1997 98 99 Tiger Woods GSV Grand Slam Ventures Masters

There are a few issues at work here and the grading gepanies haven't made it any easier for the collectors.
First the background on the Grand Slam Ventures (GSV) Champions of Golf, The Masters Collection, Tiger Woods extended rookie card: the initial batch of these cards (w/ Tiger) were issued by Grand Slam Ventures (no longer in business) in 1997 in the famous Black Boxes. These cards were additionally issued that year for Titleist in what was referred to as the "Tiffany" set, Titleist gave these out via a promotion when people purchased Titleist golf balls. As a quick reference - these Titleist sets were tightly wrapped and as such produced some of the higher graded cards from this collection. The black boxed sets were simply large boxes that held a small deck of cards which were loosely packaged and tended to get damaged during transit. In 1998 GSV reissued the same deck of cards in Gold Boxes, these were actually the black boxes that were sleeved with agold cover with the 1998 winners' card sandwiched between the sleeve cover and the box. In essence, the 1998 Tiger Woods card is the EXACT same as 1997 GSV rookie card in all respects. THE TITLEIST SETS: Titleist also issed GSV cards, in similar packaging, during various years prior to 1997, but those sets, of course, didn't include the Tiger Woods card because he hadn't won the Masters until 1997. You can verify that the set is from a particular year by reading the back of the original sealed pack. There is a cardboard backer, which also helped to protect these cards, that will list the years which that particular set covers. If that year isn't 1997 or later then it DOES NOT include the Tiger Woods card. There are sellers that will only show the front of the package and insist that it's a 1997 set, but if they do not verfiy the date they may, at best, unknowingly selling you the wrong item, so always verify the date on the back.SIDE NOTE: GSV also issued poster versions ofthese cardsin limited quantities in 1997 (ends with the famous pose of Tiger), in 1998 (ends with the 1998 winner Mark O'Meara), and 1999 (Jose Maria Olazabal). These 1997 and 1998 posters were manufactured from the same stock thickness as the individual cards issued in those years. There were initial problems with grading because individuals would carefully cut out the Tiger cards and send them in for grading. These cut cards had great edges and corners so they typically received high overall grades. The graders later started checking for hand cut edges, as opposed to machine cut edges, to make an effort to not grade the poster cut-out card. Posters were also sold in 1999 (ends with Jose Maria Olazabal) but were made of thinner stock and slightly different colors. Overall the 1997 is the rarest of the posters and is very difficult to find. Be careful when you see these posters on sale because a lot of people will make it seem you are getting a 1997 poster as opposed to the cheap 1999 poster. Simply check the last image on the poster and you can tell what year it was issued.
Given this information, the two largest grading gepanies, PSA / BGS, labeled their slabs of the Tiger Woods GSV cards with a 1997-1998 designation, or 1998 only for either year card. There are further designations into gold foil and gold ink but that'll have to be another guide. Problems arised with the introduction of the 1999 GSV Tiger Woods card, the grading gepanies are aware of the difference in thickness from the 1997 version but have decided to label the slab 1997-1999. How does this make sense when they know it's a 1999 card? Who knows. The fact is the 1997 and 1998 cards were exactly the same so the 1997-1998 designation is appropriate, but the 1999 version IS different and should NOT be labeled 1997-1999. All this has done is simply add to the confusion and allows some unscrupulous sellers to market the worthless 1999 version asthe rare1997 rookie card. These sellers also blur the dates in their pictures enough so you can't readily tell the slab indicates 1997-1999. Other sellers have labeled their titles/headings to state 1997 only and then they throw in the 1999 reference hidden, sometimes, in the middle of their description.
In the end be careful buying any of the 1997 GSV cards unless you've fully read the text in the auction description and looked at any pictures to clearly identify you are bidding on the 1997-1998 version and not the cheap 1999 card. Be even more careful buying them individually because you won't know if it's a 1999 until after you try to get it graded.To all readers of my guides, if you do find any of this information useful a "YES" vote at the bottom is always appreciated. If you don't, you can send me an email and tell me what would help to make this a better guide. I'm sure some sellers will find this information offensive and leave me a negative review but it is intended to only edcuate the buyer and not offend the seller.
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