Making the Grade (May): One-of-a-kind cards, CSG & SGC, vintage appeal, NFL busts, HOF jerseys and ... a sample slab?

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 mix of buys/submissions over the last few months.

MY RAINBOW IS COMPLETE ... I THINK
The Card: Nick Swisher 2015 Panini Prizm USA Baseball Black Finite Prizms #6 (1/1)
The Reason Bought: So, Buzz hasn't gotten his hands on as much wax as normal out there in the retail wild these days -- I'm just not camping out at 5 a.m. -- so that's actually been a good thing for when rarer cards present themselves. One example is this 1/1 card that popped up slabbed recently and I grabbed it because I think it completes my rainbow (I'm not organized enough yet to know for sure but I'm 99-percent sure) and, more importantly, it's one of a few instances where I own game-used memorabilia seen on a card. That jersey? It's in my stash ... though he didn't play a lot that summer. (The No. 11 jersey was sold via Hunt Auctions in a bulk lot of USA stuff from several years in several groups long ago and I found it a few years after that.) Oddly enough, there's a decent chance that this card cost me around the same amount as the jersey ... actually, the jersey might have been cheaper.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It's the only card that's in existence so the pop report shows that and won't ever change. What I'm not sure of is whether any of the autographed cards for him on the checklist from this release were ever actually made -- or are they might all be out there in a box or two mis-packed. Not one has ever surfaced. (You never know.)

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

A SLABBING ODDITY ...
The Card: Sherman Williams 1995 Superior Pix Autographs #59 (NNO/3,500 ... should be numbered lower left)
The Reason Bought: So this recent pick-up cost me more than it should have ... because it's weird. Look closely. It's a sample card from BGS that was prepared to show off the components of their slab using a card of a second-rounder who was notable back in 1995 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys but perhaps not so much by 1999 when BGS launched. (Williams' story has had a lot of twists since ... read this.) I suspect this slab came from the collection of Dr. Jim Beckett who has let some of his stuff get out there in the last few years but I'm not totally sure. Or, this could have been from a scenario where they sent out some examples to people before BGS launched. (If that was the case, I'd think I would have seen some of them at some point.)
The Grade: BGS 9.5/10 (but ... it's a sample slab so who knows*)

Reality Check: I'll go out on a limb and say the slab grade also was simply a mock -- that top edge has a gouge in it -- but this is one of those times where it's not really about the card at all. (It's not much of an autograph, either.) The oddity of the slab is was why I grabbed this, though it doesn't hurt that it has a natural place (school ties) in my collection.

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SOMETHING NEWER
The Card: Tua Tagovailoa 2020 Panini Chronicles Draft Picks Absolute #3 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I grabbed this almost a year ago as the early draft stuff was starting to arrive and since, well, I didn't pull that much stuff for this iconic Crimson Tide player who I'd want to collect ... if I could find more wax. Since it's "only" a nine, the price wasn't bad and I said to myself "Why not?" While a lot of people scoff at draft picks cards once NFL stuff arrives, I'm more interested in the school colors here vs. Miami Dolphins stuff.
The Grade: SGC 9

Reality Check: The centering is the most "off" thing here and there are only three copies slabbed ... mine being the worst. Go figure. (I didn't check when I grabbed it.) It's not an expensive card but it was cheaper than it would have been to find and slab one myself.

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ANOTHER ODDITY ...
The Card: Juan Marichal 2002 Fleer Fall Classics October Legends Game Used #JMA
The Reason Bought: When's the last time you saw a graded memorabilia card? Sure, they exist, but I expect there are far fewer in slabs than you might expect -- and not that many with top grades (9-9.5-10). Why? They have to be handled more as they are made and that just lends them to having subtle amounts of damage more often than other card types ... especially if they are older cards as companies were still trying to figure out the best ways to make them. I grabbed this since it's a decent grade, a Hall of Famer and was like $12.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: It's the only one that exists. The year before this arrived, Marichal had only appeared on eight memorabilia cards and there are roughly a dozen others from this year. How many Marichal mems might be slabbed? Well, I'm not that dedicated to make a comprehensive deep dive, but only seven of his cards from 2001 -- seven total copies of four cards -- are slabbed and just 11 total mem cards are in BGS cases from 2002. That was perhaps since he didn't have a lot of memorabilia cards at that point ... and I'm not sure there would have been a boatload slabbed for him in the years since. Between all of those mem cards slabbed, there are no 10s and only five 9.5s. I'd imagine for the biggest Hall of Famers you'll see more slabs since there's more potential value. But other guys? Not so much ... so when they present themselves on the cheap I'd think about grabbing.

