Making the Grade (March): WrestleMania stars and icons, Sports Illustrated & Marvel gems, Star Wars, rookies & 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 ... another super-sized edition with some new inclusions like comic books and magazines.

FRESH OFF THE TRUCK
The Book: Captain Britain No. 1 (1976 Marvel UK magazine, with mask) -- first appearance of the character
The Reason Graded: This one arrived back in my hands from CGC on Sunday, so I'll have it lead off here as it's as fresh as it gets in my stash of slabs -- and it actually presents a question for people familiar with pressing. (Help a newb out!) First, the back story ... I picked this up probably 30 years ago via Mile High Comics for more than I would have normally spent back then -- probably around $20 -- for a NM-MT copy. For all these years, it was in its magazine bag with one of their old round condition stickers still attached before I recently decided to dig it out for slabbing. Why? It's obscure -- it's a newsprint-style, magazine-size book released only in the UK -- and it's pricey when it's in elite grade. (We'll get to that.) This debuting character is one that had evolved a lot by the time I had gotten into comics (around 1990) and he was the leader of the British X-Men group, Excalibur, which launched as a standalone title in 1988. As part of collecting key issues and artist favorites back then, I tracked down this debut that was mentioned on the back of his 1990 Impel Marvel Universe card. (That set is what drew me into comics.) I knew this copy wasn't perfect, but it was close and I figured it was best to get it slabbed despite some paper-texture funk (the vertical black lines in white areas around the nameplate and corner box). I assumed some of that might lighten up as part of CGC's pressing/cleaning process. If it helped at all, I had figured it might get it closer to one of those top grades.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Click for a closer look

Reality Check: This one checked in lower than I had hoped for as I had thought a 9.6 might be realistic -- but the only dramatic difference here vs. higher marks is the dollar signs and probably some of that funk. (My back cover wasn't as clean as I remembered so my gut feeling may be moot.) A 9.8 copy of this has topped $5,000 on eBay while ones in my condition have been around $1,500 ... so it's still a good slab. (I'm sitting on it like everything else in my stash.) ... Here's where I can use some help from the pressers/slabbers out there, though. It seems like pressing may have actually added to the funk or emphasized it in spots. Some of the white areas definitely have more of that showing now, not less, particularly around the right side of the No. 1 box and the "free inside" mask circle where there's plenty of white paper. It's absolutely the same book (minor pulp spots are there as they were when I sent it) but I was surprised by the paper texture seemingly being emphasized (or not as clean) after pressing. (Click on the image above right -- ignore the color difference as that is likely due to my photography skills.) You can see more dark spots/texture of the paper visible -- perhaps it's from ink on the inside page showing through? I assume I'm not the first to press one of these -- or that they wouldn't press these if it would make its condition worse. I didn't have this on my mental list of outcomes, and naturally, I wondered whether this dropped me a grade and it will always bug me now. Perhaps this happened because the cover is newsprint and not white paper? The time it takes for pressing has had me not doing that on nearly all other submissions but this one -- my first sub I had pressed -- left me wondering if it helped at all. (If I could do this one all over again ... I would not have.) By the way, the color you see peeking out the right side? That's a perfect mask tucked inside the issue just like the cover promises from almost 50 years ago. All in all, I'm glad I graded this one and I think it's the priciest comic book in my stash ... but it definitely prompted some questions.

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

IT'S WRESTLEMANIA SEASON!
The Card: Becky Lynch 2015 Topps WWE Undisputed NXT In Line Black Autographs (/50) -- first-year auto
The Reason Graded: "The Man" has moved on to become "Big-time Becks" these days but this card -- her first certified auto -- is from before all of that when she was still back in the NXT ranks and working on her game to make some history happen. I grabbed this auto long ago because it was her only autograph that year and a parallel, too. (Though the Black notation fell off off the label submission info.) While she had Relics in other 2015 releases, Topps only got her to sign for his landmark first Undisputed release that had a hit in every pack. Lynch has a base auto here and then a simple rainbow of Black, Purple (/25) and 1/1 Gold parallels. That's it for her first-year ink. I'm not that big of a fan of Lynch but three of the NXT Four Horsewomen (no Bayley) have some of their first (or very early) autos here, and I grabbed each of them in the form that presented itself on the bargain side of things. I have had each of them slabbed.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: Why slab Undisputed? Their thick stock is sturdy and they grade well in most instances -- and this is one of those times. No complaints here other than the label info drop -- I submitted my stuff before they apparently fixed the issues causing these small errors and the numbering is in the black side stripe. (No big deal as I'm not selling.)

