Does Anyone Else Center Things As We Do Our Pre War Cards?
 

Question?

I find myself centering all kinds of stuff and I think it's from the hobby. Anyone else?
Show a well centered card, if you care to...
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If the question pertains to things outside the hobby, my political views have tended to become more centered. What are the things on your list?

No, No, No :)...not politics. I mean on everyday stuff. I guess it's symmetry I look for. When I position things on tables, or look at non-card things and kind of think about them being off center or centered.

Couple of my low-grade beauties with exceptional centering to make up for their flaws:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0ea16e47_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...631be36e_z.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/4581/3...ef36a159_z.jpg

Being a collector and being OCD go hand in hand.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bee51a12be.jpg

I can live with 55/45 centering - I’m equally vigilant about print dots

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Yes, my centering OCD carries into everyday life, I suppose you could call it spatial ocd, everything has to have balance. Posted the 57 because that's a super tough card to find centered.
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Oh man, my OCD (Obsessive Centering Disorder) has been triggered.

I like my print dots well centered, and that goes for printed material that is not a vintage card as well.

Ideally the print dot on this card would be just above the right corner of Satchell's lips.

Brian

As one of the weirdo collectors that puts a high premium on image clarity and surface quality (especially on the front), I appreciate the nice "deals" on the less centered pieces that aren't chased by the higher-end collectors.

Stay centered guys. I'm out here picking up your scraps.

Agree... My number one criteria is a flawless and un-creased central image, with perfect focus and registration. I can't deal with centering worse than about 80/20, but perfect centering is nothing more than an added plus to me. Afterall, that's how the card was made!

I'm actually skeptical of perfect centering, as it's often an indication that the card was trimmed.

Me too.

Collectors tip, not so much a registry guy tip....if your 100 yrs old card is really sharp, make sure it doesn't have really small borders. I cringe at some 7s and 8s that, when I look at them, I am like - Where are the borders?

Centered??
Nope, quite the opposite. This random, bench-sitting guy is my frickin' hero...

Attachment 627933

Lewis L. "Lew" Drill. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1902-1904. 231 hits in 4 MLB seasons. His career OBP is .353. His last MLB seasons were 1904-1905 with the Detroit Tigers. He declined a contract offer for the 1906 season because he could make more money working as a lawyer.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4dd5ba8fd7.jpg

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c01b036594.jpg
Brewsters parents got the center white stripe down the snoot almost perfect

Your sensationally symmetrical dog is staring straight into my soul.

Brian (and I imagine all others who meet Brewster's gaze)

Hi Leon,

Yes, I have OCD about lining things up properly on a table like you. Pens, papers, etc. I don't typically care if a card is centered or not though. This is one of my E98s that is pretty well centered imo.



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Just saw this thread. 100% Leon, I need to have symmetry with everything!! Everything on my desk, my bureau, my bar, has to be positioned a certain way. Definitely a form of OCD and my kids know it and will move items on my desk because they think it's funny and they know that I can't work until I reposition everything! :)

Ha! You, my friend, are one of the funniest guys on this board.

Centering is a weird one for me.

I started out collecting Trading Cards (TCG) in 1995, only getting into baseball cards later on. There have been a lot of interesting parallels with regard to authentication, rarity, demand, etc. However the one area where there is a huge difference is when it comes to centering and miscut cards.

With an TCG card if it is off center most players and collectors do not really care, and when a card is miscut it actually becomes many more times desire-able, and potentially increases its value by a factor of 10x to 100x.

Obviously the opposite is true for vintage baseball cards.

The often stated rationale I have heard is that from 1900 - 1940 quality control of baseball cards was very sloppy, and the number of miscut cards is quite high in vintage baseball. Compare that to TCG's which had much better quality control, and you get the difference in price.

I checked PSA population reports and its is easy to see that this is at least partly true. Looking at the T206 pop reports, around 6% of each card graded has a qualifier (which includes Offcenter and Miscut, as well as some other qualifiers which do not apply such as Staining, and Marks). Looking at the PSA pop report for a famous TCG set less than 1% of cards include a qualifier.
There are problems with this direct comparison including the relative popularity of grading between hobbies, what cards are selected for grading.

Regardless of this in both vintage baseball cards and MTG, miscut cards are "rare". With TCG's they are very rare, and in vintage baseball cards, they are rare-ish. My guess is that the relative level of rarity is what makes one a desirable oddity, and one a defect.

That's funny!

Symmetry is a thing. This one has a big top which is the way I usually collect them

Lonely old guy thinking there might still be a chance...

Maybe slightest bit off
 

If you look at it long enough. Who knows may be trimmed.