Making the Grade (Sept.): Rookie Cards, some iconic comics, Prizm pulls, young stars' ink, both Bo's & more in a big edition

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 ... and it might be the biggest edition ever.

BIG SEASON AHEAD?
The Card: Josh Allen 2018 Donruss Optic #154 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I pulled a pair of these from a number of rips -- probably deep in the archives here if you poke around -- but I never slabbed any of them back then, instead grading guys like Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and maybe a Nick Chubb. Meanwhile, it turns out this guy might be The One over the long term from this rookie class. After this past season's successes and close finish at the end, I figured it was time to grade a pair of these and I'm still working through some of my past pulls to see if I need to grade more for this franchise QB.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I was happy with this one (and I'll drop my other one here at some point later this season) as Optic stock can be hit and miss, particularly on the backs. Sometimes it's dents and wrinkles or minor dents but this one was clean. It looks like these do grade pretty well with nearly half of them getting this mark. An interesting comparison to make here? PSA has graded more than 2,500 of these with more than half being 10s, while BGS has graded only 160 and SGC has slabbed 320.

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

BIG PRESSING RESULTS
The Book: The Uncanny X-Men #266 -- first appearance of Gambit
The Reason Graded: This is an iconic and pricey comic from just before I regularly got into books via a shop and newsstand visits. Why? It's the debut of a relatively popular X-Men character named Gambit who has had a few movie appearances and a rumored standalone film in development for years with Channing Tatum in the role. This book? I didn't ever track it down and pay a premium ... it's a book I found inside one of those cheap retail repacks made years ago where somebody shrink-wraps a few books to a cardboard hanger and sells them for a couple bucks. This one was an odd find even back then as this was a pricey book at the time -- but my find in the toy section of an old Pamida store (some of you may know that name) was so weird that I had to buy it. Even weirder? The wrapping was partly torn open but despite that this was showing on the back and still clean. (Maybe that's why it stuck around or why somebody returned it?)
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: This book wasn't without its condition issues but it looked like stuff that could press out via CGC and after the fees and a long wait I got this one back just recently. Definitely an improvement but not the elite couple grades that could turn this into a $1,000-plus book ... even with big volumes on that pop report. Recent high sales in my grade are around $260, which still isn't bad for a fluke Pamida find. Long-term, this book still feels like a good hold as that movie, while shelved now, could happen as the character is a unique one and not yet overdone in movies like other X-Men.

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BIG INK ... BIG GRADE
The Card: Juan Soto 2019 Topps Big League Autographs #BLA-JSO
The Reason Graded: This card is one that I marveled at quite a bit after pulling it as it looked absolutely flawless -- the kind of card I'd think could be a Perfect 10 contender here or a black-label slab elsewhere. In fact, I pondered doing subgrades on this sub but for whatever reason I didn't. Sure, it's a sticker auto, but it's all so well-designed that I dig this one hard with its wood-bordered design that feels like a modern take on what a 1987 Topps auto might look like. Either way, it's ink from a top MLB star and, at this point, a future Hall of Famer.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10 in new scale/case)

Reality Check: I didn't get the perfect mark I had hoped for ... but I did get a 10 if I were convert it into a new slab. I'm good.

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BIG ROOKIE
The Card: Julio Rodriguez 2021 Bowman's Best #49 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I didn't clean my dust off the slabs well here (and some of other cards this month, too, my apologies) but this is still a biggie as this is, by definition, a Rookie Card of one of this year's top players who just got a monster contract. I grabbed this and a couple more copies that you'll see pop up here at some point after the season. I'm not totally sold on this card -- I would have liked to grab a slabbed parallel -- but the price was right and, well, he's the top guy in the American League right now even with his recent injury. His RC logo cards are, for the most part, still to come this year.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: These tend to grade well with more than half checking in at a Gem Mint 10 (this one is a 10 if I convert it). Did I pay too much? Probably not even with the ratio of 10s.

