Grading thoughts on this Ryan?

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by chalupacollects

I think it pulls a six.. so many of this card off center... Corners still good, back is centered and only one tiny fisheye on the front... I say send it in!

I will buy graded online if I cannot physically inspect a card first, but this is an LCS pickup. No plans to send it in - I looked it over very carefully before I bought it and was satisfied with authenticity, and my own evaluation of the condition. I would be curious to see what SGC would give it, I will admit - but as a historically impatient collector, the thought of dropping it in the mail even with a quick service and paying maybe $100 to get it graded is just sour for me. I'd rather have the card I can look at every day.

[Promethius88]

I agree that the top looks wavy....but could be the pic. I had one that looked almost exactly like that card a few years back and had to sell it raw. Sent it in twice. First time came back evidence of trimming(??) then the second time it was not slabbed as it was deemed miscut. It was a tad oversized. After I got it back the second time, I gently stood the card on the top edge, on a flat surface. It was then very easy to see that it was miscut. Regardless, it is a beautiful card and I hope you can get it in a slab. Good luck!

[JTysver]

Looks like a 5.5

[jchcollins]

Thanks again all. I don't plan to slab it. At least EX seems to be the consensus, which suits me just fine. It is a pretty card.

[Yastrzemski Sports]

My biggest concern would be the lower left corner. It looks slightly rounded and definitely white. Top left corner has an issue also. But all around very nice.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

My biggest concern would be the lower left corner. It looks slightly rounded and definitely white. Top left corner has an issue also. But all around very nice.

Yeah the lower left is definitely the detractor. It's dinged, but I've seen 5's in both PSA and SGC slabs where 2 or more corners were dinged like that. To me this is why 5 is a subjective grade, because the consensus even among TPG's is that the corners can be "worn" or "starting to round" but are still more or less square looking to the naked eye. Lot of room left for subjectivity in all that...

[jchcollins]

Update on the "waviness" issue to the top, I think I figured it out:

Just to be sure again, I took the card out and measured it. A perfect 2.5 by 3.5 all the way around. Then I looked at it vertical. The card was printed with an ever-so-slight tilt - which due to the horizontal orientation is not really noticeable at first glance. But if you hold it vertically for awhile, you can see that the Koosman side is just barely higher than the Ryan side, and that on the right border, there is a slight amount of tilt which results in a thinner top border and thicker bottom. I think this explains the wave appearance if you look close at the top right where it doesn't appear to be perfectly even. The left side on the top is going to be slightly thinner than the right.

I'm satisfied. And still think at least an EX card - I have seen other issues with way worse tilt prevalent throughout ('73 Topps is a good example...) that still grade in that range. Tilt alone can be controversial, because it is sometimes seen even on PSA 10's. Checkout the Kendrick '52 Mantle...