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DOMINO'S REAL DEBUT
The Book: X-Force No. 11 -- first appearance of "real" Domino
The Reason Graded: As I noted last time, I have a stash of newsstand copies from the early 1990s where I grabbed a bit of everything notable back then as long as it was razor-sharp and clean. (That was easy to do with cover prices like this one ... even basic card packs cost more than this.) This is one of probably 50-60 early X-Force books I stashed (maybe more) as that title was one of the bigs and a favorite of mine for the artwork. (I will admit I didn't crack and read many of my books -- I bought for the art -- but that is how I can have grades like this one all these years later. Why grade this? Domino made her debut back in The New Mutants No. 98 along with Deadpool -- literally weeks before I started buying comics at the same shop where I had been buying cards for a long time -- but this is apparently her first real appearance as that Domino was a clone/impostor or something before this issue. (Like I said ... I didn't read it.)
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: This is a big book and it's heavily graded -- I knew that going in -- but I knew mine would be a contender for top marks and I knew the potential dollar signs attached there. (But, that said, I liked Deadpool 2.) I didn't press this one as it looked flawless to me and I had delusions of a 9.9 or 10 here but, well, you should know those barely exist. (I'm not that special and they are next-to-impossible for any books.) What makes this one extra interesting to me? It's a retail copy -- bar code instead of a logo in the box -- and those have to be a smaller percentage of the pop numbers seen here. (Most people bought copies at shops, not retail, and retail copies often got destroyed on spinner racks.) Recent eBay high sales for this one with a UPC hit as high as $250, which is higher than the direct copies ($199 for the high) with most around $100. If CGC ever breaks out the newsstand copies from those numbers, people might be surprised.

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BAT DOWN! (ALMOST)
The Card: Ronald Acuña Jr. 2018 Topps Holiday #HMW50 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I bought tons of these boxes when they were in discount bins and must have about 10 to 15 Acuña so I got out the loupe and gave 'em a look and settled on this one to send in as a test when CSG was revealed last year as part of a bulk sub. Why? Acuña is magic when he's not hurt so I'm a believer -- though I realize that he's going to be heavily slabbed so that means prices might drop some over time with plenty of slabs available.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: The loupe paid off well with a paper card and CSG's strict standards here -- though it looks like a lot of others are landing similar marks on this card just like me. That high-percentage 10 rate is also interesting. No worries for me, though, as I'm holding.

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HEY, MR. DJ?
The Card: Hideki Matsui 2002 BBM Legend of Hideki Matsui #49
The Reason Bought: Is the player that Japanese fans nicknamed Godzilla due to his monstrous home run power doing an interview here or is he a DJ on the side? I'll never know but what I do know was this card is one from a 54-card set that BBM made for him before he moved to MLB. Some of them showed random moments in his life or stylish photos (this one has images on both front and back with no explanation), while others had baseball scenes and some had personal images. Simple stuff, really, but he was such a big deal coming to MLB to play for the Yankees that pretty much anything was slab-worthy.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I grabbed this for less than $10 -- I thought that was interesting for a 9.5 -- and it turns out this is the highest grade with only one twin and none higher. BBM stuff tends to be very cleanly cut and anything I have ever pulled generally arrived out of packs in razor-sharp shape from more recent years. (Equaling this mark is probably quite do-able.)

