Follow-up on EX-MT

[Archive]

Posted By: James/jverri01 

Gee, thanks, Brian, for sicking the dogs on me. ; )

Actually, I think folks are taking this way more literally than it is intended to be. As I mention in the listings - there are just way too many cards listed as EX-MT that have creasing, paper loss, holes - whatever. NONE of the cards I listed have creasing, wrinkling, paper loss, holes, etc. Corner wear - sure.

Here is what perplexes me: so many of you "talk down" the grading companies (and I do the same), and are so quick to contest some of their grading (as do I) - yet, when ungraded material is posted, everybody quickly uses the grading company standards as the mechanism by which to compare. ?? Sure, these are not a "PSA 7" - but, many PSA 7's aren't either. ; )

What I am presenting here are EXTREMELY clean cards. Of all of the crap listed on Ebay - trimmed, soiled, miscut, bleached, faded, covered with writing, creased, marked with tire tracks, torn, etc., etc. - these cards are phenomenal. If you are so bothered by corner wear - you are NOT seeing the bigger picture, here. These are SPECIFICALLY the kinds of examples card collectors that HATE grading companies are looking for: clean, single-owner, minimal wear cards.

I'm sorry, but, to me - "Mint" is a concept, nothing more. The guy I got these cards from - and 600 others, is the guy that pulled them from the cigarette packs they came in - when he was a teenager. They have been protected and out of light since then. THIS is the condition most cards pulled from packs were in AT the TIME they were pulled. THAT is what SO many old-timers have told me. THAT is why I consider "mint" a concept. ANY card (to me) that truly looks mint - has been CHOPPED. Cards just DID NOT come out of packs with corners that sharp. DID NOT HAPPEN. I have sat and witnessed (as I am sure you have done as well) countless unopened packs being opened, cards being pulled (whether baseball or not) - and they just DON'T come out as clean as this. A PSA 9, anything above SGC 88 - has been TAMPERED WITH. That is just my opinion - but it is one that comes from very reliable and objective first-hand sources. I am in my 30's - so I can not ABSOLUTELY say high-end cards are trimmed. BUT, the evidence seems to be there - and EVERY old-timer I have spoken with completely backs this up.

Maybe EX-MT as a designation is an overstatement - but, if it is, truthfully - by how much? Not alot. It is merely a matter of the subjective determination of how accelerated the corner wear is or is not. YES - I have nicer cards than these, so, perhaps, these are more EX/EX+ - by some people's standards. To me - these are unaltered gems.

I would rather have one of these than a trimmed card that is sitting in a pretty plastic slab, with a high number marked on it, any day. Sorry, but my confidence in any grading company's ability to assess these (yes, I am including NASA, Mr. Calderon) is diminshing at a rate that even exceeds my ever increasing sarcasm.

Respectuflly,
James/jverri01