Okay, the title of this thread is just a bit of hyperbole, but after seeing a mislabeled SGC card in the B/S/T area, I decided to search around ebay to see if I could spot any more errors by the TPG's on 1962 Topps 'green tint' variations. Well, it didn't take me long and I found a whole bunch of them, mainly in PSA holders. Before anyone asks, YES, the cards in these holders are the normal versions, not the green tints. No doubt about it.
Here is the card that started me thinking. It is an SGC mislabeling:
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PSA seems to have a particularly hard time differentiating between the 'Babe Ruth Special' cards, which is very problematic for a pair of reasons. Number one, the error versions of these cards usually sell for a decent premium, especially #139 'Babe Hits 60,' and secondly, because most of them are as simple as pie to tell from their 'normal' counterparts. For instance, 'Babe Hits 60' features blatantly lime green colored dirt and grass and the 'Greatest Sports Hero' card shows a girl with a strikingly neon green dress/skirt, not orange.
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Wally Moon, #190, is a plainly ridiculous error. His 'green tint' card is also one of the famous 'pose variations' from the set, showing the outfielder holding a bat and wearing a hat. If he's not wearing a cap, it's simply the 'normal' version, so what in heck was PSA thinking??
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Frank Baumann, #161, is one of the toughest GT's to recognize, because both versions of the card have pretty decent clarity of image (unlike almost all of the other 'green tints'), so it's hard to be tough on PSA regarding this one. However,
and that's a big however, they're supposed to be experts in the field, so they should be fully aware of the cropping differences in the two versions of this card.
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Perhaps I should contact the grading companies and forward them the 'Official Green Tints Guide' I put together.