Recent slab pickups / grading

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Couple of miscellanous cards scanned along with the 2001 FLEER TRADITION slabs I have to make inventory girl happy
Told her I have to scan new stuff , and if I can do the set they are part of at the same time I will. I value my time nowadays, and am tired of bending over backwards for a woman whose value to me is negligible ( she's not lowering the premium and doesn't make the premium decision - so yeah - little value)

I bought zero boxes of 2001 Fleer Tradition , although it looks like a cheap box I'd enjoy as I enjoy old school style designs. Info about the set is below

2001 FLEER TRADITION

Think there are 3 more base cards in this series
No autos, inserts or game used for Clemens ( thankfully). I'll slab the rest when I see them in the PC and get time
Base cards are last on my sub priorities lists

Slabbed the WS card below last 6 months- the others been slabbed over 15+ years

These three below are also newly scanned
Havent even started on the sets although the Authentix I have all the base done (Mezzanine, Box Seat and SRO)
The Messi a seller sent me a free pack for a Clemens buy I made and I pulled that base card

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Next few slabs scanned "almost" finished my 2001 Fleer Premium subset. Got one cheap base card left to slab

This set was basically a Fleer/Skybox followup to the 1999 Skybox Premium subset
Fleer meant for it to take over that series just under a new name. Lots of cool inserts and stuff in it.
I didn't buy many Fleer boxes as I was too busy with DLP stuff like Absolute to concern myself with any, so no box break memories

Info about the set is 2001 FLEER PREMIUM

Below are 3 new slabs from the last year ( the Grip and Rip Base plus both #19 variations) plus what I had already slabbed
Just got the one card left and that 7 card series is completely finished off

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Next set of scans is for the 2001 FLEER PLATINUM subset. I have just a few done but since 2 just came back will show
Have half a dozen or more inserts to submit for this series as I haven't done much BGS base / non numbered stuff the last 5 years

Info about the set is 2001 FLEER PLATINUM


Below are the two newest slabs ( #197 base and parallel) - below them is the four I've had slabbed for years
Scanned for inventory girl



RECENT
=========

OLDER
======

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

The next scan set I'm gonna get out of the way is 2001 FINEST . Love me some Finest baseball for years
This is also one of the few 2001 sub-sets I've actually completed. Granted it just 4 cards- but still
That years Ichiro and Pujols rookies just made boxes stupid priced even back then

One of these days may crack a Finest box I have in storage- maybe. Not keen on cracking those boxes
Maybe buy a new one and crack the new one
I did crack one of my stored boxes back in 2019 though as part of a Finest box run
2001 FINEST BOX BREAK

Info about the set as always 2001 FINEST BASEBALL

And the four card subset just completed. I just got back the Moments Refractor - very disappointed - musta missed something obvious
Just have to maybe get a Gem Finest Moments in the future for a Gem condition run

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Latest scans for inventory girl. Some 1990's Pacific items from random sets
Figured I'd scan since I came across them

HAPPY 4th OF JULY FOLKS !!!

Gonna spend my entire day scanning more stuff to sell and inventory as expenses are killing me with my wife out of work .Have a massive 2.4k health insurance bill due the 12th and only have slightly over half with a week to go--- sigh
I either pay the whole balance or we have our health insurance cancelled- not good
Every week when she worked they used to take it out of her checks- she hasnt worked in almost 3 months

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Five more cards scanned for inventory girl. Gonna spend tonite on sales stuff and this afternoon on inventory
The 3 slabs complete the small 2001 E-X set for Clemens. Other two are from the base 2001 Donruss Baseball's Best sub set
Have to locate my Gold versions and find a suitable copy to grade

Info about the 2001 E-X set is below

2001 E-X BASEBALL

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Next group of scans for inventory girl is the 2003 DONRUSS SIGNATURE scans
Missing quite a bit I know I have. Oh well- gotta send her what I have here

Info about the set is here. Could not locate a Beckett mag in storage with the set preview or box preview

2003 DONRUSS SIGNATURE


The limited amount of slabs I have handy are below.
My sheets show I own lots more raw , plus 4 slabs are missing as well as two autos
Nice set and some great autos but also contains some poorly thought out choices as well

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Couple more slab scans caught up. Think I am just missing the Proof # to 10 on this set
Have the rest. Just need to slab the base and done slab wise ( besides that card I don't own yet)

And can you folks see why BGS ( and PSA for that matter) piss collectors off ??
Same crap. Two cards apart and they can't spend two seconds making the cards uniform ?
Just annoys the daylights out of me and makes my blood boil

 

[jmc855]

Couple more slab scans caught up. Think I am just missing the Proof # to 10 on this set
Have the rest. Just need to slab the base and done slab wise ( besides that card I don't own yet)

And can you folks see why BGS ( and PSA for that matter) piss collectors off ??
Same crap. Two cards apart and they can't spend two seconds making the cards uniform ?
Just annoys the daylights out of me and makes my blood boil


View attachment 358109
View attachment 358110

Dial a Stats are perhaps part of the top 2 Pacific inserts IMO....

