I don't think they're deliberately holding back.
Most sets of that era have worse than expected centering etc. so very high grades won't always be common.
It may seem out of the ordinary, but when you think about who would be sending in commons from a very common set, they're probably very good at matching up their grading with PSA and only sending in the very best ones. With a popular card Like Henderson, anyone with a somewhat nice one will send it in hoping for a big grade. So many that aren't fantastic get graded.
If I remember correctly, the card is susceptible to tilted cuts. Or probably more accurately it was on the sheet slightly tilted so when it's cut properly the image portion is tilted in relation to the edges.
Looking at it another way
Consider the pricing. They charge more for more expensive cards, and a Henderson rookie could easily be sent in valued low with an expectation of an upcharge if it graded high.
8- 290
9- 2425
10- 125,250
8s probably fit well under one of their limits, so you'd expect if they were playing with the population, they'd do more 9s and the occasional 10 and upcharge.
Compare to a more typical card Mike Schmidt
8- 20
9-40
10- 375
All fit under a limit, so no potential for playing with the population.
With no real financial benefit to them from withholding 9s and 10s I'm not seeing why they'd do that.
I suppose long term, they might figure that having fewer of a popular card in a 10 would lead to more cards being sent in, but that's a bit of a stretch.
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