Making the Grade (April): Shohei Ohtani, Kurt Cobain, 50 Cent, Arnold Palmer, Oba Femi, Hannah Montana, Shotzi ink & more

Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading ... so here's this month's grading diary.

PERFECTION ON THE DIAMOND
The Card: Shohei Ohtani 2018 Topps Big League -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: One might argue that because this is Ohtani’s most low-end RC that it might not mean as much -- but that’s mostly just because of what the packs cost back in the day. How about now? How easy is it to find Big League packs vs. all of the other options that have his RCs inside? (I didn’t look ... that’s a question for you.) I'd suspect there are a boatload more flagship options to be found (at higher prices now) and a lot more of those cards slabbed vs. these. Why? While Big League was cheaper, I'd think there probably wasn’t as much made considering all of the packaging versions for flagship releases back then compared to this. That was a thought as to why I finally slabbed this one, especially when it looked pretty good.
The Grade: CGC 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: There’s a reason this global icon leads off this month. This one checks in as just one of four in that top mark. Just 7.6 percent of those graded have landed this mark ... while a heavy majority does check in at a standard 10. Sure, these are all pop numbers that could change at any time with more subs ... but I’d think that other RCs probably will get graded more than this one.

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

HIS CARDBOARD DEBUT
The Card: Oba Femi 2024 Panini Instant WWE (/71) -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: This year, his Wrestlemania debut will come against Brock Lesnar and it looks like things may not be what many expect at that showcase event if they are just casually tuning in and not watching each week. The Beast and former UFC champ will meet The Ruler and if their first meeting is any indicator (or any of their moments since) then, well, it could be interesting and this could be a serious passing of the torch. Rewind back to the spring of 2024 and this was Femi’s first appearance on a wrestling card after an NXT title defense and I picked him off because he has school ties for me -- he’s a former Alabama Crimson Tide and SEC shot-put champ -- and I had a feeling that I’d regret it later if I passed. Why? I figured the ordering volume would be low ... and I was right. Just 70 other copies of this card exist. He’s gotten the push because he has all of the skills -- and we should see them at the biggest event of the year against one of the biggest mainstream names that WWE has.
The Grade: CGC 9.5

Reality Check: I was fine with a 9.5 here as Instant stock isn’t all that friendly for grading at times. Sure, this one isn’t one of the rare parallel colors but it’s still going to be hard to find in any fashion -- and now’s the time people would be looking to collect ‘em all.

--

COLLECTED THEM ALL ...
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2021 Topps WWE Undisputed Schamberger Illustration Star Autos (/10)
The Reason Graded: There are two autographed versions here -- one signed by the artist and one signed by the wrestler -- and both are limited to only 10 serial-numbered copies. The lone difference between them is a single line on the back and, ironically, Topps botched both. The cards labeled wrestler auto carry the artist’s auto, while the artist cards carry the wrestler’s auto. I now have both slabbed and this one is duplicated* in the pop report as both of my slabs say Star auto. (They caught Topps’ mistake this time but not on my other slab. It, too, says Star auto. I note the correct number below.)
The Grade: CGC 9.5 (10 auto)

Reality Check: Ultimately the label only matters on the pop report ... so I’ll survive. I just wanted all my cards slabbed. I still have a Topps Vault card to slab, too.

--

THE ANNIVERSARY GIRL
The Card: Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana (“Part-time Pop Star") -- 2008 Topps Hannah Montana Pop-Star Quiz promo card
The Reason Graded: I knew this one wouldn’t get an elite grade, but I figured it was a good one-and-done for some slabbed cardboard of a notable name from the recent past. Since it’s a promo card, I also figured it might be the first card for the character, too. (I’m not bothering to research if this was the first 2008 Topps set of two made for this hit series that year ... but a promo card arrives before the main set does.) This went into a bulk sub late last year since the prices were good and I also threw this one in for an oddball slab not knowing that there was a big 20th anniversary special this year (that’s out now). Happy little accident.
The Grade: CGC 8.5

Reality Check: Nines are fine but I fell short of that mark here. It’s not an immensely rare card -- I think it was from San Diego Comic-Con -- nor is it a pricey one. This is just more of a reminder that there is some cardboard on this front where there might be some interest when it comes to slabs. There are a lot of fans out there.