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BIG-ARMED ROOKIE
The Card: Spencer Strider 2020 Bowman Chrome Draft Sapphire Edition #BD-20 -- First Bowman Card
The Reason Bought: I picked this up earlier this season for less than a blaster box -- actually less than some jumbo retail packs these days -- since I'm fine with nines and this is from the premium Sapphire parallel release for Bowman Draft that I'll not be ripping into due to its cost. Strider has come out of nowhere and been a big strikeout machine for the defending World Series champs this year. With his RCs in 2022 sets for the most part in basic releases, I didn't see much premium stuff in a slab at the time I was looking so that's why I went this direction.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Behold! It's the lowest-graded copy on the pop report ... not a big deal as I just wanted to have something early for him in my stash of slabs. (I didn't check stats at the time.)

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BIG RETURN & BIG GRADE
The Card: Io Shirai 2020 Topps WWE NXT Silver Roster Autographs #A-IO (/25)
The Reason Graded: I pulled this parallel auto earlier this year and since it's from a set I like and a rarer version for a popular Japanese star, I felt like I needed to slab. The stock on these cards is super-duper thin, so anything in a good grade isn't easy -- especially on parallels. Ultimately, I think I'll be grading a lot of my parallel autos and key-name ink here over time. I dig 'em and you probably know that if your'e a regular reader ... I've opened a ton of this one.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I didn't expect this to land a 10 -- they're not easy -- so this was a nice surprise. The design has a lot of small details in the line work that might make one think they have a card with issues but clean cards can happen. This is proof on that front.

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BIG BOOK (TO ME) ... TWICE
The Books: Excalibur #1
The Reason Graded: This book was a favorite of mine back in the day when I was a regular collector of books starting about halfway into this title's run. (It was in the 30s when I started and I worked my way back to No. 1 and then all the way, slowly, until its finale at issue No. 125 but not with regular attention.) All these years later, I couldn't decide which copy to send in -- one is my original copy I bought back in 1991 at Splash Page in Billings, Mont., for $15 (I never paid that much for a book ... so I remember) and one I bought from Mile High Comics in more recent years as part of a cheap bulk lot of these. That one was far less than $15 and it was the cleanest of a lot.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: Pretty much perfect results here and I dig them both. None have graded higher, though most do check in here. Actual sales have been between $80 and $140 a pop here recently but I slabbed them as it's a favorite. There's been some chatter in recent years that some kind of movie might be coming for this team or one of its main characters (Captain Britain) so that may have people buying here and there.

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BIG ROLE
The Card: Heath Ledger ("The Joker's Philosophy") -- 2019 Cryptozoic CZX Super Heroes & Super-Villains #46
The Reason Graded: Unless there are some newer card sets I haven't seen (which is possible for non-sports), I think this is still the only Heath Ledger card from his iconic role as The Joker. This one comes from the premium and hits-driven CZX brand that uses some really nice thick stock but is a little soft with very high-gloss, which is not always a good grading combo. (There is a sticker set that was made for The Dark Knight and sold at San Diego Comic Con that has a few appearances for him ... but that's not cardboard and I have seen some rough, rough slab returns on those.)
The Grade: SGC 9

Reality Check: I went with SGC here since they were the only fast and cheap option for non-sports grading at that moment (less than a month) and I had one of these as a single card and then one from a set I bought. Why didn't this check in higher? I'm not sure but the kind of gloss it uses could be problematic. No worries ... I just wanted one of these in a slab -- and it's the only one that exists at the moment from this grading company.

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BIG POTENTIAL
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2022 Panini Prizm WWE Red Prizm #104 -- Rookie Card parallel (/299)
The Reason Bought: This rookie is one of the key names in Prizm if you ask me, and she had zero cards of any kind before this release as she was signed to WWE just a year ago. An interesting twist? Since Prizm was so deep, this also remains her only card (base and its parallels) so far -- she wasn't in Revolution or even in the new Select set at all. The full rainbow for this Prizm set has been out there and sold in SGC slabs (the 1/1 went for something like $1,700) but with centering on many of them that I just didn't like. I was patient, though, and found this card for less than what people were paying for a hobby pack of this product. The centering on this one? Perfect and that spoke to me, though I think there's one other parallel color I might prefer more if it presents itself.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: This is the only copy of this one graded and is one of only five parallel types to go through PSA so far (nine cards total) which is surprisingly low considering there are already nearly 1,700 slabbed cards via PSA for this release. I guess the big-money fast-slabbing went to the legendary names and the rarer stuff.

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BIG D'S STAR
The Card: Dak Prescott 2016 Donruss Optic #162 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I pulled a few of his RCs in a number of 2016 releases and this one jumped out at me in my stash being very clean and free of any specs that can sometimes be found on the plastic stuff and issues that can occur in their cardboard backs. I had a couple of rarer parallels that I slabbed long ago but I had a few of these and Donruss cards to the point I wasn't worried about grading them ... but he's got the contract now in Dallas to assure fans there that he should be sticking around. That move got me to slab a couple last year and I've had this sitting in reserve after its return to pop up here during football season. The season is here.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: I was a little surprised to see this card had so many graded but that's a sign that it's a popular one for people to slab and perhaps flip. Delays with grading companies last year meant new PSA and BGS slabs weren't coming without a premium price for a card and, well, this one is not that expensive to justify that cost. This might be one reason why there is some volume here.

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BIG COMEBACK ...
The Cards: Karrion Kross & Scarlett 2020 Topps Finest WWE #84 & #92 -- Rookie Cards
The Reason Graded: These two were surprise cuts from WWE late last year and I picked up these last summer for the heck of it as they were affordable slabs. I had them just languishing around as, well, I wasn't sure what I'd say about them as their time in WWE had come to an end. Fast forward to last month and ... they're back so here they are.
The Grade: CSG 9

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Reality Check: I'm fine with nines but I'm also fine with nines when they are about $9 apiece ... and that's a big reason why I bit. You can't grade anything that low now. Interestingly, nothing has graded higher and this is her only slabbed copy of this card.

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BIG CAMEO
The Book: Blue Beetle #3 -- first appearance of new Peacemaker
The Reason Graded: Poke around in the Buzz Breaks section and you'll see this comic in a past break of bargain-priced books where Mile High Comics was literally selling stuff by the pound. I bought one on a whim and admittedly didn't know a thing about this book until I started doing some searches. It's the first appearance of the new Peacemaker, which is the character John Cena played in Suicide Squad and its spin-off TV series showcasing him and his unusual character. When I was going back through my boxes from the past I re-discovered this book (I wasn't grading comics back then) and noticed it looked very clean.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: I was right and the prices for high-grade copies here are decent enough it was worth the sub. Is it the flashiest cover? Not to me -- I'm more of a Marvel guy and I don't see Peacemaker here unless that's him in the silhouetted character in some different gear or something. I'm putting this in my Peacemaker stack ... though there's reportedly a Blue Beetle movie on the way, too. Stuff like this is why I dabble with bargain boxes and mystery boxes from time to time ... and interestingly it's not the only book I landed in the Mile High stuff that I've graded with top results.

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BIG TRADE ...
The Card: Juan Soto 2018 Topps Heritage High Number #502 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I ripped tons of Heritage back in this year -- both releases -- and have a number of copies for all of the key guys but the kind of stock along with the printing and packing make this one a frustrating release to sub cards from. Why? Well, if you can beat the odds and get one that's nailed the centering there will seemingly always be one corner -- typically one of the bottom ones -- that looks like a peeling onion under a loupe. This one looked good and I subbed it quite a while back -- it may have been in one of my earliest subs last year. With his headline-making trade, I figured now's the time to pop it up here.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: This was a nice surprise when I received it -- I thought it was good but you never know with paper-stock releases like this. Only a couple of my dozen or so copies looked like they might be worthy of a slab, so I may need to go back and check the rest for him, Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. again. Seeing most check in at a nine makes sense -- I think that would be the default with the corners I've seen as long as everything else is clean.

