Buy the card, not the grade - stories

[Big Six]

Just picked up this Mays which I think looks a lot better than the grade...




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Big Six

Just picked up this Mays which I think looks a lot better than the grade...




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Indeed. Not sure what earned that a 5, but it wasn’t the corners...here’s another Willie that fits into that category:




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[VintageVinnie]

Wow! That 54 Mays is sweet. Nice pick up!!

[JollyElm]

Speaking of the Say Hey Kid, I grabbed this Mays donning my favorite uniform (qualifier be damned!!) a while back at a substantial discount. Nothing but a hair O/C...

1973mays305.jpg

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Speaking of the Say Hey Kid, I grabbed this Mays donning my favorite uniform (qualifier be damned!!) a while back at a substantial discount. Nothing but a hair O/C...

Attachment 336735

IMHO, qualifiers on high grade (> PSA 7) vintage cards are a bargain for the most part if you are looking to add a decent card to your collection and not just to flip it for $$.

Cards on the upper end can retain a lot of eye appeal and still be slightly OC, but the centering standards get a lot tougher in that territory. If a card has super sharp corners but got an 8 (OC) because it was 70/30 one way...is that really a deal breaker if the discount is steep enough? The same card could be a nice 6 or potentially even a 7 and would still be considered sharp. I guess with the OC qualifier in particular, it depends on your tolerances. I'm not a centering freak, but would agree beyond a certain point bad centering starts to destroy eye appeal. I'd rather have a centered 5 over an 8 (OC) that was 85/15. But I collect mostly PSA 5 and 6 range cards for "nice" vintage, so again at times centering is not a chief concern if it's 70/30 or better. I digress...at a high level I don't mind OC cards, but I dislike egregiously OC cards. Does that make sense?

Nice '73 Mays...

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

IMHO, qualifiers on high grade (> PSA 7) vintage cards are a bargain for the most part if you are looking to add a decent card to your collection and not just to flip it for $$.

Cards on the upper end can retain a lot of eye appeal and still be slightly OC, but the centering standards get a lot tougher in that territory. If a card has super sharp corners but got an 8 (OC) because it was 70/30 one way...is that really a deal breaker if the discount is steep enough? The same card could be a nice 6 or potentially even a 7 and would still be considered sharp. I guess with the OC qualifier in particular, it depends on your tolerances. I'm not a centering freak, but would agree beyond a certain point bad centering starts to destroy eye appeal. I'd rather have a centered 5 over an 8 (OC) that was 85/15. But I collect mostly PSA 5 and 6 range cards for "nice" vintage, so again at times centering is not a chief concern if it's 70/30 or better. I digress...at a high level I don't mind OC cards, but I dislike egregiously OC cards. Does that make sense?

Nice '73 Mays...

It sure does, and many of us are the same way. If a card is just a bit off-center (but gets a qualifier due to the official grading parameters), I'll happily buy it for a fraction of the price of a straight grade and be psyched I got it, because it still looks beautiful. There are a couple of exceptions (Mantle and whatnot), but when an O/C card just looks woefully and painfully unbalanced, on the other hand, I won't go anywhere near it even at a huge discount. Just hurts my eyes too much to look at it.

[irv]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Grading in theory is nice. In reality, the "expertise" has proven to be fraudulent, far too many times. Learn how to grade yourself, as we did as kids in the 1980's; it's worth it. It's tougher today buying sight-unseen, but still possible to maintain some of your own personal accuracy over the long run if you learn what to look for. I'm not saying to buy raw cards only necessarily, but I'm starting to realize with decent scans, I can tell the difference between high end for the grade, and mediocre slabbed material.

That is why I also purchase the majority of my raw cards through a reputable dealer.
I have looked at, inquired about other raw cards from other sellers but when I have looked at their feedback or don't hear anything back or see reverse scans that I have asked for, I quickly scratch them from my list.
Doing that over the last couple years is why I am at 91% bid activity with my current preferred seller in GM cards. Their shipping fees can't be beat either, especially for us Canucks!