Making the Grade (Oct.): Patrick Mahomes, Elway, Pistol Pete, The New Mutants, Jackie Robinson ... and one for the foodies?

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 ...

GRADING MORE GOATs
The Card: Patrick Mahomes 2017 Panini The Rooks #RO-PM
The Reason Graded: Just like I've mentioned in past months, I've made it a focus to get most -- if not all -- of my Mahomes rookie-year cards slabbed up since I actually had amassed a few from that year. (That was mostly because I was hitting the retail clearance bins pretty hard.) This one is an insert from the stone cold -- at least back then -- Panini NFL set that was a relatively simple release and had a hit in every box yet really sat everywhere for a long time. (Why? The border designs felt pretty heavy to me but for others it may have just been too low-end.) Not that long ago, I slabbed his basic RC from this so I figured I needed to get this one into a case, too.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: It was pretty clean just like last time as it earned one of the tougher grades from CSG. I figure once a pop report comes (sometime soon*) this should look like a pretty solid card. I don't see there being a large number of 10s coming with this paper stock and I figure a lot of these cards were probably graded in BGS or PSA slabs long before I got around to doing mine.

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

CHEW ON THIS!
The Card: Chicken & Waffle Cone 2017 Topps Opening Day Incredible Eats #IE-6
The Reason Graded: I love it when some people complain about how backed up grading companies are and solely place blame on people who send in cheap or cards that they see as un-important -- as if their tastes or their thoughts on what should be slabbed are the only ones that matter. For those people? Chew on this card. This insert set is easily one of the weirdest in an MLB release from any years and I examined all of mine looking for the perfect corners (those are the issues here if you ask me) along with a subject that I thought was the weirdest or more enticing. (I wasn't about to slab good ol' popcorn ... that's just not weird enough.)
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I've only received two 10s from CSG out of more than 110 subs and -- bam! -- this is one of them. To me, a unique card -- something you wouldn't expect to see in a slab -- with a high grade that's not a given feels like a scenario where a card could command a lot more interest than people might think. There will also be a lot less competition for bidders for something like this -- a low-pop card -- in comparison to, say, a popular RC from that same year that could have hundreds (if not thousands) of copies graded. (Those kinds of cards might be what the grading companies are chewing on right now ... and flooding your auction search results.)

-

LEGENDARY DUO
The Card: Pete Maravich, Stu Lantz & E.C. Coleman (N.O. Jazz team leaders) 1975-76 Topps #127
The Reason Bought: Oldschool leader cards -- in any sport -- can be a way to collect Hall of Famers on the cheap and in some cases that can mean more than one star per card ... and on others can be players' only card appearances. In this case, it's a two-on-one "Pistol Pete" appearance which has two different photos used to make it a little quirkier. This card presented itself at a modest price, so I grabbed it -- and it looks better than that grade if you ask me.
The Grade: BVG 7.5

Reality Check: This card looks pretty sharp for its grade and especially for its era. The centering is locked in. The edges look relatively clean and the corners do as well. Overall, this is a card that grades well -- that's a lot of 9s and even a 9.5 -- but even mine looks almost that good ... just some minor issues here and there.

-

IT'S BASE/FOOTBALL SEASON I
The Card: John Elway 2005 Topps Fan Favorites #15
The Reason Graded: It's baseball season and it's football season all at once and it's times like these where I will totally admit I dabble with both and in some cases revisit cards for stars from both sports in the same athletic career. This was submitted in a bulk deal awhile back, but now's the time to pull it out for here as it's base/football season. This one is a reminder that this member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame was drafted by the Yankees and did play minor league baseball for a year. He was a second-round pick and hit .318 after also playing at Stanford ... but, alas, he chose football.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: I always liked this one more than some of his other cards -- look up Just Minors Elway cards (eek) -- though he does have some others out there that aren't bad. I had a couple of these stashed (I ripped a lot chasing autos) and this one looked pretty good under my loupe, so I threw it in a subs stack and I was right. Like others here, I don't see there being a ton of 10s for this stock type, which has kind of a clay-coated feel with a white layer of coating atop more standard but white cardboard. Very chippy but not as bad as the glossed early 2000s Topps Archives cards.

-

A GOOD ONE
The Card: Wayne Gretzky 2016 Goodwin Champions Lumberjack Mini #2 (/8)
The Reason Bought: This one wasn't super-cheap -- around $25 -- but I thought that was a good price considering the low volume of cards made here for a card of The Great One. It's also got a pretty good likeness of him compared to some other years from this brand and I'm on the record a number of times saying I like minis ... so here we are.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: With so few graded seeing just one on the pop report wasn't all that surprising.

--

ABOUT THE HALL OF FAME
The Card: Effa Manley 2013 Panini Cooperstown Colgan's Chips Disks
The Reason Graded: This Hall of Famer was the first woman to join the Cooperstown ranks -- read more about her here -- in 2006 and her championship-winning Negro League franchise included Hall of Famers Ray Dandridge, Leon Day, Larry Doby, Monte Irvin, Biz Mackey, Mule Suttles and Willie Wells. She doesn't have a lot of card appearances but this is one of three from this brand. The other two (first Cooperstown set -- one insert, one base) show her Hall plaque and can have corner issues easily due to stock type and/or finish/color of the cards ... so I went with this more-unique insert from the second release from Panini America.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: There is one problem spot you can see here -- a spot on the right side where I'm pretty sure all cards (or almost all) will have that because of how these cards are cut from the sheets. (I think they are punched out and that's where a piece slightly holds them into the sheet until that time -- kind of like a perforated card.) Both of my copies had that, so I sent the one that had things a smidge cleaner than the other. I would have preferred a higher grade, too, but these are paper-stock cards and the backs can have fiber issues, too. If I could find clean copies of her other inserts, I'd slab 'em all just to have a unique run encased. She does have other small-set and oddball releases but I'd start here.

--

YOU KNOW I GRAB BO
The Card: Bo Bichette & Anthony Kay 2020 Topps Heritage #52 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: This was a dirt-cheap $9 grab -- and I have a few Bichette RCs like this -- and it's one of those cards where I have a few because those prices are nice, especially for a set that can be problematic with all that black ink when it comes to grading. Bichette is pushing 30-30 as the season winds down as I type this and, well, I think I'm collecting him (not rich enough to do it in full) via cheap slabs and other cards I like. You'll see him here and in Buzz Buys a ton in the coming months.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: The pop report looks sorta closer to what should be normal for a card -- 10s are not the most-plentiful mark -- but that also still feels like they were too easy at times with these. They should be tougher 10s even with the current printing, cutting and packaging.

--

MIXED SIGNALS
The Card: Nick Swisher 2014 Topps Triple Threads Sapphire Unity Relics #UJRNS (/3)
The Reason Bought: I got this in a small collection that I picked up awhile back, and I think I actually missed on it long ago when it hit eBay -- I know I have seen that road Yankees patch on this Indians card long ago. (It's a W from "NEW YORK" on a road jersey.) Whoever owned this one before me probably slabbed it because it was rarer -- slabbing mem cards isn't easy as they just get handled more being made -- but that move didn't pay off that well grade-wise.
The Grade: BGS 8.5

Reality Check: An 8.5 is decent here with corners and edges being the low marks -- likely on the back other than maybe those slightly light bottom-front corners -- and seeing one in the pop report isn't all that surprising since two others are all that exist.

--

THIS MONTH'S BOOK
The Card: The New Mutants #93
The Reason Bought: My brief original foray into collecting comics was from just after the time this one arrived -- September 1990 -- and as more of an art collector than a reader of books the works from Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane always got my attention. This series was at its end -- the final issue, No. 100 -- when I was just getting started and then Cable was the key player in a new series called X-Force not long after ... I have plenty of those to show for it. I've been meaning to add a book here each month and for about $40 (that might be high) I grabbed this one.
The Grade: CGC 9.2 (Universal)

Reality Check: Learning how comics are graded is a lot more complicated than cards -- still subjective, too -- but the best way to see what might be allowed is to see slabs in hand. I didn't mind going lower-grade for stuff from this timeframe if I like it. I know I likely wouldn't pay a ton more here, though, either as I don't need to own it ... I just like having it. (Hopefully I'll see the first of my submitted books late this year or early next year ... and maybe I'll do a couple each month once that happens.) I always liked how Wolverine looked here with both characters' proportions well in-check unlike some of the covers to come after this where some characters can look like Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons in comparison to others.

