Making the Grade (Jan.): Rarer parallels, minty fresh vintage, comics, mags, Jordan's cover, Derek Jeter's Bo Bichette & more

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 FIRST FOR ME ...
The Card: Bo Bichette 2022 Topps Chrome Logofractor Edition Blue Refractor (/150)
The Reason Graded: If you're a regular reader, then you know that Bichette is perhaps my leading active player who I collect (casually ... as he's expensive). That means I dabble merely with what I like, what's a bargain and so on. In some cases, I'll grab a striking color of parallel or an appropriate shade from a certain brand that stands out from the rest and this Blue parallel fits right there along with this being a Logofractor parallel. Why did I grab this and then slab it? Well, the price was right (under $10 during the season) and it was one of few centered copies I saw and it was one that avoided a possible pattern gap in the logos that seemed to land on his cards often. When I grabbed this, it also became my first COMC pick-up to go directly to CGC for grading while all in their hands rather than starting out in mine.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: It came back with an ideal mark, which is what I had hoped for, though you never know with surfaces of cards ... that's about the only big risk of buying/subbing stuff there at the moment other than corners, which should be a smidge more obvious on screen -- but not always. My total cost for card and grading here? Under $24 and it only took about a month to get it back. That's a move I've actually done a few times late last year as my goal of sending in some new stuff for slabbing didn't happen on the card side of things before 2023 had ended. There will be plenty more in 2024 -- cards, comics, coins magazines ... and more.

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

SEEING RED
The Card: Tua Tagovailoa 2020 Panini Chronicles Draft Picks Phoenix Red -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: This card isn't a pricey one ... it's just the appropriate color for this player in this uni an that's perfect for the school ties part of my stash -- though I will admit cards of him in his Dolphins colors are, at times, growing on me as long as the photos are strong. This color-match parallel was more of a bargain buy (under the price of the blaster it came in) for a mark that's now higher than it's noted on the slab after the company's scale change. It also wasn't as pricey as other stuff when I was looking ... so, yes, it's more of a fall-back cheap-slab grab.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop -- that's a nice surprise. This is the best of the five copies graded. I'm not sure more will get slabbed as NFL stuff is always more popular than college as time goes on ... except for school fans like me.

--

SHE'S BACK!
The Card: Cora Jade 2022 Panini WWE NXT 2.0 -- Rookie Card parallel (/25)
The Reason Bought: This wasn't the cheapest of grabs for me -- just under the price of a hobby box of this release -- but it was a no-brainer as this is a rarer card from a set that should go down as pretty condition-sensitive these days ... at least for this card. It's nearly always found with a surface mark on all versions and, in my mind, that could/should make 10s impossible ... of course, I said nearly because I did a case here and, well, I might have found some exceptions to that rule. Maybe a half-dozen clean-surface cards -- and I have done bulk lots of 100-plus singles here -- might be up to snuff once I go back through them and give a closer look. (A Buzz Break of that will be coming at some point.) Making this grab even better, she's back on NXT TV and appears to be walking right back into the championship picture ... a good thing considering people had been paying some A-lister prices while her stock might have been seen as slipping. (I bought on a lull.)
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: This one checks in as the only copy graded and I like that -- of course, there are only 24 others and who knows how many of those might still be sitting in hobby packs out there unopened. I'll keep this Jade entry brief but you can find a number of other posts in The Buzz Archives where I talk about what makes this set an interesting one as well as a big challenge for grading.

--

AMAZING VINTAGE
The Card: John McNamara 1970 Topps -- Rookie Card (MGR RC)
The Reason Graded: I picked up this card raw about three years ago as it was a $7-ish clean high-number card, a photo I liked for a franchise with plenty of history and a RC for a manager who is probably better known for leading the Boston Red Sox to the 1986 World Series. (Added trivia ... I always loved the A's having a white cap for the manager and coaches in these days and there it is.) I already had a lower-grade copy, but after he died in July 2020 I was looking back at his cards and this copy just absolutely jumped out at me with its condition -- like head and shoulders better than others ... like not even close.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: I was right. It took me some time to get this one into a grading sub, but it came back with a better grade than I had expected -- and it's an elite one. As of my prepping this piece, 2,532 total 1970 Topps cards (any player) had been graded via CGC with only one other card receiving a 9.5 ... and nothing checking in higher. That's 0.07 percent of cards graded hitting this mark. In fact, only nine total cards (0.35 percent) checked in at a CGC nine and only 43 total cards (1.69 percent) were 8.5s. It's truly insane to think I found this copy raw ...