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BIG FAN
The Card: Bo Bichette & Anthony Kay 2020 Topps Heritage #52 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I own this card in a slab a few times over as they're bargain buys and Bichette is a favorite of mine. The black stock here is a challenging one for subbing -- I'll let somebody else take that chance -- but this one was a surprise on both the cost and grade front from a historically tougher grader.
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: I was surprised a few times by the stats here with such a low total but also a big number of those checking in at 9.5. Neither makes sense but I guess grading these at all -- again, not easy -- probably explains part of the overall volume.

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BIG BUST
The Card: Trent Richardson 2012 Donruss Elite Turn of the Century Autographs #106 (/99) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: He's a bust but he's a bust who was a star for my school, so when I found this on the serious cheap and also as a 9.5 I grabbed it without hesitation. The cost? About $7 ... the economics of grading these days should cut down on the "miss" players being graded but there are plenty of slabs to check out from the years where grading cards weren't pricey.
The Grade: BGS 9.5/10

Reality Check: The overall volume seemed low here but with most being 9.5s, well, that seemed odd. It is what it is -- and I'm sure there won't be more copies of this one graded any time soon.

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BIG DEAL
The Card: Bryce Young 2021 Bowman Next #11 -- Pre-rookie card
The Reason Bought: I picked this up as I didn't really dabble with any of his NIL stuff last year -- but now that there's a lot more out there for the Heisman Trophy winner I will be looking. This isn't his best Bowman Next (Topps Now-ish) card but it was the one that presented itself first with a decent price for a good grade.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: The volume here is pretty good for an online-first kind of card, especially when it's not his first, and the overall pop seems a little more realistic than one where half or more check in at the top mark. Odds are you'll see more here for him in this series this fall, though right now this is my only slab for him. I'll be looking.

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BIG HAIR (BUT NOT HERE)
The Card: Tim Lincecum 2006 Grandstand Salem-Keizer Volcanoes -- first-year MiLB card
The Reason Graded: What, you don't recognize him? Well, that's because this is the first card for "The Freak" with his first team as a pro out of the University of Washington. He simply hadn't had time to grow out that hair yet. He only pitched two games for the Volcanoes -- 10 Ks in four scoreless innings with just one hit -- before heading to San Jose that same year for six more. He was in The Show the following year. 
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: He had a lot of 2006 prospect stuff with MiLB and prospect releases but this one coming from a team set was different enough to say, "Why not?" and slab it. I don't really have any real need for his pricier MLB prospect cards or RCs, but the novelty of this one from his first team works for me ... especially with a top grade. 

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BIG CHANGES SINCE THEN
The Card: Mandy Rose 2016 Topps Heritage WWE #47 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I have pulled a number of these cards and even bought some small lots with an eye for grading for this RC from a brand I really like ... but all that white on the sometimes-rough Heritage stock had me saying "nope" on a lot of my copies from a grading standpoint. I do think I subbed one way back via PSA and landed a 10 ... but I still had an eye on more of this card. So, that said, when this one popped up I grabbed it. Why? I think even nines could be challenging on this card. 
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I was surprised to see so many graded here -- and even more surprised to see two getting 10s. Maybe I need to do back though mine and see if any that have slightly off-center results are clean otherwise.

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BIG BUMMER
The Card: Bo Jackson 1987 Fleer #369 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I don't let cardboard make me mad -- I leave that to a lot of people out on Twitter -- but this one did bum me out as, well, I thought it was a really strong copy. This card is an iconic one -- especially if you collected back then. (Or is it mostly if you collected back then?) Anyway, the centering is perfect here, the corners are close and there are no white dots anywhere in all that blue. I'm not sure if I pulled this from a pack or found it in a set I bought, but it looked tight (for 1987's standards) and I thought I had a contender. 
The Grade: CSG 8

Reality Check: There's one minor spot on the right edge that is not perfectly smooth and now that I see it in a case there are super-minor specs on a couple corners but this one's mark still burned ... though the back edges here are always issues. Maybe I lost it there. Looking at the pop report, this one is a tough grade -- and they have slabbed quite a few and a ton just last month where the top part of the pop report didn't change one bit. I have a second one I was pondering but I thought this copy was the better of the duo.