--

IT'S BASE/FOOTBALL SEASON II
The Card: Jackie Robinson 2009 Topps Magic #TMJR
The Reason Graded: Remember that Elway? This one is right there but the other way around -- and it's a tougher find as this is not a base card but rather an insert in a past Topps Magic college football set. Robinson, a Baseball Hall of Famer and social sports pioneer, was a multi-sport star for the UCLA Bruins and was a letterman for the basketball, football, track & field and, of course, baseball teams. (His time there was short but he did win an NCAA title in the long jump.) Robinson doesn't have a ton of football cards and I'd argue this was his first from a major-manufacturer release. (A 1984 Pacific college set had him before this.) 
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: This card isn't super-pricey -- the set isn't that popular and the stock is pretty rough at times -- but as a high-grade card this one is pretty cool and the prices show it if slabbed. I had two of these and this was the better of them centering-wise (a common issue with the card I think) but it does have a minor spot on the top border that I suspect might have nixed my 9.5 dreams. This is the kind of card I might slab or grab again ... I think it's a classic.

--

ABOUT THE HALL II
The Card: Derek Jeter 2003 Bowman Chrome #2
The Reason Graded: Basic in-career Chrome, flagship and Heritage cards of Hall of Famers are ones that should be given consideration if you ask me as high-grade copies of said cards can sell for a lot more than you might think as they are simple ways to collect graded-card runs. It's something I should have done long ago but that ship sailed as I wasn't really a slabber until recent years. This one? Well, it looked really good to be other than maybe the etching slightly showing through on the back ... but maybe I was wrong.
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: The grade surprised me a lot here as it's well-centered (the photo angle might make it look like it's not) and everything seemed very clean on the front, so maybe I missed something ... or that etching showing on the back is the issue. In cases like this it's where I'd want to see sub-grades. I'll probably stick to slabbing other players or brands -- or maybe non-Chromes -- from this time-frame after this fail on my part.

--

IT'S THAT SEASON
The Card: Jerry Jeudy 2020 Score #427 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: This was a cheap grab where I landed a tougher grade on a paper-stock card for less than what it would have cost me to grade one. I probably wouldn't grade Score as other cards are better, but this photo is clean and tightly cropped and it's a good look for a design that can look too heavy or clunky if its photos aren't perfect. This also fits my school ties part of my stash and it is football season ... so that's one more reason why it's right here, right now.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: The centering here looks a little off left-right for a 9.5 but if everything else is clean -- I didn't loupe it -- I could see it still getting that mark. Had I sent it in, the centering might have nixed my ideas in favor of something safer.

--

RING 'EM UP!
The Card: Kerry Wood 1998 Williamsport Cubs Team Issue Phone Card #1
The Reason Bought: Remember when phone cards were a thing? (You had credit on them to make calls from anywhere before cell phones were a thing.) If you don't remember, don't worry ... live in the now. But for $7 I landed this graded oddity from a MiLB dealer and I didn't know they existed and I thought it was weird enough to show here. (Who grades phone cards?) This card also has a regular cardboard counterpart I could have grabbed, too, but passed in favor of a more memorable Wood card you may have seen here last time.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: So ... how did corners not get a 10 when there are no corners? Surface clearly dragged this one down -- and all of the cards graded are the same mark (oddly) so I'll not worry about it. It's always good to have some weird, funky cheap slabs in your stash ... you never know what might spark interest later. I'm ready for the surge on 1990s MiLB phone card slabs.

--

HE'S BACK ...
The Card: C.M. Punk 2017 Topps Chrome UFC Red Refractor Fighter Autographs #FACP (/5)
The Reason Bought: He's back in a wrestling ring now and that got me looking at his autographed cards out there recently and that's where I found this -- a card that was probably a big deal until it wasn't (when it was graded). I grabbed it for a price a little too high for my comfort to mention due to the volume -- just five Red cards signed -- and it looks really good on the front as far as I can tell. Many autos from the time where he signed for WWE releases were stickers and if I had him in my stash there's a 99.9 percent chance it's that. I wasn't 99.9 percent sure I had him on a card ... but I do now.
The Grade: BGS 8 (9 auto)

Reality Check: Yes, the grade here is a bummer -- it's got to be some type of back scuffing but I couldn't figure it out in the slab and sleeve. With so few cards made, though, and it being on-card ink I was OK. His UFC stuff likely won't ever be the most-popular option (or made again given how it's not a career highlight for him) but the oddity of it all -- he only had two matches in the Octagon -- might make the ink from this time stand out. The upcoming AEW set where he's likely to be found with ink will likely have mostly sticker sigs based on early info, too. Meanwhile, he's also the only wrestler where I have actually have had people complain to me about him not signing or being especially surly about it ... so I'm not sure we'll see boatloads of stuff to come or a lot of signing sessions. (My gut feeling is if he doesn't like hounds he probably won't like signing elsewhere without a big payday.) Most wrestlers are easy autos ... but not all.

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com.