Making the Grade (Feb.): Spider-Man vs. Carnage, WWE's Boss, iconic sports RCs, a phantom ticket, Stranger Things & 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 ... a pretty deep mix with some pricey pieces (at least for Buzz) this time.

BIG BOOK LEADS OFF
The Book: The Amazing Spider-Man #361 -- first full appearance of Carnage
The Reason Graded: One of my goals this year -- something already under way -- is to grade a number of the notable comic books I have had stashed from back in the day (the early/mid 1990s) when I dabbled somewhat regularly with comics. Back then they were re-emerging in pop culture with a revolution of big-name artists taking on iconic characters and then branching out to make their own brands -- and they were also a lot cheaper to collect with cover prices like you see here. Also born in those years of polybags, gimmicked covers and many publishers? Big-name characters like the one making his full debut here, Carnage, who is one of Spider-Man's big villains like Venom and others before them. I picked up a couple copies of this one back then since I liked the cover art and it was a start of a run for the new character. Over time, he has become a favorite and that has made this a pricey book.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: My main reason for grading a lot of my books from this time is that many of them are rarer newsstand copies (UPC bar code) which are harder to find in top condition and can carry a premium vs. direct copies. I wasn't (and still am not) a big comic reader so my copies are as razor fresh as they were then. I liked the art and I was very picky about what I would and wouldn't buy when it came to condition. I didn't check the pop report here when subbing -- and I have sent a second one into be slabbed since getting this one back -- and it's (shocker!) a heavily graded book. A 9.8 isn't easy here and a newsstand copy recently sold on eBay for almost $1,700. This grade? Well, it's a $600 sale among completeds but asking prices for UPC copies are as high as $1,450 with several above $900. Over the long-term, I think newsstand copies are going to remain rare in top grade, though for some reason CGC doesn't break them out on its pop report. (I wish they did ... it would have to be a shocking divide.)

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

LIKE A BOSS
The Card: Sasha Banks 2015 Topps WWE Undisputed NXT In Line Black Autographs #NA-SB (/50)
The Reason Graded: I have a number of the key autos from the first Undisputed release and I sent each of them in for grading with this one getting subs as I figured it would be a top contender for a 10. Unfortunately even with my paying for the extra service the label dropped part of the set name as well as its parallel status (serial-numbering in the black at right) -- but this was subbed before they revamped their submission form (likely) due to mistakes like this. I still like the card, though, and how this shows part of her autograph evolution. It changed rather dramatically from her NXT promo photo autos sold by WWE to her first couple of certified cards (this was her second ... likely signed in same batch as Heritage that year) before it became what it was for essentially all of her Topps cards thereafter. This card, along with the others I slabbed, is a solid early one -- it's dramatically jumped in price, too, as I only paid about $50 for this maybe three years ago. Now, the basic version sells for around $200 raw.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: I came up just short of a 10 here -- and I am not sure what I might have missed under a loupe. The texture of the designs can be problematic but under loupes you can see whether spots are printed or damage. This brand grades very well so I have graded several -- and I will do more.

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MIGHTY MAHOMES
The Card: Patrick Mahomes II 2017 Panini Prestige #232 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I made it a point to grade almost all of my Mahomes Rookie Cards in recent subs and this is one of a few in recent ones to make the cut (I only have a couple others still waiting). This is one of his earlier cards showing him in his college uni but with his NFL team mentioned. As a college fan -- well, at least for one team -- I don't mind this approach for my guys ... but I can see how NFL fans might not like them as much. For me, it's more getting all of his RCs graded for long-term holding -- and the fact that I like this simple design.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: This one checked in at a strong mark for a paper-stock card with these having colorful backs that will showcase lifts and nicks. You can also, in my experience, see edge and corner issues often with cards on stock like this. Once a pop report arrives -- they say it's coming* -- I'll probably have a better idea of how this one looks. I think it'll be a stronger one as CSG's 10s are tough.

