Making the Grade (Oct.): Nick Chubb & other young NFL stars, Mike Trout, old coins, Spencer Strider, old mags, WWE & 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 ... 

TWO OF A KIND ...
The Cards: Nick Chubb 2018 Panini Playoff & 2018 Panini Playoff Autographs -- Rookie Card/parallel
The Reason Graded: I bought a lot of this brand back then because it was simple in its inclusions, jammed with rookies, had a pretty simple design frame and, well, because it was cheap and widely available out in the retail wild. The textures used on the designs as you can see down low here are interesting but also a drawback as issues can blend in there, too, and the stock was perhaps a little soft when it comes to those corners and some edges. Because of that scenario, I sent in a base RC along with the autograph that I went out and previously bought raw because Chubb has been an overlooked dominator in the league. He was just four yards short of 1,000 as a rookie and has racked up four 1,000-yard seasons since with 6,447 yards and 48 TDs in 76 career games. Among all active NFL players, he was third in rushing yards before his injury trailing only the obvious big name, Derrick Henry, and then Ezekiel Elliott who is likely at a crossroads this year ... deliver or be done. Both of those guys are also two years older in terms of NFL time.
The Grades: CSG 9

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Reality Check: They both checked in at my ideal minimum here and even getting a 9.5 might be challenge based on these sparse pop numbers. I'm sure there are countless other Chubb RC scenarios slabbers look at before this one ... it's just one of my favorite Chubb debut cards. This was prepped before his injury so that's a bummer ... but I still dig this card a lot.

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

TOP OF THE TOPPER
The Card: Mike Trout 2020 Topps 1985 Topps Chrome Box-topper Gold Refractor (/50)
The Reason Graded: This was a fun find when I popped one of my box-topper packs not that long ago -- though it seems like a long time ago -- and given the interest in Chrome Gold out there and with Trout in general I figured I'd slab here. (The only stuff I have slabbed for him are RCs and an auto I pulled back in the day.) But since this is rarer and slightly rougher to find as a topper insert, I think it was necessary and I put it into a bulk sub back in the day (hence that old label).
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: I'll take a 10 ... no worries there. I do wonder if it could be a contender for a stronger 10 now that we're two generations of slabs since this one but I'm generally not a believer in re-subbing stuff for any reason.

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I KNEW IT WAS CLEAN ...
The Card: DeVonta Smith 2021 Panini Certified Mirror Blue (/75) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: I picked off this single since it's on the rarer side of things and all that blue looked nice with the shine and the Eagles green, too. When I got it in hand, it looked even better than I thought and I knew it would get slabbed at some point ... a clean and simple RC parallel for my school ties part of my slabs stash.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: It came back with the ideal mark ... not much else to say. I was surprised nobody else had slabbed one but he has a lot of RCs to choose from and, for some reason, he also seems a bit overlooked on cards despite being on the receiving end of passes from an MVP contender.

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CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP ...
The Card: Spencer Strider 2022 Topps Heritage High Number -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: Rather than fight my gut feel on my half-dozen pulls here for this card -- it's the back edges that can be issues -- I scouted the nines out there in the world and picked this one off for around the price of a hanger box and that works for me as I am fine with nines ... and this guy has been a freak on both the field (and most importantly) and my fantasy team. Despite all those Ks -- a freakish amount of them -- and being on a team with tons of home-grown talent, he's still quite cheap.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: The stats here seem right ... 10s are tough but not impossible with most checking in right here. I'm good with that. Yes, I get that this RC with its very 1973 Topps kind of photo is simple ... but in this case that's one reason I like it. There's a ton of throwback flavor here.

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SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN A SLAB
The Coin: 1943 Lincoln Cents Wheat Reverse (1909-1958) -- steel version
The Reason Bought: I was a little worried about my variety here as I haven't yet sent in any new batches of cards for grading just yet -- I was waiting for CGC to mesh its sports/non-sports into one service and that's done -- so while I waited I figured I'd grab some "other" kinds of slabs to me that are commonplace to many out there in the world. (The Numismatic Guaranty Company is the long-running coin-grading branch of the Certified Collectibles Group and if they add just one or two more niches it seems that they'll pretty much slab everything.) I briefly dabbled with coins as a kid before cards to have a coin book somewhere -- I haven't seen it in literal decades -- but one simple coin that always stuck with me was this one so when I went looking for some slabs -- I have about three or four on the tarmac for future MTGs now -- this one came to mind. What is it? It's the one year that pennies weren't made out of copper as that was being used for equipment in World War II. These aren't that rare but if they got used they did discolor (they got dark) quickly with a coating of zinc on them that would prevent rusting. What is quite rare are copper 1943s, which apparently do exist but I wouldn't go there unless graded ... and there are not many.
The Grade: NGC MS 64

