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 ...

FROM THE BARGAIN BIN TO ...
The Card: Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Topps Traded -- Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I picked up this at the last minute -- literally at closing time -- at a past National Sports Collectors Convention after some digging through a bargain bin where cards were literally bouncing around inside cases in a plastic tub. For just $5 this card (as a raw copy) was mine after one thing jumped out at me -- its back with all that black ink was perfectly cut and its front was super-close to centered. It's not that I needed this card, really, as I picked up about three or four sets from the 1989 JCPenney Christmas catalog -- just $12.99 apiece -- back in the day, but I found the rough back edges to be an issue when revisiting all my copies with the the stars that survived past purges. This one made it into one of my bulk grading subs earlier this year as it was past time to grade one. Yes, it's got a very slight rough spot on the front left -- some extra fuzz as it's some light cardboard -- but everything else here (especially the back) was too clean to not send it in.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: That's definitely the kind of grade I was going for here, though a lot of them seem to check in at that mark -- about 17 percent of the current population -- which seems high for the era, but, at the same time, these were released as boxed sets and not in packs so they perhaps didn't get handled as much during packaging. Plus, inner cards in the boxes got protected pretty well. I'll take it. This one has always been one of my favorite RCs for this icon ... because I could afford this one and not the other big one that many love. I have them all now, of course (I think), but I'm pretty sure few or even none of my copies from back then would grade like this one did. Not bad for a $5 find and then $10 more to grade it.

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

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