Making the Grade (Feb.): Kobe Bryant, Eddie Vedder, Rookie Cards, The Four Horsemen, Meghan Markle, Superman & more

Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

The Card: Kobe Bryant 1996-97 Upper Deck #58 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I actually bought this card more than a year ago and thought I had it waiting in my stash of cards to present here at some point but, after doing some searching, realized that I never took a photo of this iconic 1990s card and it had been waiting for its time to appear. Unfortunately, we know why this NBA legend has been on the minds of many sports fans out there this week so here we are. I picked up this Rookie Card back then since it was a decent grade for a decent price -- just $9 -- and I didn't ever pull one way back when. It doesn't have any obvious flaws on the front, so it looks much better than its grade, too. (Sub-grades on the back of this slab are all 9 or higher except for an 8.5 on corners and one corner shows why.) The shocking news of this week has created a frenzy of interest for Bryant's RCs and autographs -- and a card in this same grade (not an elite grade, really) sold for $200. Mine will remain in my stash.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: The pop report on this card is a lot stiffer than I had expected with this being the most-common grade and fewer than 600 checking in higher. I had expected there to be more but I suspect the pop reports on this card could change a lot in the coming months -- and it will be interesting to see if any ever reach BGS Black status. Bryant has a number of RCs -- more than 20 -- and this one is unique in that it doesn't show him in his Lakers uniform. The debate as to whether Bryant's cards will hold values in comparison to what people are paying right now is an interesting one over on the Blowout Forums where there are a number of discussions. I think this is a scenario that may defy common collecting logic -- I'd think that anything is possible in this case and there are a lot of buyers right now who will pick up cards and stash them away forever, leaving a smaller volume of stuff available for everyday collectors to grab on eBay and other market hot spots. Finding unopened boxes won't be an option for a lot of his Rookie Cards that people want to track down, either.

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

LEGENDARY BARGAIN
The Card: Larry Walker 2002 Topps Ten Relics #TTRLW
The Reason Bought: I did not pick up this card because I had this Canadian crusher making it to Cooperstown on my 2020 predictions list -- I actually bought this awhile back and it's been sitting in my MTG queue just like the Bryant (just not nearly as long). I grabbed it because it's got an extra memorabilia swatch in the case (a piece of his game-used jersey) and the price was under $8 -- that seemed like a solid price for the grade with the extra and it's also odd to use a Relic card with the extra-piece scenario.
The Grade: BGS 9.5 (with GGUM program game-used jersey swatch also in case)

Reality Check: It's the only one graded ... not that surprising to me. Graded memorabilia cards with premium marks aren't all easy to find in general, so that was another reason I picked it up. This one is also different in that this release has the swatch laminated into the card and not glued onto a back cardboard panel.

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BLASTER-BORN DAZZLER
The Card: Shohei Ohtani 2018 Panini Chronicles Revolution Sunburst #6 (/49)
The Reason Graded: I pulled this rarer parallel card from a discounted blaster and those boxes are the only home for the Revolution cards (a three-card bonus pack) in Chronicles. Weirdly, this is the only parallel I remember pulling from one of those boxes -- I didn't bust a boatload but enough where it feels like I should have found more. This card looked very, very clean so I figured I'd slab as he could be primed for a comeback year when it comes to his cardboard this coming season.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: The soft stock from a lot of Panini releases might be the deal on the corners here -- and it might be on the back as the front still looks razor-sharp to me. (I also don't check backs as much closely when grading as those flaws just don't bug me as much.) Cards like these don't generally hit my collecting tastebuds that hard -- all that foilboard -- but I figured it might be more appealing in a high-mark slab ... and that's what I got.

