[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Ok, so a little more on the Carew (my card) after I did some more study of it over the weekend and some comparisons to other regular cut vintage Topps cards post-57 (that I know not to be trimmed).
Just as an aside, it always perplexes me when people accuse cards that they have not seen or held personally of being “trimmed” based only on an online scan. I guess you can take things proportionally and digitally measure and draw your own conclusions - but jeez. PSA may get MC or diamond cut issues wrong or at least not consistent - but rarely do they miss when parts of a card are actually missing - even with a 1 mm or less trim job.
Back to the Carew - I thought it was just tilt at first, but in looking at it further, I will agree it’s a true diamond cut side-to-side. The angle of tilt at the bottom and top is not as severe as the proportion the sides would indicate. And in measuring it up against the other cards that I referenced - things get really weird. It’s also overall WIDE side to side. The cut at the top is 2 1/2 inches or very close - how the top should be. But then at the bottom the card is too wide - maybe by 1mm or even a tad more - in comparison to at least 3 other cards that all match each other exactly. I’ve never owned any significant diamond cut card (and certainly never a PSA graded one) before - so have never paid this much attention.
For the discussion that has already occurred, I will agree that at a minimum PSA is inconsistent, and the card could be technically called miscut. They do not seem to do this on higher grade cards, although in doing my research this weekend I’ve realized my Carew may be a bit of an egregious example that should have gotten the qualifier. I’ve seen 1965 Topps cards in PSA 10 slabs with slight tilt, so as a “hot button” issue for PSA I think it can be safely said this is not one of them.
My thing now with this Carew is what to do with it. I was being sloppy and did not notice the diamond cut when I bought it. I do have another one (without this bizarre problem) for my set on the way in a PSA 6 slab. It’s slightly o/c top to bottom, but doesn’t have the wacky border proportions. Honestly though I’m intrigued by this PSA 8 and other than that issue it’s a beautiful card with a nice image and sharp corners. I may just keep it as a “variation” on my ‘72s - at least for a while. I do remember thinking in the past that this set was full of such issues - tilt at least if not diamond cut. I searched for a long time to find the ‘72 Nolan Ryan #595 without at least some tilt in mid-grade.

What would you do if you were me with this PSA 8 Carew?

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I would cross the 8 out with black sharpie and label it a 7, put it in my box and call it a day.