 

[jmc855]

Next group of scans for inventory girl is the 2003 DONRUSS SIGNATURE scans
Missing quite a bit I know I have. Oh well- gotta send her what I have here

Info about the set is here. Could not locate a Beckett mag in storage with the set preview or box preview

2003 DONRUSS SIGNATURE


The limited amount of slabs I have handy are below.
My sheets show I own lots more raw , plus 4 slabs are missing as well as two autos
Nice set and some great autos but also contains some poorly thought out choices as well



View attachment 358076
View attachment 358077

View attachment 358078
View attachment 358079

View attachment 358080
View attachment 358081
View attachment 358082

The Sig cuts auto is hilarious really, they disembodied him, but hes in a Jays uniform for the auto. I remain convinced those cut autos were just thrifty re use of damaged auto cards from that 98 signatures run, so all players had a random number in 03 depending on how many 98s were damaged.

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Finished scaning 8 more slabs for inventory girl that were dusty. A few more Ultras= these from 2000
Bunch of 2000 Topps Chrome cards mixed in
Little perplexed on how I can pick out gem Refractor Topps Chrome = but do so badly on the base items
Gotta figure out what I am missing on them and sub some more

I remember when I first looks at the Clear Shots I had in my PC. Thought all the backs where the numbering was were chipped. Only when I looked under a 35x magnifier did I realize the "chips" were the spacing between the "Chrome" name on front. Once I figured that out looked to find my best examples with minimal or no surface issues. Very difficult with acetate cards. As is keeping them from sublight so as not to change their chemical makeup. Did well on two recently subbed


INVENTORY
===========

NEW
====

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

A dozen more slab scans for the inventory girl done and updated.
The Diamonation was scan # 2600 for her so she better be happy. Both base and the Gold now scanned. I did the base about 3 months ago showing it again in case she missed it with the other two missing slabs. The Red just does not scan well , so I used some camera trickery to get it to show. Another 2000 MLB Showdown 1st year scanned ( showed the Unlimited off a few weeks ago)

Some 1999 slabs were also completed. Gotta say that the Metal Universe MLPD is one of the worst looking Clemens ever. Horrible design and not sure exacty what they were trying to do on that one. Doesn't look metal and a total lack of color makes it visually unappealing. A few miscellaneous slabs also knocked off for 1999

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Todays posts just gonna be a bunch of Pacific- coupla new ones ,then regurgetating priors for inventory insurance girl

Two miscellaneous scans from slabs that came back over the last year
One from 2000 Pacific Paramount and the other from 2000 Pacific Invincible
The Cooperstown Bound is the base item to the Proof # to 20 I've had for years
The Diamond Aces # to 399 is just a fancier foiled version of the base Aces card slabbed years ago



NEW IN THE LAST YEAR

PRIOR SLABBED YEARS AGO

Inventory girl plain missed when I posted the 2000 PACIFIC AURORA I had , so here they are again
I'm sending her the post link so she cannot claim I didnt send them
Last time I'm gonna post them for her- I post twice, then future requests I'm just gonna link back

The Copper is a bear to get scanned worth a crap did some phone camera trickery
Same deal with the Platinum Blue ( card # 21/67 incidentally @jmc855 )
Cannot locate my Pennant Fever Silvers to slab yet ( inventory says I own two)

 

[jmc855]

Todays posts just gonna be a bunch of Pacific- coupla new ones ,then regurgetating priors for inventory insurance girl

Two miscellaneous scans from slabs that came back over the last year
One from 2000 Pacific Paramount and the other from 2000 Pacific Invincible
The Cooperstown Bound is the base item to the Proof # to 20 I've had for years
The Diamond Aces # to 399 is just a fancier foiled version of the base Aces card slabbed years ago



NEW IN THE LAST YEAR

View attachment 358310
View attachment 358311


PRIOR SLABBED YEARS AGO

View attachment 358312
View attachment 358313




Inventory girl plain missed when I posted the 2000 PACIFIC AURORA I had , so here they are again
I'm sending her the post link so she cannot claim I didnt send them
Last time I'm gonna post them for her- I post twice, then future requests I'm just gonna link back

The Copper is a bear to get scanned worth a crap did some phone camera trickery
Same deal with the Platinum Blue ( card # 21/67 incidentally @jmc855 )
Cannot locate my Pennant Fever Silvers to slab yet ( inventory says I own two)



View attachment 358314
View attachment 358315
View attachment 358316
View attachment 358317
View attachment 358318
View attachment 358319
View attachment 358320
View attachment 358321

Cool stuff.and nice cooperstown proof.

