I am typically only interested in Bears football cards, so I cannot speak for other teams, but I find the new Optic to be awesome. Good pics, clean design. There are parallels I always avoid and there are, of course, too many parallels to attempt a rainbow. But I am digging this set.

I first fell for this insert when I saw a Christian Yelich from 2021 Select Baseball. I was taken aback by the artistry of the card. So, I went hunting for licensed versions in Select Football. I found that I love both the 2021 and 2022 versions of this card. Unfortunately, Justin Fields is the only Bears player to be in the set for those years. But, I absolutely love the card design for these. I feel like my pics do not do them justice. Since 2022 this insert set has left a lot to be desired.

This is the first grading order I’ve had in a while. I’ll take 2/3 as Gems every time.

I bought a PSA 9 Derrick Rose card on EBay from COMC. The card arrived and when I pulled it out of the box my jaw dropped. There were big scratches on the card inside the slab and they were not visible in the listing. COMC rejected my return request, despite clear pictures and my insistence that the scratches were on the card. I tried to continue my plea via eBay messages but they went radio silent. So, I cracked the slab open. The scratches I could see through the slab were on the card! Two issues: dismissive customer service from COMC and quality issues from PSA. They obviously sealed the slab up with foreign material in the slab and the card movement in the slab scratched it up. Either that, or someone at PSA absolutely bit it on this grade. I tend to think this has to be damage after it was slabbed. For the record, I notified PSA that I cracked the slab.

I love the action shot on this card. Caleb is truly special throwing on the move. Cannot tell the card is unlicensed.