Reality Check: I don't intend to amass a bunch of coin slabs -- just a few I like and then something here and there that feels nice for a combination of price and age -- but this is one of them. I dig that look that just isn't seen on the regular stuff that's been made all of my lifetime and probably most of yours. (The backs are the wheat design, which ended in 1958.) The scale is similar to comics where the top two marks just aren't happening in a lot of instances and that's seen here. For this one, the MS stands for Mint State and not a Proof, or PF, which are prepared differently. There are a lot of other codes for various aspects of graded coins and stuff like a simple cleaning are not graded but can be slabbed with that notation. (It's apparently seen to be like alteration where the devotees prefer naturally aged looks along with all those details.) I'll dabble in all directions here if I like them and cost is relative ... I'm not all that worried about what they might typically sell for. (I got this for less than a blaster box of cards, by the way.)

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RIPPING RETAIL ...
The Card: Pamela Anderson 2011 Panini Americana (retail version) Silver Proof (/100)
The Reason Graded: I was a big fan of Americana sets in the past -- at least when/if the hobby boxes dropped to reasonable prices. That didn't happen often -- I mostly dabbled with retail -- but a lot of what was in there has aged well in terms of adding value for ink ... signers that don't have much else. Anderson was not one of them -- she's got a lot of cardboard -- and when I pulled this parallel from a bulk lot of retail packs it was definitely better than a lot of the finds. (I rip almost purely for autos/mem in those ... but rarer parallels and inserts of better names are good pulls, too.) Since this was retail and it looked strong save for a bottom left corner that's fuzzy (some of that is the design texture, too, if I remember correctly) I figured I'd slab it with a couple others from this one once I found out CSG was slabbing some stuff from these under a "multi-sport" umbrella. Now that it's CGC these can be subbed with no hesitation along with other cards.
The Grade: CSG 9.5

Reality Check: This is the only one graded and it came back with a fine mark -- I was expecting around a 9 -- and even that is probably not easy with this stock being kind of a harder, perhaps chippy (at times) cardboard.

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LEGENDARY INK
The Card: Bruno Sammartino 2015 Topps Chrome WWE Gold Refractor Autographs (/10)
The Reason Graded: I landed this rarity as part of a small collection of Chrome cards long ago and finally decided it was time to slab this one no matter what. What was the issue? It has some minor surface funk from signing -- that can happen with on-card autos -- but since it's so rare and he's not got a lot of certified ink I sent it anyway. As I noted in a past Buzz Buys, he died at age 82 three years after this one arrived and the reason he doesn't have a ton of ink is that he was estranged from WWE for a long time as he felt the company had gotten away from family-friendly wrestling shows in the 1990s and beyond. In the record books, nobody comes close to his time as champion -- he held the belt continuously and was the main-event player from 1963 to 1971 and his second was from 1973-77. Only Hulk Hogan's 1,400-plus days in his 1980s prime and fellow Hall of Famer Bob Backlund come close.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Only 10 made ... not likely any others would be -- or will be -- slabbed. The parallel notation here was dropped off the slab but at the same time I'm not totally sure he signed a full rainbow of stuff for this set. At least I don't remember there being tons of these out there in the wild in any color.

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TWO TOO CHEAP TO PASS UP
The Cards: Mac Jones 2021 Score -- Rookie Cards
The Reason Bought: I found this pair for about the price it would cost to grade one -- it's not a popular option of card for many with all those pro-uni RCs out there -- but that's fine for me as these will fit right into my school ties part of my stash whether he builds upon his time with the Patriots this year or fizzles. (It happens in the NFL ... sometimes quickly.) These are simple and solid Score RCs though for a player who'll always be a star in that uni.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: This one, for some reason, didn't pop up on pop report searches. I'm sure there are more than these two. I mean there should be ...

