August Pick-ups.
 

Note the PSA 2.5?
I have looked and looked and see no difference between it, front or back, from the 6's I also purchased from the same seller.
I got it on the cheap, and fully realize the saying now, "Buy the card, not the slab" :D

It is better centered than the 6's but it does have a tilt. Is that what makes it a 2.5 or is there likely something there I can't see?

Either way, pretty happy with these cards and what I paid for them. :D

Tell me how this is a 5? I thought this was a steal. Won it tonight. (eBay scan).

Nice 52s!

Solid Hammer pickup, Ray!

My 7 doesn't look as nice as that, and I bet I paid more for my copy too! :mad:

Wow That Aaron !
 

..if the back is off badly enough to rate a " PSA 7 OC " or "PSA 7 MC" but the original submission had that little box " no qualifiers" checked off , then presto you're a 5 instead of a 7 Q . Soooooo , the big question is : what's the reverse look like ? Anywhere near 90-10 ?

..gorgeous card ; congrats , you got a deal.

..

Picked up this Dan Dee Mantle

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...szfpdwtjy.jpeg

Great Mick, Mike!

It looked great in the pictures, so I picked up this card to add to my pile of high graded 1972 high numbers for trade, but in hand I can't for the life of me figure out why it has a 'ST' qualifier…

Attachment 240024

There are no visible stains whatsoever. The only thing I can see is when it is tilted in the light, there is a very small amount of wax residue on the front. Something that could be wiped away in less than a tenth of a second with some panty hose. Is that the "stain" they're referring to?? I always assumed 'ST' referred to a highly visible, darkened stain that was soaked into the card itself, not something nearly invisible that could easily be eliminated. Am I wrong? Wow.

Yes, wax residue will get a ST qualifier. Nice grab.

This, my friend, is a fantastic card. Major props. My brother told me about this card, if it was the one on eBay that recently sold.

Thanks! Yes I won it via auction late last week.

Thank you Dan!

that is one DanDee pickup!

Fantastic cards, guys!

I don't get the Aaron being a PSA 5, either. Irv is right, that 5 looks nicer than his 7 (not to disparage his 7 at all; it's a nice card, too). I'm going to withhold ripping PSA mercilessly until I see the back of the card, but I really think PSA has gone off the deep end.

If I were a PSA grader, or exec, and I saw those two cards side to side, with the grades given, I'd be embarrassed. Hell, I'd be embarrassed that the first card we ever graded was a major F up, but that's just me. "Little" things like consistency, personal convictions/ethics are important to me.

And that Dan-dee Mick is gorgeous!

I hear what you are saying about PSA. I have similar thoughts, trust me, but in their defense, mine is an older slab and from what I have seen, PSA is a lot tougher than what they use to be.

What was the first card they graded?

The first card graded was the Gretzky Wagner. Even though the card was trimmed, they still gave the card an 8. I recommend reading the book, The Card

Oh, I know all about the trimmed Wagner, but I thought they were in business a while before they graded that one.

I understand that :); that's why I said "if I were a PSA grader", I'd be embarrassed. Their inconsistency is awful. What they graded a 7 not real long ago is now less appealing than what they give a 5 now.

That is a black mark on them, if you ask me. Their wild inconsistency now makes cards with older slabs less valuable.

A little bit of variance is ok, but the difference between those two cards is staggering, and completely unacceptable.

Nope. Serial # 00000001

http://www.usrarecoininvestments.com...cord_la110.jpg

There was some controversy over the Wagner back in the day, about whether it had been trimmed or not.

The owners of the card needed a way to " authenticate " it, and PSA was a fledging company that had just started up. PSA needed to make a " splash ", to get a name for themselves and what better way to do that than to grade the hottest card in the market.

For the owners , the card HAD to grade numerically. This would justify the price paid and help remove doubt about the credibility of the card.

For PSA, delivering a numerical grade to the card would be a positive for the hobby and THEMSELVES. People would be reluctant to submit cards for grading if the very first card graded, was deemed authentic or trimmed. Hence, negative news. PSA took off after the press coverage in the news and hobby industry after the very favorable grade the Wagner received.

This was a huge shot in the arm for a hobby that was on the decline.

Like it or not, this was great for the hobby and certainly PSA.

Also 5's can have very hard to see wrinkles and starts of creases. Twist the card around in the light and see if you can find any of that. I have a '55 Bowman Kaline like that - corners look NM or better. That's not something that bothers me, a 5 is a 5...but I can see where it might bother some folks.

Right in that it was the first graded card, but it's been re-holdered at least once. The 0's in the original slab had the slashes through them a la dot-matrix style. The slabs you still occasionally see like that are the oldest ones. My guess is it was probably re-holdered before Ken what's his name that owns the Diamondbacks bought it.