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SLIGHTLY COLORFUL
The Card: Ozzie Albies 2018 Topps Chrome Prism Refractors #72 -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: This $9 grab isn't as colorful as other Refractors in the rainbow ... but it's also not as expensive, either. Albies is one of the key young homegrown players on a team with some good potential, so that's why I grabbed this one for the price. No-subs aren't as popular for BGS cards, but this card generally looked clean enough to grab.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: Behold! The lowest-graded copy of this card ... no biggie for the price, plus I'm not sure I'd pay a premium for a 9.5 when most are checking in at that point. It's hard to pass on cheaper slabs with submissions going so slow and pricier than ever right now ... cards like this (at bargain prices) will dry up some as there's a realistic chance cheaper cards like this won't be graded as much, too. I also suspect that some high-volume cards might be coming back en masse once PSA stuff (and other backlogged grading companies) have cards start flowing again.

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ANOTHER CSG TESTING OF WATERS
The Card: Kurt Warner 1999 Leaf Rookies & Stars #288 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I pulled one of these back in a K-Mart blaster box (Huge pull ... at least back then.) when he was just getting going in his Hall of Fame career and had it on my "maybe grade" pile for a long time. It never made the final cut because the stock is soft and damage prone here ... and the colorful borders do nothing but showcase issues. (Mine? Perhaps not as clean as this when I compared them.) This one presented itself for about the price of a blaster and it was among my first two CSG grabs to see if I liked their style and standards. I do ... and I should have a bulk sub hopefully coming back sometime soon.
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: CSG doesn't have a pop report online yet -- but they say it's coming. (Hopefully before they have a larger presence here in this monthly series.) They do seem to be on the tougher side of the grading scale but I don't mind that ... as long as I agree. I scrutinize stuff pretty hard but my first bulk batch into them was one with simple cheaper and odd cards I like vs. stuff where I'm chasing 10s.

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THAT HAIR ... THAT GRADE
The Card: Oscar Gamble 1975 Topps Mini #213
The Reason Bought: This is a classic card with that 'fro and the Mini version of the 1975 Topps set has always had a soft spot for me ... I don't know why they just do. But what really got me here? A price for a slabbed card that was under $3 -- seriously -- along with it being a card that looks way better than that number.
The Grade: PSA 6

Reality Check: This is a card that does appear to grade pretty well based on those totals ... but this card also looks a lot better than a PSA 6. There are no pimple-like printing spots on those bold borders, no bad diamond cut or even awful centering ... and yet it's one of the lowest-graded copies out there if not the worst. It's probably a surface wrinkle somewhere in the old stock on the back based on my trying to figure it all out. I'll take l0w-grade vintage cards all day long if they look like this and are priced like that. You'll see more like this one in the future as I grabbed a small volume of cards from this set and others around this time.

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COLLECTING BUSTS
The Card: Ryan Leaf 1998 Bowman Chrome Interstate Refractors #10 -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: This Rookie Card parallel was likely a very big deal back when it was graded and Leaf was the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft out of Washington State behind only Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. But, well, it didn't work out ... but there are still a ton of his cards to be found in slabs. This card? Just $4 ... another reason I said yes.
The Grade: BGS 8.5

Reality Check: The best copies here check in at a BGS 9 -- nothing higher -- and that makes me feel a little better about this "junk slab" grab. The background shows Montana as that's where he's from and it's among a few of his cards with nods to that area or him in his high school uniform. Generally, 1998 Bowman and Bowman Chrome stuff can be found on the cheaper side of things as other brands just seem to command more money and it seems like they made plenty to go with the high demand of the rookie crop that was found here. Are there any parallels to today here? Maybe, though I think the pop report would be far higher if he was a 2020 or 2021 guy.

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THE LAST OF MY LOT HERE
The Cards: Earl McCullouch 1971 Topps Proof #127 & Fred Cox 1971 Topps Proof #96
The Reason Bought: If you're a regular reader, you've seen these in a few past editions of this series -- unique cards but filler cards ... I'll admit it. I landed both of these for less than $4.50 total despite them being blank-back proofs of vintage cards from the landmark 1989 Topps Archives auction ... a big event that included a lot more big stuff than just these simple pieces.
The Grades: BVG 4

Reality Check: These both check in at the lowest-graded copies of these cards ... no biggie. I think oddball stuff like this that's this old -- they are 50 years old -- is simply a lot more interesting than the regular cards from the set that have been slabbed. (And nothing better than a 7.5? Sheesh.) Rarer than these potentially one-of-a-kind cards would be somebody looking for them ... I'll admit that, too.

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A FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THEN
The Card: Austin Riley 2019 Topps Holiday #76 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Riley's arrival was a big one just a couple years ago, though now he's a guy with pop trying to figure out his spot ... no worries for me as this was a bargain buy. I liked this one as it's a tight simple crop on a simple photo -- but stronger than a lot of images you'll often see in flagship releases. This one felt right for a power guy and pretty good for a $9 grab. (Would I go higher for a 10? Probably not by much.)
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: Unlike a lot of newer cards, this one seems to check in with a more realistic pop report where the 10s aren't the dominators. Why? I suspect the hard, chippy stock here and the corners. I ripped a lot of flagship, Update and Holiday and have a lot of RCs from these sets that I wouldn't mind slabbed ... but the corners took beatings or at least had minor lifts that make 10s tougher. This one looked good ... it might be the vertical centering that got it that grade. However, being off-center in that way has never really bugged my eye that much.

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