The Grading Pyramid

[Cardboard Junkie]

Good Job explaining that!! It's always been about eye appeal to me, as long as a card hasn't been altered. I will typically buy a 3 or lower as long as it is nice looking at arms length. (Then of course if they are graded I bust em out). Aloha, David.

[GasHouseGang]

As I get older, everything has to be held at "arms length" if I want to be able to focus on it.

[barrysloate]

David- I found a solution to that problem: bifocals.

[dabigyankeeman]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie

It's always been about eye appeal to me, as long as a card hasn't been altered. I will typically buy a 3 or lower as long as it is nice looking at arms length. (Then of course if they are graded I bust em out). Aloha, David.

Me too. I just bought 3 Brooklyn Dodger Bowmans that grade a 3 and i cant for the life of me see why they didnt get a much higher grade, really much higher. I love when i can find what i feel are under-graded cards since they are lower in cost and still have that great eye-appeal.

[bbcard1]

rdixon, you are right on. I actually am working on a t206 set that is best charactarized as 1s. There are 1s that look good and 1s that look bad...and they are worth a different amount of money, in my opinion.

[christopher.herman]

Having dealt and traded with Paul, I can tell you that he has a sharp eye when it comes to a card's aesthetic merits. His insight and explanation here is valuable to both the rookie and veteran collector. Well done, Paul.

[frankbmd]

My Grading Contest may have inspired this thread, as the point is to demonstrate the lack of correlation between the esthetics and the grade.
I too am happy to find lower graded examples that look good, because they generally cost less. I buy BVG cards as well, because their grading is tough and because there is often price break between comparably graded (PSA,SGC) and BVG cards.

I may be sorry when it comes to selling my collection as PSA and SGC are the major players in the graded vintage card market. I have never cracked a slab or submitted a crossover, so that is not my motivation. I just want the best cards for the money.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

My Grading Contest may have inspired this thread, as the point is to demonstrate the lack of correlation between the esthetics and the grade.

[2dueces]

I absolutely love low grade cards with great eye appeal. All I can say to all TPGers, keep grading them low for us arm pit collectors.