Posted By:
Al CrisafulliThere is no question this is true.
Unfortunately, when you start getting into the lower grades, you start talking about things like "technical merit". In other words, there are a number of different things that can drop the grade of a card, despite the card having fantastic eye appeal. As we've all seen with the examples in this thread, a card can have dynamite centering, beautiful corners, and a very crisp image - but as soon as it has glue residue on the back, or the tiniest tear, or a small indent, or a small erasure mark, the grade drops.
The upshot of this for us as collectors, is it's entirely possible to get a gorgeous card for a low price, simply because of the number on the slab. I've got a number of cards like this in my collection, and I'm thrilled to have them.
However, I can definitely understand disagreeing with the grade. I've got a bunch of 1938 Goudeys that have graded PSA-2, that are some of the nicest-looking examples from that set that I've seen. I've got T206s that look gorgeous, but are sitting in low-grade holders. That's fine with me - I bought the cards for my own collection, they're mine, I'm keeping them, and so the number on the slab really doesn't matter as much to me.
-Al