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#1
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A nice flashlight in a dark room helps, too. Turn the raw card at EVERY angle, especially over the edge and from EACH corner. If there's anything - a dimple, a ripple, a gloss break, a slight ding to any corner, it is probably 5 at best.
As a general buying rule, I think is is smart to assume the raw cards you buy are overstated by at least one grade. As a seller, I think overstating by more than one is unethical but not criminal. Caveat emptor always applies. It has been my experience that raw midgrade cards have a lesser chance of being overgraded and are under graded with greater frequency. Lastly, while it WILL cost you few bucks up front you can do what I did: Buy high graded examples of the cheapest cards in your set (a 6, 7, 8, 9. Skip ten. Too rare and like chasing rainbows. Hope for the best with any 9 you submit but play lotto, then, too). Study them and use them as a point of comparison for your raw cards. Never give your own cards a 'break' - if you think you may see something, it counts. Be as tough as you can on your own cards and you will be disappointed less often. Good luck to you. |
#2
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I can see a flashlight in a dark room working well....I use an OttLite in a dark room to "pick through" cards closely, this setup has worked well for me for many years.
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#3
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Borders
Don't forget to check border "chipping", especially on darker border cards like 71s and 75s. Do a completed listing of PSA 8 or 9 on eBay and look up and down those cards and ask yourself if you have ones that resemble them. Chances are not on the vast majority. For high grade stuff basically the card has to be fresh out of the pack with razor sharp corners, great centering, no snow or printing lines/defects, edges that don't have the chips, etc. As stated centering will usually winnow down your crop vastly off the bat, don't forget top to bottom, for example on '72s are to determine but many are o/c but doesn't jump out...
Last edited by mintacular; 03-29-2017 at 07:06 PM. |
#4
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And just to let you know I just got grades on 65 cards submitted to PSA. Picked up a nice handful of 8's from 1948 - 1954, got a couple of 9's on pre 1975 stuff, but I also somehow missed a recolored 1971 (and I'm maniacal on that subject) and got 4 grades that surprised me on the low end. So no matter how long you've played the grading game you still get duds.
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#5
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SO true, because it IS a game, seemingly...
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