I've never had a wax pack graded and have a few questions

[russkcpa]

I've had a 1979-80 OPC Hockey wax pack for a long time and I'm finally considering having it graded by a TPG (probably PSA)
Never had a wax pack graded before so just a few dumb questions:
1. Does it hurt the grade if gum is broken ?
2. Is the most important consideration corner wear ? Is centering or surface wear as important ?
3. Can one assume that a TPG can determine if a wax pack of this era has been opened and resealed?
Not sure how they determine this but the process must be interesting.

I'm not looking for a grade....just some input.
Thanks and I apologize if I'm in the wrong forum.
Russ

[vthobby]

Russ,

If the gum is both broken and loose in the pack they have been known to not holder the pack due to potential damage caused by loose gum tearing through the wrapper in transit, though this seems to happen less frequently with the advent of the newer holders.

I've had some beautiful PSA 8 and 9 packs that were then damaged by loose gum upon shipping. Nothing like seeing big holes in your PSA 9 or PSA 9 Wax Pack! Ugh!

They will make a determination also on whether the pack has been opened and re-sealed. Obviously if they think it has been tampered with or un-opened they will not slab it.

As far as the other questions, they will grade the pack based on eye appeal, wear on corners etc...

Good Luck!

Peace, Mike

[hockeyhockey]

this is probably a dumb question, but how do they grade a pack if they can't really see the cards? i'm gonna slowly back away as everyone laughs.

also, that's an awesome pack! imagine the adrenaline coursing through your body if you opened it. like a scott stevens open ice smash.

[Tomi]

Originally Posted by hockeyhockey

this is probably a dumb question, but how do they grade a pack if they can't really see the cards? i'm gonna slowly back away as everyone laughs.

also, that's an awesome pack! imagine the adrenaline coursing through your body if you opened it. like a scott stevens open ice smash.

They are not grading the cards, just the pack itself. Are you sure you don't want to just buy an already graded pack? I'm not sure sending one pack to get graded is worth it. Do you have more?

[swarmee]

1) As said earlier, they used to not holder packs with loose or broken gum. I think they do now, because they've modified their holders to keep the packs more stable. Some people hate the way the holders crush the pack, so they look like 6s after getting a grade of 9.

2) I think if the pack has a price sticker on it, it gets a max of 7.

3) If they can see the cards through the wrapper, the centering of the top and bottom cards can be taken into account.

4) Centering of the image on the pack seems to be important.

5) Packs, before grading, are mailed to BBCE to have Steve Hart verify that they are authentically unopened packs. If he doesn't like them, PSA doesn't slab them. Steve is considered the top dog when it comes to confirming packs are true and unopened, by the collecting community.

6) If you can see a star or rookie card on the front or back, you can submit that information and they'll put it on the flip.

7) https://www.psacard.com/resources/gr...tandards#packs