Making the Grade (March): A few new Juniors, Muhammad Ali, Aubrey Plaza, vintage gems, Jack Tripper, Rookie Cards & 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 ...

BIG-TIME PULL
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Chrome Orange Refractors #201 (/25) Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: This one came out of one of the best Topps Chrome boxes I've ever seen -- in fact, it might have been one of the best non-high-end boxes I've ever seen for any brand -- and I knew instantly that the two big cards from it would end up slabbed. This one is up first and I actually had it graded awhile back but held it a little closer to baseball season -- and we're here. This guy could be set for a big season after a rookie campaign that was closely watched but perhaps not as lofty as was expected. With so few copies of this one made, I figured it was a no-brainer no matter how he fares this season.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I was glad to see this grade, and it turns out that two of the three that were slabbed were graded on the same day -- I just missed out on "first-graded" status. The Series 2 short-print (which looks just like this) is probably going to be the long-term iconic card for Guerrero, but rare Chromes like this one figure to be very strong, too, even if in a lesser grade. Interestingly only four copies have been graded by PSA -- three 10s and one PSA 9.

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

CONDITION SENSITIVE
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2019 Topps Heritage 1970 Cloth Stickers #7
The Reason Graded: These Walmart-only retail inserts are one per blaster and two per mega box (if I remember correctly ... it's already been a year! This guy and Juan Soto typically ran together if you happened to rip the big boxes, too. That's the cool part. The rough part? These fabric stickers are so sensitive that you can easily open a fresh pack and find fibers of the card front -- typically the bottom edge but sometimes others -- all kinds of messed up. If you do find a perfect one, keep it far, far away from any penny sleeves because those will demolish these cards, too. (Guilty as charged here on other cards.) This isn't a pricey card, but I liked how things looked and I carefully slid it into a semi-rigid holder and set it in the grading pile.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: I sent this one to PSA since I feared how rough a slabbed copy here might be received by BGS even if it looked perfect. The grade here was a fun one to see -- and a look at the PSA pop report was a surprise, too, in a different way. How? More than half of these submitted landed a top grade and I didn't expect that. Over the long-term, these might not be all that rare (it's not a big set) but the top-condition copies might be.

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ICONIC CARDBOARD
The Card: Muhammad Ali 1992 Pro Line Portraits Team NFL #TNC1
The Reason Graded: I'm a sucker for the original Pro Line sets from 1991 and 1992 because of the surprises you can find inside as well as certified autographs that were delivered regularly in its debut and in every (hobby) box beginning in 1992. Pro Line was full of surprises across the product in its second season and the Team NFL inserts are an inclusion that had a few with cards -- and autographs -- of Ali, Milton Berle, Martin Mull, Isiah Thomas and Don Mattingly. I never pulled this card back in the day and I didn't even pull one in a number of boxes ripped in recent years, either, so I picked off a few singles with an eye for slabbing.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: The front of this one is perfect, so that's why it made the cut for me -- and it's the cutting of the back edges and corners that's often an issue. I'm fine with nines, but I'll admit I had visions of a 9.5 here -- meanwhile those are a reality for nobody. (And, realistically, they may not even be possible.) This is the highest grade ever noted here (along with four others) and I was actually surprised to see so many had been slabbed.

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CHASING TENS
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 2007 Upper Deck Goudey Sport Royalty #SR-KG
The Reason Graded: I demolished a ton of these hobby boxes back in the day and part of that reason was the fact that I pulled an autograph of Daisuke Matsuzaka from one of the box-topper packs that yielded these Sport Royalty cards early on. (I also liked the idea of Goudey buybacks.) This was one of the better pulls I had and since it was a meaty 39-card box-topper set, so I figured it might make for a decent slab, especially if it checked in as a 10.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I thought a 10 was likely when I sent it in, but a couple of the corners here do look a little fuzzy but not damaged. (I might not have had a good loupe at that time.) This is one of those scenarios where I'd be interested in sub-grades to see what landed it a nine -- which is among the worst grades for this card -- but the surfaces of the stock here can be funky. All in all, it's still a card I like ... and you'll see Junior here one more time today.