Two August pickups for my "nicer Cubs" project...

-John

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...ab0b857fc9.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...9773012a37.png



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Only my 2nd post-war pickup since starting to collect again like 6 years back. Love this card. Can't see why it isn't a 6.5 or so, but don't care too much about the grade. Mr. Hutchinson is from Seattle like me, and we have a world renowned cancer research institute named after him. Bought this one on a whim from the BST at a nice price. Thanks Tom!

Very pleased with this one, as I am slowly rebuilding my once complete Aaron set. The bright spots on the two corners are from the card sleeve inside the slab

Attachment 240102

Nice card. A 4.5 that looks like a 6 or better likely has some hidden wrinkle or other problem that comes out in grading under the black lights, but isn't readily noticeable otherwise. I agree with you, don't worry about the grade. I wonder how many cards in the 1980's that were honestly called NM or in that range later got stabbed as VG or something because of issues known only to the world of grading. I understand the purpose of grading, but cards like that are proof that it isn't the end-all, be-all I think. At the end of the day you can enjoy a card for it's presentation value and eye appeal over and above a technical grade.


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Neal - Great looking Aaron. Solid 7. Great pose from an under loved issue.
Good luck with your Aaron set.
RayB

Great card, Neal!

Nice Hammerin' Hank! Great card Neal.

Since this guy seems to have become the de facto 'card of the month,' I'll add the one I just got to bring me a step closer to completing the set…

Attachment 240114

I agree with that!

Like what was written above, you never know what you're going to get, or maybe your's is another one they were hoping you'd Please Submit Again?

This arrived today.
James

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...pshara2hkb.jpg

John, I'm not exactly sure how this is germane to the point I was making. It's late, so maybe I'm missing something. Or, perhaps I'm just being dense. Again, here's the comment I was responding to:

My only aim was to produce a picture of the graded card. A re-slabbed PSA maintains its original serial number.

BTW, I know what the original slabs look like. ;) I selected this particular picture for the sake of expediency. The other pictures I found of the Wagner were much larger; I didn't feel like messing with resizing code, or reducing the picture size in Photoshop, and uploading it again.

More nice cards, guys. Well done.

James, that Williams is a real beauty!

+10!

There is something about the 1957 Ted Williams that I've been taken by ever since I first saw one. Not too many cards would earn the adjective MAJESTIC, but this is one of them.

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Really nice stuff posted so far this month. Here are a few of my recent acquisitions (most bought outside of August, but I haven't posted in a while).

First, some HOF Rookies.

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...1087/Kiner.jpg

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...94/Bunning.jpg

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...0031/Carew.jpg

These two I bought ungraded and recently got back from PSA.

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim.../74%20Ryan.jpg

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...085/Baylor.jpg

Just a plain old Rod Carew IA, but this card has the special distinction of being the last card I need to finish the 1972 set. I know have 1972-1980 complete, along with picking up the 1976 SPCC set a couple years ago. I have to say the 1972 set looks good in the binder, and it's a nice and beefy set.

http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/...psoohgzziv.jpg

Nicely done. It feels great completing sets

Congrats!!!

That is one tough annoying card. Not only was the 1972 Topps Rod Carew IA card my last card for my 1972 set...it was the last card for me to complete my 1970-79 run. Here is a link to my post here about it...crazy we finished on same card...

http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=184965

Great stuff everyone. Filled a hole in my MVP composite that I am building with this.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...srhsxu1hb.jpeg

Those eBay bucks were not gonna spend themselves!

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...8-bowman-berra

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...8-bowman-kiner

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...topps-clemente

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...6-topps-koufax

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...5-topps-morgan

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...967-topps-rose

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...68-topps-bench

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...8-topps-seaver

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...1-topps-munson

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...974-topps-ryan

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...-mini-winfield

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...-topps-carlton

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...-topps-schmidt

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...68-topps-carew

Outstanding cards, esp that Carew. So hard to find like that.

You had a lot of E-Bay bucks!! :cool:

Nice postwar haul! That 67 Carew is outstanding!

Stache - I would think it's "germane" in that I was giving you some additional information on the slab you posted a picture of. I'm glad that you knew all of that already.

Thanks,
-John

I've been wanting one of these for awhile - long overdue to pick this up!

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...szav0c6hw.jpeg

That is funny! I had bought a bunch of other 72s recently, and this just happened to be the very last one to arrive.

Nice Aaron, Mike! I once owned three of those at once, now down to only one. Love that card.

I added these in recent days ....

a Sterling Sports win
Attachment 240512

was shut out on Friday at the National, so I went back Sunday looking for affordable mid grade
Attachment 240513
Attachment 240516

Mike and Neal,

Those are very nice cards!