February pick up thread

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

...If anyone doesn’t think SGC is tough on centering, I would present these cards for evidence...Oh well, I love these cards - and am happy.

Those cards look just fine.

Sadly, I believe the current crop of graders is placing a disproportionate amount of weight on centering. After all, it's the card attribute everyone can plainly see without a professional grading company's opinion.

If technical grades are primarily a result of centering, what the hell are people paying for? It used to be for identifying things that couldn't be easily seen in an online image.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Those cards look just fine.

Sadly, I believe the current crop of graders is placing a disproportionate amount of weight on centering. After all, it's the card attribute everyone can plainly see without a professional grading company's opinion.

If technical grades are primarily a result of centering, what the hell are people paying for? It used to be for identifying things that couldn't be easily seen in an online image.

Thanks. I would have to agree with you when anymore centering alone has the ability to downgrade a card by 2, even 3 full points or more. In the 80's and early 90's - centering was just one aspect of grading. Now assuming the card doesn't have a wrinkle or a crease, it's probably the single most important thing along with corners. While I can appreciate the market moving towards desiring perfectly centered cards, those that are just mild to moderately OC and don't look miscut level horrible should not be treated as harshly, IMO. It's part of how the vintage cards were made, and in this day post slabgate, a slightly OC card if anything is just further proof of authenticity. I will look for cards OC up to 70/30 side to side, and even worse than that top to bottom on a lot of vintage stars lately - simply because they are so much cheaper - even if sharp otherwise. While there are OC cards that for whatever reason bother me and I will avoid, I'm not fanatical about it like some people are. I think a lot of this has to do with growing up collecting old cards when centering wasn't even a consideration for the most part.

[Tyruscobb]

Clemente's second most aesthetically appealing card (right behind his 1956 Topps card) in my humble opinion. Hoping this is a slight upgrade to the other one that I own. I'll find out when Bobby's recent PSA group submission returns in August 2023.