[jchcollins]

I generally prefer slightly OC top to bottom, but also care way more about how bad the OC problem is over and above what the direction of the problem is. I can usually live with 70/30 one way, cards worse than about 85/15 usually tend to bug me, though I will say in cases of really "bad" off-centering - it usually depends on the individual card. For example because of the way the borders were designed - some '53 Topps cards can be waaaay OC and not bother me at all. But for a set with background contrast and white borders where the centering is going to be very obvious (most '57 Topps cards, for example) that doesn't work.

I will say that I still kind of look at the sudden explosion of "centering as the number one condition criteria" only in the 21st century as kind of humorous. Sure, centering is important - bad centering beyond a certain point can totally destroy the eye appeal of a card - but to me it's still just one aspect of condition and grading. I'd much rather have a mildly OC card with perfect color and registration than a perfectly centered one that is slightly faded or has print problems. I will admit about a decade or so ago I kind of hopped on the centering train as it were, and was very picky for a period of time. Then at one point I had two different copies of a '73 Schmidt which matched what I just said. Comparing them side by side to me it was a no brainer which dupe to sell - I sold the better centered one that had worse color and slight print snow, and kept the slightly OC one that to me looked better. The cards were raw, but both arguably in the EX-MT range.