How important is centering to you

[brianp-beme]

Come join me over on the dark side. Some may call them off-center, while others might call them miscut. I just call them cards.

WARNING! Do not look at the below cards if you know it will spoil your day.

Brian

[benge610]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Come join me over on the dark side. Some may call them off-center, while others might call them miscut. I just call them cards.

WARNING! Do not look at the below cards if you know it will spoil your day.

Brian

I got a little, "dark side" in me as well.
Sometimes, it's just for the special personality of the thang!
Ben

[Snowman]

For me, it's:

centering >>> surface/registration > edges > corners

[frankbmd]

My opinion will not be revealed here. Who cares?

Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. If centering was all that mattered, we would not need TPGs so I guess that's a good thing.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

My opinion will not be revealed here. Who cares?

Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. If centering was all that mattered, we would not need TPGs so I guess that's a good thing.

Perhaps interestingly, the market has clearly determined that the TPGs don't accurately value centering when assigning grades, assuming grades *should* correlate to sale prices.

A somewhat well-centered 51 Mantle in a PSA 4 sold for $48k last night on PWCC. Off-centered copies go for around $20k right now.

[MattyC]

I was watching that one as well. However the various factors we've all noted in this thread come together to create eye appeal, if that eye appeal is there relative to examples in the same and higher grades, the buyers/collectors will certainly bid accordingly these days. In this respect, despite a lot of the... let's just say potentially annoying aspects of the hobby these days, it seems that the concept of "buying the card, not the holder" is as strong or stronger than it has ever been.

[conor912]

It’s important, but not everything. For me, I care much more about L to R than I do T to B.

[mrreality68]

For me it is a combination of things.

First is availability. I like cards that are a little more rare and I cannot control when the card becomes available and as a result I then need to decide if the card available is something I want/need/ cannot wait for the next one.
Second is eye appeal specifically the front is the priority over the back
Third is center and how it’s borders look
Fourth is what I can afford for what I am trying to purchase

[brianp-beme]

For PreWW2 cards, centering is not much of a consideration. When being picky, good registration and great color are the two qualities that are at the top of my list, and I definitely dislike any surface damage/creasing etc. to the player's face. These E90-1 cards are good examples of what would certainly pass my physical exam, centered or not.

Brian

[conor912]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

For PreWW2 cards, centering is not much of a consideration. When being picky, good registration and great color are the two qualities that are at the top of my list, and I definitely dislike any surface damage/creasing etc. to the player's face. These E90-1 cards are good examples of what would certainly pass my physical exam, centered or not.

Brian

+1

Depends on the era.

[puckpaul]

I like centered cards, but how much it matters really depends on all other attributes of a card, particularly its beauty and registration. I find lots of eye appeal in some cards that aren’t perfectly centered. Creases however always disturb me, and i prefer off-center with great registration to creased, weathered and well-centered. Here are a few cards which i cherish despite the fact that they arent centered better (every thread needs some cards!):

[MattyC]

Originally Posted by puckpaul

I like centered cards, but how much it matters really depends on all other attributes of a card, particularly its beauty and registration. I find lots of eye appeal in some cards that aren’t perfectly centered. Creases however always disturb me, and i prefer off-center with great registration to creased, weathered and well-centered. Here are a few cards which i cherish despite the fact that they arent centered better (every thread needs some cards!):

As a centering guy I would still love that CJ Joe— the image is so crisp and the color so bold, it just "pops" and I don't even notice the centering.

Leon, beefy borders on that red Cy. And always been a fan of that Ted Williams; if not mistaken you landed that on the BST board? Exceptional and rare centering for that card.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Come join me over on the dark side. Some may call them off-center, while others might call them miscut. I just call them cards.

WARNING! Do not look at the below cards if you know it will spoil your day.

Brian

Those are WAY better than centered cards. Centering is by far the least important to me, unless I am selling it.

[yanks87]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Come join me over on the dark side. Some may call them off-center, while others might call them miscut. I just call them cards.

WARNING! Do not look at the below cards if you know it will spoil your day.

Brian

+1 must be a Brian thing....

[parkplace33]

I mainly collect prewar, and no 1 for me is surface, especially dirt. Tons of prewar cards are just direty (stained, gum, tobacco, thrown in a sand box).

That trumps all other things.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

I mainly collect prewar, and no 1 for me is surface, especially dirt. Tons of prewar cards are just direty (stained, gum, tobacco, thrown in a sand box).

That trumps all other things.

I guess it is a matter of preference. I like the stains on my cards (as long as it is not overdone where it covers the main part). I think it adds character to it like the caramel from the CJ boxes on the cards like this or a little dirt it kind of like having a little patina on a classic car

[Lobo Aullando]

70/30 or better is plenty good, especially for the time when manufacturing tolerances weren't so strict. If I wanted to put hundreds of dollars on whether something was 50.4/49.6 or 50.3/49.7, I'd get into rare stamps.

[GasHouseGang]

I like good centering if I can get it, but I like the card to look as close to "pack fresh" as possible. I understand why there is sometimes a premium on centered cards, but centering isn't the most important thing to me when deciding on what card to purchase.