So . . . . . on the subject of detritus in the slab . . .
Maybe 3 years ago I bid on the card below. I could tell from the auction house picture that there was something on the slab, either a stray hair or maybe a scratch on the case. Worst case, I figured, was detritus in the slab, and I thought in that event I could then send the card in for re-holdering. The card got a clean grade from PSA (as you can see) so I wasn't worried the card was actually defaced.
Well, I won the card, and when it arrived it was not detritus, but pencil scribbles on the card. (It loops around the K in MICKEY and down through the f in outfield.) I contacted PSA, sent them pictures of the scribbles and then sent the actual card in for review.
Amazingly enough, they confirmed the unqualified grade. Their reasoning was that it was "the grader's judgement" whether to qualify the card. I pushed back, saying their written policy required a qualified grade in the event a card is marked, it is not a judgement call.
Their written response, which the customer service rep said came from their "head grader" was that the pencil scribbles were "not in the nature of a mark" and that even if they were, were "not significant enough to warrant a qualified grade".
I called the CS rep to make sure I understood what she was saying and she told me she had gotten that specific language from Reza for her response.
These are the facts and only the facts. I leave it up to you to decide what is and is not a mark, because I cannot make sense of it.
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