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MAKING PROGRESS
The Cards: John Johnson 1972-73 Topps progressive proofs
The Reason Bought: I landed this lot of nine cards already graded quite a while back and they weren't that cheap but I had to have them as he's got school ties for me and this is his second-year card. These were made by Topps back in the day to gauge the ink flow for the various ink colors together and adjust the negatives if needed -- think printing plates (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) but with only one or two colors put down on the cardboard at a time. This isn't all of the possibilities but from what I have seen on some quick searches a lot of these found lots (likely sold via Topps at one notable auction decades ago) they didn't always do all combinations. These are likely (but might not be) the only ones that exist ... so I couldn't pass them up. (The only thing better in my eyes would be this for his Rookie Card.)
The Grades: SGC 6-9.5*

Reality Check: The grades here didn't matter to me but what I did find interesting is that there's a blotch on the bottom left of the regular cards -- every copy I have ever seen -- that's not seen here. I'm not totally sure if these are the cards shown in the SGC pop report for this card, but I suspect they are as these marks all match what's above save for one graded an eight, which might be somebody's regular card.

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A TOUGH GRADE ...
The Card: Cora Jade 2022 Panini NXT -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I've written about this card a few times in recent Buzz Buys pieces as I have bought plenty of this one -- mostly pocket change per card -- via bulk lots chasing what might look like a 10. But with a lot of the issues that are found here in this release and on this card in particular there may not be 10s to be found. Every copy of this one I have seen has an errant surface line-mark/scratch of some kind to the right of her shoulder about head level -- I suspect it might be from a roller or some other piece of equipment handling the sheets.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: When I saw this one pop up I was a little suspicious but figured maybe it was clean save for the mark ... so I grabbed it for less than a blaster. Meanwhile, it's the only nine and nothing higher. The mark? It's there ... and it's there on my parallels (look for them in the future soon) as well. I'm pretty sure 10s won't be happening with these.

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A BUMMER ON THIS ONE
The Card: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin 2020 Topps Finest WWE Finest Careers Red Refractors (/5)
The Reason Graded: This was a huge pull from a past blaster box of mine -- what!? -- and I knew I'd be grading this rarity no matter what as it's a tough pull, a top name and actually a scenario where I don't mind the die-cut shape.
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: If I remember correctly there might be some surface funk on the front and maybe some edge spot that were suspect here but the grade was still a surprise to me ... so maybe I missed something. I was bummed to see somebody else actually had found and slabbed one of the other four ... and beat me by a full grade, too. What?!

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THANK YOU TRISH
The Card: Trish Stratus 2001 Fleer Ultimate Diva Collection Gold -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: Not that long ago, I found a couple sets of this one -- that Gold is a parallel color -- and I pulled out some of the best names to make it into my "maybe grade" pile but at a lower priority as the soft stock, chippy gloss and rough edges (particularly the backs) here can be frustrating. Plus, unopened boxes are either stupid priced, long gone or bricked ... so keep that in mind. Golds are only found a few times per box, too. Stratus, like others, has a number of cards here and she made the cut first on a few and I actually pondered grading the whole run of her cards but this one shows why I didn't.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: I sent in three of her cards from this set and this one graded a little lower than I had hoped but it's still a solid card given the realities of these Fleer cards that are already more than 20 years old. The ones I sent were what I thought were the cleaner ones with the best chances at a 9.5 or higher and, well, this one wasn't ... and it's topped by the other graded copy out there in the wild.

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RICKEY LOVE RICKEY DEBUTS
The Mag: Rickey Henderson -- Sports Illustrated, Sept. 6, 1982, subscription edition (first cover)
The Reason Bought: This copy isn't clean but it was too cheap to pass up -- it cost me less than it would to slab one and most of that was for shipping. Why does it matter? It's his first cover and I'll dare say that these years of SI -- more than 40 years ago -- might not have been saved as much as the late-1980s and on as people collected more of everything.
The Grade: CGC 6.5 (Universal)

Reality Check: The spine damage is stronger than I would like for sure, but it was too cheap to pass up as a starter slab with only four copies that got mailed even graded right now. (I don't even own one raw.) The two not seen on the chart above are both 6.5 copies -- one being mine -- and the best ones are just a notch higher at 7.0. The newsstand version -- no mailing label -- has only been graded 10 times with only three at a 9.0 or higher (highest 9.6). And two of those 10 checked in at lower grades than mine. For some reason, there's no love for Rickey's debut ... maybe they don't realize it since this was two years after his Rookie Card.

