Making the Grade (June): Slabbing my Patrick Mahomes RCs, higher-grade vintage, Rhea Ripley, The Cobra & much 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 ...

PLAYING KETCHUP ... ERR, CATCH-UP
The Card: Patrick Mahomes 2017 Panini #104 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I've had all of my rookie-year Mahomes cards sitting in a "perhaps-grade" stack for some time and this is the first of them from my stash to head down to Florida for a slab from the new company on the block for sports cards. I think most of my bigger Mahomes RCs were slabbed long ago (see one here), but I'm playing catch-up on the other ones now. This is a relatively clean card from a lower-end retail-only brand that is definitely worth the slab -- raw cards are around a couple-hundred but Gem Mint cards can push or even top the $1,000 mark on eBay. I'll take the equivalent from what is looking like a strict grader.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: The pop report is still to come* from CSG -- they say it's in the works -- but I knew this one looked good enough to slab now and I was right. The paper stock here from this basic brand is definitely chippy (more on the backs) and those corners could easily get a lift or nick in packaging but this one checked out as a 9.5 ... not bad for what was probably from a bargain-bin blaster. CSG grades pretty tough from what I have seen so far, so a 9.5 felt good.

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

RARE FOR THAT TIME
The Card: Chipper Jones 1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated Extra Edition parallel #76 (/500)
The Reason Bought: I found this one for less than a blaster and thought it was a decent value for an older card with a lower volume made -- and it's a card stock, that if I remember correctly, is high-gloss, a smidge soft and easily scratched up, so I'd consider getting elite BGS grades perhaps to be tougher than the norm. It's also a somewhat early card for a Hall of Famer ... and it doesn't hurt that there's a new SI cardboard presence to get people thinking about these older cards.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: A nine is a fine mark if you ask me but that doesn't even matter here now because none of the other 499 cards made has ever been graded by BGS. This one checked in with subs as 9.0s across the board along with a 9.5, so it's a solid nine.

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RARE IN ANY TIME
The Card: Dave Winfield 2001 Fleer Platinum Nameplates #42 (/80)
The Reason Bought: I paid a little more than a blaster here because it's a relatively rare card in general but also a Hall of Famer and a patch card. I also liked it since it's something from a concept set that shows some of the fun stuff Fleer used to do. The centering here is about the only thing that looks "off" at a glance but it still looks pretty solid with rounded corners (on purpose). Graded memorabilia cards aren't an easy thing in elite form ... they just get handled too much for them to happen -- at least in the earlier years like this -- and that gets my attention as well.
The Grade: BGS 8.5

Reality Check: The grade is what it is as the centering is an 8.5 (perhaps too tough in this, the earlier years of grading) and oddly an 8.0 on a "corner" -- probably a lift or split but I couldn't find it -- but as the only copy graded and with only 79 others in existence I'm good at the price. Cards from this set don't grade all that well -- 21 copies total for all of them and there's nothing above a BGS 9 save for a single 9.5. (A dozen cards check in at a 9.0.) I think rarer cards like this from the early 2000s could really be sleepers over time if people try to explore cards from the past beyond the "junk" years. It's just not an easy find, slab or not, and finding boxes ain't going to happen on the cheap. (Why should the rare stuff be cheap?)

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CHEAP SLAB GRAB
The Card: Antonio McDyess 1995-96 Topps Finest #112 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: This one fits in the school ties of my stash and for under $5 I was OK grabbing it despite its somewhat lower mark. It's not a flashy card really -- a big ol' mugshot -- but I always liked the general simplicity of the Finest designs from around this time. (Probably fueled in part because I pulled and own Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant RCs.) I think I have this one raw from long ago in a box somewhere, but I figured this wasn't a bad slab grab for the price.
The Grade: BGS 8.5

Reality Check: This is an older slab like most in this month's edition here, but that's OK as I don't suspect that a lot of these cards have been graded recently. A total of just 18 exist with higher marks and just three of those are 9.5s ... pretty crazy considering the popularity of the brand around that time. I'd bet the centering got most people ... they were always off in some way from what I remember, though I never ripped into many packs for this particular year.

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HIGH-GRADE, PRE-TOPPS VINTAGE
The Card: Mike Guerra 1950 Bowman #157
The Reason Bought: For basically the price of a blaster, I landed this really nice card from long ago and one that isn't simply a mugshot. Some info on Guerra? Well, his real first name is Fermin and he was born in Cuba -- the 21st player from the country to make it to MLB as a hitter. He played nine seasons beginning in 1937 (just a single game that year ... two Ks in three at-bats) and then was a regular backup from 1944-1951 for the Senators, A's and Red Sox. He hit .242 with one homer and 168 RBI in 565 games, so not that flashy ... but this card with its pose and several players in the background was flashy enough for me.
The Grade: BVG 7

Reality Check: Had this one not had a small speck of something on the back (perhaps a dollop of wrapper wax) I'd bet it might have graded even higher. Just one copy is higher -- and as you can see a couple of them check in even lower than what's seen here (a 1.5 and 3.0). Out of curiosity, I checked the PSA pop here and most check in at a PSA 7 or PSA 6 with only five copies checking in at a 9 or 10 (just one 10) out of almost 150 cards slabbed.