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MORE MORANT ...
The Card: Ja Morant 2019-20 Panini Prizm #249 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: Like Mahomes, I have recently opted to grade a number of my better Morant RCs and this is one of my recent returns. I pulled a lot of his cards in Chronicles but only one of his Prizm cards and none of those struck me as interesting as this one. I'm not the biggest Prizm fan but there are fans of it out there -- that means it's a safe card to slab but it also means there also will be plenty of other copies out there. 
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: My centering here looked really good so there is probably some smaller issue on the card back that got me to this spot -- the stock seemed to be chippy and scratch-prone from what I remember that year. All in all, I'm good with a nine and up for cards like this.

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BIGGEST BO?
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps MLB NYC Store #3 (/99) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: This was a big addition for me and my Bichette stash and I paid up for it a bit as this is probably going to be one of his toughest RC parallels as time goes on. Why? Because of how it was distributed. This card is one of just 99 made and given away as bonuses for people buying cards at the MLB Flagship Store in New York City in October 2020.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: Only 10 players made the set and they are all limited to only 99 copies. Three others are rookies who might have more appeal while the rest are established star veterans who have plenty of cards. Stuff like his stands out on a list of Rookie Cards and parallels if you ask me.

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EARLY ALBIES ...
The Card: Ozzie (Ozhaino) Albies 2015 Topps Heritage Minor League #4
The Reason Bought: This MLB All-Star and World Series champ appears on a lot of modestly priced cardboard with his prospect cards arriving this year and his Rookie Cards throughout 2018 releases. I like Heritage in slabs, so this one, his first, got me to look and I really want to do a full run of his stuff to go with some of his RC parallels that I ponied up for in the past. He's too good and too cheap to pass up if you ask me.
The Grade: PSA 8

Reality Check: This is a bit low-grade -- not the lowest -- but the price was right. The PSA 10s to 9s ratio here is definitely not how I think it should look -- 10s shouldn't be a premium when they're the most plentiful if you ask me -- but I like the card and really only the vertical centering looks "off" here. It's a really clean PSA 8.

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LITTLE AND CLEAN
The Card: Dave Concepcion 1975 Topps Mini #17
The Reason Bought: I grabbed this card of a Big Red Machine mainstay for three reasons. One, it's a mini -- I love minis. Two, it's really, really clean for its grade. Three? It cost me less than $5. With the grading prices like they are these days, a lot of old and cheap cards like these won't be happening in new slabs for some time ... so pounce when you see them if you want them. (I'm not saying they're rare ... but there may not be more for a long time.)
The Grade: PSA 6

Reality Check: The grade here isn't among the better ones -- blame the centering both ways and maybe a hint of white on the top-right corner -- but it still looks really good. If you have opened packs of these or searched lots of these, you can see mangled centering worse than this, diamond cuts, printing spots and other things go wrong here ... even out of fresh packs. Really, though, less than $5 can't be beat for a slab.

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A VINTAGE FAVORITE
The Card: John Johnson 1979-80 Topps #104
The Reason Bought: This card is easily one of my favorites for vintage NBA (I have mentioned it here before) with its epic photo that simply ain't the norm for 1979 and the fact that I have school ties to him. He was the first NBA player I ever interviewed. Simple as that. I grabbed this as the price was too good not to grab -- nines can be quite expensive and as you can see 10s barely exist.
The Grade: PSA 8

Reality Check: The pop report here is a stiff one -- look at those 10s -- and really even a PSA 9 isn't easy if you have gone through any boxes of 1970s NBA cards. I will grab more when I notice them on the cheap -- I have tried subbing raw cards and must have 100 raw copies -- with no success at a PSA 9 or better but I do have a few others slabbed.