--

BROADWAY BARGAIN
The Card: Joe Namath 2021 Donruss Variation Press Proof Premium
The Reason Bought: This was an already slabbed bargain buy of an icon and Hall of Famer at just $7 but it was an easy one as it's a solid grade and this card from a parallel factory set really has a better feel than just a basic flagship set. Atop that, it's a variation -- those still stand out at times to those like me who used to love errors and corrections in the 1980s/1990s -- as this card has a buddy to go with him.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: Tens are the most-common grade here and I'm good with that when it's so cheap ... more on that later. I guarantee it.

-

GIMMICK WITH INK? (FINE BY ME.)
The Coin: 2010 D Union Shield cent -- Lyndall Bass American Flag autographed
The Reason Bought: This popped up on a coin search for just $9, so I bit since this is an autographed label from the coin designer here for this particular style of penny -- the "Shield Cent" -- that debuted here. (Read more about the artist here.) I'm sure autographed slabs like this have a following, but I thought it was different and a good price for a dabbling newb like me.
The Grade: NCG Gem Uncirculated (autographed)

Reality Check: I didn't realize that this wasn't technically graded when I grabbed it, but the pop report info did come up when I searched the serial-number ... they're all placed at one mark. I own all kinds of oddball autographs but I can say a coin artist is a first for me and my stash after decades of collecting.

--

SLAB IT, MICHAEL
The Mag: Michael Jordan -- Sport, April 1995
The Reason Graded: Sure, Sports Illustrated's Jordan cover is more famous and more consequential -- he never did another interview with them after their "Bag it, Michael" headline -- this one from the following year is probably a bit tougher find and grade. While the SI has been slabbed more than 40 times between subscription and newsstand editions (nothing higher than three 9.6s), this one checks in much lower. Now, by Jordan standards even that SI is probably low -- he's got to be on most of the most-graded issues but with most wanting his NBA stuff -- but this one is a squarebound spine with the staples under the glued cover and the cover can have a fold line all the way down the front. I picked up this issue back when it arrived and it had sat in a box of stuff for literally all this time (comics, mags and other flats probably last touched in 1996 or so) and it was a no-brainer to send in once I unearthed it.
The Grade: CGC 9.6 (Universal)

Reality Check: I didn't press this -- I didn't think the light spine line you can see hints of to the left of the Sport nameplate and "baseball's future" would go away -- but it still checked in as the new top copy here. The paper here is light and it's heavily glossed, too, so scuffs will show easily (especially on the back) but I knew this was clean and was happy with this result. These are findable for sure -- anything Jordan likely would be, especially for the short-lived baseball years -- but subscriber copies of this magazine have a garishly large white box for a printed address to appear on it and SI had to have had a larger circulation with more copies printed. (Right?) Mags such as SI, Playboy, Time, Newsweek and so on are probably more-regularly slabbed in general, especially when the subjects are notable, but clean high-condition copies of other titles that have gone by the wayside over time could be challenging to find for grading and command more than one might expect. Sport launched in the 1940s -- almost a decade before SI -- and ran monthly until its demise in 2000. Some older issues are probably larger formats (too big for current slabs) but there's plenty of history to explore there.

--

A SLICK PSYLOCKE
The Comic: Psylocke "negative space" variant cover -- X-Men (2022) No. 22 ... Artist: John Tyler Christopher
The Reason Bought: I recently grabbed this variant just to make sure I could work some comics into MTG this month -- I also need to send in some stuff this year on this front -- and this captured my attention as it's from more of an ongoing themed collection of variants across a bunch of Marvel titles. It's a lesson in "negative space" where the artist picked a color and dropped out details on the character leaving only empty space ... and yet the form is still completed by the eye. (Something like that ... I stopped with art classes literally decades ago.) Click here and then click on each title to see this artist's covers in this series. There's some cool stuff in there.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: The Jim Lee X-Men years were back when I was a regular dabbler as a kid and Psylocke was a favorite of many back then -- as well as a character tied to my No. 1 favorite character and another title in the X-Men universe. I don't think I'll try to find the others, but the Wolverine and at least one other might get me to bite if they pop up in a search at some point.