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TWO OF A KIND ...
The Card: Koska Reeves 2021 Topps Star Wars Living Set #215
The Reason Graded: Reeves isn't a huge character in Mandalorian lore just yet, but, if you don't know, that's Mercedes Varnado (aka WWE's Sasha Banks) who brought her to life and this was one of her first Star Wars cards. I won't be able to keep up with all of them here soon once more delayed sets start arriving, but I did make sure to grab the online stuff like this. This card is just the second I have bought from this long-running brand (two cards per week released online) -- Baby Yoda the other -- and Banks is one of few people (only one?) on the planet to appear in more than one Living Set. She was on the WWE checklist before it met its demise due to the end of the WWE license with Topps.
The Grade: SGC 9.5

Reality Check: Since SGC is the only grading company out there slabbing non-sports on the cheap without an extensive wait, I recently sent a handful of key cards I'd like to see in a slab. This is one of those. I collect Banks stuff when they present themselves on the cheap and I'll do the same for her Star Wars stuff.

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AN OLDSCHOOL GRAB
The Card: Don Mueller 1952 Topps #52 (Red Back)
The Reason Bought: First and foremost, I grabbed this slab since it was cheap -- around $12 -- and since it's from a landmark set where I only really own a handful of cards. Secondly, though, I always thought it was weird that this one is remarkably similar to his 1950 Bowman card ... and I own that one in a cheap slab, too. I have always wondered who might be watching him on that card and this one had a couple of people back there in the stands, too, but they're not that interested in what's going on this time around.
The Grade: PSA 2

Reality Check: It's fascinating to see how few copies of this card are in higher grades here. Not much else to say about mine, though.

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A DEBUT COVER
The Magazine: Howie Long Sports Illustrated (July 22, 1985) -- first SI cover appearance
The Reason Bought: There were a few reasons I picked this one up awhile back ... but curiosity was perhaps the biggest part of things here. At a glance it looks pretty good for a magazine that's pushing 40 years old and it's the first cover ("Rookie covers?") for the long-running mag and also appears to be his only cover, too. Simply, though, I wanted to see the details here for the grade -- at a glance it looks good but there are two other potential grades possible above this one. Beyond condition and firsties, this Hall of Famer is a Raiders icon and a badass -- and I have even liked his stone-cold broadcasting persona in a world of screaming, too. But the main reason I grabbed this one?
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: I checked the pop report and it's the only copy of this graded -- that seemed odd -- but a 9.4 for a subscriber copy also seemed high. The price was comfortable enough to try to answer some questions about the scale. The main mag-slabbers out there avoid the mailing labels -- and they should if they want elite items -- but in general this is an affordable first cover and a good piece that feels impressive in a slab. (I think high-grade subscriber copies for notables isn't a bad idea in some instances.) I'm not sure I have a better grasp on the CGC scale after seeing this one in-hand, but I'm getting there. (I should have my first batch of personally subbed magazines back sometime soon.)

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WOOOOOOO!
The Card: Ric Flair 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: This is the one card from this landmark set that I own three times -- two are in high-grade BGS slabs I submitted back in the day and this one is from my set that I picked up on the cheap years ago just to say I have one. If you're a regular reader then you know how I have been grading some of my best cards from the set just to get them into cases -- he's one of the big three in this one and this is my roughest copy ... but it still looked pretty clean. I had to slab it. 
The Grade: CSG 7

Reality Check: One copy of the four CSG has slabbed checked in way low and two checked in higher -- so I feel OK about the mark here. The two bottom corners are likely what pushed me down here.

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PULLED IT, SLABBED IT
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2020 Topps WWE NXT Blue Roster Autographs (/50) -- first-year auto
The Reason Graded: I'm a big fan of The Ballsy Badass' high-energy persona that used to include coming to the ring in a kids' tank wearing her horned military helmet that you can see a hint of in this photo. The stock used in this set is very problematic -- it always was in every year of Topps NXT cards -- but on-card sigs are worth it on stars' earliest cards, (And boxes were cheap, too.) I pulled this one from one of many boxes of this release that I opened (two autos per) and this is one of the cards she signed with extras. (A heart appears here and some have that and "TCB" for "Taking Care of Business.") The sig here is perfectly placed with each simple pen stroke quite visible and everything rich in color ... it's also a very clean sig that shows kind of a middle-style in its evolution. Her earliest ink (pre-WWE in 2019) is really rounded and curly almost like a graffiti-tagging style while autos after this are even more simplified and squashed for time since she's signing more stuff. This one shows the starts and stops for the letters perfectly and you can see those same motions replicated in her newer, quicker sigs. 
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: I knew the minor spots on the top two corners would be a little trouble here with this release and CSG's tough standards. I was hoping for a nine but came up just short of that. This card, though, remains one of my favorites for her ... and I'll slab others. I think anything above this grade from these brands, especially on autos, is really solid with the skinny stock and bold colors of parallels.