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JUST FOR FUN
The Card: Aubrey Plaza 2016 Topps Update First Pitch #FP-6
The Reason Graded: The First Pitch sets in a few years of Topps sets are loaded with interesting and fun names where celebs and other notables who threw out ceremonial balls at games ended up on a baseball card. This comedian/actor has been in all kinds of stuff you might know -- Parks and Recreation, Legion, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Life After Beth, Dirty Grandpa and Child's Play for example -- and she's got a unique and weird style. With that, I thought this might be a fun card to slab. Plus, it's a Rookie Card, right? (Actually it's not ... she has Parks and Recreation cards -- autographs, too.)
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: Behold! The worst copy of this card graded by PSA. The top-left corner might be the reason why but it isn't that bad -- maybe I missed something on the back. I only had a few copies of this one -- one pulled and a couple picked up cheap -- and selected the best of them. That probably explains the lack of a 10 here ... that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm a sucker for First Pitch cards and I've got at least three of them slabbed that were from Dodgers games now that I think about it.

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ELITE VINTAGE
The Card: Willie Stargell 1978 Topps #510
The Reason Bought: This slab jumped out at me when I saw it since it looks to be razor sharp, which is especially tough for its timeframe, so I grabbed it. It wasn't overly cheap -- around the price of a blaster while the raw card is not much -- but a 1970s card of a Hall of Famer isn't typically an easy find from BGS without forking over some solid cash.
The Grade: BVG 9

Reality Check: The pop report also shows why my gut feeling was right here -- just one other card has the same grade and just two top it with no 10s existing. Might I have overpaid? Maybe, but I like it. PSA has just 94 10s out of nearly 1,200 copies graded. It tends to grade well with about 550 making a PSA 9 but the low-volume of a BVG card with a high grade is a plus is my mind. You'll see a few more retro slabs to come this time as I'm going through some of my pick-ups more than new slabs ... I have a bunch of new slabs incoming in the next couple of months (barring delays).

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SOME 1980s SIMPLICITY
The Card: Tom Glavine 1988 Topps #779 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: There are a ton of cheap and memorable RCs from about 1985-1993 that I wouldn't mind owning in high-grade slabs, but the challenge of actually getting there and the prices for grading can be a deterrent. It's fun to rip old cheap wax and submit stuff, but misses could be costly as anything not a 9 or 10 often won't be worth the price of slabbing. That said, I simply chose to pick this one up for about $7. I didn't need it but it would cost me more than that to try it among the copies I have stashed away somewhere for this Hall of Famer.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: The volume here is pretty good -- so that price is probably about right -- while the 10 volume is pretty high, too. I don't think I'd chase 10s for the price and that made this a comfortable addition in my mind. (I also like that it's the current PSA slab design -- looks a lot better than old ones.) The stuff from the timeframe that I mentioned can really surprise in high-grade slabs at times and pulling those grades from packs isn't easy at all -- it's actually a lot harder then vs. now if you ask me.

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CHASING TENS PART II
The Card: John Johnson 1979-80 Topps #104
The Reason Graded: If you're a regular reader here, then you might remember how I mentioned this card in a previous MTG -- how I picked up upwards of 100 copies (cheaply) from a few locales hoping to find a high-grade copy so I could slab it. (Why isn't all that important -- I really like the photo here and I interviewed him long go.) Beyond his Rookie Card, this is perhaps my favorite of his cards and this one was the best of the bunch I picked up raw, so I sent it in.
The Grade: PSA 8

Reality Check: This one was a bummer but I guess the centering is more off than what might be expected for a better grade. I really didn't see a ton more wrong here -- maybe some super-light snow in the dark area but nothing compared what can be found often. Meanwhile, I picked up one of the PSA 9s while this one was in PSA's hands. It'd be fascinating to see how that single 10 out there looks. I might pick off more copies of this card in bulk at some point if they present themselves, but chasing 10s just isn't easy at all with vintage. The quality control can be beyond brutal -- even out of freshly opened packs.