--

ICONIC 1990s
The Mag: Drew Barrymore -- Esquire, February 1994
The Reason Graded: This one checks in as a new part of the ol' Barrymore collection as a reminder that there are some long-running titles like this one that have all kinds of A-list notables from entertainment and beyond as cover subjects and some will be memorable and appealing to people. Atop that, I don't think this mag and other titles were saved as much as sports stuff and comic books out there in the "collecting" world -- you can find roughed up copies of pretty much anything, of course, but higher-grade mags like this? Not easy ... and that's why I've popped this one here and subbed some other stuff presently in CGC hands for this series.
The Grade: CGC 9.0 (Universal)

Reality Check: I was a bit bummed here, figuring it might check in a little higher, but for the timeframe and how tough it was to find this slab-worthy copy I was fine with a nine or higher. It's also the only copy slabbed, so there's nothing to top it just yet. This mag didn't really use any kind of gloss on its covers, so these can be found out there on the auction block with ink missing due to readers' hands and other problems regularly appearing, too. Discoloring paper also can come into play as this is, gasp, now 30 years old. While old magazines can be good raw money-makers out in the eBay world, I'd bet there are also still a lot of people more inclined to just throw stuff like this away if they happen on a stack of them from the past. Also ... where might you even find old magazines, anyway, other than eBay and other similar platforms?

--

A DOUBLE-DEBUT BARGAIN?
The Ticket: Tua Tagovailoa & Jerry Jeudy (NCAA debuts) 2017 University of Alabama vs. Fresno State (Sept. 9) full ticket
The Reason Bought: I haven't yet really graded any tickets -- I get the interest and the variables that can lead to demand, but there are reasons I haven't -- but this piece got my attention with some good names attached and a cheaper price. For around the price (shipped) of a Chrome blaster these days, I picked up a college football debut for two stars for my school ties part of my collection and both are also NFL players now, too. An eight isn't great and I could see this one's flaws -- the biggest to me being that black ink snow near the seat notation, which appears to be ink from the back sides of the tickets that wore off onto the fronts. It's slightly annoying when in-hand, but nothing that's end-of-world ... it is what it is.
The Grade: PSA 8

Reality Check: What was interesting was the pop report here -- I didn't check it before buying -- and this is among a group that's the highest-graded copy for this one. That surprised me a bit but with perforated edges there can be challenges and if all of them had that snow, well, then none should check in higher. I like card and magazine grading better right now, but there's a lot of potentially slab-worthy items out there for those who like researching and tracking down items that are notables to them. One thing I'm not a fan of here is how much wiggle room there is for the ticket to slide around in the slab's sleeve. I had to tap on this one many times to get it into a better position for the photo.

--

BROADWAY BARGAIN II
The Card: Joe Namath 2021 Donruss Press Proof Premium
The Reason Bought: Speaking of cheap ... here's the standard version in a slab from this set and I also landed it for around $7 ... another no-brainer. Are these big-money cards? Nope, but there's something to having some low-priced slabs as part of a stash ... if you're a collector. Plus, like I said earlier, these look pretty nice in slabs.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: It's interesting to see how more copies of this one are slabbed vs. the variation but the 10s as the high mark are also the trend here. No biggie for me ... I liked the price.

--

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT?
The Card: Mia Yim 2013 BBM True Heart -- international Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: She's worked pretty much (almost) everywhere in the wrestling world and this card comes from a Japanese set of more than a decade ago -- and it came six years before her first in-pack (WWE) American RC. Yim (aka Jade and Michin) been in the game since 2009 but hasn't really had that much cardboard as her times with TNA/Impact, for example, are from when the company didn't have card sets, and spot appearances in other companies didn't lead to cards, either. (I'm sure there could be some indy cards out there to some degree but they're not noted in the typical spots.) I picked up this card raw as I knew it's notable and finally worked it into a recent grading sub this year as BBM stuff typically grades well.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: No real surprises with this mark, though BBM stuff has been good to me so my expectations were high. The pop report only showed one of these via CSG/CGC, but I swear I have seen other slabs out in the world ... must have been from other companies. She's a veteran and not that pricey on many of her cards but I like this one since it was so much earlier than other stuff.