--

THE GIRL AMONG TALLBOYS
The Card: Tatum O’Neal 2013 Panini Golden Age Exhibit Boxtoppers
The Reason Graded: CGC’s tallboy holders arrived late last year and since they’re larger cases you can actually fit cards up to 3.5-by-5.5 inches tall inside them. So, with that said, these Exhibit-style cards make the grade now, too. The cool part? There’s no extra fee -- unlike some places that have charged as much as $50 a card (or at least wanted to -- no way I’d bite for that price) despite competitive prices on grading standard cards. I graded a number of oversized cards like this, so she’ll lead off these this time just like she led things for The Bad News Bears.
The Grade: CGC 8.5

Reality Check: Storage of toppers of oddball size isn’t always easy -- and sleeves for stuff like that are also a bit more complicated. My first lesson of oversized subs is that I probably need to find some of the larger-format Card Savers for stuff like this to make mailing things a little less risky. (I sent these in with sleeves and in toploaders that were taped shut. I might have paid for that on a different card but that’s a talk for another time.) This mark was a bummer to me but at the same time I think toppers might be more like memorabilia cards where sometimes those elite grades aren’t going to happen as often (for a few reasons). This one is a starting point ... I know I have more of these stashed away and there are a few others I might slab along with another one of these.

-

MY HOLOGRAPHIC FINALE
The Book: Spider-Man No. 26 -- newsstand edition
The Reason Graded: This hologram cover comes a bit after Todd McFarlane’s legendary run on this title so, to me, it’s not as cool as that stuff ... but this was the last of my holograms here to slab and show off. Why? These can be in big demand and most of the slabs -- at least that’s my gut feeling here -- are not going to be newsstand editions like mine. These copies simply got mangled more easily out there in the wild world of spinner racks vs. shops where all of the serious collectors would typically buy their stuff. I didn’t have that luxury but I did have an in at a bookstore back in the day ... so I could get my hands on books like this before they ever got Baned (broken spines) on the rack.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: The volume is big -- not unusual for the era -- but not as big as other titles and that’s perhaps due to the higher cover price. I also have a gut feel that because of the technology/cost there might not have been as many made here to some degree vs. standard issues. How many of that 1,600 are newsstands with UPC codes? It’d be nice to know. I didn’t check eBay prices for this one, but I suspect there aren’t that many recently sold or listed vs. direct copies.

--

TIFFY TIME ... THEN, NOW, FOREVER
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2024 Panini Select WWE Future Red Prizms (/99)
The Reason Graded: This Select WWE finale is home to a couple of insert sets that are simple and bold with a clean frame around a portrait and this Stratton was among a few names firmly on my radar when they arrived. I found this card raw and one other Red from this set that was also quite clean -- cleaner than the base versions. Because of that, I sent this one in for grading first. (The other will get graded eventually.)
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: This result was a nice surprise as I collect Stratton as hard as I can -- as much as the prices allow -- and some other parallels of this and the other cool insert here are on my radar for a few names.

-

JUST A BIT OUTSIDE ...
The Card: 50 Cent 2015 Topps First Pitch
The Reason Graded: This moment is legendary and the cardboard was overlooked for years before the new influx of collectors/flippers/influenced investors saw the appeal of oddball cards like this. I knew this one wasn’t perfect as the stock here is super skinny and always problematic, but I wanted to have one graded ... no matter what. Why? Beyond the absurdity of the pitch, I actually have graded a number of these First Pitch cards through the years ... and not just American ones.
The Grade: CGC 9

Reality Check: The bottom corners have some very minor spotting that likely dropped it down -- the rest of the card seemed pretty clean. Only one has topped it when it comes to the stats, though.