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DEBUT IN ENEMY TERRITORY
The Card: Mookie Betts 2014 Topps Update -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: The photo here is a classic noting his place in a rivalry and his debut that came on the road in that enemy territory. He's no longer there now, of course, but he's had a monster year this year and has a World Series ring with both teams he's played for. I graded this one long ago in a bulk sub -- hence that green label -- but I figured making an MVP push it's past time to pop this one up here.
The Grade: CSG 9.5 (now 10)

Reality Check: It's not his best RC but the pop report shows it's not a bad one in the eyes of some. It's also one that looks to grade well more often than not. Works for me.

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AN INDY SLAB ...
The Card: Shotzi Blackheart 2019 Four Corners Platinum Series B
The Reason Graded: This one arrived in fans' hands while she was still in the indies and since she's self-made in terms of her character the name remains the same as what you'll find for WWE. She's a favorite of mine as a collector with all the energy and the "it" factor of personality and unique character that ultimately can transcend storyline results. This is an early card -- one of the earliest -- so I sent in one of my copies when I found out CGC was grading these.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Highest mark with two equals and none higher. Works for me. If I ever get my stash more organized and things planned out, I'll probably grade one more of this one and more of many other cards I have for her. Why? I'm a collector and she may be one of my main go-to names (if not the name) right now ... just for fun.

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A SIMPLE VARIANT
The Book: Jubilee -- X-Men Legends No. 7 (variant cover)
The Reason Bought: I'll admit this one is closer to the coin-slab grab in that I wanted to add a book here but don't have any in CGC's hands right now -- the only difference is that buy-now prices on comics are just not all that cheap as the cost of grading and the cost of shipping slabs means a pretty high floor price if you can find giveaway-style deals. Beyond the price here, this one was a throwback to one of the newer, younger X-Men characters back when I was just getting into comics except the best art back then wasn't really styled like this. Jubilee benefits from some computer-enhanced coloring here for sure but ultimately it was just a decent-looking variant for a decent price ... and it's still got a cartoon-like retro feel that I don't hate, either.
The Grade: CGC 9.8 (Universal)

Reality Check: Not a lot of copies graded here -- it's definitely a secondary title for a core team -- but since it's a variant I didn't mind.

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WON'T AVOID THE DROID
The Mag: Amy Schumer -- GQ, August 2015
The Reason Graded: I remembered this issue's big-time Star Wars spoofs on the newsstand back in the day but when I saw this at a Walmart all of the copies were so beat up I didn't bother. I merely flipped through it, read a part of the cover story and went along with the rest of my grocery run. There's a ton of Star Wars everything out there but this one with sometimes-controversial comedian and actress stuck with me ... and when I saw a sealed copy doing a deep dive on pop culture mags I thought it would make for a funny slab. After all, it's the Comedy Issue.
The Grade: CGC 9.0 (Universal)

Reality Check: This copy looked clean online and I got this one shipped securely without extra damage -- not as easy as it sounds with magazines no matter what you pay -- but when I sliced open its bag (it may have been a subscriber issue but the label isn't marked that way) a few smaller issues presented themselves. Nothing huge but enough small issues I wasn't super surprised with the 9.0 bummer. I'm glad it wasn't lower but for newer stuff I'd like 9.2/9.4 or higher. Overall for the original price -- under $10 -- I still think this slab has decent value potential ... and it's the only one graded.

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OFF THE RADAR?
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2016 Bowman Chrome Prospects
The Reason Graded: You see a boatload of Bo Bichette around here -- and you will see more to come this month -- but back when this one arrived this guy was the big deal. He's had a solid career for sure but the team hasn't yet pulled it all together to deliver on a lot of the big-cardboard expectations here. Thankfully, I didn't spend big on anything Vladdy but I did land this Chrome debut along the way and I figured I'd slab something for him beyond some of the obvious basics that I tend to often do like Heritage RCs.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: The pop here is pretty decent though not as high as it might be if this one had arrived around 2020 when it seems all RCs made their way into slabs in volume. I was bummed about a nine here but looking at the stats this one checks in where most do ... so there might be some kind of common flaw on a lot of these where it's either fine or it's not. I'm more of a Bichette fan but both could end up being big-timers once their careers are over. Both have looked very, very solid so far.

