When PSA says only trading card how do you know the autographed card is genuine

[Clydewally]

I have been buying some autographed rookie cards authenticated by PSA. In some cases, it indicates the year and number of the card, but in many it just says "trading card". Sometimes I will see these trading card designations treated as reprints by the sellers. More often not. In many cases, there is nothing about the card itself that indicates it is a reprint (at least to me), though some are labelled as such by the manufacturer.

My guess is that unless PSA is paid extra to say something about the card, they do not and "trading card" does not automatically mean reprint.

But if I am right, how do you tell which is the rookie card and which is a reprint?

Any tips appreciated and happy New Year to all.

Ken

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Clydewally

But if I am right, how do you tell which is the rookie card and which is a reprint?

Frankly, you're going to have to do what we all did before so many people stopped caring to learn on their own, instead choosing to blindly follow whatever opinion a TPA issued: do your own research. If you don't feel you possess that knowledge, confer with those whom you trust. If that's not an option or you still don't feel comfortable, simply do not buy the item(s) in question.

One major eBay seller sold a couple of autographed reprint Pete Rose RCs. Of course, they decided to list them as "1963 Topps". They were PSA slabbed as "Trading Card"--no mention of reprint, yet that is obviously exactly what they were. They were listed as auctions, and people ignorantly bought into it. They sold for four figures. While it was definitely wrong of the seller to list in such a way in the first place, I have a difficult time feeling bad for buyers who spend that kind of money without possessing an iota of knowledge. Know a little bit about what you're getting into before throwing that kind of money around.

[CardPadre]

I think at some point PSA realized that using “trading card” for both fake and real cards was a mistake and I think they now try and put Reprint Card when that’s the case. But obviously both are out there and like was said above, you have to learn to spot the differences the best you can. At least ask the seller so you have a record of what they represent it as.




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[jimq16415]

I always get "trading card" when I send cards in on a group sub. They don't look at the cards at all, only the sig. I sent a reprint in on a regular order and it came back "reprint card".

[chaddurbin]

psa/dna has gone through a few iterations with these signed flips. the original blue flip had the year/card designation. i believe these cards had a cursory look just to double check on the year/issue to match the order, but certainly it wasn't guaranteed. you would see some valuable cards in these slabs because back then they weren't as valuable!

then they went to the blue "trading card" flip where it was actually written only the signature goes through the authentication process and not the card. here you start to see less of the more valuable/older rookies, and more of the post-1990 mass-produced rookies.

then to keep everything uniformed, psa/dna adopted the red "trading card" flip to match with the red psa style a couple years ago. with these flips you should not see any card of value ($100+?).

[mikecala98]

I have signed 1954 Bowman cards that I’d love slabbed but not if they say trading card. I think you have to pay double for them to grade and state the card itself and authenticate and grade the auto.

[Clydewally]

Thanks all