--

TWO LEGENDS OF THE LINKS
The Card: Arnold Palmer & Jack Nicklaus 2004 SP Signature Authentic Fabrics (/100)
The Reason Graded: I bought a number of the boxes that this card came from long ago for maybe $150 a pop (perhaps even less) -- which is nothing these days. Why did I dabble? The boxes hit hard closeout prices despite the fact that there was a Tiger Woods auto in every single case 0n jumbo 8-by-10 cards. (I pulled his ink twice.) There were six oversized packs per box (think a FedEx envelope as a pack) with the large auto and then a smaller pack of standard-size cards inside each time with a memorabilia card guaranteed there -- so 12 hits per box. This was one of those cards. (Even crazier? There were hot boxes with two 8-by-10 autos per pack in the cases, too.) I pulled this all those years ago and when I recently noticed how clean it was ... it got slabbed.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: Epic surprise here as this dual-mem card checked in one slot under perfect ... but it might as well be perfect. There can be so many things that can go wrong with mem cards and I’ve noticed some stuff from these years can have glossing issues (particularly the year after this one) from aging inside storage materials.

--

CREASES COUNT ... BUT IT STILL LOOKS GOOD
The Card: John Havlicek 1969-70 Topps -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: This tallboy Hall of Famer RC has been in my stash for literally decades -- I got it for next to nothing as part of a trade that I've otherwise long-forgotten -- and I opted to grade more for the heck of it as it’s pretty clean-looking other than some creasing that really doesn’t affect its color. I also graded it despite this card not being all that pricey ... but he is an eight-time NBA champ, an all-time team member three times over for the league’s anniversaries and he’s got plenty more on the résumé. If all low-grade vintage stuff looked like this, I’d be buying a lot more.
The Grade: CGC 2.5

Reality Check: The cards you don’t see in the table above check in at CGC 5 (twice), then mine, one that’s autographed and then one that’s authentic but altered. CGC just recently started slabbing tallboys ... so there should be more.

--

THREE DECADES AGO ...
The Mag: Kurt Cobain -- Entertainment Weekly, April 22, 1994
The Reason Graded: The lead singer of Nirvana appears on many magazine covers -- corporate magazines till suck (IYKYK) -- but a lot of them are too large to slab as in they simply don’t fit. (Rolling Stone is among them but not alone.) This haunting portrait and cover comes not long after his death at age 27 back in 1994. This copy wasn’t perfect but it was on my mental grading radar for some time and it finally made the cut late last year as a new batch of magazines to present here. Why? There’s not a boatload of cardboard for many big names from the 1990s and beyond -- he has some, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of it wasn’t released in the U.S. so it’s not exactly easily found -- so I look to magazines in some cases to have some slabs for key names.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: I didn’t have this one pressed -- it’s clean but not perfect -- so maybe I could have checked in a slot higher but I wasn’t all that worried about it as I just liked the idea of a graded copy. EW is a solid title for pop culture subjects and as a weekly there are a lot of issues where there might be a lot of names one might want to collect over the years. It debuted in 1990 and ran as a weekly until 2019. After that, it ran as a monthly until April 2022. My copy is the first one graded, which was a bit of a surprise to me, but I’m also more about key or clean-visual covers over oddball/super-early/cameo firsts. A lot of people probably consider firsts with a “Rookie Card” mindset, but I prefer better-looking items when I can find them. (I do firsties, too. Keep reading.)

--

MAMI’S FIRST PWI HOME (ALONE)
The Mag: Rhea Ripley -- Pro Wrestling Illustrated, January 2024 -- her first solo PWI cover
The Reason Graded: She’s arguably the biggest star in WWE today -- male or female -- especially if you listen to crowd reactions each week so this one has been on my grading radar for some time. While she did have a cameo on a cover that was a montage of many stars before this issue, I opted to grade this as it’s her first solo cover for this magazine that’s been going since 1979. These aren’t easy grading as the paper is thin and highly glossed where bends might affect ink quite easily ... but I sent this in for a slab no matter what.
The Grade: CGC 9.4 (Universal)

Reality Check: I didn’t press it -- I didn’t want to wait longer and pay more -- but it’s a start. I doubt I would have gotten to a 9.8 with a press here, so I can live with this mark. I picked off a few copies in the past so there’s always a chance I’ll try again with a press for a different copy ... but others are in line for a sub first. (I’m a collector for first covers of names I like with this title.)

