Vintage PSA Graded Card Review

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Posted By: Kyle

Hi Everyone,

Quick question for all of you who have sent in a card to PSA for review.

I recently had a 1920s strip card graded as Authentic. No more than 2 weeks ago, a similar card, in nearly identical shape and size (in fact, mine is ever so slightly larger), but in in my opinion worse condition graded out as a PSA 5.

Has anyone ever had luck providing a scan of a previously graded card along with their disputed graded card to PSA and been successful?

Thanks in advance,
Kyle


P.S. If this post fails to meet the board requirements, please feel free to delete it... just seeing if anyone has had any success.

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Posted By: Marc S.

Obviously with the advent of Photoshop - a scan is not very compelling to say the least.

That being said - grading companies can be inconsistent - some more than others. If you really feel an error was made - the path of least resistance [and perhaps the greatest chance of success] is cracking the card out and resubmitting it.

~ms

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Posted By: Kyle

Couldn't agree more with you on the topic of photoshop. I ofcourse emailed PSA and will hope to hear the best from them. If I did decide to resend it, atleast it couldn't hurt sending in the scan of the card. Would be nice if I owned it.

Thanks,
Kyle

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

Kyle, that's a good concern/post. Consistency seems to be something that is lacking when it comes to grading services and different card issues. This isn't only a PSA thing, this also goes back to SGC. What is the criteria for an AUTHENTIC label or an actual grade when it comes to strip cards.

I've challenged both PSA and SGC in the past and had them regrade material. I've only done this a few times and I've only had each company regrade one item each (in my favor).

In the long run it's just easier to crack it out, resubmit and see what happens. I've done that a few times and I've had the grade either go up or down 1 grade, in one case up two grades (4 to 6).

Grading is not an exact science. In some cases I've gotten material returned with better grades than I anticipated. I'm a nobody so it's not like they were doing me a favor. It's just the nature of the beast.

You can always call PSA and find out the criteria for grading a certain issue and then ask them where on there website they can point out the criteria. If they tell you a strip card can be assigned a numerical grade but can't point out the determining facators for a grade then don't be surprised if it comes back in an AUTHENTIC holder.

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Posted By: Kyle

The card I submitted was a 1925 W590 Robert T. Jones Jr. (Bobby Jones!). I sent the card to PSA almost a month ago, and it was not graded because of insufficient information. Thanks to another collector, I was able to resubmit with documentation. That same collector also submitted his and ended up with the PSA 5, and mine an Authentic, though if you looked at the two cards together, you'd hardly tell a difference in size and cut, except for mine being cut straighter. So sending a card to PSA for a third time is probably foolish, but with the current 5 day/$13 dollar special, it'd only cost another $30 and perhaps a numerical grade will come out of it.

And I totally agree with your comments on consistency. Another strip I have (W515 Babe Ruth) was sent to SGC and refused because of size. PSA graded it a PSA 8.... yet I've seen other SGC strips that look to be the same size as mine, OR they don't follow the "size" guidelines SGC told me about. It is hit or miss, and hopefully I'll hit a triple with a head first slide into third (sorry, I can't wait for 12 inch softball season to return).

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Take care,
Kyle

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Posted By: warshawlaw

that consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.

OK, for those of you who don't think I "bash" SGC enough, here is proof I am an equal opportunity deplorer:

Strip cards are always a problem with SGC. I recently sent SGC several strips, including a rather scarce W517 mini. They refused it on the basis of minimum size even though W517s are vertical strips with lines separating the cards and you can see the friggin' dotted lines top and bottom on the card. How much more "on size" you can get than having the cut lines show I don't know. In the same lot they refused to grade a W516 Cobb yet graded a Johnson strip that was from the same set and about the same size a 5, and graded a Matty that was smaller than both the others, graded a W565 Leonard I'd cut out of a sheet a 6, and graded a W565 Heilman [sic] from the same sheet a 4. It seems to me that they refuse on the basis of size automatically if they see traces of recent cutting unless the card is clearly fresh from a sheet and has ample contrasting borders (W560, W565, W590 come to mind). Then again, sometimes they don't. I've seen some darned close cuts on W580's.

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Posted By: Mike Campbell

In the past month or so, I have had several cards returned to me, that the graders would not grade or encapsulate. Reason? Too big or too small. Not trimmed, not altered, not cut too small, or too big, not tampered with in any way. These are legitimate cards from the teens, 20's and 30's. This really annoys me. This has happened to me 5 or 6 times in the past year. So....I will forward on to another grader. Hopefully they can do their job. One last thing.....it isn't so much that I am looking for the grade, I know what the grade is, or should be, but what I am trying to do is protect them from damage. And allow me to pass them around, when I do public presentations on baseball memorabilia, and history. Now i know I could do that myself, but, shouldn't the grading companies do it? After all, I am paying them. Or at least trying to.

Additon: These were not strip cards.

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Posted By: JimB

If they saw your card and another identical card at the same time and graded the other one and gave yours at "authentic" grade, there must be a reason for this determination. Sending a scan of the other one along with yours won't change their minds. Talking to them at a show or resubmitting it at a show might work.
JimB

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Posted By: Kyle

Hey Jim,

Different submissions and submitters. I doubt the same person saw the cards. But taking them to a show is a good idea.... though I'd have to buy the other one some how.

-Kyle-