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1984 Topps Dan Marino

1984 Topps Dan Marino

Making the Grade (January): Dan Marino, Big Mac, Bo Bichette, Alice Eve, botched cardboard, vintage and ... El Generico?
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 ...
WORKS FOR ME
The Card: Dan Marino 1984 Topps #123 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I never really aspired to own a Dan Marino RC -- or a number of other notables from the past -- but this one presented itself on the cheaper side of things for this card (about $135) and considering how this one looks I grabbed it. Why? Go window-shopping for these cards raw -- it can be depressing to see how sloppy the printing and cutting can be for this set. (Want more proof of extreme possibilites? Click here.)
The Grade: BGS 9

Grade 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 B10 Total
Population 238 415 649 1,156 1,518 1,883 1,617 628 347 68 0 8,864
Reality Check: I knew this was a strong grade for this card but I didn't look at the pop report for this heavily graded and iconic Hall of Famer RC. Just 415 check in at a higher mark out of nearly 9,000 graded -- less than 5 percent of the total grade higher -- and this one accounts for just seven percent of the total population for this card. My card isn't perfect -- there's a minor couple of spots in the black border line above "Dan" and some very, very minor specs here and there on the edges but at a glance there are not massive differences here vs. higher grades ... other than the fact that a BGS 10 copy of this card has sold on eBay for more than $4,500. I'll take mine all day long -- and getting a nine here is tough as it is.
Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.
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This entry was posted in Baseball, Football, Movies, Non-sports, Pro Wrestling, Errors & Variations, Making the Grade, Vintage and tagged 2015 Bowman Chrome, Atlanta Braves, BGS, Boston Red Sox, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, MiLB, MLB, NFL, PSA, Star Trek, Topps, Toronto Blue Jays, WWE, Alice Eve, Bo Bichette, Cincinnati Reds, Errors & Variations, Impel, Miami Dolphins, NWA, Oakland A's, Ozzie Albies, Philadelphia Eagles, Sami Zayn, SGC, Sting, WCW, 1971 Topps, Carol Marcus, 1991 Impel WCW, 2014 Star Trek Movies trading cards, 2018 Topps Heritage Minor League, 1977 Topps, 1989 Topps Auction, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 1989 Topps Auction blank-back proof, 1984 Topps Dan Marino, 1987 Fleer Update, El Generico, 2010-13 Missouri Wrestling Revival, Gary Pettigrew, 2000 Upper Deck Ovation, Butch Hobson, Captain James T. Kirk on January 1, 2021 by BlowoutBuzz.

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