Making the Grade (May): Baker Mayfield, JLo's Rookie Card, Joe Cool, Nuke LaLoosh, Hailie Deegan & more past gems

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: 2018 Donruss Optic Red & Yellow #153 Baker Mayfield (RC parallel)
The Reason Graded: I found this one in a Mega Box and it was by far the best highlight of the bunch there so that's why you see it here. Mayfield has shown himself to be a spark plug among a good rookie crop since back when I pulled it, so that's another reason. A third? This brand is one that I like more than others. The color scheme of this card, a retail-exclusive, also looked good, so I figured I'd slab it up and see how it looked when it came back. These were very pricey when they first started arriving on eBay but I'm sure they have settled down by now -- still an impressive card to me either way and I'll be tucking this one away in my stash alongside my Bowman Chrome Tom Brady RC for the simple long-term appreciation. (Mine, not financial.)
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: At the point I submitted this one, there was at most one graded and I'm still surprised that there are so few slabbed. I also was surprised with the grade figuring I'd check in at a likely BGS 9 but I'll take it. I think high-grade copies of retail-only parallels found in certain formats could be tougher future finds than people might think.

Keep reading for the rest of this month's new grades and additions.

The Card: 1992 Pro Line Portraits #329 Joe Montana
The Reason Graded: This is without question one of Joe Cool's most-iconic yet dirt cheap cards and it's from a brand that is simply not easy to grade. This photo remains a classic, though that Brady guy can top it. I busted a few boxes of these last fall and only landed I think two of this card. One had a minor miscut (showing part of another card on an edge) so this one had to be the one. It looked flawless upon pre-slabbing loupe inspection so I sent it in.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: This is one of the highest-graded copies of this card (there's only one other) and this is the first copy of this card graded since back in March of 2010. That last one also popped at a 9.5 and the rest are lesser-condition. This set was pretty much established as a cheap one by the time grading arrived and blew up for cards so that's likely why so few are graded. That doesn't mean it's not a quality card. High-grade copies of memorable cheap cards could also be in demand in the future as fans return to collecting and see stuff they remembered in the past.

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The Card: 2016 Topps Archives Bull Durham #BDNL Nuke LaLoosh/Tim Robbins
The Reason Graded: I only pulled one of the autographs from this release but grading movie-related and pop culture cardboard is one of my niches and this one had to go in after I gave it a look. It was very clean and it didn't matter to me that the card isn't that valuable -- to me a high-grade copy is. I own slabbed cards from a few sets for a few stars for this film and Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh had to be added.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: This one is by far the best-looking card in the set if you ask me and every copy of this one has graded well. I don't see where I came up short of quadraphonic Blaupunkt-owning grade territory (a Black 10 would totally pay for it ... right?) but I was happy with this one ... no matter what it's worth.

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The Card: 1992 Topps In Living Color #32 Lisa, Carrie Ann, Cari, Jennifer and Deidre
The Reason Graded: If you look close at this one, you might recognize somebody who's appeared at The National in the last few years and appeared on plenty of other places in the pop culture world today. This is the "Rookie Card" for Jennifer Lopez who was a member of the Fly Girls dance troupe for this sketch comedy series. She does have other cardboard from more recent years -- including rarer certified autos -- but this one came long before those.
The Grade: BGS 8.5

Reality Check: This grade was a bummer as I just didn't see any flaws after I picked it up off COMC for around $1. It was the only one there and you won't find this release on eBay as easily as other non-sports releases of the era. It's printed on solid white stock and that helps. There are also appearances from Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jamie Foxx, Damon Wayans, Jim Carrey, Kim Wayans, David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson and some others who might be remembered in pop culture. There are other Fly Girls cards in this one and they also prominently feature in the sticker set here. This is the only copy of this card graded by BGS and I don't think PSA has slabbed any.

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The Card: 2018 Topps WWE Undisputed #50 Kairi Sane
The Reason Graded: Don't let the treasure-hunting pirate gimmick mislead you, this 30-year-old WWE newcomer who was just recently added to the Smackdown roster is a tiny savage of a fighter who is easily one of the smallest competitors in the ring and looks like she's the youngest of them all, too. I could watch this elbow drop gif all day. She's wrestled since 2012 in Japan (and has cards as Kairi Hojo from BBM) but this one made the cut here as one of a few of her cards that will be slabbed up from my stash as she's not got a lot of cards yet.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: Just five different cards from last year's WWE releases have been graded by BGS -- and all have landed as BGS 9.5s. The stock for Undisputed cards is sturdy -- I wish it was used more -- and every time I've slabbed from this brand I've had good results.