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OH, BROTHER ...
The Card: Hulk Hogan 1985 Topps WWF -- Rookie Card (in-pack definition)
The Reason Graded: I've been a wrestling dabbler forever to the point where I've opened my fair share of packs here -- but all in the years where they could be found on the cheap. The quality control was flat-out bad for Topps in 1985 -- for most releases -- but this copy looked to be the best among my dozen or so examples of this card. Funk on the photo, centering and bad stock are all potential issues here and, well, this one I really don't see those. It's not perfect but about the only issue I see jumping out at me here is the black ink on the bottom right side isn't as crisp as it should be along with top-bottom centering just being a hair off.
The Grade: CSG 8

Reality Check: I was legit not happy with an night here but if you look at the stats that's where most have checked in for any single grade and nearly all copies are here or lower ... so I shouldn't hate this one. There being just one nine is also a big sign that these are not easy grades.

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ONE SPOT TO RUIN IT ALL
The Card: David Robinson 1988-89 Spurs Police Diamond Shamrock (with tab) -- pre-rookie
The Reason Bought: This one presented itself at a nice price for a slab even though that mark is definitely lower than what I would normally entertain. Why did I grab it? Well, this one arrived the year before The Admiral arrived in packs of 1989-90 NBA Hoops as the No. 1 overall draft pick -- chew on that, people who love to argue about Rookie Cards ... it ain't -- and changed the world, getting Little Buzz to dabble more with basketball and other sports came along with that. (I was not alone.) What also is interesting is that there's nothing here damage-wise that makes this one look like a seven at first glance. It's a seriously solid copy of this card save for a corner that got bumped ... but not enough to lose any color or crease it. That's why I grabbed this lower-grade copy for a cheap price.
The Grade: PSA 7

Reality Check: The top mark just doesn't happen often here, which is interesting as these were not in packs so they got handed less. (They were in a loose polybag as a set ... so that's probably how the corner got bumped.) High-grade copies of this are quite pricey -- higher than they should be if you ask me -- but overall this isn't really that rare of a card ... but it's probably harder to find than his RC.

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SOME BASIC CHROME
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps Chrome -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I subbed this one long ago (green label) chasing a 10 ... and missed. In a scenario like this -- a top rookie and a basic card -- these days it might be (it is) safer to just either buy somebody's misses or pony up for a grade you want after some time for volume to pile up on the pop reports. And I (casually) collect this guy ...
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: CSG volume isn't normally this high for a lot of cards but that makes this miss sting a little more than it should ... hey, at least I only paid a bulk rate. This one looked very clean to me so there might be some kind of issue on the back that knocked it down.

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SOME THROWBACK FILLER
The Card: Joe Montana 1989 Score
The Reason Bought: It's football season but my stash of slabs on-hand is pretty heavy on one team -- my team -- and then MLB and WWE at the moment ... but this one? I picked this up awhile back on the cheap as part of a small bundle of slabs because back when this landmark set arrived Montana was easily among the top non-rookies to find. I needed variety here and I liked this one ... still do. This is the kind of simple card that could sell very well in one of those top marks.
The Grade: CSG 8.5

Reality Check: Look at those stats ... a 9.5 is probably not easy and almost all check in around this one with a few lower. That's just not easy grading ... and it's probably in part due to the baggy wrappers or the soft stock with all that rich, colorful ink to showcase any little flaw.

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IN DA CLUB ...
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps 582 Montgomery Club factory set -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: I went on a kick to grab a lot of the versions of this card -- not every parallel but a lot of the parallel versions here like Chrome, wall art, UK, Mini, Holiday, etc -- and this one stood out as a need as, well, I wasn't a member of The Club beyond the first year. I paid about what a retail Chrome blaster would cost to land this one -- so a little more than normal but it's a sure thing compared to the box -- since I wanted it.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I didn't check the pop report and if I had I would have probably waited with a heavy majority of the copies in PSA slabs coming in at the top mark. Over time, there may not be much of a premium for 10s when most are 10s and then the nines suffer, too. Good thing I'm just a collector and not a flipper.