--

GRABBED A ROOKIE CARD
The Card: Jasson Dominguez 2021 Bowman's Best -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: His arrival in York this year was sorta Ruthian and his exit was a touch Strasmas -- if you're a veteran collector of the last 15-20 years you'll get that -- so that was why I picked off a few copies of this RC before his debut. He's only 20, so he should be back to add upon those four homers in his first eight games ... and if you're a fan/believer this would be the time to dabble, though I think a lot of the high-price holders probably won't be dumping their stuff at super-cheap prices.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: This is just one of a couple of RCs for him thanks to a checklist snafu -- RC logo cards should arrive this year in theory -- and this one is modestly graded with most checking in at this mark. There are a few parallels that probably get more attention but this one is simple and clean ... and the price was right. (I think one past copy previously arrived in this series and I have one other copy in reserve for later.) He'll be back.

--

FROM THE JETER COLLECTION ...
The Card: Bo Bichette 2022 Topps Chrome Refractor (label doesn't note Refractor*)
The Reason Bought: I didn't pick this up due to its labeling error or some pop report anomaly -- the pop report didn't yet exist when I went looking in the official grading realm of Derek Jeter ... but I could tell it was a Refractor in its photo compared to other cards and I bit for the price/grade as one of my test cards to see if I liked the results, the slab and so on for the company. There's another bit of trivia about its tracked past over in Arena Club -- click on the image at right and look where it started. I like how they show a card's history and on a different screen (also seen at right) highlight some of the attributes that can affect a sub-grade or grade. Given the player here (who I collect) and the name there, I liked the story attached for a $12-ish experiment.
The Grade: Arena Club 10

Reality Check: This appears to be the highest graded of the four cards they noted to be basic Chromes (all three others are 9.5s) and is the only 10 with its holographic label. Errors happen but I don't even mind that here.

--

TWO NOTABLES, ONE CARD
The Card: Sarita (aka Sarah Stock) & Rosita (aka Thea Trinidad/Zelina Vega) 2012 TRISTAR TNA Impact Wrestling Reflexxions Dual Autographs Green (/5)
The Reason Graded: This card is rarer, but that's not why I grabbed it awhile back. A few of these TRISTAR TNA sets are the homes to the earliest cards for one of WWE's more-interesting and yet still under-the-radar veteran stars of recent years. That's Zelina Vega, who has worked with a few stars and groups as a manager, teammate and overall crap-stirrer (also on socials ... watch this classic prank) while also working as a wrestler who seems like she's still on the rise (presently alongside Yim). The other name on this card is a veteran who has worked around the world and debuted as a pro earlier than Vega but most recently has worked as a coach and producer in both WWE (for NXT) and is now behind the scenes in AEW. Both had some of their first cards, including ink, in these sets.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I had hoped for a grade a smidge higher since it's rare, but foilboard fronts and soft semi-fibery stock on the back are grading challenges. I think a soft back corner got me ... but I'm still fine with a nine.

--

LATE SLABBING THIS ONE
The Card: Mandy Rose 2021 Topps Finest WWE Autographs
The Reason Graded: I'm late working this one into the rotation here as, well, she's done with wrestling for now ... but you never say never in terms of comebacks. Rose was a fav of mine since her arrival on WWE cards in 2016 but she was around the company even further back as part of its Tough Enough reality competition series in 2015 where she finished second and really shouldn't have. In fact, of the dozen-plus names who were on that show only three have really had any substantial WWE time -- and it wasn't the two winners. Heck, even one who was slated to make the show but had to be punted for a health scare, Shotzi Blackheart, has made it to WWE. Long story short, that show was good and that's what got her on my radar along with others and she had a pretty solid run with a lot of memorable moments.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: This was a blaster find if I remember correctly -- I'm sure it's in a Buzz Break somewhere -- and since it was on mind it made it into a grading sub last year even though I have other, earlier ink I should have slabbed. Why this? Chrome-stock stuff can often grade better than cardboard ... those pesky corners love to lift plus on-card autos on a lot of Topps stuff means cards got handled an extra time getting signed. (More chances for damage vs. sticker autos.)