--

THE ROOKIE’S INK
The Card: Rhea Ripley 2020 Topps NXT Roster Autographs
The Reason Graded: I own three of the eight graded copies of this card and I think I pulled all of them from packs. Why slab? She’s a big deal and I knew it from early on, though she’s evolved and become more popular than I even expected. She’s only 29 and has been a pro since 2013 back in Australia -- you can do the math -- and she’s already been a grand slam champ in WWE having held the three main women’s titles and the tag titles. She’s already a top name and she’s the youngest of the seven women to have done that -- Bayley, Asuka, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Iyo Sky are the others -- and she’s basically a Hall of Fame lock right now, too, with plenty of time to go in the ring.
The Grade: CGC 9.5 (10 auto)

Reality Check: All three of my copies check in at 9.5 ... a bit of a bummer to see them topped but the stock is so skinny here and everything is signed on-card so even nines are miracles to me.

--

SOME NEWSSTAND MOJO?
The Book: X-Men No. 10 -- newsstand edition
The Reason Graded: This Jim Lee issue isn’t some landmark new character arrival or some image that became a poster and merch-moving machine elsewhere ... I simply liked it. One reason why is that I like the key X-Men characters seen in the background -- some depth and variety that’s not the poster approach that he did so well so many times back then. And, of course, the fact that this is a newsstand issue was a big reason I subbed here. The high eBay asking price for a newsstand copy right now? A cool $400 on the high side down to $172. Direct copies? Just $295 high down to $108. Both prices seem high but the overall volume of graded issues is not here.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: I’m betting the volume of newsstand copies is low here just as the overall volume isn’t there. It’s clearly something that some sellers and buyers pay attention to.

--

BAD REPUTATION, GOOD GRADE
The Card: Joan Jett 2019 Premium Rock Shot Gum Series Q
The Reason Graded: I’ll admit I thought this card was older than it is when I bought it based on the photo -- I must have seen a mislabeled listing somewhere online -- but rather than a Topps First Pitch card (that I pondered) where you couldn’t really tell it was Jett, I opted to grade this card showing the Godmother of Punk and member of the Rock Hall.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I was happy to see this get a 10 but also a little surprised as it had a minor edge spot that did bug me ... apparently it was anything serious enough to derail this one.

--

CARDED & SCHEDULED
The Card: Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2002 Budweiser (NASCAR) pocket schedule
The Reason Graded: Why did I grade something as oddball as a pocket schedule? One, to see if they’d do it. Two, these are super clean when it comes to the printing and cutting. Three -- and this is the biggest of them -- virtually all of Earnhardt’s No. 8 Budweiser Chevy cardboard from packs doesn’t actually use the Bud logo ... since cards have an audience that was perhaps seen as more for kids back then. His Press Pass stuff got the ol’ Photoshop treatment a few different ways over the years, while I don’t think Panini ever did any Bud throwbacks ... and that might be partly due to licensing of the here and now. That might mean -- though I didn’t do any exhaustive research to back this -- his only cards with the Bud logo are pocket schedules like this. There are at least three I have seen and probably a few more.
The Grade: CGC 10

Reality Check: I knew this would grade well ... so this wasn’t a surprise.

--

RETRO STOCK ... RETRO GRADE
The Card: Carmen Electra 2005-06 Topps First Row Black & White (/225)
The Reason Graded: She was among a handful of celebs who were put into Topps NBA packs for a time back in the day and this card was one that seemed odd enough to me I figured why not. First, it’s a bit on the rarer side of things. Second, it’s on more of a Heritage old-style stock with foil stamping and that has its challenges. Third, this one did have some funky stock fiber spotting on the surface where, yes, I knew it wasn’t a good thing ... but I also wasn’t sure how much of a bad thing it was, either. Atop all that, the black and white photo just makes it feel even more unusual. (The other versions have a color photo and use varying modern-feeling and cleaner stock and foil treatments.)
The Grade: CGC 8.5

Reality Check: Behold, the worst copy graded ... but not by much. This seemed like more of a grading challenge and I took it. Even in this grade, I don’t hate the end result.

--

HIS MOST-OBSCURE ROOKIE CARD?
The Card: Jim Thome 1991 Upper Deck Final Edition -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Is it a Rookie Card? Is it not a Rookie Card? I'll let others argue about this boxed-set find for this Hall of Famer. (But by 1991, sets like this and others such as Topps Traded were easily found ... so I think it is.) I’m not a big fan of that logo on the bottom, but the rest here feels like prime early 1990s UD to me ... so when I spotted this already graded for a cheap price I bit.
The Grade: CGC 9.5

Reality Check: Seventy of the 95 copies of this card graded check in here or lower -- and even this mark is pretty rare. Given how sensitive the stock is here -- you can get surface scratches just gently sliding these cards across a table -- I think anything nine and up is strong and the super-rare marks aren’t even a given considering the materials and packing at the time.

