#1 Fernando Valenzuela

Here it is...  1981 Topps Traded Fernando Valenzuela.  1981 Topps is pretty hard to come by in PSA 10 form.  Only 15% of the 37,000+ cards from this set have been graded as a 10.  I have had this card for about 5 years now.  When I came across this card on ebay I had to have it no matter the cost.  It was the only PSA 10 that existed at that time.  Since then one other has been graded PSA 10.  There have been 74 Valenzuelas submitted for grading.

I paid for the card with paypal, and had the seller pay for extra insurance.  This card was that important.  One week, two weeks went by and no card.  Seller said he sent it and gave me confirmation numbers. Another week went by, post office said they could not help me.  Another week, they told me to forget it.  It was lost.  Another month went by.  Still no card.  I was devastated, and had the seller go back and file a claim to get my money back.  How could the only PSA 10 in existence be lost?  Who had it?  Did they even know what they had?  The very next day, the mailman at my work came up to my desk with a package to sign.  It was a little bubble envelope addressed to me and there it was.  Fernie.  I was so excited that he was finally home. 

So why did I have to have this card so bad?  Because there were no PSA 10's of the regular Topps edition Which Fernando shared with Scioscia and the great Jack Perconte.  There still are no PSA 10's.  608 of these have been submitted with none good enough to be a 10!  You can see below that the centering is not perfect and is probably the only thing holding this back from perfection.  I hope the first 10 for that card will not be as difficult for me to buy someday.