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HIS "FULL" SIGNATURE?
The Card: Calvin Ridley 2018 Score Autographs #380
The Reason Bought: This isn't some big card -- just a quick pick-up for less than a blaster and less than it would have cost for me to buy and then slab it myself. His autograph isn't much to look at on any kind of card, but this is one of his earlier sigs that have a little more going on. Not much, but a little more. Oh, and it's not running off the sticker ... it just comes close.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I was a little surprised to see this was the only copy graded but at the same time I shouldn't have been. He came in with first-round hype from a big team and has delivered pretty well ... but this was from a low-end but long-running brand. His TDs were down this year but other numbers were on-par with his stronger rookie campaign while playing fewer games so that hasn't helped his sales. I'm still picking him off on the cheap side.

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THE KID IN A CLASSIC RELEASE
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 2001 Topps Heritage #200
The Reason Graded: This set is a classic one -- the first of a franchise that's still running today -- and back then Junior being in a Reds uniform was still more of a fresh and unique thing. It's not a perfect card design-wise and it's not flashy -- it would have been nicer had his Reds jersey been, you know, red. But when I pulled it out of a freshly busted blaster in recent years (poke around in my breaks here and you can find it), I noticed that it looked very clean. That with the Hall of Fame name was why I opted for a slab.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: I went the PSA route and was surprised to land a 10 -- I always seem to think PSA 9s with centering that's not spot on. (This one is close.) Either way, though, this felt pretty solid. Heritage stock isn't always the cleanest-cut even out of fresh packs, especially considering the paper pouches used back then (cards can move around), but I liked this one. (Asking prices on some Griffey Heritage cards in high grades can be nutty, too.) Key stars in high-grade slabs are a safe long-term hold from brands like Heritage if you ask me -- they can appeal to old-timers as well as fans of new stuff.

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YEP, I GRABBED ANOTHER
The Card: Randall Cunningham 1987 Topps #296 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I've picked up one of these before and showed it off either here or over on Buzz Buys, but I grabbed this copy since it also looked strong beyond the centering -- and because I recently noticed a flaw in my previous card that I didn't before. This guy was a game-changer in Philly and should be an eventual Hall of Fame candidate if you ask me ... so I pick him off when they present themselves in interesting and affordable situations.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: The pop report here doesn't lie -- this is a solid grade and I like it for my price paid (less than a blaster). There aren't a ton of 10s and razor-sharp ungraded copies can often be found with bad centering and blotches of black ink often on the bottom left border. Had this one just been centered a little better, it would have been a 10.

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THE APPEAL OF SILVER
The Card: Andrew Luck 2013 Panini Select Prizms #29
The Reason Bought: Silvers have been hot slabs for top names in Optic and Prizm in recent years, and that might have been why I looked at this and figured why not add it at about $8. I probably initially thought it was a Rookie Card for some reason, too, but I don't regret the buy as it still looks pretty good. It doesn't hurt that he was, for a time, a big name in the NFL ... it just didn't last. Now, he might be best-known as the XFL Commissioner's kid. (Kidding ... but his dad is a top XFL suit and that league kicks off soon.)
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I was a little surprised to see this many copies slabbed, but it was a premium-priced brand at the time -- so with its hit volume and format I figured there might be fewer of these around vs., say, Prizm. I was surprised to see no 10s exist for this card, so the claim of "highest-graded" doesn't hurt here, either.

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OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN
The Card: Eddie Vedder 2018 Pearl Jam Boston Shows #NNO (batting pose)
The Reason Graded: I showcased my Seattle Shows Vedder here last month and figured I'd follow up with this one with its whimsical photo since there's news of some new music on the way from this legendary band. What's the deal here? The band's merch team came up with three trading card sets that all look like this one and they were sold in packs at events in Seattle, Boston and Chicago. I didn't land the Chicago card in the packs I ripped, but the two Vedders I did pull in baseball gear I wanted slabbed -- for fun. (Most members of the band had uniform cards but these are the headliners to me.)
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: The asterisk above is because these don't appear to have been entered into the BGS database since I got them slabbed -- but I'll go out on a limb and say I'm the only one to grade (for now). Some previous Pearl Jam card sets were popular and heavily graded (really heavy), so anything is possible here. I only pulled this one copy, so I couldn't be picky about what I submitted and that explains my centering mark here. It's mostly off top-to-bottom but a tad off left-right, too, probably gets me the 9. Otherwise, this would have been a 9.5er if you ask me.