--

NOT FOILED BY THE FOILBOARD
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2023 Donruss Elite WWE Elite Signatures Red (/49)
The Reason Graded: I’ve never been a big fan of foilboard and brands like this one ride it hard -- and this set in particular (and its parallels) up the ante even more for grading with etching, light embossing and on-card autographs on stock that’s definitely not thicker and also not reliably durable. I liked how they had the signers use colors corresponding to the parallel and the real estate for an auto is big and bold here, too. I’ve grabbed and slabbed two of the colors here for my favorite wrestler and this is the first example.
The Grade: CGC 9.5 (10 auto)

Reality Check: A 9.5 is a win here as so much can go wrong. Most of the time, from what I have seen, there are edge and corner issues on the back that can derail elite marks.

--

THE (TIFFY) TIMELESS MOMENT
The Card: Tiffany Stratton 2025 Topps Now WWE -- SP photo variation
The Reason Graded: I didn’t land this one among my lot buy for the card, but I didn’t wait too long to grab one raw -- I spent well but got a good price, too, at least for when I bought. I graded it despite knowing that a back corner had a minor spotting issue where the edge of the Topps holders these are mailed in might have bumped it ever so slightly. That was ultimately my only worry here for slabbing.
The Grade: CGC 8.5

Reality Check: Yep, it’s the lowest-graded copy ... it happens. The good news is that these rarer cards might not be super rare because some non-CGC slabs are out there and not all that pricey. I might track one down at some point but it’s not a big priority with this already in my stash. (I liked this card a lot at the time it arrived, but there has been other cardboard to track down, too.)

--

THAT OTHER UNIFORM
The Card: Dansby Swanson 2015 Bowman Draft Prospects
The Reason Bought: I grabbed this since it had the old slab and the Pristine mark -- not an easy thing back then and not something I ever landed with any of my subs early on -- so I got this when I saw it was cheap. One part of that was the grade, one part of that was the player and then also because this is one of those oddball cards where, well, he never played an official MLB game in that uniform ... but you wouldn’t know it from all his cardboard.
The Grade: CSG 10 (Pristine)

Reality Check: I’m not sure exactly what the deal is here, but my Pristine 10 isn’t noted on the pop report as it should be following the scale change that took things down to just Pristine and not Perfect and Pristine 10 grades. It happens. This was a cheap pick-up that seems to be lumped in with the other 10s instead of remaining in its slot.

--

DIRTY DEBUT
The Card: “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio (with Rey Mysterio in 2005) 2024 Panini Prizm WWE Under Card Variation
The Reason Graded: Dirty Dom was just eight years old when he made his real WWE debut and this was the first card -- at least that I have ever seen -- to look at the feud between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero long ago. This photo variation is an all-time classic and I ponied up for a raw copy with an eye on a slab for sure.
The Grade: CGC 8.5

Reality Check: This is my second Dom slab to come back with a lower mark like this that I, admittedly, didn’t expect. Nines are fine and this one falls short of that ... but it’s still a classic card that’s only found in one of the box formats for Prizm. I’ll probably track down a better copy at some point.

--

REMEMBER THE TIME?
The Card: Stephen Strasburg 2010 Grandstand Harrisburg Senators
The Reason Bought: There was a time when this pitcher was the center of the collecting universe -- and it wasn’t when he finally won a World Series ring. Leading up to his injury as a rookie, this guy was must-see pitching -- people called his starts “Strasmas” -- and those who saw some of it probably still treat some of these cards a lot better than they might deserve as he was a pricey monster back then. (Heck, even I had a few really good ones back then ... and I held onto them all. Sigh.)
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I found this already graded for only $11, which seemed pretty good for a BGS 9.5 -- not an easy mark back then -- though most of the copies graded here do check in at that spot with a handful above and a pretty deep range of cards below it, too. Since it’s MiLB cardboard it will always stand out to me even if it’s just a simple mugshot.

--

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

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