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 a mix of some new, some old and some football since that season is winding down fast.

NOW'S THE TIME TO BUY ...
The Card: Gleyber Torres 2018 Topps Heritage High Number #603 -- Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: I grabbed this one some time ago because it was on the cheaper side of things and a key Rookie Card in a key release. I own a bunch of these raw but landed this for literally less than it likely would have cost me to grade one (at least if I wanted to get it back in hand this year). The cost? Just $10. So, why do I have this one batting lead-off? A reminder that now is the time to be buying up younger baseball guys ... not when there's hype from spring training (even if that might be delayed).
The Grade: BGS 9

Reality Check: I'm fine with nines and I didn't check the pop report when grabbing this one, which checks in under the most-commonly landed grade. No biggie ... I'm sure the 9.5s that don't always look obviously better cost a lot more than what I paid. There are no sub-grades here, but it seems pretty obvious that the centering is slightly off on this copy but everything else looks pretty good.

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

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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 ...

EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY!
The Cards: 2008 Upper Deck Semi-Pro #1 Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell), #2 Ed Monix (Woody Harrelson), #3 Clarence “Coffee Black” Withers (Andre Benjamin)
The Reason Graded: I'm a sucker for sports cards with movie tie-ins (Or is it movie cards with sports tie-ins?) and this is a set I picked up long, long ago and then revisited again recently. The set is simple -- just these three cards that were released in a pack around a piece of wrapped gum in advance of this comedy's arrival. They weren't rare back then but they have dried up a bit now, and I always wanted to slab a set but knew that there would be challenges here if you want elite grades.
The Grades: BGS 9

Reality Check: This was my best trio out of a handful of sets I own and I'm fine with a matching set of BGS 9s as there can be centering issues galore here along with corner lifts on the soft stock, surface warping and even color blotches among those white borders on these highly glossed cards. These were my best options so I sent them in for the tougher grading company in my mind and got about what I had expected (while actually potentially fearing worse). As for the pop report, I'm not sure what's up here as all three of my cards actually show a pop of zero. That's perhaps because I'm the first or among the first to submit these, so they're not all linked up correctly in the BGS system. Or perhaps that whole is "It a sports card or non-sports card?" question in there, too.

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

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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 mix of new slabs and some recent pick-ups.

BIG RETAIL PULL NOW VS. THEN
The Card: Christian McCaffrey 2017 Crown Royale Platinum #88 (/49) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: With the NFL season (perhaps) finally coming, I'll let this guy kick things off since it's a rarer card and one that I figured would grade well but did have some fears about with one of the back corners showing some funk. I pulled this one from a mega box (or whatever it was called for this one) while sitting in a snowy Walmart parking lot back in the day only to be bummed that my autograph guaranteed in the box wasn't there ... it was Panini Rewards points. I was more hung up on that than appreciating this card back then, but he's been a playmaker in the league -- so much so I actually got rid of my Donruss and Optic RCs of him without getting them graded. Instead I decided to slab this one.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: It graded better than I had expected -- I was thinking probably a 9 but optimistically a 9.5 -- and I consider this one a win. It's razor-sharp and clean except for that one corner and on the back it may not hurt as much. Either way, I'm good with this one. Only 12 total cards of McCaffrey from this release have been graded and this is the only for this parallel. There have been nine copies of his standard RC graded and only four cards overall equal this one with nothing higher.

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

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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 ... and this time it's still a few more past pick-ups than usual as my pre-COVID grading submissions are delayed and still in graders' hands.

GOOD AS GOLD?
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Update Gold #US1 (/2,019) -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: This one looked razor-sharp when I pulled it -- and that wasn't always the easiest thing with the corners for cards in this release. While I might want to slab a few key RCs in this one, I wouldn't unless I think that the corners could be decent enough to get a 9.5 or better. Why? Because a lot of people are grading stuff here so you can let them take the chance at stuff coming back surprisingly low. Meanwhile, because of those corner issues (tight wrappers or chippy stock) a high-grade card is seemingly just not easy in this one -- and Gold parallels can be problematic at times, too,  though they were cleaner here than other past years.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: This card checked in where I had hoped but I'm definitely not alone as nearly all of the cards graded checked in as 9.5s. While the grade is a win, the pop report is a bit of a bummer. Long-term that might not matter as the demand will be there if he lives up to the expectations.

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

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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 ... and this time it's a few fresh slabs and a few more past pick-ups than usual as my pre-COVID grading submissions are delayed and still in graders' hands.

OH, OH DOMINO ...
The Card: Zazie Beetz 2019 Goodwin Champions Autographs
The Reason Graded: Goodwin Champions is always full of interesting and different autographs -- many super-affordable ones, too, though the years -- but this is not one of the dirt-cheap sigs that has some obscure sport's star on it. Instead, this is of the celeb variety in the brand as Beetz might be best known for her roles in Deadpool 2 (where I know her), Atlanta or Joker. Domino in the movies is different than Domino in the books, but I think it worked so this auto was firmly on my want list when I first saw she was a signer. She's got almost 40 different cards in this release, which is the home of her only certified autographs so far.
The Grade: BGS 10/10

Reality Check: This was a nice surprise to me as paper-stock autos can always have minor problems -- especially with on-card autos. This was not a pull of mine -- in fact, it was in a previous Buzz Buys item as seen here -- so I was a little surprised but I also knew it looked grading worthy with scrutiny so I opted for BGS. I was also surprised to see that it's the only one graded, but there are other versions. Three of her inscribed cards have been graded with nothing higher than a 9.5. Even more interesting? This is just one of four 10s out of 40 cards graded from this particular set for all signers.

