Grading Has Clouded Our Minds...

[JollyElm]

Let's call today's episode Aaron't You Glad You Bought Me???...

(These cards were randomly placed in two rows, so there is no underlying rhyme or reason to the layout. As always...no cheating!!)

This time, it's really about showing how the desire to get straight grades (versus ones with qualifiers) could cost you big-time. Presented here are six 1976 Topps #550 Hank Aaron cards. They are all very similar to each other with the obligatory slight tilt of the picture, coupled with at least one edge getting pretty close to tickling a side. Top-to-bottom centering differs a bit across the group. Each and every one of them has been graded a straight PSA 8, except for one - and only one - that is a PSA 9 OC.

Here's the math: three of the PSA 8s sold for $255 apiece, one was $240 and the other $270, for an average of $255. I happily jumped on the career-capping PSA 9 OC Aaron for a C-note, $100. Think about that. For cards that look comparably identical, one of them cost a mere 39% of the price of the others, because(?) of the 'dreaded' OC qualifier.

Given what you now know, which one of these guys deserves to be priced so cheaply when compared to the others, and why?

1976aaron550a.jpg