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A LATE-NIGHT PICK
The Card: Stephen Colbert 2017 Topps First Pitch #FP-22 -- "Rookie Card"
The Reason Graded: I miss the First Pitch cards that Topps included in basic releases from 2015 to 2017. Many really weren't big deals but a few are money now as they are first/only appearances for big names on baseball cards and will likely remain their only cards, too. This one plays off a past game where "Donny Franks" threw out the first pitch and was a hot dog vendor as part of a bit for his show. (Or something ... I'm going off the card back here and I'm not a regular viewer.) I like a lot of these cards and have slabbed a few -- but the skinny stock often has corner issues.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I'm the only one to go there via CSG and the stock got me here with a barely acceptable nine grade for me this time. It's not a pricey card so ideally a higher grade is ideal on something like this. Still pretty unique, though, in the overall world of cardboard out there. It's his only card.

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WHY BUY? ... BECAUSE I HAD TO KNOW WHY
The Card: Allen Iverson 1996-97 Upper Deck #91 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: The subgrades tell the story here quite well -- I've come to live without subs for the most part unless I want to know why something was a "miss" vs. what I thought it would grade -- but this one was still a mystery. It was a dirt-cheap card and I couldn't figure out the flaw that got this one such a low grade ... so I paid $5 for it because I had to know. 
The Grade: CSG 5

Reality Check: Believe it or not, this isn't the only five here -- what? -- but what earned this mark was a sizable surface dent. Like when you find a sliver of trimmed off cardboard in between them and it was squeezed in the pack. It seems surface dents like that -- and I have subsequently seen it on other cards -- but a big dent in the card grade immediately. I've always been a big fan of the draft-day in-suit RCs for a few guys this year and around this time, so this is still a good card to me. I have one I have meant to grade but it hasn't made the cut vs. other stuff (I used to collect NBA harder in the 1990s but stopped) that I just like more. Call this a filler and an educator slab for me. Other than that surface issue, this card looks amazing.

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IF YOU SMELLLLL ...
The Card: The Rock 2001 Fleer WWF WrestleMania #1
The Reason Graded: The Rock has far better and far-more important cards from the past that I should slab -- and you should, t00, if you have them -- but this one's pose, all that color and it being very clean save for some very minor spots got me to bite and send this one in as part of a cheap bulk submission. Why? I liked it -- and it looked better than all of the other copies of this card I had from buying a small collection that had loose cards as well as some packs. I have a feeling that nines are not going to be easy from a lot of the Fleer stuff back in these days. 
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I'm not shocked to see it alone on the pop report and it might stay that way as these cards can easily be bricked in the packs due to their gloss (and it aging poorly) as well as the softer cardboard used that's just not grading friendly after it hits the cutting blades and packaging. (Plus, like I said, it's not a super-important card for him.) A lot of Fleer WWE stuff from this era is rough right out of clean packs -- and clean packs are tough, tough finds in a lot of instances.

