51 Bowman -Wax stains or Gum stains?
 

Is this a wax stain or gum stain?
Is this typical?
How does the grades respond to these?
I like some opinions please? or history why they are there?

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAwWDM1Nw...Vu-1K/$_12.JPG

They are very typical in early Bowman sets. They are wax stains from the sealing of the original package. Not sure about grading differences as I collect raw cards but I do know that higher grade collectors want very little if any on them.

They really don't bother me too much as long as I can still read the entire backs. I think they add character and is a throwback to why cards were printed I the first place and who they were aimed at.

Not sure how enlightening all this is but maybe it helps a bit.

Drew

Like drew said wax stains and they are typical. I would expect a card with that kind of stain would be graded no higher than a 4-5 unless it had an ST qualifier.

Ok, i was hoping for some more history, but glad to know something.
And Jesse: HAHA its a 7oc.
(thats also why some understanding how they grade these)

I don't think a card can get two qualifiers, so maybe they just gave it the OC instead. Or maybe they're not as hard on those because the wax stains are common. To me that just looked too big to still be NM.

Ask Ted Z. I'm sure he ripped those from packs:eek: