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Judge DredThat T201 Matty example is terrible. You have to wonder what the grader was actually doing at the time the card was being viewed. Perhaps it was time for a banana break.
I can almost understand the grade for the CJ card (a bit generous on the grade). One thing I've noticed about SGC grading is that they are not as strict on grading the off center material as PSA. PSA does offer qualifiers and SGC does not.
It just seems that there is so much emphasis on centering and how it impacts the grade of a card. What would happen if you were to find a carton of Piedmonts that was factory sealed. Now lets say that each of those little packages had a pristine T206 card in it. The only problem was the card cutter was a bit drunk the day he sliced them. All of the cards are 90/10 on the centering (front of card). All corners are razor sharp, all edges clean, the surface is pristine and the images are superior.
According to SGC the highest grade the card could get is an SGC40 (3). PSA says that the highest grade the card can get is a PSA3, but PSA does offer qualifiers so it could actually grade much higher (with the qualifier).
Do these "mint", straight from the package cards deserve to be graded no higher than a "3" because of the centering?