Making the Grade (April): Vince McMahon, Steve Austin and WrestleMania icons plus Ronald Acuña Jr. & more MLB stars

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 ... it's all MLB and WWE this time with a new baseball season under way and it being WrestleMania week.

The Card: 2018 Topps WWE Then Now Forever 25 Years of Raw #RAW28 Mr. McMahon's Limousine Explodes
The Reason Graded: You don't see why? This is one of the greatest cards I've ever seen in any set, and it simply had to lead off here, too. The heat you see on the card is only rivaled by the heat that is this card. (Something like that.) So, what's the story with this? In a June 2007 episode of Raw, WWE Chairman and ultimate on-screen villain Vince McMahon had an unusual evening on the air. At the end of the show he walked through a star-laden backstage area to go to his limo at the end of his "Appreciation Night." He stepped inside, closed the door and at that exact moment it exploded on live TV. (See it happen here and read all about the fallout.) The company was bombarded with phone calls from some members of the public and it even issued a press release that McMahon was, indeed, dead. The company's stock even took a hit (seriously) as part of the story line. Somehow, it took all of these years for this epic moment to make it onto a card.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I was all over this one the second I saw the checklist and knew I'd own it in a slab. The super-skinny stock and dark edges make it tough to land without a tweaked edge or corner, but mine is the first and it's nearly perfect. (The spot on the right is part of the photo, not a nicked edge.) The only thing better than a near-perfect copy of a card like this would be one signed by VKM himself ... after all, he somehow survived. This card makes me laugh and I laugh even harder with a high-grade copy.

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

The Card: 2018 Topps #698 Ronald Acuña Jr. RC (factory set version)
The Reason Graded: I didn't chase the short-printed version of this one from last year's Series 2 packs, but I did do a double-take on every detail of this card of the reigning National League Rookie of the Year when I pulled it from a factory set. The photo isn't quite as perfect as the SP version (full follow-through in the photo there) but this one is close. It's a classic and he clearly tattooed the ball making it for an iconic Rookie Card
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: I went with this one in a small PSA grading batch to mix things up here and was rewarded with a top grade. That's not that tough to do based on the pop report, but I'll take it. Over time, I could see this guy's basic Topps RCs following in the footsteps of other key players' key cards as long as he keeps delivering. The SP version in packs isn't an easy pull, but you can land one of these every time you open a factory set -- that's a reason to dig in if you want to chase top grades. This one's population has jumped rather dramatically even in the last month, so there's a lot of this one going around ... but it's still one to pick up.

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The Card: 1995 CARDZ WCW #29 "Stunning" Steve Austin RC
The Reason Graded: It was more than a decade ago when I found a box of these dirt cheap (less than $1 a pack) and ripped it for fun as I have always been a casual but focused wrestling collector -- ripping for fun t0 see what I get with zero worry on return. You probably know this guy better as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin but on this card, which is basically his first in-pack card from a U.S. set, he was simply "Stunning." In the time since I ripped that box, wrestling cards -- and graded wrestling in particular -- have blown up a lot more, making older wax tough to find and key cards pricier than you might think. I've never seen another box of this one since.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: As Austin would say "Oh, hell yeah!" My card got the highest grade yet for this one and none have topped it. Mine is the first copy graded since 2012 and that might be because those dark edges showcase every potential flaw and all those light spots in the background of the image (especially the one up top) can look like damage without viewing with a loupe. I had expected a BGS 9 but I was surprised by this one and will take it all day long ... and twice on Sunday. I pulled one or two others in my box, so now I may need to revisit those and see how they compare to this. I wasn't planning to grade them ... but might now.

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The Card: 2016 Topps First Pitch Series 2 #FP-15 Lea Thompson
The Reason Graded: It's baseball season and I wanted to add something fun into the mix, so when I revisited some boxes of past inserts I've pulled this card jumped out at me for possible grading. Why? Because who wouldn't want a Lorraine Baines McFly Rookie Card? (Well, it's her MLB Rookie Card ... Jaws 3-D and Back to The Future II had card sets and she's got plenty of autographed cards from Leaf Pop Century.) These First Pitch cards were fun while they lasted and they are and inexpensive inclusions for fans of pop culture and baseball all in one place.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: I didn't expect a 10 and I didn't expect this to be the only one graded ... so both were surprises. There are a few cards from the past First Pitch sets that I'd slab for fun -- here's the box where you can find this one.