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

I'll be venturing into some Finest slabs inventory girl wants and some were " feelers" designed to teach me how bad BGS would nail surfaces. Most people would not send stuff in if it didn't look perfect. I do to learn grading levels so I can be self taught on a series what to look for so I don't waste money down the line
I own thousands of Finest cards from the 1990's-2000's so I really wanted to sorta become proficient at them

Will start with some 1999 stuff and move back to 1998 . And 1998- BGS is harsh is all I'll say
Lotta hidden headaches with the dark colors on 1998 Mystery Finest stuff hiding small dings and flaws
I'm not shy about spending money and losing funds just to learn how NOT to lose money in the long run

Anyways- a few 1999 Finest inventory newly scanned. Don't think I'd ever scanned any Peel and Reveals over the years
All 3 Clemens Peel and Reveal examples below and a stray Dual Refractor

As you can see from head on scans that Stadium stars surface is a toughie but this one is drab and not as clear as it should be . Think I showed two prior BGS 7.5 versions. Scanned it from the side , but those planets and stars should be visible more when viewed head on like the other variations
I can see why I aced the first two variations , and of the 3 I've sent in for Stadium Stars, this ones the highest graded so far

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

More 1999 Finest scans caught up for inventory girl. Two recent returns from 2024 and one I've had forever
Plus some inventory thats not on my registry list yet because I have to work with the internal folks at Beckett to fix problems

This ones a dupe I got back in the last year will probaby trade / sell it

Here are the ones I slabbed that show Clemens name / pic on the backs. Have to locate my other items and slab them = no rush due to registry problems. For me anything with pic and name is technically a Clemens card plain and simple- whether he's front pictured or back pictured. The various years Finest have lots of dual / triple player items that fit this definition so its something I wanted for registry folks

After talking to Brian ( Mgr of Data Publishing and OPG head at Beckett) he was in agreement the players could be added to item OPG descriptions. I waited a bunch of time and slabbed them after a wait of 3 months, well after Brian was nice enough to update OPG item details. When all came back " invalid serial number" -- sigh - tells me they are not linked properly and /or a database checkmark is missing from the database tie ins. So more emails to send out, and IT to bug once again to see if it can get fixed. Slow process fixing any of this registry stuff with no dedicated IT person assigned

 

[jszczech]

Those stadium stars are really nice. My first time seeing them that I can recall. Since Puckett retired early, there were several years of cards I just never paid attention to.

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

So some 1998 Finest scans started. Out of dozens of raw I picked out a whole bunch of refractors I fet had "issues"
I know I can do good on Finest , but I wanted to see exactly how harsh some would be graded
Some had easy to spot flaws, othes hidden in darker areas. Pin drop dents, occasional surface scratches, soft corners etc etc
On these below- BGS was harsh- and I do mean harsh - on surfaces
These all had issues- which I knew they would - but gee whiz- 2 to 3 grade drops
Only 1 I felt was out of whack but that was within 1/2 pt of what I expected

Dropping in a few older 1998 slab scans since I found them in the 1999 Finest box area
I'll have to locate my Gem Pre-Production somewhere since the Mint 9 would be a dupe
Somewhere in storage is a 400 ct mini box full of refractors of not just Clemens but others

First up- the PreProduction slab back in the last year - and the front of one I should have in storage
Just gotta locate and rescan for inventory girl. I did locate my 40 Base card but not my refractor version ( yet)
The 1998 Finest should have cost someone their job design wise- god awful ugly compared to other years efforts

Somewhere in storage is this slab below of my Gem PreProduction I slabbed probably around 2005

A few of the refractors- the M11 Refractor Jose Cruz Jr / Roger Clemens and the M12 Alex Rodriguez / Roger Clemens
I've owned the Gem for 15 years or so these others were part of that recent test run

These 4 were sent in - two on one sub and two on another- over the last year
Many had hidden flaws that "escaped" my initial pass overs. I honesty spend maybe 20-30 seconds looking
These taught me if I dont want to waste money better spend at least a few minutes of time
The Near Mint 7.5 was the best of the bunch of condition issued ones
Key to these was discovering issues I didn't se in that quick look over- the hidden ding in brown areas
The centering that looked good initially , but when placed next to a better centered item showed up
Little things that wasting a few bucks on teaches me not to rush on future subs
Spent 60 on grading and "maybe" can recoup the price if I sell as is ( basically sell for slab fees)

 

[Dazed]

I got in on a friends PSA bulk submission for a couple cards. I got them back last night. I'm very happy with the outcome.

 

[2014BESTSERVICE]

Posting stuff to get an entire folders worth of stuff cleaned and gone so I can go get new scans done
Mix and match of stuff from both my Clemens and Garciaparra registries plus resales
Cleaning this scan folder out and will scan more backlog slab scans for inventory girl

This way I can move slabs back into storage this weekend and move on with the next batches
Trying to tackle whats on my backlog desk, then floor, then slab staging area
Taken me a week just to get a few slabs gone on the desk
I found some 2020 slabs ( yep- 4 years ago) buried and took care of that project
Haven't scanned them but will in the next day or so



First up is a few Pacific Nomars. Had to wait for PSA to update the Master set compositions
The top 3 are now in and done. The 2004 LL Lumberjacks Black waiting on them to approve

These are just miscellaneous slabs stuck in my scan folder
Various series I either just started scanning or were found somewhere they shouldn't be in the wrong boxes
Ayways scanned and getting put away in storage or you know where so I can move on