Varying standards are not that uncommon, especially considering that all grading as a crapshoot - and 71's are just exponentially so in that regard given all the focus on the black borders.
My experience on the whole has been that just corner and border wear probably tends to earn most 71's a grade lower on average compared to other normal white border sets because it's just so noticeable. Anymore though on all vintage, a card that looks like an easy 6 getting a 5 is hard to tell because of how they scrutinize the surface. You may have missed a tiny wrinkle, or even a bend. Or they may have seen something under a loupe that you didn't. Impossible to tell from a picture.
Your Mays on the whole looks a tad undergraded, but within the range to me. Tough card. High number, and it always seems to come OC s-s in addition to having the given black border issues. Nice card.
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Prewar Cubs. Postwar stars & HOF'ers. Currently working on 1956, '63 and '72 Topps complete sets.
Last edited by jchcollins; 12-19-2022 at 08:50 AM.
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