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

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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 BIG WIN
The Card: Patrick Mahomes 2017 Donruss Optic #177 Rookie Card
The Reason Graded: I came real close to letting this one go raw, but late in the season I pulled it out of my "to-go box" and put it in the "slab-it stack" figuring I might get a little more out of it if I did let it go ... then they won it all. Needless to say now, that would definitely be the case for this key RC of the Super Bowl champ and new hobby go-to for many.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I didn't expect a 9.5 and that's a mark that's getting this card up close to $500 on eBay right now -- a surprise to me as I just don't watch NFL card values as much as I probably should. I only have this one but I ripped plenty back then since 2017 NFL stuff was so plentiful (back then) I'd buy and rip some boxes heavily almost by default. Those boxes are scorchers now thanks to all of the possibilities for this guy and other key rookies that year. Most copies of this card check in at this mark ... but that's clearly not scaring people off here.

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

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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 ...

BIG BAT LEADING OFF ...
The Card: Fernando Tatis Jr. 2019 Topps Chrome Gold Refractors #203 (/50) -- RC parallel
The Reason Graded: Buzz found this rarity of a top RC in the absolute same box as the card that batted lead-off here last month -- and when that one graded really well I knew that this one would end up in a slab, too. Easily one of the best boxes I've seen for any non-premium product in years of collecting. I figured they needed to be slabbed together and matching grades would be cool, too.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: A matching pair is what we ended up with here -- and this also reinforces the fact that this was one of the best boxes I've ever seen. I was a little surprised to see only six copies of this card graded, but they're all at least a 9.5 with only one topping this mark. Meanwhile, 14 of them have been graded by PSA -- five 10s -- so perhaps some of Tatis' big-spending fans are also PSA fans, too. (Looking at you, Phil Hughes.)

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

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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 ...

BIG-TIME PULL
The Card: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2019 Topps Chrome Orange Refractors #201 (/25) Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Graded: This one came out of one of the best Topps Chrome boxes I've ever seen -- in fact, it might have been one of the best non-high-end boxes I've ever seen for any brand -- and I knew instantly that the two big cards from it would end up slabbed. This one is up first and I actually had it graded awhile back but held it a little closer to baseball season -- and we're here. This guy could be set for a big season after a rookie campaign that was closely watched but perhaps not as lofty as was expected. With so few copies of this one made, I figured it was a no-brainer no matter how he fares this season.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I was glad to see this grade, and it turns out that two of the three that were slabbed were graded on the same day -- I just missed out on "first-graded" status. The Series 2 short-print (which looks just like this) is probably going to be the long-term iconic card for Guerrero, but rare Chromes like this one figure to be very strong, too, even if in a lesser grade. Interestingly only four copies have been graded by PSA -- three 10s and one PSA 9.

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

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Collecting game-used memorabilia is dramatically different in the vintage years vs. today in many ways -- styles, materials, documentation, amount of use and, most importantly, availability.

For some sports, it's still definitely out there and available regularly -- you just have to flip through a modern auction catalog to see gamers from plenty of MLB legends, NFL stars, NHL notables and NBA greats. However, that volume dramatically changes from sport to sport and from era to era. Vintage NBA? It's just not as plentiful -- and I'm no expert here for this sport, just a casual collector who does homework -- and sometimes you have to bite the bullet and grab an item if it presents itself. Why? Because you never know if you'll ever see anything like it ever again ... even if you can't 110-percent know that it's legit. (You just have to do your homework and do it if you're confident in the piece.)

That happened to me recently with one vintage-era item from the player you see above, John Johnson. I added a piece with a few features that checked out and I believe my new addition very likely to be legit --- but I'll never know for sure.

You can keep reading to see the details ... and see this month's item.

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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 ...

The Card: Dak Prescott 2016 Donruss #362 Rookie Card
The Reason Bought: It takes a pretty good deal for one of my buys to lead off here instead of one of my newly submitted grades, but this one was just that. This is one of those cards that is relatively available if you want to chase one down and slab it for some fun or profit. My cost? About $22, which might seem high generally speaking but isn't for its grade -- this was about half the price of the other cards in the same grade where I was looking at the time. They are even higher now.
The Grade: BGS 10

Reality Check: This one is just a half-grade away from a perfect BGS Black slab and the percentage of cards to get this mark is pretty low vs. the overall total. That's what surprised me here more and prompted the pick-up. It's a relatively heavily graded card, too, which you'd think would have resulted in more 10s. (Paper stock can be more pesky than Optic stuff when it comes to grading, though.)

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

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We're just a week and a weekend away from the biggest game of the NFL season but it's already here on Panini America cardboard.

It's the Super Bowl LIII team sets for the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams and they're both available for just the next seven days or so thanks to Panini Instant, the company's real-time card platform.

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