Are PSA qualifiers really that terrible?

[vargha]

Terrible in what sense? If you are talking about purchasing with the idea of making a nice profit on resale down the road, then it is definitely not good. Centering is the most common qualifier and is the kiss of death on value, especially in post-war cards. Pre-war is another issue altogether, where on certain issues of candy and ice cream cards, centering is all over the place and is not typically as big of a concern. But when the market offers large quantities of better looking cards, whether it is is T206 or 1955 Topps, the price will suffer on those cards that have qualifiers. The bottom line is to collect what you like and can afford. I never realized how off-center so many of the cards I bought as a kid in gum packs actually were until the advent of grading as an adult.

[Touch'EmAll]

A dealer friend who was on this PSA thing back at its infancy said the qualifiers were, "The kiss of death."

There are rare exceptions to the rule.

[wonkaticket]

They don't really bother me all that much. And sometimes the qualifers make no sense...case in point is the Mullin really any more OC than the Pelty card below...




And if you collect oddballs then cards like the Maloney with two backs get the MC.



You can still find nice centered or great looking cards due to some graders day of judgement or previous night of drinking in some cases.




Cheers,

John

[Jay Wolt]

John the T206 Mullin & Pelty are similar except for the condition.
A Mint PSA-9 has a smaller tolerance for cards being off center then lower graded ones.


Vargha, good to see you on here, its been awhile

[teetwoohsix]

I'd like them to do away with the "qualifier" , especially because, like Wonka said, they make no sense sometimes. No consistency at all. How is that Mullin OC? Look at these two cards, no OC qualifiers but wouldn't they "qualify"? Just grade accordingly...........

[bosoxphan]

The oc qualifier isnt the same across all grades. For example the centering has to be 65/35 or better in a PSA 9 card but only has to be 80/20 or better for a PSA 6 card. Hence why you'll see a PSA 9 and a PSA 6 or 7 with similar centering but the 9 has an oc qualifier and the 6 or 7 doesnt.

[leaflover]

If it wasn't for the "Kiss of Death" I would not be able to have these 3 cards as part of my collection.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by bosoxphan

The oc qualifier isnt the same across all grades. For example the centering has to be 65/35 or better in a PSA 9 card but only has to be 80/20 or better for a PSA 6 card. Hence why you'll see a PSA 9 and a PSA 6 or 7 with similar centering but the 9 has an oc qualifier and the 6 or 7 doesnt.

Exactly. Basically that 9oc without the qualifier would be a 7 or worse(keep in mind the "or worse") because of the centering. Basically the centering would drag it down that far despite every other factor displaying MINT. Had that card not received the qualifier, I would suspect that if the centering fell into the 7 window, it would probably come back as a 7.5 because all other aspects were so high. Apply the half grade for whatever grade the centering would fall into.

For those with registries, I'd suggest checking your OC cards to see how low they would fall unqualified. You may get a half point back, rather than take the automatic 2 point hit.

This is all just in theory though. I don't know how PSA would actually handle this.

[Gradedcardman]

With respect to qualifiers, for myself and my t206's I don't worry about it. I love the set and the hunt so it will always be a work in progress to complete. As stated before it is also a cost factor. With respect to newer sets where the cards are more plentiful and the manufacturing was better, then yes I care. I have a PSA registry set consisting of cards from 1971 and up. For them I want them all without qualifiers.

Hope that made sense, trying to watch hockey and type !!