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The Card: 1988 Donruss #657 Gregg Jefferies RC
The Reason Bought: You ever have one of those memorable cards from the past that you either never landed or can't find from when you did and want one in top condition? This is one of those cards for me. I busted a factory set of this one a few years ago thinking it would be a great place to land a crisp one and it was -- just not centered well-enough for me to go the BGS route -- so I sprung for this one for the price of about one factory set back in the day or about three today.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: I might have paid a little too much for this (think blaster box) given the pop report -- I figured about the opposite of what we see for PSA 9s and 10s -- but it's not one of those cards you'll see all that often in top grade online. This is one of those scenarios where I didn't want to fight new packs or try bulk lots and then pick the best only to be disappointed when I graded. I ponied up to put it out of my system ... though the Score and Fleer Mini cards always tempt me. I wasn't a big fan of this guy back in the day or anything -- it was just a big card for a time.

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The Card: 1991-92 SkyBox USA Basketball Team Card
The Reason Bought: Yes, the centering on this one is definitely pushing it for my comfort level, but it being in the grade it's in pretty much indicates that the rest is perfectly fine. I'm a sucker for a couple of the Dream Team sets that first came out while the flood of everything after does nothing for me. Go figure. This won't be the last you see of this group in Making The Grade.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I paid about $15 for this one and that seemed a little lower than other options at the time. The high-gloss on this card and the stock used don't always get along and there's still demand for cards of this legendary squad. A PSA 10 typically sells for around $70 on eBay, while raw versions can cost around $5. (Asking prices can be quite higher than $70, too.) I wanted one slabbed but definitely not at the 10 price. The pop report also seems a little more what I'd expect for a card like this and there are quite a few lower than mine. Those can have higher asking prices than what I paid, too.

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The Card: 2017-18 Donruss Optic Red & Yellow #198 Jayson Tatum (RC parallel)
The Reason Graded: This isn't really a tough pull from Mega Boxes but the boxes with fresh ones will dry up at some point and perhaps could put a little more emphasis on the singles and graded market. I didn't think this one would grade all that well via BGS with its top-bottom centering but sent it in to PSA figuring it could do OK.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: I was right on this one, though I had figured PSA 9 was a possibility. It's not all that big of a deal as there are far more 10s out there than anything else -- something that happens a lot with heavily submitted cards. I knew this one was already popular and it appears to have blown up even more since when I submitted and when I got it back. I'm not as intensive of a graded NBA collector -- except maybe early 1980s Topps Hall of Famers -- but I figured he'd be a name to slab and put away. (You can probably find a few names in this parallel for a pretty good price already slabbed.)

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The Card: 2019 Topps Now AAF #4 Shaan Washington RC (/736)
The Reason Graded: This was The Moment for the league, which is already dead and buried in the history books without even making it to a postseason. The league folded just two weeks short of finishing its inaugural season and while this card was waiting to be graded. I picked up five copies of this Week 1 classic when it arrived because it truly is a perfect piece of sports photography from the very first game for the league. I knew instantly that I would need to get one graded simply because of that.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: You may not find this one in the pop report as it wasn't in the BGS system when I submitted it or when I checked back to see my grades before they arrived in person. This is the only copy graded so far -- I think -- and it might hold up as the only one graded for a while, though this is the best-selling Topps Now card for the league and the cards in pack form were selling very well before it all went poof.

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The Card: 2018 Panini Prizm Prizms #30 Hailie Deegan (RC parallel)
The Reason Graded: NASCAR's 17-year-old superstar-in-the-making had a number of cards sell very, very well last year when she arrived in a few sets as one of the NASCAR NEXT program drivers. She's not yet even on one of the top three circuits for the series, but she's outselling most of the big names from the past and present when it comes to cardboard. I managed to pull this silver Prizm parallel in one of my first two blasters along with a standard version. It's not her biggest card, but I figured they were worth a look in a slab.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I'm good with this grade as I had some fears about a spot of etching that might be an error in production could be deemed a flaw in grading. However, that same embossed spot away from her (to the right of her head on the card) appears on etching for both the standard card and the parallel so it can't be a printing flub. I submitted both so that could be seen and not result in a low grade had I only sent one. (That is a strategy if you submit cards -- a comparison card that can show consistency or make a card look good. I have a different card you'll see in a future MTG where I probably should have sent in two -- a spot in a photo could be seen as a spot of missing ink on a vintage card but it's on all of them. And I think it should have graded better than it did.) Deegan's presence in 2018 packs will make these boxes worth watching in the future and could result in some big pulls for modest box prices.

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