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A CARDBOARD LESSON
The Card: Bart Giamatti 1990 Donruss #716 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Everything I said about the last two cards could have and should have applied here. Here's my condensed version of the tale here -- a story where my shame and time that has passed since has helped me forget some of the pain. At some point last year, I got an idea to slab some stuff from this era and found some cheap (and very clean) cello boxes for this forgettable release that's loaded with errors and variations, a few RCs and some other interesting stuff like this card of the MLB Commissioner who died a week after banning Pete Rose from the game for gambling. I picked up a few cello boxes that were way underpriced (three for about the price of a wax box) and pulled just a single copy of this card -- which would not be a BGS 9.5 contender. (I had five-plus copies of other notable cards and perhaps even more of others in some cases.) Then, after that failure, I tried a factory set ... nope, as Donruss put his card on the top of one of the cello bricks there. That doesn't help condition. After a double bummer, I grabbed it already slabbed.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop report here before buying -- I just grabbed the best combo of cheap and how it looked for the price. I'd prefer to chase a BGS 9.5 of this one -- just an interesting card from the era -- but may not. I have since sent in something different for grading from some of his other card options that you'll see here at some point in the future. Fun fact: Giamatti's two sons are actors and Paul Giamatti is somebody you should know from a few big ones -- Sideways, Private Parts, Cinderella Man, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, Shoot 'em Up, Man on the Moon, American Splendor, 12 Years a Slave and many other films.

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TOUGH GRADE
The Card: Dave Stewart 1985 Donruss #343
The Reason Bought: I picked this one up since I'm a sucker for some cards of players from the Oakland A's dynasty that had three straight World Series appearances, back-to-back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners, some league MVPs and some Cy Young winners all around that time. Ironically, this guy was none of those things and yet he was a 20-game winner four years in a row after never coming close before that time or after. I grabbed this slab for the price of just a couple packs because it just jumped out at me ... yes, it's a common but I knew that the dark-bordered set and grading don't often combine for this kind of a slab.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop report before I grabbed it, but my gut feeling was reinforced. It's the highest-graded copy here and only one other like it exists. I'd bet that factory sets from this year are where the high-grade stuff comes from most often -- I picked up the guts of a broken factory set long ago because everything was clean and razor sharp. I'd really like to chase Stewart's three 1982 RCs as BGS 9.5s ... and they do exist. (Between three cards just 13 have checked in at a 9.5 -- only one 10 -- out of nearly 200 graded.)

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RECORDS AT TIFFANY'S
The Card: Rickey Henderson 1990 Topps Tiffany #7
The Reason Bought: This set is bowling-shoe ugly if you ask me -- it didn't even satisfy my collecting tastebuds back then ... when I had no taste -- but the orange-bordered cards and the Record Breaker subset always got me to look. What got me to look here? The price on this slab and the fact that it's from the Tiffany version of the set that's far rarer and cleaner than the standard printing. The bright white stock helps the colors jump out better and these heavily glossed cards really do look good compared to the standard stuff. It's still not a perfect card, but it is one that's pretty solid and has a really good photo of the guy who went on to win the American League MVP award that year.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: This one cost me literally the price of a retail Topps jumbo pack, so I like it no matter what the pop report says. I was a little surprised to see the 10-9 inversion -- I would have figured 10s to be tougher given the timeframe here -- but the Tiffany sets do grade pretty well as long as you can avoid gloss spots and centering issues when you open a set. The skinny stock also can get you at times, though.

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VINTAGE GEMS
The Card: The Three’s Company Gang -- 1978 Topps Three's Company Stickers #10
The Reason Graded: I might have mentioned my approach here before and this is a second try on a different card. Last year I picked up a couple sets of this one that were built from vending boxes (according to the seller) and I worked my way through them to see if I could find a card showing the main cast members of this comedy classic all on the same card with visions of a 10 in mind. My first try (different card with just the main trio) was a BVG 9 ... and a 10 looked possible here.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I was a little surprised on this one -- I wanted a 10 -- but in this case what I really would want are subgrades to know what I might have missed. (Hey, at least I got the three and The Ropers in there this time.) Vintage grading is tough but some of the non-sports sets like this one are heavily graded (believe it or not) with results that seem promising. Just no 10 this time. I haven't subbed a third one yet ... maybe that's the charm?

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ODDBALL & OVERLOOKED ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Classic Travel Update I #131 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Would you believe I landed this overlooked RC for less than $5? It's not perfect but for the price I don't mind it and I'm not sure I'd want to pony up for a 10. (I have plenty of raw 1989 Griffeys with no real need to chase slabs myself for some reason -- it seems there are plenty and prices aren't bad unless it's at the top.) It's not a perfect card but I like it, especially at the price.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: The pop report seems about right on this one -- a lot of PSA 8s and PSA 9s since the stock here is some fibery paper and things can seem chippy with those rich colors showcasing nicks easily.

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