If you have have been into the sports card hobby for any time at all, you have probably come across the term BGS Black Label. There are many debates and strongly held opinions about different trading card grades and the companies who do the grading. There is little debate in the card world that the highest honor in sports card grading is known as BGS Black Label
For a trading card to have any significant value, there are two boxes that must be checked. The first of those boxes is scarcity. If everyone has one, how can it have any significant value? In order for a card to be coveted and have bidding wars created, a card needs to be hard to come by. Look at all of the most valuable sports cards and the number one thing they have in common is scarcity.
The second box that needs to be checked is the card’s condition. What gives a card even more scarcity is when it is graded in the highest condition.
Take the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card for example. The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle is one of the most coveted sports cards in the world because of its scarcity. The card in any condition is very difficult to find. But a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle graded PSA 9? There are only 6 left in the world. The same card graded PSA 10? Three cards left in the world.
The estimated value of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 9 is currently about $5 Million. A PSA 10 1952 Mantle has not sold in quite some time but experts believe it is worth north of $10 Million.
When you have a card graded BGS Black Label, it checks both of these boxes. The grade itself is a stamp of approval confirming the card is in perfect condition and one of the most pristine versions of any card. The fact that it has the Black Label on the slab is going to put it in a category of its own and create scarcity for your card.
BGS Black Label Requirements
As mentioned earlier, in order for a card to achieve a grade of BGS 10 Black Label, it must receive a sub-grade of 10 in all four sub-grade categories. Just one blemish in any of the four sub-grades and a sub-grade of 9.5 or less disqualifies a card from receiving a BGS Black Label grade.
BGS 10 Pristine
A card that receives three sub-grades of 10 and just one sub-grade of 9.5 or lower would receive an overall grade of BGS 10 Pristine. This grade is still very much coveted by card collectors and enthusiasts. In fact, BGS 10 Pristine cards often hold more value than cards graded PSA 10. If you were to do a head to head comparison of BGS and PSA grades and rank them in order of value, the rankings would be as follows:
- BGS Black Label
- BGS 10 Pristine
- PSA 10
- BGS 9.5
BGS 10 Pristine and PSA 10 may be more of a 2A/2B situation but there is no denying that BGS Black Label is the top honor in trading card grading.
Centering
People who are not familiar with serious sports card collecting are hardly aware that sports cards are even graded for condition. People are generally surprised when I tell them about centering and how it affects a card’s value. Centering has to do with how the image or frame and how well it is centered on the card.
When cards are manufactured, they are printed in sheets then cut by machine into individual cards. This video shows football cards being printed, cut, and sorted at the Panini factory.
This is when the card’s centering is determined. If something causes the sheet to move in the process, multiple cards from the sheet could be off-center. Off-center could either mean the image is not centered on the sides or top/bottom. When a card’s image or borders are perfectly centered on the card, it is known as 50/50 centering.
Above, the picture shows a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan Rookie Card. This is actually a card I own. Notice the slab is graded by PSA and the grade is PSA 7(MC). The “MC” is a qualifier from PSA meaning “mis cut”. Notice how the border of the Nolan Ryan picture is right up against the edge where the card was cut while the left edge of the Jerry Koosman border has quite a bit of room to the edge of the card. Aside from the centering issue, this card is in excellent shape. Corners, edges, and surface are most likely closer to PSA 9 quality but the centering issue knocks it down to a PSA 7. Still, this is one of my favorite cards. It allows me to have a quality Nolan Ryan rookie card in my collection at a little bit of a discount.
Below is a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan RC. It is graded PSA 8 and has much better centering. From the pictures (I do not own this card), it looks like the corners are not quite as sharp as the PSA 7(MC) above but the centering is MUCH better.
While the left/right centering in the photo above is much better, it is still a bit off to the left and the top/bottom centering is clearly off on the high side, leaving a bigger margin on the bottom. I should note that an card produced before 1981 cannot be submitted for BGS Black Label grading. At this time, it would not be possible to find a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan graded BGS Black Label because of this policy.
Corners
The condition of the corners is another integral factor in a card’s condition. Any bending, fraying, or damage of any kind on the card’s corners will result in a grade of less than 10. If a card is going to be considered for BGS Black Label, it needs to come out of the pack in perfect condition and needs to be handled with extreme caution from that point forward. If the card has enough value to be submitted for grading, it should be put into a sleeve, then into a thick top loader immediately.
A card’s corners can easily bend or fray even if handled roughly or if they catch wrong when being put into a top loader.
Surface
The surface sub-grade has to do with the condition of the face of the card. The first thing to look for when considering a card’s surface condition are any scratches or flaking. Any blemish on the card’s surface would disqualify it from getting a surface sub-grade of 10.
Many cards are made with a colored foil on the surface. Refractors, Superfractors, and different color foils lend themselves to more chipping and wear over time. It can be very difficult to keep a card’s surface in perfect condition, especially if the card is not stored in a sleeve. Even if a card is put directly in a top loader with no sleeve, the card’s surface can get scratched by the top loader.
Edges
The final sub-grade is the edges of the card. Much like the corners, this just comes down to how sharp the edges of the card are. Two things need to happen for a card to get a perfect 10 sub-grade on the edges.
- A card needs to be cut perfectly and not have any fraying.
- The card needs to be cared for and stored properly with no damage done to the edges of the card.
Notable BGS Black Label Cards
1996-1997 Kobe Bryant Topps Chrome Refractor Rookie Card – BGS Black Label
A version of the 1996 Kobe Bryant Refractor Rookie made headlines when it sold for almost $1.8 Million at Goldin Auctions in March of 2021. Interesting thing about this card: The 1996-1997 Topps Chrome Refractor is not a super rare card in itself. It is a numbered card but there are enough out there to keep it from being a million dollar card.
The fact that this card received a perfect BGS Black Label grade gives it its scarcity. There are only 2 of these cards graded Black Label in the world.
By looking at the photo in the tweet from Goldin Auctions, you can see how perfectly the card is centered. The corners and edges are sharp, and the surface is clearly in great condition. This particular card is the 13th most expensive sports card ever sold.
2019 Hidden Fates SV49 Charizard GX Shiny – BGS Black Label
The trading card hobby has exploded in popularity over the last several years. Pokemon cards have not been excluded from this trend. Several Pokemon cards have fetched prices in the hundreds of thousands with one rare card even selling for $360,000.
The BGS Black Label designation gained some notoriety when a 2019 Shiny Charizard Pokemon card, graded BGS Black Label, sold on ebay for over $10,000. Like the Kobe Bryant Rookie previously mentioned, this card was not of the ultra rare variety.
Pokemon collectors have started submitting this very card to Beckett Grading Services in hopes of scoring a Black Label grade.
2018-2019 Panini Prizm Pink Ice Luka Doncic Rookie Card
This 2018 Luka Doncic Rookie Card recently sold for $30,100. To illustrate how rare and coveted the BGS Black Label designation is, here is another 2018-2019 Panini Pink Ice Prizm Luka Doncic RC that was graded PSA 10 (pictured below). The sale price: $3,500. This sale was less than 20 days apart.
PSA 10’s of this card are readily available but this BGS Black Label version of the card is likely the only one in existence.
