Anyone Familiar With SGC Grading?

We'll get to that question in a minute - first some PC adds. Over the past month or two I've spent a lot of time searching for, purchasing, and showcasing the Pirates gold refractors. While the gold has been flowing in and that's my top collecting priority, I'm also constantly on the hunt for black refractors as well.

Mitch Keller - 2019 Topps Update Silver Pack 1984 Topps Baseball Chrome Black Refractor  #/199

This came to me through through a recent PWE swap through TCDB. I must say, as a newcomer I'm really enjoying trading on the site. Even though I'm not a set builder, I'm a team collector, and I'm finding that it's a really great way to turn unwanted cards into wanted Pirates cards. The "cost" of acquiring this card was a Miguel Andujar base rookie, a 2018 Mike Trout base card and a few other commons. My trade partner also sent me two Bryan Reynolds rookie cards and another parallel that I'll highlight in a future post. This card would run me $5-$10 and chances are I would have eventually bought it - so this a big win.

(L) Cole Tucker - 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Black Refractor #/75

I wish someone had this available for trade too, but the black refractor on the left is my most recent eBay pickup. Two weeks ago I spotlighted the same card but that was the gold refractor (pictured right). This is the first "black and gold" combination I've acquired. 

Gerrit Cole - 2013 Topps Chrome Black Refractor #/100

On to my SGC question.

I've been keeping my eye out for this card for a while. It's been the most difficult component of the 2013 Topps Chrome black refractor Pirates team set, which consists of four other cards - Andrew McCutchen, Russell Martin, Startling Marte, and Justin Wilson. I don't own that many graded cards. Maybe 12-15 total - but all of the ones that I own are either from BGS or PSA. In fact, I'd never even heard of SGC until I saw this card, so needless to say this is the first SGC in my collection. I wasn't searching for a graded copy. In fact, if I had my pick I would prefer this card raw, but the price on the card was the same as the raw cards have gone for. So I pulled the trigger. The condition of the card isn't of terrible importance to me in this case.

I am curious, though. I see that it is "Mint" and looks to have received a grade of 9 for *something*, but also a grade of 96. Is that a scale of 1-100? If so, what's the 9 under Mint for?

Has anyone reading ever graded with SGC? Any and all advice is appreciated...

Mailday: More Cole

Last week blessed me with two awesome mailers from fellow bloggers. First off was a nice fat bubble mailer from Kerry at Cards on Cards. Despite the fact the Kerry is a supporter of one of the Bucs biggest rivals... I love reading his blog. I also have a knack for pulling Cardinals so I'm really happy to send them to a good home. I sent Kerry a nice stack of "Cards" on his wantlist and he sent me an excellent assortment in return. Some highlights:

(L) 2020 Topps Series 1 Gerrit Cole Variation SP

(R) 2019 Topps Update Gerrit Cole 1984 Insert

This year's release of Topps Flagship brought us the first (photoshopped) look at Gerrit Cole in a Yankees uniform. I hate it... like, a lot, but I'll always support the guy. 

2013 Topps Update Gerrit Cole RC

Ah, thats better. He looked so much better in black and gold. This card is Gerrit's first pro rookie card. He made his debut in June of that year so his first rookie appeared in Topps Update. I was at his debut. It was a beautiful summer night. Cole went six and two thirds and out-dueled Tim Lincecum. He helped his own cause by knocking a two-run single to deep center field in his first career at-bat. As an AL guy now, I bet he doesn't miss being in the batters box.

2015-16 NBA Hoops Great SIGnificance Jerami Grant Auto 

Switching gears to basketball - here's one of the few Syracuse alum that is having success at the NBA level. Grant played two successful years at 'Cuse and then jumped to the big leagues. He was drafted in the first round based strictly on potential, and he's panned out quite nicely. 

This is my first Jerami Grant auto so I'm super pumped to add to this to my Syracuse Alum collection. Thanks for the trade Kerry.

I also received a PWE from John at Johnny's Trading Spot. Yes - he managed to fit all of this safely and cleanly in a PWE! The top row has three of the 3D mini-cards that Kellogg's included in their products back in the 1970's and 80's. Two of them are the Candy Man - John Candelaria - and sandwiched in the middle and out of view is Manny Sanguillen. 

John also threw in three vintage steelers cards. Two greats. I don't actively collect old-school stuff so I'm always excited to have these cards show up in the mailbox. The Terry Bradshaw is my favorite, from 1978 Topps. This card was produced right in the middle of a pair of Steeler Super Bowls. A truly iconic decade for the team. 

Top it off with a nice little stack of Pirates from 2007 Topps, this was a sweet PWE. Thanks, John!

Merry Cutchmas

It's never too late for some Christmas cheer. Way back in early December, Brian at Collecting Cutch sent me a holiday gift package. Totally unannounced and unexpected. Brian's the most generous collector I've connected with, and apparently one of the most artistic. The artwork he did on above is on the top loader, not the card itself. I imagine defacing a cutch card is a cardinal sin for a Cutch super-collector.

Brian hooked me up with a wide variety of Pirates goodies. First off is the Nick Burdi Inception Autograph, Pink Parallel #/99. Also along for the ride is a Gerrit Cole Prizm RC. 

And the real gem here, my first Willie Stargell auto. It's part of the 1993 Nabisco All-Star set. I don't know much about the set but according to some light research, I see that Phi Niekro, Brooks Robinson, Don Drysdale, Catfish Hunter and Jim Palmer are also in the set, so it seems like a small set of some big time HOFers.

Brian also included some cards that I was lucky enough to win in his Save Second Base contest in October. There was a big stack of 2019 Topps Chrome Pink Parallels, as well this awesome Jose Berrios from 2018 Clearly Authentic. My infatuation with Berrios is well documented so this a sweet addition to my collection.

Thanks again Brian!

Speaking of packages, I also wanted to give a shoutout to Chris over at The Collector. I sent him Red Sox cards from his wantlist and he was nice enough to send me back a great stack of Pirates, Steelers, and Blue Jackets. I'm still very new to hockey collecting, so any CBJ cards are super appreciated. Thank you Chris!

Last week I joined a 4-Box Bowman's Best Break from Midwest Box Breaks. Theres' a hefty number of Pirates on the autograph checklist so I figured I'd spin the wheel. To acquire the Pirates in the break, the price was right. Cal Mitchell is the Pirates #6 overall prospect and #2 outfield. 20 years old, drafted in the second round in 2017. Quinn Priester is the newest Pirate, drafted 18 overall in 2019 and the #5 overall prospect in the system. I've been meaning to grab an auto of him for some time. Hopefully we'll see these guys in the show in the next 3-4 years.

Thanks for reading.