--

A BARGAIN BRAVE
The Card: Michael Harris II 2023 Topps Heritage -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Harris had a rough start to his sophomore season after winning the National League Rookie Of The Year award in 2022 but he was a key rookie in 2023 releases and the good stuff was still pricey. (Priced me out for sure.) But, brands like this one got me to look once attention was elsewhere, and this one's still a bit of a challenge where top grades are too pricey if you ask me (especially if you look at the pop numbers below). Ultimately his second season was almost identical to his first -- so to me that makes him a safe buy considering he's on a strong team.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: Obviously the centering dropped this one down, but for $12 I bit for a starter slab. I'll be grabbing more of his rookie-year stuff over time and that might get easier if his third campaign isn't a kind of break-out improved showing. People who bought him at higher prices could get nervous if those things don't come ... as a collector and not a flipper I'll be ready to grab bargains. (Another reason I'm playing a slower-paced game on this one.)

--

A CHALLENGING ONE
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2020 Topps WWE Slam Attax Reloaded
The Reason Bought: I don't normally bother when a slab is lower like this, but those black borders along with the stock on some releases of these cards (India version) as well as the packing for others (UK version) all indicate that grading here is not going to be easy ... so rather than subbing my best copies (which could be misses) I just grabbed this as a starter and perhaps to compare mine to this card of a star I actively collect.
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: Somebody out there was grading a lot of 2020 wrestling stuff for a lot of names (much like other sports) and this grade is the one that was most-commonly found for this card with just as many checking in lower as there are higher. (Given that this is an 8.5 the lower part of that pop shows there's risk.) It's not some big-money card in general, but it's an early one one that ain't easy sledding with grading. For now, I'm sticking with this copy but maybe at some point I'll try to upgrade.

--

SEEING RED
The Card: Paige 2015 Topps WWE Undisputed Red -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: Another favorite of mine for the last decade, Saraya has re-established herself in the ring over in AEW so I have been trying to work in her cards here and there in my grading subs. In this case, it's her top premium-brand Rookie Card and I've slabbed it in a few colors. I'm working on a rainbow of sorts, though I am sure the 1/1 is locked away out there somewhere and I won't pay up for that. This design is a busy one and it's not my favorite but the thicker stock here does make it enticing to slab with only the black backs (corners, edges and surface) being challenging.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I had hoped for a higher mark here, but I'm sure something dropped it -- probably on the back -- but my better, rarer versions graded quite well so I can't be angry on this one. Nines are fine.

--

ONE MORE ROOKIE CARD ...
The Card: Adley Rutschman 2021 Bowman's Best -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Just like Dominguez, this is a RC due to a checklist snafu that mixed the veterans and prospects and it comes a couple years before all those RC logos in packs this year. No biggie, but the definition is the definition ... and that's one reason why I grabbed one of these along with copies for a few other key names over the last year. Not a whole lot to say here other than I liked the prices on a few slabs and grabbed 'em to cover my RC bases on some names.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: Almost all copies of this one checked in at this mark -- typical Chrome-stock stuff -- and two even checked in at the top grade, which is crazy as, well, I think this release isn't actually the cleanest of the Chrome releases I have seen. But I'll still dabble when the price is right. This was cheaper than submitting one to grade in a bulk lot ... that's a win.

--

THAT'S A WIN TO ME
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Bowman Chrome -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I pulled this card in one of very few boxes of Bowman I ripped that year and I thought it looked solid so I popped it into a submission towards the end of the green-label era for CSG. It came back with a top mark like many -- but not all -- copies of this one, so I liked the result but that volume isn't as helpful ... though it's not quite as flooded as PSA, which as of this writing, has graded more than 2,000 copies with more than 1,400 checking in as 10s.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: The spread here isn't as 10-heavy, so that's good but no matter how well Bichette plays the prices on his slabbed RCs could be soft ... there's a boatload of copies of so much out there graded. That's good for collectors like me ... but probably not so good for flippers who have plenty of competition.

--

... MAKE THAT TWO MORE ROOKIE CARDS
The Card: Bobby Witt Jr. 2021 Bowman's Best -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Third verse same as the first (and second) ... I picked off this slab of a key name here for a good price once again with no hesitations -- not because I'm some big believer in the player, but just to cover bases and say I had one.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: Most of these checked in here, so there's not going to be a whole lot of varying prices unless holders decide to burn them off cheaper or some buyer starts picking them all off no matter the price. (I'm good with my one copy.)

--

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

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