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NO APOCALYPSE HERE
The Card: The Four Horsemen 1988 Wonderama NWA #339
The Reason Graded: This card came from a fresh factory set I busted years ago -- I literally cut the seal on its box and paged it immediately -- and they've been there ever since. I've graded just one other classic card from this set, which was among the early releases for the biggest WWE rival at the time, the National Wrestling Alliance (or NWA). This card shows the best heel stable of the time -- Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger -- along with their manager, J.J. Dillon, and announcer David Crockett. This set is as simple as it gets and is loaded with a lot of poorly cropped photos -- some quite mockably bad -- but this card is a classic in comparison to many of those.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: Behold, the finest-graded copy ever made -- its shoes cost more than your house. Well, something like that. This card is a little more-graded than a lot of others in the set and none have checked in higher ... so it felt like a good choice. There are probably a couple more cards from this set that I will pull out and slab sometime ... it's been on my to-do list for months but I've not gotten to it yet. This one and the Road Warriors' card are the best of the best in this set if you ask me. (The popular Sting card has an iffy photo in my book.)

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SPARKY'S DEBUT
The Card: George "Sparky" Anderson 1959 Topps #338 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: You might not know him as a Phillie -- more like a Red and a Tiger over on the managerial side. The player version of "Sparky" hit just .218 in 152 games in 1959 but that got him this RC and another Topps appearance in 1960. That one I've owned for years but this presented itself for less than a premium-priced blaster (under $30) so I grabbed it.
The Grade: PSA 6

Reality Check: The price seemed lower than it should be -- or at least was cheaper than some others when I searched for it. I also think it also looks a little better than its grade. His Hall of Fame career included 2,194 wins, 1,834 losses, five All-Star appearances and three World Series wins. I like his two player cards a lot more than others -- and there are many, many others. His 1970 Topps managerial card debut is also nice and one I might chase in a slab 0r track down at some point.

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NO MEGXIT FROM MY STASH
The Card: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle 2019 Topps Now #448 (/963)
The Reason Graded: Back when this one arrived, I grabbed a few copies. Why? The card's back shows the teams that played in the London Series -- the Yankees and Red Sox -- and it had some player cameos that I liked atop of the novelty. I sent two of these for grading since its design had a spot on the back where the photos were misaligned -- I figured they wouldn't have thought there was something wrong with the cut if both cards looked the same. With the Megxit in the news recently, I figured I'd present this second part of the doubleheader.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: My other copy of this card checked in at a BGS 10, so I did pretty well. Both make for solid marks on a novelty card with some international interest -- but not a crazy-high print run. Topps Now cards can grade very well as long as you examine them closely to punt any with tiny flaws -- I've done very well my few times submitting -- and the pop report on this one shows that to be the case with this card, too.

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SUPER, MAN
The Card: Christopher Reeve, Protector of the Peace -- 1978 Topps Superman Movie #20
The Reason Graded: The idea of pulling some interesting cards from vintage packs and playing the grading game is easy. It's getting the good grade that's the challenge. I've opted to dabble at times with a few cheap brands that have some memorable images of key characters, scenes or stars and this is one of those times. I picked up a small volume of packs (under $10) and then ripped into them to see what I found. Why did I pick this set? The age, the price and the film, which was a serious achievement when you consider that it was all done before CGI. It's also got some memorable actors and characters all found in the set.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: My packs here were actually quite brutal and nearly all of the cards I pulled suffered from diamond cuts -- and not subtle ones, either -- and then there was horrible centering, gum damage and wax stains. Landing a PSA 9 felt like a miracle from just one pack that was cooperative. The 1970s quality control can be absolutely ugly but this one looked solid other than some left-right centering that clearly would have been hammered harder via BVG.