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TAKE A SEAT ... AND HAVE A BALL
The Card: Ray Allen 1996-97 Upper Deck Rookie Exclusives #7 -- rookie-year insert
The Reason Graded: This set was a really cool one back in the day and it showcased a number of key players all in one spot. Somewhere in my stash I have a small uncut sheet of this with a Kobe Bryant card in the mix -- never pulled him -- along with Iverson and others. (They popped up at Walmarts long, long ago but aren't priced that way now.) Have they aged well? Maybe not. The photo is pretty stupid 1990s Photoshop cutout lameness -- he's sitting on a chair that's not there -- but the feel of these was what was cool. I figured I'd throw it in a slab as a reason to write about it -- and a reminder to revisit all my flat items to figure out where my sheet is hiding. 
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: This one was a bummer as the front looks really clean save for some very minor fuzz on that top-right corner -- very minor -- so it may be something on the back edge that got me. All in all, still a card I like ... would have liked it better at a 9.5. Surprisingly, this one's pretty heavily graded.

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DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Cards: Delino DeShields 1988 O-Pee-Chee #88 -- "XRC" 
The Reason Bought: Some of the earlier CSG submitters sent in some retro classics and this duo was among those that popped up online for sale complete with subgrades but with low prices. I bit. Why? This card is an oddball classic. People typically just see O-Pee-Chee baseball cards from this era (and earlier) as Canadian parallels of Topps and to a degree they are. The sets are smaller and more focused on stars and Canadian teams so the numbers change -- so not parallels per se -- and sometimes other players snuck into releases. This one was to note his status as the Expos' No. 1 pick (12th overall) in the 1987 MLB Draft. What makes this interesting? His actual Rookie Cards didn't arrive until 1990 MLB sets which were much more available to the masses compared to this set. So, this in-pack card isn't a dubbed Rookie Card per se -- though it probably should be -- as the taggers that be went for the "XRC" route to show it's more of an obscure limited-release card. 
The Grade: CSG 9 and 9.5

Reality Check: I have only ever owned one of these and I recently found it in my stash (not grading-worthy for my tastes). However, this duo looked interesting to me -- especially at $7.50 apiece -- with subs. He was a reliable big-leaguer for years and his kid is in MLB now but this has always and will always stand out to me as a weird card worth the look.

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SIMPLE GRAB
The Card: Tua Tagovailoa 2020 SAGE Hit Premier Draft #13 -- rookie-year card
The Reason Bought: I picked this one up as an affordable place-holder in my stash -- he's a big name with school ties for me but the popularity is just so intense that I can't justify the costs for most basic cards in slabs. This one was basically $10 and with a grade like that I figured "Why not?" The photo isn't my favorite but the design was one from SAGE that clicked a lot for me with this one vs. others they have presented. It's a pretty comfortable card -- and that photo is still pretty solid for a draft picks set (images can be challenges, especially if players are from smaller schools). Had this been a photo of him in uniform? A contender for perfect-card status.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: I was a little surprised to see this many graded but COVID delays probably had some earlier releases out there longer as options for flippers moreso than NFL stuff. These were cleanly printed so the 9.5s didn't surprise me. I almost want to find the other parallels (Gold, Green, Orange, Purple and Silver) and do a slabbed run ... but getting all 9.5s may be tough. I wish they had done a Red or Crimson parallel to give this bolder design some team pop.

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SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN (JUST MIS-CUT)
The Card: Rookie Pitchers (Jamie Easterly, Tom Johnson, Scott McGregor & Rick Rhoden) 1975 Topps Mini #618
The Reason Bought: I grabbed this one on the cheap months ago. Why? Perhaps it was MTG filler when I was waiting on submission returns. (Honestly, not sure.) What I do know is I like minis and I like slabbed minis -- but I don't really like qualifiers like this. Most importantly, though, I did like the price. First, some fun facts here ... Easterly gave up Willie McCovey's 500th home run. McGregor never actually played a game for the Yankees and was part of a 10-player trade that sent him to the Orioles where won a World Series and is a member of their Hall of Fame. Rhoden won 151 games in 16 seasons and then dabbled on the PGA Tour in retirement. That's a pretty good grouping of rookies for a card that was less than $3.
The Grade: PSA 8 (OC)

Reality Check: This is one of just two to arrive with a PSA qualifier (not included in stats above), which means it's really about a PSA 6 ... it just looked better than that. With perfect centering this card would be a contender for the right-side of that table for sure as 1975s can be messy in so many ways.

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