1953 Bowman Color Martin/Rizzuto- I suspect this has been trimmed at the bottom
 

I picked this up in an eBay auction to upgrade my current card which is a PSA 4. I took a very close look at my new acquisition this morning and using my imperfect ways of measuring: comparing it to my original card and measuring with a ruler and a flashlight it looks to be about a millimeter short at the bottom. I would like an outside opinion before contacting the seller. Thank you.Attachment 427415

It's sort of hard to tell when looking at the white edge of the card against a white background, but it looks short and slightly irregular.

My scanner always does that, I'm afraid. I'll try again.

For reference, the eBay auction # is 174511764191, those images are easy to see.Attachment 427420

This isn't an opinion on whether or not the card itself has been trimmed, but usually (I find) if the edge isn't perfectly straight stem to stern then there's a greater chance of it having been cut. For any non-expert wielding an X-Acto knife along a metal ruler, they tend to not stick firmly to the metal edge when completing their cuts (because said ruler isn't held in place well enough, or a knife of non-optimal sharpness 'grabs' the card and moves it a tiny bit), so it sorta curves a little bit at the side they're finishing up on, if that makes sense. Some cards put through paper cutters will also show these same signs of 'curving' at the sides, because it is really tough to keep anything relatively thick perfectly situated in that device. Of course, professional card doctors have their own ways of doing things.

I would think with a bottom border that small the top border should be larger. Its pretty well centered on 3 sides.

I wouldn't think an X-Acto knife or a flimsy paper cutter - more likely, a heavy-duty guillotine cutter, which produces a clean and straight cut even on thick pasteboard.

1953 Bowman Color Heights
 

..I own these '53 Bowman Color cards , raw , for decades and their heights when stacked and eyeballed are nowhere near uniform......side to sides are exact same but I've always noticed that their heights are very scattershot , ; try it....


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I've got 84/160 now, all raw, and 100% sure they're all real. When stacked, height is indeed all over the place. Side to side, they align perfectly. Centering is practically non-existent with these cards of mine, the majority, say 65 to 70%, being top and bottom for whatever reason.

I returned the card to the seller as the border didn't match with the other cards I measured against it. My PSA 4 isn't weak, a noticeable ding to the top left corner put it in that territory. I'll try again some other time. Thanks to all who weighed in on this discussion.

Same with myself, I've had my 53's since the early 1980s and the sizes, top to bottom, are all over the place....this is my Martin/ Rizzuto...has the same cut.

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