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A HOT START ... LAST YEAR
The Card: Tyler Chatwood 2011 Bowman Sterling #28 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I picked up this card from a higher-end yet arguably overlooked brand last year when Chatwood had a couple of strong starts -- and I did the same thing for That Shane Bieber Guy, too. You'll never guess which one I didn't hold onto ... yeah, I made the wrong move. Nothing much happened here after his first two games -- 19 Ks in those starts -- as he finished with just 25 strikeouts for the year. (Eek.) Meanwhile, Bieber won the Cy Young ...
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: The grade, the price and the brand here are all good things -- even it'd be even better if the name on it said "Mike Trout" -- but ... it's not. I think Bowman Sterling RCs should always get looks in comparison to the standard stuff because there just can't be as much of it made. Simple as that. (This pick-up was a big miss ... deep in the miscellaneous slab box it goes.)

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WWE RCs ARE FOR ME
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps Finest WWE #90 -- Rookie Card 
The Reason Bought: I instantly grabbed this when I saw it since she's one of three WWE newcomers I pretty much collect these days and the price was right (like a blaster) for what is not an easy grade from the sports grading newcomer. I've contemplated grading a number of my favorite WWE pick-ups but didn't go there just yet in any substantial volume ... so grabbing this already slabbed solved any debates on this particular card.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: The equivalent of a PSA 10 or a BGS 9.5, this is a solid mark. Finest cards aren't sloppy from what I  have seen from this release but all that silver real estate on the card front of the design here can showcase marks easily. This one looks pretty good and I didn't see anything that would have thrown it out of my "to grade" pile if I had it raw. (A couple marks up top near her head were from me not cleaning off the slab before I took my pic.) If submitters opt to slab more WWE from CSG, I'll be watching ... and when the pop report comes* I'll be paying attention, too. I liked this pick-up quite a bit.

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COBRA'S ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Dave Parker 1974 Topps #252 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: A vintage RC of a star I liked as a young collector for less than a blaster box? That checks a lot of boxes ... and it's even better since it looks a lot better than its mark. (Though having not looked at the pop report as I type this it may be a card that can grade well when it's not all covered in printer grime and diamond cut like sooooooo many cards from that era.
The Grade: PSA 7

Reality Check: Well, mine's certainly not perfect ... but I still like it. That PSA 10 volume is pretty crazy but that's how it should be with cards from the 1970s, which might be one the sloppiest decade for cards for printing and cutting quality. The slight diamond cut mine has isn't the norm for what I'd typically look for but I've seen many uglier copies of this so I overlooked it. Raw copies of guys like Parker -- not Hall of Famers but Hall of Very Good players with some time on very notable teams -- might be cheaper than you think in general. So, if you find a high-grade raw copy you might consider them as those top two grades should be money. I'd bet a lot of those PSA 8s and PSA 9s stats might include cracked and re-graded cards with the rest perhaps locked away in collections for those who do sets or registry stuff.

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CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP ...
The Card: John Johnson, Wayne Cooper and David Greenwood 1980-81 Topps
The Reason Bought: This affordable card -- around $10 -- is one that I have bought a few times and even tried grading myself to no satisfying regard. So that's why I've grabbed a few from this oddity of a set where he actually has several cards between two versions and a few combos. Johnson is a common (with school ties for me) but landing a PSA 9 from around this time for basketball? Anything but commonplace in my mind.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: This is the most-plentiful grade for this card (probably not the norm for this set) but it's still impressive to me -- 1970s NBA stuff can be a slopfest and then the oddities of this year, especially that scoring to pull them apart, can be pure funk at times.

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HOW MANY YOU NEED? WELL, AT THIS PRICE ...
The Card: Reggie Jackson & Pete Rose 1975 Topps #211
The Reason Bought: This card is very, very clean save for maybe the spots on the left edge -- check out those corners ... so clean for the era and no print spots. There must be some type of surface wrinkle I didn't see here to get it this grade and that's one reason why I grabbed this card from a favorite set of mine. Another reason? It was less than $4. Really.
The Grade: PSA 5

Reality Check: Sure, it checks in among the lowest copies, but it looks a lot better than a PSA 5. Typically a minor crease or wrinkle nails cards and drops them down around this mark. Like I said last time I showed off one of these and like I'll say next time ... I'll buy PSA 5s all day long if they look like this and are priced this way. How many do I need? I need many ...

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CHROME POTENTIAL
The Card: Walker Buehler 2018 Topps Chrome Update #HMT19 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Young pitchers aren't always easy to collect (remember Stephen Strasburg in 2010?) but this slab was around $12 and he's a young pitcher on the defending World Series champs who has had his moments. I figured that was comfortable for Chrome -- and I have a ton of his basic RC and the Holiday version that I have considered examining to find a slab-worthy copy. I grabbed this instead.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop report on this one in advance, and if I had I would have passed as that is totally inverted making anything not a 10 probably a mega-dud in comparison. It also makes me wonder who might pay a premium for a 10 when, well, they're almost all 10s. It's OK ... unlike the Bieber I mentioned earlier I grabbed this one just to sit on it.

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AUSTIN POWERS SLABS
The Card: Austin Riley 2019 Topps Update #US100 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I finished up last month's version of MTG with this card from a parallel product -- one with, surprisingly, far fewer copies graded -- but figured I'd go there again with this guy on a home run streak that's pretty strong as I prep this. Riley's RCs are far cheaper than they were when he arrived and he's got plenty ... so you can make some affordable grabs here if you're a believer in the young slugger. (I'm a believer that his team will put it together and the homegrown guys' cards will benefit.)
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: This one checks in with a more realistic pop report instead of it being nearly all 10s and I suspect that's because of the somewhat brittle stock here that resulted in tweaked corners right out of packs for many of the cards from this year. As I noted last time -- or at least some point in the past -- I liked the tighter crop here that interacts with the striping, helping this one feel more like a slugger's card.

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