Posted By:
JudgeDred (Fred)Charlie,
I think you're missing the main point here. The point is that the card is trimmed. Perhaps the intent wasn't to deceive the grading companies but the fact remains that the card doesn't come close to meeting the minimum size requirement and it has the fairly obvious visual indication of being trimmed.
Grading companies do make mistakes but this seems to be a fairly obvious error. Yes, PSA probably makes more mistakes than most because PSA probably handles more cards than most.
Who ever cut this card didn't increase the value but rather reduced the value. Therefore just like a card with a pin-hole it gets a "1".
Grading companies are beginning to provide AUTHENTIC labels for altered cards and they need to be consistent in how they treat the respective problems. If a card is trimmed it is trimmed, whether the intent was to deceive them or not.
I agree that Not all alteration is malicious and you're probably right that the majority of people handling these cards were kids with no concept of their future value.
I, for one (I don't speak for all) believe that if a company such as PSA is going to be in the business of providing a service to the collecting community then they need to be consistent in their grading and they need quality controls to ensure the process is as coherent as possible. Perhaps that's why so many people speak so negatively about grading companies.
You have it right that if you don't agree with the grade you do not have to buy the card. That probably goes with the common catch phrase of "buy the card and not the holder" and "buy what you like".
I see nothing positive about this PSA error and I couldn't spin this into something positive because it's such an obvious error.
You made some good points and yes, this is another thread about another grading error and an inaccurate item description. Perhaps the threads may seem redundant but sometimes the threads provoke thought which results in people interjecting a little bit of knowledge about different aspects of the card such as size, dimension or even the population report for the card.
All in all, it's just another thread about another bonehead error on PSAs part.
By the way, MANONTHEROCK does have some pretty decent material for auction.
Best,
Fred