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DREAM ON ...
The Card: Dusty Rhodes 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A #6 -- "Rookie Card"
The Reason Graded: If you're a regular reader then you know how I have been slabbing some of the key names from this set. I grabbed the set long before it blew up and ultimately I just wanted to have a copy so I wasn't picky about condition or upgrading my copies. I graded this one since he's obviously a big name and it looked pretty good ... but I still like my autographed PSA/DNA copy of this card a little more. 
The Grade: CSG 7.5

Reality Check: The corners have some spots and the centering is a little off, but this still looks really good for the grade. Not much else to say other than it's easily a big card for a legend in wrestling's past and even somebody who really also helped shape the present with all of his past NXT students in today's game as well as his sons and daughter-in-law over in AEW.

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IT NEVER HAPPENED
The Ticket: 2020 WWE NXT Takeover: Tampa Bay phantom ticket (event canceled -- date became Day 1 of WrestleMania 36)
The Reason Bought: Some out there are saying slabbed tickets are taking off -- maybe for rare and iconic names in the main sports, sure -- but before all that recent chatter I picked off this ticket because it was just something way different and the pop report looked really good. This is a ticket to a WWE event that was canceled but had lenticular tickets made since it was the NXT show during WrestleMania weekend. This NXT show didn't happen at all as fan attendance was called off and 'Mania was done over two days in an empty arena due to COVID. That makes this a phantom ticket -- something that historically has been popular in mainstream sports though they can be plentiful. (Note: The slab label here is wonky -- yes, 'Mania's first night ended up happening on this date but this was never intended to be used for that event despite having the logo for the weekend of events.)
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I did peek at the pop report when deciding to grab this -- I figured now or never. I think it's the only slabbed ticket that I own other than some signed ones. I'm not sure I will be slabbing my own stubs -- I'd like to but time and cost aren't the greatest factors -- but I may pick off others when they feel unique. It is an area worth the look as there's plenty out there -- raw or slabbed -- with a ton of one-of-a-kind, name-your-price potential.

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LEGENDARY CARDBOARD
The Card: "Prior Celtic Championships" (David Stern, Brent Musburger, K.C. Jones and Red Auerbach) 1984 Star Celtics Champs #23
The Reason Bought: I picked this card up because it was one of only a few official NBA card appearances for Commissioner David Stern back when he died on Jan. 1, 2020. (I had it stashed away for use during the NBA season for a while now.) It's pretty solid as it has two other Hall of Famers on it and a long-time broadcaster, too ... and it wasn't even all that expensive.
The Grade: BGS 8

Reality Check: The vertical centering got this one and it being off two directions likely hurt it as well. I did wonder about a couple of those corners with light touches of wear on them but overall this still looks pretty good for an 8 -- and other companies don't grade Star cards if I remember correctly ... so this is one of few options.

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BEFORE THE ROOKIE CARDS
The Card: Chipper Jones 1990 Classic Yellow #T92 -- pre-rookie card
The Reason Bought: This card is dated a year before his RCs arrived and comes after he was taken by the Braves -- note the cap -- with the first pick in the 1990 MLB Draft. I've always like the enigma that this card really is -- his other draft picks cards that arrived early show him in his high school uni -- and yet it's overlooked. This one has gotten a little more attention in recent times as prices for slabs are a little more than what I paid.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: I was a little surprised to see so much slab volume -- and it's also interesting to see how few 10s there are (though I suspect many were graded before BGS Black labels existed). This copy checks in on the rarer side of the pop report with only 63 higher and more than half of the overall population lower.

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DABBLING IN NON-SPORTS
The Card: Millie Bobby Brown 2020 Leaf Metal Pop Century Classic Roles Autographs Silver Crystals #CR-MBB (/25)
The Reason Graded: If you're a regular Buzz Breaks reader, then you saw this card pulled months ago and it was a heck of a find with the Stranger Things star's autos paying for boxes back when this one arrived. (Still might but the box prices are higher now as most have been ripped.) I recently sent a small sub of stuff off to SGC -- solely non-sports cards -- since they are the only ones slabbing non-sports in a quick and price-friendly fashion among the grading companies that I would use. (Exactly one month from arrival in system to shipping out the door for $30 a card.)
The Grade: SGC 10/10

Reality Check: I sent this one as it looked razor sharp and legitimately flawless other than being slightly off-centered on the front (look at the box's stripe vs. the borders). Once I looked around, a lot of the cards in this one were that way -- note the Leaf logo looks closer to centered along with the vertical elements. I had figured I'd be in a SGC 9-9.5ish scenario here, but a 10 was a nice surprise. I also graded this card it's pricier and to help balance out some of the cheaper but PC-style cards I sent along with it. (The price is good for the speed but still a little steep for my taste ... but I'll still dabble on occasion for non-sports.)

