Holy crap, nice cards, guys!
Love the rough cut on that Clemente, Patrick. Undergraded, no doubt!
Also got a kick out of Matt's commentary.
Going through some scans from my stash, not many cards are truly undergraded. Most of them have that "clutch crease" (© M@tt C1ruln1ck
), or that minor flaw that knocked them down a few grades, and deservedly so. Still, I did grab a few diamonds in the rough.
This Mantle was my "white whale" for a few years. I placed a crazy snipe to ensure victory when it showed up on eBay, and I expected to find a surface wrinkle when I received it. Surprisingly, no creases or wrinkles, no stains, etc.
Up next is the '59 Mick. Upper left and lower right corners are touched, so I wouldn't expect a NM-MT grade, but a "6" is a little conservative.
This '55 Aaron is one of those cards that you need to hold in hand to truly appreciate. A couple corner touches can't be overlooked, but the surface and gloss on this card are so fresh. The gloss practically
sparkles.
This '48 Leaf ('49 Leaf to keep Ted Z. happy
) Stan Musial could easily be 7 or 7.5 material, but admittedly there is a small edge chip along the bottom border (right below the "A" in Musial). Also, I can't claim to have landed this card for a "good deal", as I recall the ending price was well above VCP for a 6. Win some, lose some, win some and pay the piper...
Last, but not least, is a prewar entry. Lower right corner is dinged, but damn, who pissed in this grader's Cheerios? I look high n' low for a wrinkle, but couldn't find it.
