T206 size variation
 

I am just trying to educate myself on T206 size variation because I am seeing a lot of very suspicious cards lately and don't want to get screwed, but I don't want to be overly cynical if it is not deserved. Leon had a great thread earlier about both PSA and SGC missing obviously trimmed old judge cards so I know they can make a mistake but can a T206 really be this small? I see the diamond cut but not sure if that helps. It just screams trimmed. If you look at the serial number it was clearly graded many years ago and just upgraded to the new PSA logo holder. Thoughts?

Aaron

I've collected T206 for 25 years. There is without a doubt a variance on sizes...With that said, personally, for me, I try to avoid cards this "short/small". Might not be trimmed, but it would be in the back of my mind that it could be...also, regarding the diamond cut...who's to say that if someone could successfully trim one edge, that they couldn't trim the opposite edge to create a diamond cut look?

I see A LOT of short cards in SGC and PSA holders, I try to avoid those.

I'm with Mike. There are definitely some T206s that were factory-cut short. A lot of Old Mills are short. But, I'm skeptical about high grade cards that look short. I'm less concerned about lower grade cards that look short. Just because with the high grade card, there is a very obvious incentive for someone to have trimmed it in order to deceive a buyer. Also, I prefer the look of cards with normal or larger borders. I'd personally rather have a nice 4 with big borders than a PSA 7 with tiny borders (convenient for me since I can't afford a PSA 7 anyway :D)

Or a 3. :)

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=21947

Gotta agree though with the sentiment of avoiding "short" T206's. There are legit examples, but I'd rather have an over-sized lower grade.

i dont like that matty 1 bit.

I believe there were some variances, but the one shown looks trimmed to me. I think it is suspicious that the only ones I typically see that small are either graded as altered, high grade, or raw.

I don't like the Matty shown by the OP at all. The one below is from an original owner's grandkid, which I got raw in 1997 as my first ever T206 card. The top is a little thin, but the fat bottom border makes up for the difference.

<img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7696/29219025521_8cc123436f_b.jpg" width="503" height="804" alt="MathewsonThrowingWhiteCapSGC60"></a>

Other than obviously perceptible scissor/wavy cuts (which can leave the corners with so-called "bat ears"), the best way to tell whether a T206 card is trimmed requires taking the card out of the holder -- you have to look directly at the edges and compare all four with each other. On trimmed T206 cards, you will see a cleaner and whiter border, while two or three other edges will be a bit browner, and you can actually see the diagonal striations from the original factory cut. Also, a factory cut T206 edge will not have sharp right angle front surface-to-edge and then edge-to-back surface. It will be slightly soft or rounded.

These methods were written about in SGC Collector magazine maybe 8-10 years ago, and it has worked for me since. Practice on one that you know is trimmed and you start to understand the process of spotting trimmed cards a lot better.

+1....This card makes no sense to me at all....This card just stinks, and it's a recent PSA grade....

Typical PSA in all it's glory Kevin .

i think it was stated that the card was reholdered