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MAKING HISTORY
The Card: Alyssa Nakken 2020 Topps Now Spring Training #ST-2
The Reason Graded: She made history in MLB -- the first woman as an on-field coach during spring training in 2020 -- and got this card to show for it. I also liked the fact that we got a masked photo to even more put it into its historic time, though we don't really get to put a name to a face. 
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Now cards are printed on thin stock but as long as Topps uses the foam inserts in its shipping cases you should do well with them more often than you miss. I might have missed something -- I wasn't expecting a nine -- but I am fine with that on a unique card. She did end up on a run of Allen & Ginter cards -- autos, Relics and more -- last year if you want more cardboard. This one was the first.

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NBA GREAT ... BUT NOT MANY CARDS
The Card: David Stern 2014-15 Panini National Basketball Hall of Fame #DS
The Reason Graded: The late NBA Commissioner doesn't have much cardboard -- as mentioned above -- but one that's close to an official in-pack card is this ... but it's still not. This was from a small set made for the Hall of Fame's inductions during the year he went in as a contributor to the game in 2014. I'm not sure how many might have been made but it may not be a ton -- the only copies out there on eBay right now are signed ones at $80 and $99 a pop unless BAS slabbed and that one is about $250. 
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: I landed this small set (basically a pack) long ago and finally found it packed away in a box last year before putting it into a grading sub. These are standard cardboard, so a 9.5 from CSG makes this a pretty solid slab. As mentioned before, the stock can be chippy and have corner issues easily ... and these weren't released in boxes to help protect them, either.

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ODDBALL SLABBING I
The Card: Bo Derek 2013 Panini Golden Age Playing Cards
The Reason Graded: I always like to grade some oddball cards in my subs -- this month is heavy on closer to standard stuff -- but here's one of a couple of different ones to finish things off. I picked my best copy of Derek from this set, which is an insert in the style of playing cards for a number of athletes and celebrities in Panini America's old-timey brand from about a decade ago. There are a lot of cards I like in this set, but centering and the edges/corners can be issues here for some reason.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I was a little surprised by a 9 until I realized my vertical centering here was not good. I really don't like left-right issues and I'm sure that was what got me to pick this one instead ... my other copies were worse.

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ODDBALL SLABBING II
The Card: Gary Cooper 2002 Topps American Pie #123
The Reason Graded: CSG doesn't grade non-sports cards at this time -- the parent company's other card entity only does gaming right now -- but on rare occasions where you get non-sports subjects on cards in multi-sport sets they're all in play. (Like the Bo Derek card.) This one comes from a set loaded with names and with its timeframe it's likely the first MLB card appearances for many of them before Allen & Ginter blew those doors open. What did I like about this one? It's not often these days that MLB allows celebs to appear in MLB unis or with gear with its logos. (Why? I dunno but check out all of those types of appearances in Allen & Ginter ... most have logos removed.) What's the deal with this one? It's from when Cooper played Lou Gehrig in The Pride Of The Yankees back in 1942. 
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: I couldn't be picky about condition on this card as it was the only copy I have -- and newer wax boxes of this high-gloss, soft-stock release often have bricked cards where color is pulled off of the surfaces. (There's perhaps some slight spotting on edges here but nothing really glaring.) This looked like it could have been a CSG 9 but I probably didn't inspect the back as closely as I should have. (The back probably has some of the typical chipping.) In this case, on a simple card with novelty appeal, I'll survive with an 8.5 on a bulk submission.

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