My Graded Cards

I'm not a huge fan of getting my cards graded by PSA, Beckett, or any other company. In fact, I have never personally chosen to get a card graded. I just never know which cards to get graded. Plus, it can be very expensive and you may not agree with the grade the card receives. 

However, over the years that I have collected cards, I have acquired 7 different graded cards. One is the 1985 Fleer Rickey Henderson shown above. The other 6 will be shown in this post. 

This was one of the first, if not the first PSA graded cards I've ever bought. I remember getting it with my dad at a card show years ago. It was a good price, and since Pedro is one of my dad's favorite players, we decided to get it. It's graded by one of the biggest companies, PSA, and received the grade of 9 which is what many cards I have received as a grade, including the next one. 

One of the first cards ever made of Ivan Rodriguez was in the 1990 Star baseball card set. This shows Pudge on the Charlotte Rangers before his rookie season in 1991. This was also acquired at a card show that shows yet another one of my dad's favorite players. As I said before, it too received the grade of 9 which is mint condition. The set isn't anything special, but to see a card of Rodriguez from before he was a rookie, and when he was just 19 years old is just plain awesome.

This card has to be my favorite out of all the graded cards I have because it's my favorite player of all-time. The card shown is the 1998 Pinnacle Performers rookie card of none other than David Ortiz. Obviously, it's great to have a card of Ortiz on the twins considering how I don't see them very often. But to also have that card be a rookie card is really cool, and it's also graded pretty high at 8.5 or near-mint/mint. Plus, the card looks really cool and is by far my favorite card of Ortiz on the Twins, and is pretty high up on my list of favorite Big Papi cards.

And while we're still talking rookies, I might as well show Randy Johnson's rookie card from 1989 Upper Deck, on the Expos no less. The card is graded mint (9) by Beckett, who does the best job grading cards as they go in-depth to point out the centering, edges, corners, and surface of the card. I appreciate how much effort Beckett puts into grading their cards, and it's also awesome to have a card of Johnson on the Expos, who were one of my favorite teams besides the Red Sox and Cubs. The powdered blue jersey looks great on Johnson and reminds me of what could have been if he stayed in Montreal.

And while we're still talking rookies, I'm going to show my only gem mint graded card. It's of Ichiro from 2001 Upper Deck Tribute to 51, yes a whole set dedicated to Ichiro in his rookie season. It's an excellent card to have graded, but considering he had a whole set of cards similar to these made, it kind of decreased the value of each individual card. Still, I really like the image and set design a lot, and it's gem mint so I don't really have any room to complain.

But the best of the best of my graded baseball cards have to be the Derek Jeter art card designed by Dan Gardner from 1994 Ted Williams set. I didn't pull this card from the box I opened a few weeks ago but rather got it through the card show (where else). The artwork on the card is fantastic and it shows the Yankees legend in the year after his debut season. I love how beautiful the card is, and the fact that it's graded makes this card, and all of the others, that much better. I'd just prefer not paying for the grading myself, but buying the card after it's graded.