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TOP-MARK MARYSE
The Card: Maryse Ouellet 2008 Topps Chrome WWE
The Reason Graded: This is not a Rookie Card but looks just like her Heritage debut -- this set just happened to arrive early the following year after the base version -- but the paper sheets of this one are weird. If you remember the set, there's a subset of cards in this one with a 1987 Topps design and those are on the same sheet as the rest of them with the basic set. If you look at her card under a loupe (as well as others) you will see some errant dots from a 1987 card beside hers if your copy is centered. That bugged me a lot along with some bad corners that are always a mess on a ton of Heritage WWE cards back then so I slabbed Chrome instead ... though, again, it's not a RC.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I didn't see any obvious flaws here and yet the 10 did surprise me a little as Chrome stock back then is definitely not as clean as it was in more recent years ... but I will take it. Always.

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MORE FUNK THAN TERRY ...
The Card: Bo Bichette 2020 Topps 582 Montgomery Club Set 2
The Reason Bought: This card is, well, ugly. Seriously. I don't even know why I grabbed it other than it's an early card in The Club that I'm not a member of and it was so cheap that there's a chance some people out there paid more for a raw copy than I did for this one.
The Grade: PSA 9

Reality Check: I wasn't surprised to see so few copies being slabbed here but I was surprised to see a couple of them lower than this ... it might be all that white cardboard showing flaws on its own.

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TOP MARK FOR LYONS, TOO
The Card: Nikkita Lyons 2022 Panini Instant WWE -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: This WWE newcomer didn't have any cardboard at the time of this one's arrival -- she did have stuff later in the other 2022 Panini WWE releases -- but since this was the first and she arrived with a lot of chatter I bit on a small bundle. Then, about a month after this one, she got hurt but continued to wrestle, got hurt more and has been on the shelf for pretty much all of this year ... but, she figures to potentially be back sometime soon, meaning that's why this one is popping up here this time.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I was happy with the grade since it's a debut card for sure but she's also been out of action so long that even that doesn't matter all that much here ... she has a decent amount of stuff to find now that WWE cards are in Year 2 for Panini and she's in there. I was surprised to see five graded and most checking in at this mark. The stock and centering on Instant stuff isn't as clean as I think it should be ... I've seen and received some rough stuff if you have grading in mind.

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A RARE PARALLEL DEBUT
The Card: Peyton Royce 2016 Topps NXT Silver parallel (/25)
The Reason Graded: Speaking of tough grading ... this set from Topps is one that has some of the skinniest stock they have ever used (think 2018 Topps MLB and other WWE stuff from around this time) and then all that dark ink here ... it makes for tougher finds if you can even find stuff from this set at all. What is it? This one was the first standalone set for NXT, which is WWE's developmental ranks, and these were sold as single-pack boxes via Topps' site with an on-card auto in every pack ... all variables that make finding stuff here a little tougher than you might think.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Royce and her IIconics teammate, Billie Kay, are both in first-year card scenarios here and this parallel is among those colors on the rarer side. Since I've collected them off and on for a long time (they've been out of WWE since 2021) I found these long ago when it was easier. I graded this one solo as I felt it was the cleanest of my stash and it didn't come back with a strong mark ... so I hadn't done any others or the obvious one to go with it. Maybe they'll pop up in some capacity in the coming months? Never say never ... they were a memorable duo.

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CLEARLY AFFORDABLE
The Card: Jonathan Taylor 2020 Panini Chronicles Playoff Momentum -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: This season isn't going to look like others on his impressive stat sheet but I found this for less than a pack where this would have been found and less than it would cost to slab one ... whichever way you want to look at it. What will happen here once he's eligible to play again? We'll see ... maybe it will be on a team with better potential.
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Like a lot of 2020 releases and rookies, this card is graded in some modest volume ... not as high as others, though, as the acetate might scare some people off. (I say that as it would for me ... surface scratches can be on there before the cards are even printed.)

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FROM LONG AGO ...
The Card: Fernando Tatis Jr. 2019 Topps Heritage High Number -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: My stash of Tatis RCs I slabbed before his hobby wheels fell off might be done with this one bringing up the rear once again. I don't hate the card -- Heritage RCs are really a go-to for me -- but all the stupid with his issues and injuries are part of a stank that probably won't go away in terms of cardboard appeal. He has had a decent 2023, though. I'd suggest he needs a reboot that would come with a change of team, but he's signed with the Padres until 2035 ... so, um, yeah. (And the last six years of that deal are $36M plus.)
The Grade: CSG 9

Reality Check: Once again, a heavily graded RC from 2019/2020 with plenty of competition here and then even meatier populations for other slabs. It's interesting that most copies check in at 10 or here ... a slight bummer as that shouldn't help prices on 10s and that will not help nines.

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