Hi - offered up for sale are two Mike Tyson Panini SuperSport #153, one each of the Italian and UK versions.
Both have just returned from PSA, and I was shocked by the grades of 2, as I imagine you will be as well from the images. I will thoroughly describe the cards for you, and why they're graded as they are.
I just recently opened a couple of factory sets of these SuperSport sets. The factory sets were packed with these cards (which actually are stickers) in stacks of 20-25, with each stack held together with an elastic. The corners on all of the cards remained well protected and perfectly sharp. But depending on where the card was in the stacks, the elastic often left some sort of little horizontal indentation near the center of the card. (They are very thin and fragile.) If it was at the top of the stack, the indentation was more severe, while those in the middle were much more protected. I'm calling it an indentation and not a crease, since this seems like less than a crease - it doesn't go through to the back, and is minor across the front, often only seen when held at an angle. These high-res scans don't even show anything.
These Tysons were both closer to the center of the stack, and were left in fantastic shape, with just a very very minor impression across each card. YOU DON'T EVEN SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CARD IN THE CASE, OR THE SCAN! I'M HOLDING THESE NOW AND THEY LOOK PERFECT! (Sorry, my frustration with PSA led me to discover the caps lock for a second there!
) I graded several other cards with PSA from another one of these sets a couple of years ago that all had very similar impressions, which all got about 6s (+/- 1). I totally expected the same for these Tysons - about a 6, even though they looked like 8s and 9s - and was really shocked and disappointed to see 2s for the grades. The cards look MINT - I don't understand how these would classify as just a 2 for something less than a crease.
(And also - the "Newton's Rings" effects on these new PSA holders suck. Makes the cards look wet or stained in the case, but believe me, that's not on the card. They're gorgeous! Not familiar with the issue on their new cases? Read about it
here)
Also, someone just asked me if there is a tilt to the card - THERE IS NO TILT / DIAMOND CUT. The way the gasket (is that what it's called?) inside the case is angled, the card rests at an angle. So there's definitely not a diamond cut to it - it's perfectly straight, but thanks to the PSA case, may appear to be angled a bit.
If grading didn't take months and $150 per card, I would absolutely play the crack and re-sub game with these. But it's not for me right now at those rates - so here we are, with me explaining a crazy low grade.
I'm pricing them better than a 2 typically would sell for, since I feel the appearance definitely warrants it. A less appealing 3 (Italian version) sold for $2,225 on eBay in August.
Prices (net to me):
- Italian version: $2,750
- UK version: $2,400
Want some bigger scans? Shoot me a PM with your email address and I'll send you some big hi-res scans....
Thanks for looking!
Scott