Old vs. New Condition Standards

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I have been collecting and dealing (off and on) since the 70s. I don't think there has been so much a change in standards as (a) a hyping of "high" grades, (b) a growing spread in price between near mint and up and everything else, and (c) a general seriousness that was never present in the old days, which comes with the vast sums being paid for the cards.

I watched the rise of slabbing with particular interest. From an economic standpoint, the rise of grading put a huge burst of new money into the cards by making it possible to make a killing on old inventory, at least until the price guides caught up. The idea was to spend $15 or so to add hundreds in perceived value to the card. In my first graded card deal, I bought a lot of 1952 Topps cards for $177, had all of them graded, and sold one for $500, all within a few weeks. I did this over and over with existing inventory and new acquisitions.

This economic burst also explains the constant upward movement of the "desirable" grade from near mint to near mint-mint to mint. For what, 20 years, the standard major collecting grades were nm-ex-vg. The, we get grading and this new nm-mt grade (the "8") is the gold standard. Now it is the 9 and 10. I see the shift to the "9" as resulting from the number of 7 and 8 cards that came out of the woodworks. It just wasn't exclusive enough for the auction houses to hype, so they found a new tool. It is stupid, of course, which is why I have sold almost all of my 8 and 9 cards over the years. I'd rather have 5 sevens than 1 nine.

I have always held to the same relative standards:

mint: does not exist. silly to discuss.

Near mint - mint: looks pack fresh and unflawed at first glance but has a little something wrong that you have to look for.

near mint: not unflawed, pack fresh, reasonably sharp, clean and without big flaws. Mild O/C is ok, as are minor print spots. no creases, no bad corner dings.

ex-mt: discernable mild wear on first glance, no creases, no major flaws.

ex: no creases, corners mildly rounded, mild wear

vg-ex: sharp with a hairline crease, or rounded corners with no creases. mild to moderate wear, depending on the other conditions.

vg: honest wear--creased, corners worn, etc.

g: abused but not wrecked. Rounded corners, a major crease, moderate to heavy wear.

f: card intact but has major flaws: heavy creases. stains, etc.

p: filler. parts missing.

Now for my pet peeves:

any crease at all, whether you call it a wrinkle, or whatever, is vg-ex at best. Period

any stain or writing is vg at best. Period.

any crease that breaks the card's color drops it to vg at best. Period.

Any centering worse than 25:75 cannot be better than ex-mt, and it better be a screamer for it to be ex-mt.

a perfect card with 65:35 centering one way is near mint.