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CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP ...
The Card: Led Zeppelin 1991 Pro Set Superstars #21
The Reason Graded: If you're a regular reader, then you know my deal with 1990 Pro Set football and then the legends cards from this overproduced but well-crafted set. I keep wanting to chase grades that are seemingly impossible here as these cards are on razor-thin stock that are often ratty on their edges right out of packs. They also can be destroyed simply with even careful placement in a penny sleeve if you do manage to land a clean one.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I went PSA because I've seen some 10s that, well, I didn't think they deserved it. Meanwhile, this card was a solid copy that I was sure would nail a top mark. Nope. It has a small speck of white in the middle of the top border that I must have willingly ignored since everything else was clean on the front. The card backs are often rough here but this one also didn't look too bad ... but, alas, no top mark. It's almost out of my system with this set -- I have just a few more to slab -- and they're all from a last-resort pack format that was surprising and may turn out to be a success as they looked very good from packs in my most-recent (dirt-cheap) bulk rip. I've sent more to both PSA and BGS just recently. We'll see how those come back at some point and let you know my secret. (I know you care if you made it this far today.)

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CAUGHT IN ACTION
The Card: David Robinson 1989-90 NBA Hoops #310 Rookie Card (Series 2 in-action version)
The Reason Bought: I think you just had to be there at the time these arrived to appreciate these -- and I was. His pricier Series 1 card (an SP since it was only in the first series) is still more popular, but this one is also memorable enough to me that I wanted to add in slab without paying too much. This one was cheaper than some retail jumbo packs even in the bargain bin, so I grabbed it.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I'm fine with nines and I'm just too casual of an NBA fan to pony up for a 10 -- if I did, it would be on the SP version. BGS slabs here in elite grades are serious big-money cards for this Hall of Famer -- enough I still might track down a box and chase it at some point. Maybe. The packaging mangled a lot of cards in these boxes, the wrappers let people see who was on top of the packs and the centering can be just brutal more often than not.

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HIS ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Brock Lesnar 2002 Fleer WWE Royal Rumble #4 Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: Brock Lesnar actually has RCs in WWE, UFC and the NFL sets but this was his first -- well, at least from his first year in packs. (He has a few WWE RCs and I'm not dedicated enough to go research which arrived first ... they all count and are before his UFC and NFL stuff.) This set includes a few other notable WWE RCs -- John Cena, Randy Orton and Batista -- and I've slabbed all but one so far.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: The stock here is soft and chippy and the gloss can have issues, too, but I went there despite not being much of a Lesnar fan, especially how he's used now ... but this card is in decent demand based on asking prices and sale prices. A BGS 9 is pretty solid and there's only one BGS copy better. Simple as that. The Cena card is the biggie and the Batista seems pricey at times, too. (I'm getting around to grading an Orton.)

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A BARGAIN BULK-LOT PULL
The Card: Bryce Harper 2012 Topps Update #US183 Rookie Card (Rookie Debut)
The Reason Graded: I landed this Harper in a bulk-pack repacks (50 packs, $20) from Walmart that people were shredding hard on the forum last year since some boxes seemed to come absolutely overloaded with certain past brands that are very good now. Most of my repacks when I dabbled were beyond uneventful -- I didn't even break them down here, just mentioning some on forums and Twitter (they were rough) -- but one included a single pack of 2012 Topps Update -- and this was one of the cards inside. It looked clean, but a couple of very minor things scared me off of BGS submission, so I went with a PSA sub.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: This one was a pleasant surprise as I had figured on a PSA 9 but looking at the pop report this is one that slabs out on the high side way more often than not. I'll take it. Back when I was shredding that year's packs hard, I didn't find too many of this card and it had been a big one (and still is to a degree though his prices have softened in Philly). These still push $80-100 in this grade and had been higher -- signs that the once-plentiful wax has dried up a tad. Is that a sign that perhaps Topps Update needs to try factory sets again? Some people might hate that idea, but it does seem like there might be demand.

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