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BIG FAREWELL
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 2009 Topps Target Throwback (parallel) #30
The Reason Graded: This is one I have always liked -- first, it feels so much like a retirement card, but he actually finished up with the Mariners. Second, it's one of a relatively low number of base cards showing him during his brief time with the White Sox vs. other teams. His move back to the Mariners after only 41 games here meant card companies shifted back to Seattle stuff quickly. Atop all that, this is the Target-only Throwback parallel that has high gloss on rougher retro stock and the vintage logo foil stamp -- these just feel like a more challenging card to kind in high-grade form. That stock is chippy.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: I thought this one looked good enough to grade -- though I was grading it no matter what -- and it turns out that I was right. This one was a fun surprise in my returns.

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BIG FAVORITE
The Card: Jonathan Taylor 2020 Panini Prizm Orange Lazer #332 -- Rookie Card parallel 
The Reason Graded: My Burrow from this same set (seen here last month) and this card are really my only notable pulls from this release -- but I'm fine with that as it's my favorite kind of Prizm parallel. With him having some absolutely dominant showings, I figured I was past due slabbing this one. 
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: Unlike the Burrow bummer (an 8.5), this felt like a big win. With football season here, this guy's stuff should get more attention.

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BIG RETURN II
The Card: Bayley 2018 Topps WWE Then Now Forever (Series 2) Silver Autographs #107 (/25)
The Reason Graded: I have slabbed a number of the autos from this one that I have pulled and this iconic but off-radar (lately) star was one of them ... on one of the rarer colors. These are sticker autos but I'm fine with that as I like the photography used in this one and the design has its nice spots. (Some things don't always work like the odd shield shape in the Silver color here that's not covered by her as well as it is on other cards ... but I'm used to it by this point.) With her surprise return sparking some interesting storyline changes, I figured now was the time to have her make a comeback here.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: This looked clean and that's not easy with the skinny stock used ... but I'll take a 10 every time.

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BIG DEAL
The Card: Toni Storm 2019 Topps WWE NXT Roster Autographs #A-TS
The Reason Graded: I'm a big fan here and for some time this was her only place to find a certified auto. I ripped a bunch of this one and only pulled a parallel auto that I remember. I think this was a pick-up as it looked very clean -- and clean cards are not easy at all here with that black ink, skinny stock and on-card autos. 
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: This was a bummer and still is -- there are no white spots that are issues on that front -- but I sent this in knowing the stock is going to be a challenge every time. (I was targeting a nine.) She's not in WWE any more but she's still on the radar big-time with AEW and could be a title-holder as soon as Sunday. I have slowed on buying but I need to be looking back at some of what I have on hand and might be slabbing more. She's had a lengthy career already but is only 26, too. She's got another decade in the ring potentially if she wants it with plenty of time to do more. She has international cardboard (including certified autos) before this ... but this was her first for WWE.

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BIG DEPARTURE
The Card: Vince McMahon (with Bob Orton & Roddy Piper) 1985 O-Pee-Chee WWF #62 -- "Rookie Card"
The Reason Bought: Quick, what's Vince McMahon's Rookie Card? Before his legacy-altering surprise retirement, the brains behind WWE was easily one of the biggest deals for autographed WWE cards (he only has a few) and demand there wasn't really questioned. But when it comes to card appearances that would be "firsts" and contenders for the traditional RC tag? Well, this and three other somewhat obscure cards in this set would be the candidates as they are among firsts ... though they are not "his" card. This admittedly hokey subset in the second series of 1985 O-Pee-Chee wrestling cards (there wasn't even a Series 2 for the Topps version) show McMahon in his role as the host/announcer on Tuesday Night Titans. That show aired matches and then had other segments to add to the storylines. This one shows McMahon with "Cowboy" Bob Orton and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper talking with a doctor about his broken wrist that just never seemed to heal. 
The Grade: CSG 7.5