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The Card: 1954 Parkhurst #56 Selassi & Little Beaver
The Reason Bought: This might be one of the lowest-graded copies of this oldschool card, but WrestleMania is the reason it's here. You see, back in 1987 at WrestleMania III -- 33 years after this classic card was made -- one of these two guys was part of a mixed tag team match along with Hillbilly Jim and The Haiti Kid against King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook. It was a classic simply because of the legendary "names" alone. The good guys won their match in what still might be the biggest WrestleMania of them all after Bundy, who died last month, bodyslammed Little Beaver to get disqualified.
The Grade: PSA 3

Reality Check: This card is a classic from a set from the definite vintage years of wrestling, so it was a no-brainer pick-up for me for the price, which was about $11. It would cost me about that much to get one graded and it's still pretty clean for a PSA 3. You won't recognize many of the names in the Parkhurst wrestling sets but this one works right into a WWE collection. (It's unclear if Selassi is The Haiti Kid ... I thought he was, but can't confirm it anywhere.)

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The Card: 1990 Topps 1989 Major League Debut #46 Ken Griffey Jr.
The Reason Bought: Owning any of Junior's 1989 Rookie Cards isn't that tough -- not even his iconic and pricier Upper Deck card -- but this was one card from early in his career that has always eluded me. (Or, realistically, I just didn't feel like paying up in the past when Griffey was more popular.) This time, it was a $10 buy and it seemed pretty clean for its grade -- sometimes these white-stock cards can show issues easily. These sets didn't show up anywhere near where I lived at that time -- also a reason I never landed one.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: This is the most-plentiful grade for this card -- and it's heavily graded -- but I didn't check the pop report when buying. It seemed decently priced so I grabbed it ... simple as that.

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The Card: 1985 Topps Cyndi Lauper #11 (with WWE's Hulk Hogan and Wendi Richter)
The Reason Graded: OK, this one is an oddity that I didn't even know existed until recently, and it's perhaps a card that some wrestling fans may not be all that aware of. This set was released the same year as the first Topps WWF set and this is the only copy graded by either BGS or PSA. I picked off a handful of packs of this set specifically to chase this card. This one was getting graded no matter what because it's got three of the major players for storylines that helped get wrestling into the mainstream via an event on MTV that, in turn, led to the first WrestleMania in 1985. (Without the MTV angle, Little Buzz would have never found it back then.)
The Grade: BGS 8.5

Reality Check: Packs here include a few stickers and a few cards along with a wrapped piece of gum so you don't get a lot of damage from the gum and wax stains can be minimized as they are glossy cards and the stains are often on the fronts. The only risk? The glossed cards can stick together, and I believe that I may have missed a spot where some gloss was lost to that. The centering is funky for this set and this one was admittedly off, but it was my better of two I found. (Odd additional fact: The cards can be found with different splatter patterns.) I was bummed by this grade -- I prefer 9s and up -- but the packs are cheap enough that I may grab a few more and see what happens. (They aren't super-easy finds but aren't generally too expensive. It's also a small set so a box should have a few.)

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The Card: 1991 Merlin WWF Italian #75 Legion of Doom
The Reason Bought: When I found this for about $13 I hemmed and hawed a bit before buying as it's nowhere near their first cardboard. But it's a perfect grade, an obscure European release, and it's from a time where one of the best tag teams in all of wrestling history was at its aesthetic best with those badass spiked red shoulder pads. Out of curiosity, I checked the pop report ... and that's what sold me.
The Grade: PSA 10

Reality Check: Just two other 10s exist for this card and that told me to grab it. Simple as that.

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The Card: 1984 Topps Tiffany #366 San Diego Padres Leaders — Dave Dravecky autograph (BAS)
The Reason Bought: I found this for $5.50 and that seemed like a great price for a former All-Star with a somber story in the history of baseball. This former Padres and Giants pitcher had his career ended due to cancer. A tumor was found in his pitching arm and after it was removed he returned to the game prematurely only to have his arm break while delivering a pitch during a game. A couple years later, his arm was amputated and he's been a motivational speaker in the years since.
The Grade: BAS Authentic

Reality Check: No copies of this Tiffany card have been graded (which makes sense), so it's quite possible this is the only one in any type of slab. Dravecky doesn't appear on a single certified auto card from a major release, so cards like this one are basically the only option for collectors wanting his ink. His 1990 Score card might be one to look for to get signed as it tells his story.

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The Card: 2015 Topps Heritage High Number #725 Kris Bryant Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: This is a short-printed RC of a key guy from a box that's pretty pricey because it's a loaded release. I added this one because I really wanted a high-grade copy despite owning a couple that I pulled -- those just weren't up to snuff centering-wise.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I pulled the trigger on this one at a relatively modest price after grabbing one of these boxes at a pretty dramatic sale price in December and coming up short. You can land some big ink and plenty of variations in those boxes, but I'm definitely more of a fan of key RCs in Heritage sets when it comes to slabbing. (And I'm actually a fan of the multi-player cards that some people can't stand with this brand.) This one? It's just one that many people clearly like based on that big pop report. I didn't realize this grade was so plentiful, but I didn't buy it to flip. I picked it up to add to my permanent stash.

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