really though on corners. Either way, I hope I don't get him/her again! I'm thinking about resubmitting the card, but my hopes are to sell it, and put it to a Bo Jackson autograph from high tek, or another high end product. I sold the Smoltz, Banks, and two other cards, so I'll definitely be putting that money towards something else. Like I said before, I wouldn't mind keeping the card; the grade just bothers me. Hopefully I can get back on track with posting daily!

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First Part Of An Awful BGS Submission

It's been too long since i've written a post, but it's been for a good reason at least. I've been working on getting into a good high school, and keeping my grades up. Before I get into cards, thank you to Matthew for the BGS submission, it is much appreciated!

A few weeks ago, I sent Matthew about 15 cards to be graded. Just yesterday, I got the cards back from Matthew, in a very well packed package. The grades were definitely not what I expected, as I only had one 9.5/10, and a few 6.5's. I'll be showing the two 6.5's that I received, so I can get those out of the way, and move onto something more positive.

BGS 6.5/10

Here's the most disappointing card of the submission. An Ernie Banks 2011 Topps Tribute autograph. All the sub grades managed an 8.5 or higher, except the corners got a 6. Hm. The corners definitely weren't perfect, but did they really have to get a 6?

BGS 6.5/10

The other card that gave me a surprise was this John Smoltz 2014 topps five star autograph. The grader must have been a corner killer, because the corners on this card received a 6 as well. The surface earned an 8, and the rest was a 9 or higher. Looks like it's time to go hunting for another Smoltz autograph!

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Thank you for reading!