Reality Check: The O-Pee-Chee stock is quite iffy in many ways -- rough cuts, crooked cuts and surface issues -- and then there's centering. I had one of the cards among the five here -- one with Hulk Hogan that's arguably the best of them -- in my maybe-grade pile for some time (and I still might as it's Hogan) but this presented itself relatively cheap and I bit. It was only a few bucks more than the cost of grading. The wavy gravy that is the right side of the corner above didn't help this but it still looks better than a 7.5 ... and that nine may end up being an anomaly as more of these get graded. (The production quality on this set is rough.)

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BIG MOVE
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 2008 Topps Heritage #50
The Reason Graded: I went back through a lot of my star base cards from the last 20 years of Heritage and this one jumped out at me looking quite clean other than some slight off-center results left-to-right. It definitely could have been worse for a card from a release with very narrow borders. I have his first Heritage base card in a PSA 10 earlier in the MTG series here and this is his final Reds Heritage card ... not sure I even pulled a few of the cards in between. A nice slab run of his base Heritage cards would be a simple project to buy or slab. 
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: I didn't expect a 10 with the centering here but I got it. Everything else looked pretty clean and that's not that easy with Heritage. I ran into a lot of surface issues and even dented (like from roller marks or card holders during packaging) with stuff from around this time. Griffey, Derek Jeter and maybe Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire might get me to look and ponder slabs in this timeframe. Prices on some of their base cards might surprise you here and there ... even raw. I've seen some Griffeys have $30 asking prices in recent searches but didn't dive deeper on that to see if there were many above or below.

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BIG FAVORITE
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps Finest #27 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: For a brief time, I pondered chasing all of Bichette's RCs in general and for an even shorter time I pondered chasing them all in slabs ... but I figured since there's so much getting graded I'd wait. (And I am.) This pick-up was on the cheaper side of things and I don't mind the look and feel of this one ... do wish there was some bat shown as this is kind of an awkward crop. The follow-through and the crop is fine and relatively tight, though, and it's a card that looks good in parallels. 
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: This volume graded was a little bit of a surprise but the ratio of non-10s vs. 10s feels about right. I think cost here was the main reason I bit.

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BIG TEAM
The Card: Michael Jordan, Steve Kerr & Ron Harper 1996-97 Collector's Choice Chicago Bulls Gold Mini Cards #B1
The Reason Graded: I have had this tucked away in an album for years -- literally since then -- as that season was my last for serious heavy NBA ripping beyond maybe the Kobe-Iverson and Zion-Ja years. This was an insert in a small team set if I remember correctly -- it's not like the other cards that look like these and were retail inserts. (Those were on tops of packs and one could easily just buy the pack with your star or the foil ones and be good. I held this one since I got it later and, well, everybody else got the Jordans in the other packs, not me.)
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Other than some left-right centering, I liked the looks here and slabbed it since you can see from all the past results I don't do NBA as heavily. (I just never pulled much big stuff back then beyond some basic key RCs.) This one has been graded quite a bit but clearly isn't an easy slab with just one card topping this one out of more than a dozen entombed. In fact, most check in below mine ... so a nine here doesn't seem so bad.

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BIG BUMMER ...
The Card: Walker Buehler 2018 Topps Gold #177 -- Rookie Card parallel 
The Reason Graded: I think I landed this one in a break long, long ago as I graded it actually long, long ago. Why? He's had a pair of strong seasons in recent years and had a World Series ring to go with it as part of a strong team that should be annual contenders. Why is this one batting last? Well, he's hurt and will be out next year after Tommy John Surgery. (I'm burying my bummer.)
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I'm the only one to slab this one and it's not a gimme as that thin stock can be messed up so easily. I always liked the simplicity of this photo and a Gold version I figured might be a nice simple slab to have down the line. He's 27 this season so should still have plenty of game time in his future assuming all goes well. He might be a good player to stash on the cheap.

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