PSA “Loses” Customer’s Connor McDavid 2017 Upper Deck Buyback Autograph

The hobby media has been beating up grading companies recently, and for good reasons.  Whether its guaranteed grades based on your volume submission, to looking the other way when it comes to altered cards.  It hasn’t been a good year for graders.  Just check out all the garbage that’s been going on.  And the hole just keeps getting deeper.

I woke up this morning to see a tweet on Twitter from a Dave Guido.  In it, he talks about how a friend of his recently submitted a Connor McDavid 2017 Upper Deck Buyback Autograph to PSA for grading.  On June 19, 2019 this e-mail began to fly around:

That’s correct.  PSA openly admits to losing the card.  They offered a $499 credit on the account or a check for the same amount.  If you’re wondering why the declared value was only $499, its so his friend could take advantage of a specific grading pricing structure.  There is no excuse for losing that card.  Did they even lose it at all?  That card is worth well over $499.  For all we know PSA saw an opening to basically buy a card for $499 while fully aware that they could sell it for a lot more.  I’d like to see this footage they’re talking about.  Unfortunately, that footage will probably never see the light of day.  It’ll get locked up with the Bigfoot, UFO, Elvis, and JFK tapes.

FYI – I wouldn’t deal with any grading companies today.  If you have to, I’d suggest declaring the card’s actual value just in case they decide to pull something like this.

Card of the Day: Nolan Ryan 2013 Topps Finest – 1993 Finest Buyback Auto

Bring Back Those 90’s Inserts

The 90’s were filled with some of the nicest inserts and parallels the hobby has ever seen.  In those times, pulling a card serial numbered to 100 could easily classify as your “Pull of the Year”.  But as time went on and collectors became more interested in relics and autographs, card manufacturers lost their focus when it came to design.  Its almost as if manufacturers thought collectors would purchase anything as long as the card contained a relic or autograph.

I think it would be cool to see someone re-insert these popular 90’s cards into newer products.  Usually the answer would be to make more cards like them featuring updated players, but I don’t think that’s the answer.  Imagine flipping through a pack and pulling a rare ’93 Topps Finest Refractor.  I think it would be awesome!  Now lets kick it up a notch.  Perhaps we could put a little buyback twist to these cards.  One of the most popular sets from the 90’s are the Donruss Crusade inserts.  Player collectors go nuts over them spending immense amounts of money for something they have been searching years for.  What if a few of them were signed?  That is something I would like to see.

Which 90’s cards would you like to see re-inserted and/or made into buyback autographs?

Card of the Day: Michael Jordan 86-87 Fleer Buyback Auto

Stuck In The Wrong Place

Authentication stickers are one of the best things in the hobby because it gives you SOME comfort knowing that the autograph has been inspected.  Usually I don’t mind where a company places the sticker on a baseball, football, basketball, or hockey puck.  But when I saw this autographed buyback from 2009 Upper Deck Goudey, I had to shake my head for a moment.  Its good that Upper Deck used PSA/DNA to authenticate the autograph, but why do they need to place a sticker directly on the card?  I wonder what would happen if someone wanted to send these in for grading?  Would that sticker hurt the card’s grade, or would they leave it alone since it came from a 2009 product?  Usually PSA/DNA authenticated cards come in a slabbed holder.  But I guess this was the only choice for 2009 UD Goudey.

 

2009 UD SPx Buybacks

From Upper Deck:

North Las Vegas, NV (March 26, 2009) – Upper Deck’s 2009 SPx Baseball debuted this week and collectors have been buzzing over game-used and autograph buyback packs added to the product. Collectors can find one of these packs in each box along with four jersey cards and one autograph card, on average. With nine 20^th Anniversary cards and four Joe DiMaggio “Career Highlights” cards per box, 2009 SPx Baseball is loaded.

 

The game-used and autographed buyback cards have been purchased from hobby outlets over the last several months. Upper Deck pulled out all the stops and had Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA) slab 10 of the most limited cards in the buyback packs and they are now being offered as exchange cards. Some of those cards include the 1992 Upper Deck Ted Williams autograph card, the 2001 SP Legendary Cuts Joe DiMaggio Cut Signature card and the 2001 SPx Baseball Albert Pujols autograph rookie card, to name a few.

 

“Adding meaningful content like this is a great way for us to highlight many of the unique cards that helped make Upper Deck the leader in the sports card industry,” said Gabriel Garcia, Upper Deck’s associate brand manager for Baseball. “Collectors will also find tremendous value with each box already with the four memorabilia cards and one autograph card on average.”

 

Another addition to 2009 SPx Baseball is the return of mystery rookie autograph exchange cards. Collectors who pull these cards can find out which card they will receive by registering the cards online. Upper Deck will announce which players those cards are good for throughout the season. The first card (RR1) will be exchanged for pitcher Koji Uehara of the Baltimore Orioles, a former Rookie of the Year in Japan and two-time Sawamura Award winner for being the top starter in Japan. Uehara signed 25 of these cards in Japanese as well which should create some additional chase.

 

Start the season off right with 2009 SPx Baseball available in stores now.

 

 

 

 

Griffey Collectors, Start Your Engines

How would you like to be one of the lucky 89 people to pull one of these Ken Griffey, Jr 1989 Upper Deck buyback autographed rookie cards?  Ken Griffey, Jr is one of the most collected baseball players in the hobby and collectors go crazy over his stuff.  The first 13 cards are going to be signed in black ink, and the remaining 76 will be signed in blue.  This card reminds me of the Michael Jordan 86-87 Fleer buyback autographed rookie that you see popup for sale sometimes.  These will be inserted into packs on 2009 Upper Deck baseball.  If your a Griffey collector, prepare to dig deep in your pockets for one of these.

 

 

This Is Just Amazing

Buyback autographed cards are a really cool part of the hobby.  They give you the opportunity to have an original card (usually a rookie) autographed by the player.  I don’t know if there has ever been a better buyback card than the Michael Jordan 86-87 Fleer RC Auto #’ed/23.  You see one of these up for sale every now and then.  When they do popup for sale they usually sell well into the thousands.  In my opinion, this is one of the most influential buyback cards ever created.  Can you image if Mickey Mantle were still alive?  I wonder what a 1951 Bowman Mantle Autographed Buyback RC would sell for at auction?