I look at PSA grades as advisory only. I say this because I've seen such a ridiculous swing in what various cards of the same grade will actually look like. Case in point: I just bought a 1968 Topps card that was graded a 5, but upon receiving the card and inspecting it closely -- and I mean with a 10X loupe -- I for the life of me could not understand why it didn't get a PSA 7 or 8 instead. It was a little OC, though, so maybe whoever submitted it asked for NQ, so it was bumped down to a 5 instead of getting a 7 OC (I honestly didn't know that an NQ request even existed until reading it in this thread). Anyway, because of the great variation in what PSA-graded cards actually look like -- some 6s and 7s that I've seen up close look more like a 5 to me, while some 5s and even 4s look more like a 6, or better -- I tend to follow the advice of many Net54 members who say, in effect, buy the card and not the holder. That's why I always let my eyes decide what cards I will or won't buy. Sure, I love it when a really attractive card has a lower PSA grade (because then I'll usually get it at a discount), but I've also learned not to assume that a PSA 7 will automatically satisfy my appeals-to-the-eye requirements. So that's why I'll never bid on a PSA-slabbed card sight unseen.
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