Recent slab pickups / grading

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Last up will be the Golds, both Base Gold and a Gold Xfractor. Difficulty of Blacks to this jumps 20x where the Xfractors concerned

Gold Refractor #43/49 BGS 9.5
Gold Xfractor #06/10 BGS 9

I've seen plenty of Golds over the years, but never another Gold Xfractor

I'm going to make a separate post on the Superfractor 1/1. After 2 decades of silence, I'm going to talk about the card that has shaped the last 20 years of my collecting journey. My fellow Clemens guys will learn the why behind my desire to keep to myself was so great. Why sharing only a select few items from my million card plus PC occurred. And why I still refuse to spend one ounce of energy on negativity

 

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Probably wondering why I'm posting this Jordan instead of the 2006 Finest Superfractor Clemens I was going to discuss. Well they tie in. Couldnt locate my auction pics but super was $125+ almost 2 decades ago

This hobby is about relationships. How we make them, nurture them, keep them. How we build bridges to grow a PC. And how fragile they can be when BUSINESS becomes involved.

I was involved in a bidding war +recognized the competition. Tried during that time period to work with my fellow collectors. Help them grow their PC. Share intimate knowledge of true rarities, not just show pony pieces. Trade rare pieces to them

Thought I won. Only to discover the close friend, someone I'd trusted enough to bond and crack bread ,had created a 2nd account to hide their buy rather than just say "steer clear" . Made me realize right then I was an "expendable" asset. Business 101. They went Elon Musk on me. Extract knowledge. Extract ideas= dispose.

I went underground the next 20 yrs. Rarely told anyone any set I was working on. Kept to myself

Folks= either your an Elon Musk collector. Or a bridge builder. Decide which you want to be known as. Me ? Bridge guy. Ethics and Honesty. Rather go out as a helper. Not one minute did I spend on negative.

I can look in my mirror and know I built bridges. Still do. The Jordan? Reminded me karma works both ways. The 120 I was gonna spend on the 1/1 instead turned into this BGS 8 and 20 other Jordans. Paid for my wifes lupus treatments for 2007/2008. I'd say I made a proper choice

 

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Sad to see these go, but need space and looking to cut retirement expenses down.

Moving on to the Base Bronze #159 and Bronze Promo #159 Bagwells. Sadly sold the Gems a very long time ago. The Base 9 is a Pop 2 just 1 higher, while the Promo is a Pop 8 which I own 3 of the 8.

As many are aware the online checklists on Beckett show a B, S, or G to signify rarity levels

Bronze B = lowest level, says Common on card
Silver S= middle level, says Uncommon on card
Gold G = highest tier, says Rare on card

Further types include Embossed and Die Cut variations, with the Die Cut Embossed Refractor variations the top tier of all

Enjoy more to follow

 

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This one pissed me off. Reslabbed during 2020. Set aside and boxed. Took it out. Cheap friggin plastic, the same plastic that leaked oils on to cards and had to be redesigned and replaced - bubbled up

Top pic = looks like now
Bottom pic what I sent in

 

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Now to bring some

There are just 2 Die Cut Embossed Bronze PSA 10 in the pop report. Never been a sale before. I looked up the Silver Embossed #318 = theres 5 of those and the last sold for $288 with several sales near $400

We about to find out what the player / set collectors of Finest think of it. Gonna throw a BIN up with best offer and see where it leads. Generally on these I'll price it above what I expect reality to handle. Hate to see it go but gotta clear the space

More big boy Bagwells coming up

 

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Heres the last two, both toughies in high grade. Embossed is Pop 1, Embossed Refractor Pop 8 average sales 250-400 on both