Opinions please on this '14 CJ Speaker PSA

[Archive]

Posted By: Scott Sarian

Hi all,

I received in the mail today a 1914 CJ Tris Speaker PSA 3, which I had purchased from ebay at a decent price for a PSA 3 (admittedly knowing it may be slightly overgraded due to what appeared to be a slight missing piece on a corner). The ebay auction didn't have a great scan of the card.

When the card came today, I was surprised to see how much of the top left corner was clipped on the card. What I am trying to determine here - is this a case of PSA simply overgrading a card (like I said, I'm ok with that, as I factored that into my purchase price, and didn't just pay the going rate for a PSA 3), or is there anything else going on here, such as a cracked case and a new card in the case?

I don't have much personal experience with cracked slabs, but I know that "cloudy" borders are often a telltale sign. I just re-scanned the card; what do folks think about it? Anything going on with the lower borders on the slab?

Thanks in advance,
Scott

[Archive]

Posted By: peter ullman

tough call...that's a relatively clean card...despite normal caramel staining. If the corner were intact...it may grade ex...so I guess vg isn't terribly far off...per PSA's "rigid" standards.

[Archive]

Posted By: Matt

I think if the grading company determines that the corner is missing from normal wear and tear then they grade it numerically and not as an "Authentic." As far as what numeric grade to assign, perhaps they consider what if the corner was rounded that much instead of gone - I think that would give a VG grade in this circumstance.
BTW, I've always liked the CJ Speaker - great looking card!

My Trade/Sale Page

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Golly, Scott. Literally, you bought a card sight unseen because it was in a PSA 3 holder... I suggest buying the card, not the holder.

At this point with this card, if you're not happy with it send it back for a refund. I'm curious if the seller was selling other cards, and did he have scans of those posted? If so, a red flag as to why no scan of this Speaker.

I kinda like the card. It looks to be authentic. If you hate the card and can't get a refund, I'd not mind buying a Cracker Jack Speaker with 3 corners.

Good luck with it all, and please do give thought to leaving the slabs behind and collecting cards.

With kind regards,

Frank W.

[Archive]

Posted By: Michael Steele

Scott: Super card. I was also looking at that one. I agree with the grade from PSA as I think that they are easier on CJ Caramel stains then SGC and the top left corner is not too much worse then a g-vg rounded corner. IMO, SGC would beat that down to a 30 or maybe a 20.

With that said, SGC is my choice of grading companies except when grading CJ Caramel Stains or (as we all know) bits of paper lose.

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

I don't know the ins/outs of PSA grading on Cracker Jacks, but corner chipping seems pretty common on this issue.

Makes for a cheap way to pick up great cards. I won this Crawford last night for a song.

http://www.tonyetrade.com/Handler.ashx?Size=450&PhotoID=5953&CompanyID=1

[Archive]

Posted By: Scott Sarian

Thanks for the opinions, guys. I guess I am more used to SGC potentially downgrading more for such a flaw, but I am happy with this card as is. I do appreciate the reassurance that this is authentic.

Frank, I actually did see a scan before buying - I just said it wasn't a "great" scan, meaning it was relatively small and I wasn't sure of the exact issue with the top left corner.

Dan, I saw the Crawford last night and planned to bid higher and simply forgot to put a snipe in on it. Enjoy - it's a steal for that price!

[Archive]

Posted By: dennis

psa graded more lenient when they first were trying to get established. i am no expert in the psa scan but perhaps this card was graded in psa's infancy.post it on psa's board and i guarantee you someone there can tell how old the slab is.

[Archive]

Posted By: rand

this is such a tough card/issue. if you bought the card with a price you are more than happy with you are the winner. the picture seems crease free and has great qualities. i think it more than makes up for the cut corner. if the card was not in a graded holder it would be tougher to call, at least bidding you felt it was 100% legit. i would think if it was the 1915 issue you could wait for the next one. i like it, best of luck

[Archive]

Posted By: Scott S

The card would've been graded in the past year, as the label is from the half-point era, so it is newly-graded...

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Thanks Scott...I saw yours too and think you got the Speaker for a good price.

Lately I've been benefiting from Net54ers forgetting to set their snipes.

Keep it up fellas!

[Archive]

Posted By: Jim VB

"Lately I've been benefiting from Net54ers forgetting to set their snipes."


Dan,

I believe that's a direct result of the Hobby Panic of 2009. And we still have 360 more days to go!

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

I owe it all to the Bruces.

[Archive]

Posted By: Scott Dango

that has to be one of the nicest 14 CJ speakers around!

AMAZING card! remember , this is not the 1915 version, these cards are supposed to be banged up!

i saw the raw 1914 CJs on ebay last night also but was reluctant to bid...TONYetrade is big time, and he has mostly graded stuff...WHY DIDNT HE SEND THESE RAW CARDS FOR GRADING?

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Scott, are you saying you think these 14 CJ's that Tonyetrade had up may not be legit?

[Archive]

Posted By: peter ullman

I don't think Scott's saying that...just that he left money on the table.

[Archive]

Posted By: Scott Sarian

Tony's CJs all looked legit to me - my guess was that he figured they were in tough shape and would get either an SGC 10 or an "A" grade, so it wasn't worth it to him to pay the grading fees. Just my guess.

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

in no way was i saying the raw cards tony had up were trimmed or anything....i was just saying it was weird and it kept my bid down (unfortunately for me maybe)


always is a bit of a warning flag when a person who sells mainly graded, sells a few raw cards...sometime the warning is not warranted though...

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Gotcha...I just think they were all such low grade cards that spending extra money on getting them graded was not worth it to him. The Crawford I won has two chipped corners and grades no better than an SGC10 or A so why bother?