Advice on a 68 Ryan/Koosman - MINSIZERQ
 

Hi all, recent lurker and first time poster. I'm using my first post to get some advice on a recent PSA submission. Some background first - My father has collected cards for years as his "retirement" nest egg. He even had a card shop locally in the 80's and 90's that I worked at that he basically used to grow his collection. Well, he's now at the point where he wants to start to liquidate, so I'm helping him with that.

He's never had anything graded, so we started with a couple cards as our first submission to PSA, one being a 68 Ryan. The card is beautiful. I expected it to get an 8 minimum, and possibly even had a shot at a 9. I was sick when it got the MINSIZERQ. When I saw that I actually assumed that meant trimmed, but now know that isn't necessarily true. Furthermore, prior to sending, I had compared the card to others I had on hand from early 70's, and the size matched perfectly (I didn't have any other 68's on hand). I figured maybe I'd missed something, but I got the card back today and compared it again with the same results. He got the card in the early 90's from an auction of a high end collection, so it's always possible someone did a really good trim job on it, or maybe it is slightly small from the factory and I'm just not seeing it. I'll be visiting him in a couple days and will be able to compare it to his other 68's just to be absolutely sure.

However, I'm wondering if I chose poorly in using a card like this in my first submission, and maybe it was rejected because they were thinking there's no way a card this nice would come from a first time submitter. Whatever the case, what's my best option? Should I resubmit again after submitting a bunch of other stuff, submit to SGC instead? Obviously these submissions can get pricey if I continually get rejected. I appreciate any input!

Maybe try investing in a 'loupe' so you can magnify the edges and see any signs of sanding the edges down.
Of course you can play the TPG game in sending items over and over and finally get the grade you want. But i would go for PSA new slab nowadays and is good for re-sell.

nice koosman rookie!

one word: resub.

i have an 8 that it took 4 times to get her in there.

they are overly critical on this card considering it's centering issues, miscut ratio and the guy who is on it. can't blame them accordingly and i can see why they are.

+1...resub

Does it measure correctly that is 2 1/2 by 3 1/2? that would seem the place to start?

yes resubmit, wait for a special. being a first time submitter doesn't make a difference. i'd stick with psa if you want to resell, i might try sgc if psa fails again. this is the reason why members here don't collect high grades, you don't know its history or how many times it's been thru the grading game.

as for loupes and black lights i see alot of newbies wanting where to get one. unless you know what you're looking for (and most noobs don't) it doesn't matter how nice or the quality. you can give me an axe, but that doesn't mean i turn to paul bunyan. leave the card grading to the "professionals".

Hard to argue with that assessment. I would also grab a ruler.

I mean yeah, I don't get all the advice being given to the OP unless we know what the card measures. Put a thin ruler on it and report back. Until then all discussions about submitting here and submitting there and blah blah are premature.

"I'll be visiting him in a couple days and will be able to compare it to his other 68's just to be absolutely sure."

well i think we were all considering that he was going to do the obvious.

but if not, make sure you take breaths of air as well...

that's probably the most important step before finding a ruler!

It seems obvious, but the OP mentioned he compared the card to another issue of the same size, and did not mention measuring the card. I took that to mean he had not measured it. A ruler seems like a logical place to start.

But yes if it's been measured and checks out, or even if it didn't, I would resubmit to PSA, and even try SGC and then BVG.

The minsize note from PSA would seem to indicate that there were no signs of trimming but the card did not measure correctly. I believe this is attributed to it being miscut at the factory.

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...%20obvious.jpg

think everyone thought that measuring it was a given. even then we could be talking 1/32 of an inch.


edit: op, if it's even close resub it another time or 2. if it comes back after that, i would try to get it in a sgc slab then submit as a crossover if ya really want it in a psa holder.

it seems nice from what you have presented.

so far it's got three big things going for it:

it's authentic
it's not trimmed
it's not altered in any other way.

it would be worth the time and resources should it get in a 7 or 8 holder.

keep us updated.

Just an update - compared it to several of his other 68's and it matched 90% exactly. Of the other 10%, some were slightly larger, some slightly smaller, so definitely a resub. Next time I'll be submitting it with a bunch of other stuff. I'd forgotten just how much stuff he had.

MINSIZERQ at PSA is becoming a bad joke and they know it. As a matter of fact, yesterday I responded on their message board to someone who had an issue with it and I posted scans of 4 crackouts I sent in last fall to PSA that were all returned MINSIZERQ - and the post was deleted last night. You have to be concerned with quality control over there.

Yep I'm seeing the same thing when looking around.